186 !!Chapter 10
low licensing fees. Although rare, the trailer for the CGI animated film
Monster Housewas custom scored with a live orchestra.
SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) time code
is burned in, so film companies can lay back the music to the correct video
address. Composers, as in commercials, must have the ability to capture
the emotion of the scene(s) and work quickly. The goal is to satisfy the
creative staff at both the trailer company and the motion picture or televi-
sion studio. There is a direct parallel between composing music for trailer
companies and composing music for advertising agencies. The composers
experience the same time restrictions, and their work is normally judged
by a group of people rather than by an individual, such as a film director,
which is industry standard in feature films. (Studio executives usually get
involved with the creative aspects of the music after the director. Unless
a director is an A-list director, the studio has to approve the hiring of a
composer.)
!!Book trailersserve the
same purpose as movie
trailers. They entice viewers
to buy the books. Writers
such as best-selling author
Michael Connelly are using
book trailers as a marketing
tool. His trailers have origi-
nal music, use seasoned
actors, and contain high
production values. Some of
his trailers run as long as 11
minutes. Other trailers,
from various authors, run
30 seconds and 60 seconds,
the length of the average
television and radio com-
mercial. View several book
trailers by going to michael
connelly.com (author Mi-
chael Connelly) and don
brunsbooks.com (author
Don Bruns).Technical Considerations
Although theatrical trailers will be played
in theaters and heard in either 5.1 or 7.1
surround sound, listen on small speakers
when composing. Listening on large
speakers can easily distort a composer’s
ability to evaluate a composition and the
impact of the music. Most music sounds
more dynamic when played at a loud
level on a sizable speaker system. As in
writing music for commercials, the better
the music sounds at a low level on home
speakers, the more impact the music will
have when heard in theaters.
Most trailer companies have mini-
theaters with surround-sound systems.
The films and the music are tested in their
theaters before being reviewed by the film
companies.
The final music is usually saved as an
OMF (Open Media Framework) file as
well as Pro Tools Sessions, the industry
standard. The OMF file is given to the
mixers at the studio and/or the final ‘‘mix
stage’’ or ‘‘dub stage.’’ The mix/dub stage
is used solely to mix theatrical trailers in a
large mix room that resembles an actual
theater. The final mixing session consists of blending the dialogue, music,