62 !!Chapter 4
Frame$3 ‘‘I could get if I wasn’t taking a calcium supplement.’’ Story-
board timing: 6 seconds; actual film timing: 5.5 seconds.
Frame$4 (She points to a poster that says ‘‘Don’t take chances, take
Os-Cal.’’) ‘‘So I take Os-Cal every day.’’ Storyboard timing: 2 seconds;
actual film timing: 1 second.
Frame$5 (A checkmark is made next to the following text: ‘‘Proven
effective in more clinical studies.’’) This sentence was changed for the film.
The film dialogue is ‘‘Only Os-Cal’s been proven effective in more clinical
studies.’’ The timing from the storyboard dialogue was 2 seconds. The
new dialogue was read in 2 seconds in the final commercial.
Frame$6 (close-up of Peggy’s face) ‘‘If you’re getting older, get wiser
too—’’
Frame$7 (Superimposed next to Peggy’s face is a picture of the Os-
Cal bottle with the words ‘‘Don’t take chances, take Os-Cal.’’) ‘‘Don’t take
chances. Take Os-Cal.’’ (This is the final frame.) Storyboard timing: 4 sec-
onds; actual film timing: 4 seconds.
The total time of the storyboard reading was 14 seconds; the total time
of the final reading on film was 12.5 seconds.
If the composer first had to compose to the storyboard, he might have
made the mistake of not figuring in the time it took for Peggy Fleming to
skate and pause between lines. In the final film, the extra 2.5 seconds were
shots of Peggy skating and Peggy pausing between lines.
For timings to be accurate, always calculate time for action without
dialogue.
Assignments
A professional creative director wrote the following exercise. This is typi-
cal of instructions given to composers prior to shooting the film. There is
no storyboard for this assignment. Complete the project within the time
span listed in the instructions:
- We are shooting a new campaign for XYZ Stores designed to dra-
matically upgrade the image of the chain. - The pictures will be shot by some of the leading fashion photogra-
phers, like Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon. The scenes will be
shot in New York, London, Paris, and Rome. - We will use the best supermodels, like Cindy Crawford and Naomi
Campbell. - What we need is a piece of music that will capture it all: the pic-
tures, the attitude, and to really upgrade the XYZ image. - I would like the music to be truly memorable—it can be hot and
sexy, it could be wonderfully beautiful.