Indie Film Composers: Is that all you do? (Film Composer as Editor)

I’ve been thinking a lot about the business differences between film and video game composers lately, and one thing that I’ve really started to notice is how in the game world it is so much more common for a composer to be a multi-hyphenate, especially at the indie stage. I see this on film sets too, often times a director is also a writer or actor, and can fulfill various other roles on set in a pinch like cinematographer, DP, AC, etc. In game audio, a composer may pick up sound design, mixing, implementation, even a little coding!

On the other side of the aisle, we have game developers and directors who own a copy of logic and are able to score their own games and movies. Why then do Indie Film composers in particular tend to stick strictly to composing?

Well, my first thought is the usual piece of advice given to artists of any medium is to get really good at one thing, stick to it, and one day you’ll be great! I don’t know if that’s enough anymore - at least for early stage composers. I’m not saying a composer needs to be both Hans Zimmer AND Christopher Nolan in one person, however having basic competence in additional skills related to your area might be beneficial for getting gigs (aka money), making connections, and getting projects done - which IMO a lot of indie productions struggle with. If you look at the games industry, that is often why a composer fills out multiple roles on a team. From someone who’s been trying to get into Game Jams, a composer who fills one role is far less useful than a composer who is also a programmer or a sound designer, regardless of the musical “talent” itself.

We even see this in this year’s Best Picture winner, Anora. Sean Baker wrote, directed, cast, co-produced and edited the film, and this sort of process lends him the ability to have a much more unique workflow in his projects.

Secondly, it’s interesting that indie films can take way less time to fully produce from idea to release than an indie game, yet the composer still stays in a “clearly defined” role. A part of this I think is how in games a composer may need to implement the audio themselves in order to properly get it and it’s interactive systems in a game vs whereas a film composer just “tosses it over the fence” usually to the editor (who may happen to be the director!). In that case then, the game composer takes on additional skills in order to get the job done, whereas the film composer does not necessarily need to.

I don’t know if it’s good advice or not to tell a film composer to pick up an additional post production skill like film mixing, editing, or sound design. I know from a branding point of view it can be not the best thing, at least if they’re all advertised together. But could it be a useful skill to have? At the bare minimum to be able to communicate with a director more efficiently? I think editing in particular is an interesting skill because both are time related, and the music and editing interplay in such a way that they are very much dancing around each other. Not to mention film editing software is remarkably similar to audio editing and can be quite quick to pick up. On an indie film, would it then not be beneficial for a composer to be both editor AND composer? This could definitely create a lot of issues, but also come with a lot of benefits.

In this theoretical scenario, a composer (who in an ideal world started composing sketches when the film was in pre-production) edits the film, with their own sketches as temp tracks. As the edit gets finer and finer, their mind can shift gears to incorporating more and more of the score in each edit. The discretion of a few frames here or there may lie with them, pending director’s approval, to help either the music or the edit in one sense or another. But I think a challenge a “primarily composer-editor” would need is a lot more restraint in which one is more important and the ability to consider the film as a whole film and not just a score project.

I’ve been involved with Hollywood composers and Streaming service executives budding heads over a musical choice. Director’s and Composer’s, though usually portrayed as a nearly “romantic” relationship, have also similarly argued over creative differences like this. Heck just this week, Cristobal Tapia De Veer announced his departure on White Lotus over creative differences.  What then may come of a composer who also edits a picture?

And again, I’d like to reiterate the point that a top level composer does not also need to be a top level editor/mixer/etc. But in the early stages? I think basic competence in an additional skill is ABSOLUTELY essential these days.

With that all being said, I think it would be useful for an early stage composer to learn to edit picture or another post production skill at a basic level. At a bare minimum, to help pay the bills by opening up new avenues of work rather than a typical minimum wage job unrelated to the career. At a maximum, it is an incredible networking opportunity and means to get connected with more people, increase your knowledge and understanding of your primary composing skill, and possibly be a way to even get your music involved in more films. Also, in all honesty it can be quite fun!

I’m curious to hear what others think. Let me know and message me at Joe@ScoringTech.net or shoot me a DM on instagram @Joe_Chris_