Music matters to people. It reaches the bits that nothing else can. It stirs the emotions, helps us to connect with who we are. In war it can strengthen the resolve of tired and flagging soldiers. In a film it can turn a pleasant landscape into a threatening jungle or make an everyday encounter appear romantic. Music is deeply personal. It triggers memories, kindles half forgotten pangs of desire and even gives joy to a weary soul. For those who have rejected conventional religion, it can be the means by which they connect with their deeper selves.
Music is especially important to me as a filmmaker. Whilst it is true that some of the most memorable compositions have come from great film scores, it is equally true that much excellent film music is not noticed. Take a series like The Killing, the highly acclaimed Danish police drama. Can you remember the music? Probably not. Most of the time there is no music - silence is used to excellent effect - but what music there is points up the action in a subtle way that helps to build the overall effect.
The same approach should be employed in the humble corporate video. Music is there to establish a mood or to help the sequence along. A fairly dull set of images can be transformed if cut imaginatively to a good music track with a strong beat. Often it is the onset of music which has the greatest effect, encouraging us to make an emotional response to the images. That's why music-free sections are so important, wall-to-wall music can become bland. With care it is usually possible to find the right tracks from music libraries but if you can afford to commission a composer the task is made so much easier. A good composer will work with a director to tease out exactly what effect he/she wants to achieve at each point in the film. Sometimes what evolves is so memorable that it goes on to become an acclaimed piece of music in its own right.
The personal musical tastes of the producer should never be considered. I tend to listen mainly to classical music, especially Bach and Mozart; and i'm very partial to jazz but I know I'm being indulgent if I try to apply my musical tastes when choosing music for a programme. The same should apply to the client. Just because they are paying for the video it doesn't mean they have the right to choose the music! A corporate video isn't Desert Island Discs or Inheritance Tracks. It doesn't matter how attached to a piece of music the client may be. The music in the video should be selected purely on the basis of how it "works" with the rest of the material and the mood it is there to create.
Once you have your music, specially composed or just downloaded from a music library, you will have to mix it with the rest of the sound track. Levels are very important and you need to know how it will be played. Will most people view the video on a laptop or is its primary use at a presentation to a room full of people? If the music is too quiet it will all but disappear on a laptop but if it's too loud over speech the audience will struggle to hear the dialogue. Carefully dubbing and editing can greatly enhance the overall effect, providing pace, signposting action and giving punctuation to the whole piece.
When you release the video you will probably get mixed reactions to the music. Some will like it, some will not - many people won't have noticed it at all. And that's a very good sign that it will have done its job.
Chris Pettit is a Partner in Just Film, a video production near London in the UK. Just Film is a corporate video company specialising in films for charities and not-for profit organisations. There are many example video clips on the company website.
The rationale of the company is to focus on issues of social justice and the website blog contains many articles about social issues, activism and video production.
Visit the website at http://www.justfilm.co.uk/