Film Scoring and Sound Design Filmmaker FAQ
Below is a list of FAQs for filmmakers interested in participating in a Berklee Film Scoring and Sound Design Practicum collaboration.
What do I get out of this process as a filmmaker?
You will get a high-quality music score and/or sound design and mix for your film. You will also gain valuable experience in collaborating with a composer and/or sound designer. Because Berklee students are operating in the structure of a class, you will also have the assurance that your film’s audio will be ready on time and be of high quality.
What if I only want a score or only want sound design?
You will indicate your music and sound needs on the application, and we will take that into account when deciding whether to accept your film. We will prioritize films that need both music and sound since that gives our students the most opportunities to collaborate with each other as well as with you, but we will also accept some films that only need music along with some films that only need sound.
Who will own the music and/or sound design elements, and what happens if I want to enter the film in festivals?
You and the composer will sign a contract negotiated between the two of you that acknowledges that the composer owns the music rights and grants you irrevocable rights to use the music (though only in your film and its promotional materials) in all media throughout the world forever. Therefore, you will not be restricted in any way in how you can use the film with the final music track. For the sound design, you will contract with the class as a whole and will have unrestricted use of the sound while also allowing the sound designers to reuse any original sound assets they might create.
How will I select a composer and/or sound designer?
The first step is to provide Berklee with a description of your film and its music and sound needs, along with your contact information. After that, things will work differently for music and sound.
For the music score, students in Berklee’s Film Scoring Practicum class will contact you, providing contact information and demo materials for review. Then a “standard” hiring process takes place, in which you will pair up with a composer. How you choose among the potential composers who’ve applied to you is up to you. We limit class enrollment so that there are the same number of composers as film projects, so we do ask you to only enter into this process if you can commit to working with a student composer through the semester.
For the sound design, the class will function as a post-production sound house, providing end-to-end post-production sound according to your needs. The class professor will assign tasks such as dialog editing, sound design, audio cleanup, and mix/dub based on the skill sets of the students in the class and the needs of your project.
Berklee is located in Boston, but I'm not. Can I collaborate remotely?
Yes. Highly successful collaborations happen all the time with directors and composers/sound designers in geographically remote locations. You will use online technology such as Skype and Google Hangouts to hold your meetings and spotting sessions if you are not located near Berklee’s Boston campus. The important thing is that you are available to interact with student(s) and invested in the collaboration.
What are the dates and deadlines?
We find it works best when at least a rough cut of the film is completed before the start of the semester in which the collaboration happens. The main consideration is that enough time must be left between workprint delivery to the Berklee student and final music/sound delivery to allow the scoring and/or sound design process to take place. If selected, you need to be able to have a workprint and audio assets ready and complete an initial spotting session with your selected composer and/or sound designer by Monday, October 29, 2018.
Please note that Berklee students are required to finish this project to receive a grade in their class, so their work must be complete and delivered to you by, at latest, Friday, December 21, 2018; you may work out an earlier deadline if needed for your own program. Also note that if you commit to working with a student, we are counting on you to see the process through to completion—even if you don’t end up using the score and/or sound eventually—so that we can evaluate our students.