One of the hardest parts of post-production comes before the actual editing begins. That is the task of choosing the Music.
I always ask myself what is the purpose of this video? What is the emotion or feeling I’m trying to convey? Is it serious? Do I want to try and make my audience cry? Do I want them to be excited? Energized? Amped up and ready to go? The answer to this question will influence the type of music I choose for the edit as well as dictate the pacing of the cuts. This is why music selection is so important!
If I have really high energy footage, but the music does not match, it will result in my audience not being as excited as they should be. Conversely, it is sometimes an option to use juxtaposition in order to take something that is maybe not so epic or exciting, pair it with an epic track, combine that with slow motion or speed ramping and quicker cuts in order to spice up an edit or change the mood completely.
When choosing the music bed for an edit it is important to find something that will carry your edit as the music can make or break a video.
A few sites I regularly browse include
When browsing these libraries, I look for certain qualities in the songs that I think will fit the edit as well as choosing a song that I determine to fit my criteria which can vary from project to project. I always look to find music that doesn’t sound too much like a stock song.
More often than not, I will create small playlists on each of these sites with potential songs that I think will work for the given project. Once I am satisfied, I will then download the previews, bring them into the project to see if the music is matching the visual content.
If I come across any tracks that stand out to me that don’t fit this particular project I always like to add them to a playlist for future use. If the project I am working on includes interviews or a voice over, I will lay those out, piece them together into a coherent narrative, and then place the song underneath. The last step is timing out those narratives based on the ebbs and flow of the music.
Depending on the content of a given project I generally like to pick music with a good mix of ups and downs that I can use to carry the edit and allow for a dynamic flow that keeps the viewer’s attention. It is important to give room for the viewer to process what they are watching.
In addition to this, I am always on the lookout for really cool sounds, slow build-ups and parts in the song that I know will be great points for an edit decision. For example a cool swell to silence and then the song crescendos back in. These types of music traits are fun to use to edit and open up the edit for impactful moments.
Once I have found the song that I determine to be the “one” I usually do a little victory dance and unplug my headphones for the rest of the studio to hear and then we all break into a mini dance party and give each other high fives. Now the fun part begins!
To further drive home the importance of music selection, I challenge you to find a video on the internet or one that sticks out to you. It can be anything… a movie trailer, an action sports video, even a music video will work. Now watch that video and remember the emotions you felt while viewing it. Once you have had a moment to reflect upon your feelings, rewatch that video on mute. After rewatching it with no music ask yourself did it leave you with those same feelings? My guess is probably not.
Music plays such an integral part in how we perceive what we watch. It lends context clues as to how we the artist wants us to feel. This is a great tool that I use often when creating a piece of work whether for a client or for an internal F4D project. From Epic build-ups to somber classical piano music, they all play a part in the emotion we are trying to convey to our audience. Great music can make something uninteresting seem energetic or exciting while a bad music selection can make great footage fall flat.
I urge you to spend the extra time finding that perfect track for your next project!
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