From the course: Producing Music for Advertisements

Reviewing the cut - Pro Tools Tutorial

From the course: Producing Music for Advertisements

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Reviewing the cut

Many commercial composition projects will include at least a rough cut of the video or a wire frame or slides in the case of an animated or visual effects heavy spot. Well, the creative brief gives us a good idea of the brand and the potential customer. A cut of the actual commercial with any temporary music and voice over can tell us much more about the aesthetic and feel of the project and can really help get those creative juices flowing. In our H Plus example, we're fortunate enough to have a near final cut of the video with both temporary music and voice over. So let's check it out. (MUSIC). You work hard. Play harder. Water can't get you back what you lose. H Plus Sport has what you need. Natural electrolytes from plants, not chemicals. H Plus sport isn't made in a lab. Too much sugar dehydrates you, and robs your energy when you need it most. H Plus Sport only has 5 grams. Everything you need. Nothing you don't. H Plus Sport. Natural rehydration. >> So, just as the brief described, we have a high energy commercial spot with lots of quick cuts and stutters to get the viewer excited about the project. The temp music in this case suits the style of the video edits, but in my opinion it tends to obscure the voice-over. And sounds a little too aggressive to me. Which, from the creative brief we learned that an H Plus customer was a smart and sophisticated athlete but not aggressive or confrontational, as this music leans towards. As a quick note regarding the temp video from the client, remember, if the director is looking for the music and sound design to hit picture in a certain way, like in our example commercial, communicate the importance of a more final or picture locked cut of the video. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a revision nightmare with a vicious cycle of re-editing your music to new cuts of the video. Sometimes this can't be avoided because things happen at the last minute and stuff needs to change. But you'd be surprised how many editors just don't think about the ripple effect their actions will have on the music and composer. So a firm dialogue and proper scope of work is highly recommended to keep the revisions process as smooth as possible. Now that we reviewed a cut of the commercial and come up with a few rough notes and ideas, next we'll dig deeper into the temp music and see what's working and what's not. And how we can gather inspiration and move forward with an original score of our own.

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