Dealing with tempo in film music
Film has its own cuts and pace, and music has a supporting role that needs to acknowledge, evaluate and follow the pace of the film. Music will adapt to the pace of the film cuts and transform them into a rhythmic form that can then be utilized during the scoring to picture process. After reviewing a scene, a film composer will figure out the tempo of the scene with the overall content and pace of the story and how the music and rhythmic choice can support the scene.
The tempo of the music can greatly affect how a scene feels. If the final finished score is too slow, it could drag the flow of the film, or if the tempo of the music is too fast, it could be jarring and ineffective for the viewers. Either way, if the music is not in sync with the pace of the movie, it will not serve the film optimally.
By carefully watching and analyzing the film cuts, the film composer can feel the rhythmical pulse that exists based on the scene cuts. It takes countless...
