How to find sound inspiration for your film
Directors must build a soundscape that fits the story they’re telling and the world where the story takes place. Then, they must find the right music and sound effects to bring their vision to life.
So, where do you start if you need to score your own film? Here are some of the essential considerations when deciding which music to choose for your film.
What is the role of your film score?
Films often contain a mix of music, ambient sound, and sound effects. Together, they create a rich, multi-layered auditory experience that lifts and powers the narrative.
Sound effects can add realism or fantasy to characters and their actions in a story. Ambient sound can bestow a sense of atmosphere and place to a location. A great musical score can guide an audience's emotions, building tension or an emotional connection when needed.
From 1909, studios would send out musical cue sheets with their silent film reels. A lone pianist or sometimes a tiny orchestra would play music to suit the mood and narrative of the movie, using fast-paced music for a chase or sombre music for a sad scene. Characters often had their theme that would alert audiences to their presence.
Today's filmmakers have a far greater pallet of tools at their disposal. Film scores now feature a more comprehensive range of musical genres and styles to complement a film's narrative and visuals. However, while approaches to building a film score vary, most agree that there are good and bad scores.
What makes a good film score?
Great film scores play with our brains immersing us in the movie's story.
Sound can communicate emotion and tragedy in a scene with no dialogue. Consider Renton’s overdose scene in Trainspotting. The gentle and optimistic track ‘Perfect Day’ contrasts his near-death experience and the escape from reality he was seeking.
Sound effects can be particularly evocative, too. Recall the clicking of the alien in Predator or any Geiger counter sound which signifies the imminent danger of radiation in nuclear holocaust-based post-apocalyptic video games and films.
Movies also still use leitmotifs to significant effect. For example, composer Hans Zimmer’s recurring use of a distorted, slowed-down version of Edith Piaf’s ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’ foreshadows a character’s jump to a new reality in the film Inception.
These films and their scenes would only be as iconic as they are with the musical compositions and sound effects accompanying them.
What makes a bad film score?
The effectiveness of a film score often hinges on the choice of music itself. A score that fails to align with the film's genre, setting, or tone can be disconcerting, disrupting the viewer’s experience.
The quality of sound effects plays a crucial role in audience engagement. Misplaced or overused sound effects, such as the infamous Wilhelm scream or the out-of-place ten-pin bowling alley sound effect in the "Matrix Reloaded’s Burly Brawl" scene, can significantly undermine a scene's realism and impact.
Even with a well-composed score and thoughtfully selected sound effects, poor mixing and balancing can compromise the overall effectiveness of sound design. Recently, a prevalent issue has been the underrepresentation of dialogue in the mix, highlighting the importance of technical execution in sound design.
Where can you find sound inspiration?
Drawing inspiration from other media can be a great way to find inspiration when making a film score.
If you have an idea of the sound you’re looking for, Universal Production Music provides creators with three very useful tools to help them buy music for films.
This AI-powered tool finds the closest match to a song or instrumental piece within the Universal Production Music library. Users simply input a YouTube, SoundCloud or Vimeo link to get results.
Filmmakers who have sourced music via the “Similarity Search Tool” can also be assured that the music is MCPS licensed.
Cue sheets help filmmakers comply with copyright law and ensure that music rights holders receive compensation for their work. Online information, support, and training also benefit users who must become more familiar with this licensing area.
- Intuitive online search
Our extensive online search tool for users allows them to find the music they want by keyword, title track, composer, or lyrics.
How do you come to a final decision?
With a complete shortlist of potential score elements, directors and producers must decide on each one. So how do you decide what makes the final cut?
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Consider whether the musical pieces and sound effects you've chosen fit the rhythm and pacing of individual scenes.
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When thinking about the order of musical pieces and sound effects in your production, ask whether they gel together as a whole.
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Analyse whether the music or sound effects belong to the era and setting of the story. Your musical choices don’t have to be “of the time” but they need to match or complement it on an instinctive level for the audience.
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Question whether the individual elements and the whole are distinctive and evocative enough. There is a danger of being generic. Jerry Goldsmith composed the theme tune for the 1979 Star Trek movie, which was later used in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Robert Wise, the director, asked him to redo his first version because, as nice as it sounded, it “had no tune.” He came back with the famous tune the second time he asked.
This part of the process is complicated. Many filmmakers get feedback from their team at this point to come to a final decision. In the end, though, they must trust their instincts.
How to recreate your sound inspiration?
Universal Production Music is a leading source of copyright-free music for short films, television, video games and feature filmmakers.
Our in-house music supervision team regularly performs in-depth music searches for clients. Stems are also available for productions requiring full music and sound effects control.
If you’re looking for music or sound effects, you can explore the vast array of options - over 635,000 high-quality pre-cleared tracks in every genre and style - with a Universal Production Music licence.
