Issue 16 Volume 1
July 2008
July 2008 Page 3
|
|
|
||||
| |
|||||
|
Issue 16 Volume 1
July 2008 |
|||||
|
Page 3 |
|||||
 |
 |
||
|
THE SCORE WITH SOUNDTRACKS
“Any feature film is an extremely complex animal,” says Powell. “The soundtrack or the score can make or break a scene and there are also lots of levels in the soundscape which you will hear in this feature film project.“ ‘The Silent Women’ is a story about the German presence in Antarctica during World War II. The main character suffers from mutism, and perhaps because of this, the soundtrack plays a particularly significant role in providing the emotional impact of the film. An independent film, The Silent Woman required all those involved to wear a number of different hats. Powell, an all-rounder with an appetite for perfection in everything he attempts, has been the music coordinator, sound editor, cinematographer and story developer at any given point in the making of this film. The scope for music in such a dynamic project is vast and the soundtrack is crucial for maintaining the flow of the script. Darren Powell is a composer and is most at home as a vocalist in the jazz world. He is also a trumpet player. While music coordinators don’t always get to indulge their personal preferences when it comes to placing music, the post-world war II era of this film allowed Powell to not only choose some of his favourite jazz songs, but to also perform as the ‘Jazz Singer’ in a sequence shot at Paronella Park near Cairns. Powell sourced the music for the soundtrack from talented musicians both nationally and internationally including Australian pianist/jazz composer Michael Nicholas ‘Mic Nic’. Composers were also sourced from Germany and New York with Powell determined to have ‘a very cosmopolitan sound’. When sourcing music for independent films, budget for licensing fees is always a large consideration and Powell admits that this limited his choices, especially when it came to writers signed to major publishing houses. For example, a song from the fifties by Patti Page was to be used in the film but the copyright owner, EMI, asked for a higher amount of licensing fees than expected. “I think the publishers and labels need to re-think some of that mentality, we’re living in a digital age now where the competition is fierce – if the price is too high there are thousands of other tracks which sound pretty close to the original article,” says Powell. As a result, Powell often turned to sourcing music from new or upcoming artists who wanted opportunities to profile their music on the big screen and who were happy to accept a more reasonable licensing fee. To meet the demand of the script, Powell, along with Executive Producer and Director Robbert Smit (Footrot Flats, Blinky Bill, Magic Pudding) listened to thousands of tracks to hear which would best fit into the context of the film. Powell readily admits to having been most influenced in his work by the legendary John Williams of Star Wars however, despite this, he insists that his all-time favorite composer is Irving Berlin. “He was a self-taught pianist who pretty much restricted himself mainly to the black keys of the piano. He had a special piano made with a lever under the keyboard which allowed him to transpose his music,” informs Powell. Powell originally learnt piano from his mother before turning his attention to vocals, trumpet and drumming. Composing was to come much later on in his career. “I started out with Jack Tougher at the Wollongong Steelworks Band back in the early 70’s, marching down the street on ANZAC day and all that jazz. Truth is, I’m not a great player. I detoured for about twelve years and played drums here and overseas in an Australian pub band with my two brothers and my sister. I always played trumpet with the band but I was a drummer first and foremost.” Like most people working in the industry, Powell continues to pursue his own creative pursuits outside of the world of movie-making. His first CD, ‘Darren Powell - Volume One’ is available from www.darrenpowell.com.
|
|
DEALING WITH AGENTS Dear Uncle Terry, OVERVIEW Agents make a fair percentage of their income from fees on gigs which are booked as a consequence of other gigs. For example, if an agent books your band into Harry’s Bar and someone there hears you and wants to book you for another gig, the agent can claim, with some considerable justification, that the subsequent gig would never have been offered if the first had not been booked. The agent argument is usually that you should pay a commission on the second gig. This is generally accepted as reasonable. Similarly if Harry rings you directly at a later date and wants to book you for another gig, the agent would usually expect a commission on the second gig. The thinking being that if the agent had not booked you the first gig, Harry would not have experienced your brilliance and decided that he wanted to rebook you. This is also generally accepted as reasonable. There are two situations that frequently cause conflict between acts and agents. The first is where there is a disagreement over how long the responsibility to pay commission should last. The payment argument is much stronger if the first gig was two months ago rather than two years ago! The second situation is where the agent is not actually doing anything to find the band work. This becomes particularly obvious where a venue approaches a band directly and asks why they don’t seem to be available to do his gig anymore. The bands argument could well be that the agency deserves no commission since it is deterring work rather than finding it. A potential downside of not paying subsequent commissions is that the agent will almost certainly find out eventually and refuse to find you any more gigs. This concern, coupled with ethical considerations, should lead the wise band to keep the agent informed. If you think you are not being treated well, let them know. It is you who is paying them after all! This approach will also avoid unnecessary misunderstandings on both sides and help you decide, based on good information rather than speculation, if you want to keep using the agent in question. RULES & REGULATIONS As far as UT is aware, the state of New South Wales is the
only jurisdiction in Australia that governs entertainment agents by
legislation. The relevant documents are: A good outline of the background to these and some mention of
how other jurisdictions viewed them can be found in Shane Simpson’s book,
Music Business. Neither the above act nor the above regulation addresses the specific issue you raise so if you are seeking the source of your purported twelve month rule, it doesn’t appear to come from these. Since the other states and territories appear to have no agents’ legislation, legislation anywhere else is not the source either. THE COMMON LAW WHAT’S IN THE CONTRACT? Uncle Terry
|
|
