# Cue Sheets for Short Films



## BenG (Dec 11, 2015)

Hi Guys, 

So i have been asked to create a cue sheet for a short film production I recently completed. The picture is about 10 minutes long and features music throughout (almost wall-to-wall).

My question would be, how do I go about dividing the music into separate sections? Any tips, suggestions?


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## chillbot (Dec 11, 2015)

First, I'm assuming you already know the basics of cue sheets and just asking about how to divide a 10 minute long piece of music into sections, right? Otherwise, I would post some links on cue sheets.

I think the short answer is, there's no correct way of doing it, and, it doesn't matter if there is only one composer on the show.

For example, if John Smith wrote the music, you could just list one cue on the cue sheet: 0:00:00 - 0:10:00 underscore, 100% John Smith, BMI. It doesn't matter, because John Smith gets paid the same either way. But it's obviously helpful for bookkeeping to break the cues into separate cues and would be necessary if there are any feature performances, visual vocals, etc, or multiple composers on the film.

If the film is completely through-scored I would just divide the cues based on the video scenes and name them appropriately based on the video. If the cues are already named then just go with that.

The one thing you have to remember is there can never be more music on the cue sheet than there are minutes of video. So if the video is 10m 34s long the total amount of cues has to add up to 10m 34s, i.e. no overlap. So if cues overlap you just pick a point between them to stop one cue and start the other... generally where the first note of the new cue begins.

Sorry realize I'm jibber jabbering a bit, the question is rather broad... maybe elaborate more....?


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## BenG (Dec 12, 2015)

chillbot said:


> First, I'm assuming you already know the basics of cue sheets and just asking about how to divide a 10 minute long piece of music into sections, right? Otherwise, I would post some links on cue sheets.
> 
> I think the short answer is, there's no correct way of doing it, and, it doesn't matter if there is only one composer on the show.
> 
> ...



Thanks for your reply and that definitely helps! 

Full discretion, I do not have a lot of experience with cue sheets and any help/links you can provide is greatly appreciated. I have some examples I found, but there are obviously lots of questions:/ (Publishing, Usage, etc.)


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## chillbot (Dec 12, 2015)

Just go to BMI's website:

http://www.bmi.com/creators/detail/what_is_a_cue_sheet

Or ASCAP:

http://www.ascap.com/music-career/articles-advice/cue-sheets.aspx


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## chillbot (Dec 12, 2015)

One thing that can be confusing when you first start is that the publisher PRO and the writer PRO will always be the same. So as a publisher, if I have a cue that has two writers, one BMI one ASCAP, then yes I would have to have two different publishing companies to collect royalties. Or have an agreement with another publisher to collect for me (in which case they wouldn't match).

So simplest:

John Smith, BMI 100%
Smith Publishing, BMI 100%

Or:

John Smith, BMI 50%
Alex Smith, ASCAP 50%
Smith Publishing, BMI 50%
Smith Music, ASCAP 50%

Or:

Composer A, BMI 20%
Composer B, BMI 20%
Composer C, BMI 20%
Composer D, ASCAP 10%
Composer E, ASCAP 10%
Composer F, SESAC 20%

Publisher 1, BMI 60%
Publisher 2, ASCAP 20%
Publisher 3, SESAC 20%

(These kind of annoying splits actually happen quite a bit.)


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## chillbot (Dec 12, 2015)

The other thing that is confusing is usage. Theme open and theme close are pretty obvious. Almost everything else is background instrumental (BI).

Background Vocal (BV) is pretty obvious when there are vocals in the track. You just have to make sure that they are actually using the vocals. I.e. just because you have a song with vocals in a TV show doesn't mean they are using the vocals, they might be looping an instrumental section, happens a ton.

Visual Vocal (VV) is also pretty obvious, when someone is singing on screen.

Visual Instrumental (VI) is less obvious and where you can sometimes make a few extra bucks. Disclaimer: every PRO is slightly different about this and the "rules" are always changing. Proceed at your own risk. Traditionally, VIs are exactly what you think, someone performing on camera. This also extends to source music, like a radio playing. So basically anything that the people on screen can hear (not underscore) is considered a VI. There is a little flex in this in that ASCAP/BMI will pay a feature performance rate for a VI if there is no FX, no dialogue, and the music is the focus. This happens a lot for example in from a commercial break where the music is the focus for 5-10 seconds then we cut back to interior or whatever. I will split a cue up (on the cue sheet) into a 10 second intro and call it a VI and then list the rest of the cue as a BI. It is a little more complex but that's the basics. Also, if you use this a lot and try to squeeze every extra penny out of a cue sheet, they will bust you on it. Just FYI.


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## BenG (Dec 12, 2015)

chillbot said:


> The other thing that is confusing is usage. Theme open and theme close are pretty obvious. Almost everything else is background instrumental (BI).



Does 'Open and Close Theme' simply signify when the music was played in the film (I.e. Title and End Credits) or is it something more significant than that? Similar to a TV shows 'theme'?

Thanks for all of the help!!!


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## chillbot (Dec 12, 2015)

Yes sorry I guess it's not that obvious, and there doesn't necessarily have to be either an opening and/or closing theme. The opening theme in TV would be when the credits and/or title card flash, not necessarily the first cue in the show. Most often in TV it would be between :05 and :60 seconds and preceded with a "previously on" segment or similar (which we sometimes list as a segment theme (ST) but that's a different topic). With a film there may or may not be an opening theme but if you have credits at the beginning that's probably the theme. The end theme is for the end credits, normally :30 seconds for TV. If the last cue is longer than :30 seconds it's often split into two cues with the last :30 seconds of the cue being designated as the closing theme. In a TV series, both the opening and closing themes are suppose to be the same week-to-week to qualify as themes. Though this is a bit of a grey area as often TV shows like to switch up their themes and it's also rarely checked.


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## BenG (Dec 13, 2015)

So just to clarify, a film's opening and closing theme is essentially defined by it being played during the credits and nothing else? 

I ask because what I currently have is rather ethereal, pad-like and hardly thematic in any way.


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## chillbot (Dec 13, 2015)

chillbot said:


> Visual Instrumental (VI) is less obvious and where you can sometimes make a few extra bucks. Disclaimer: every PRO is slightly different about this and the "rules" are always changing. Proceed at your own risk. Traditionally, VIs are exactly what you think, someone performing on camera. This also extends to source music, like a radio playing. So basically anything that the people on screen can hear (not underscore) is considered a VI. There is a little flex in this in that ASCAP/BMI will pay a feature performance rate for a VI if there is no FX, no dialogue, and the music is the focus. This happens a lot for example in from a commercial break where the music is the focus for 5-10 seconds then we cut back to interior or whatever. I will split a cue up (on the cue sheet) into a 10 second intro and call it a VI and then list the rest of the cue as a BI. It is a little more complex but that's the basics. Also, if you use this a lot and try to squeeze every extra penny out of a cue sheet, they will bust you on it. Just FYI.



Just on a side note about the above info, I came across this today, which is the first time I've actually seen this collaborated in writing. The information above I got directly by talking to sources at BMI and ASCAP.

"There are also some situations where the music editor must make a judgment call on whether a music cue should be considered to be a featured performance. In a montage where there is no dialogue, vocal music could be considered to be featured — for example, in a scene where a couple walks romantically on a beach and Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is heard."


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## chillbot (Dec 13, 2015)

BenG said:


> So just to clarify, a film's opening and closing theme is essentially defined by it being played during the credits and nothing else?
> 
> I ask because what I currently have is rather ethereal, pad-like and hardly thematic in any way.



I don't believe it's a judgement thing, the theme is whatever you say it is.


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## BenG (Dec 13, 2015)

chillbot said:


> I don't believe it's a judgement thing, the theme is whatever you say it is.



In this case, would I be categorizing it as 'Theme' or 'Background'? 
I really apologize for my confusion:/


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## chillbot (Dec 13, 2015)

Categorize it as the opening theme, I do not believe that whether or not it's actually "thematic" is relevant.


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## BenG (Dec 13, 2015)

Ok, will do I really appreciate the help and would have never guessed that otherwise!


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## RiffWraith (Dec 13, 2015)

Just an FYI:

Generally, PROs do not accept cue sheets from composers.

Cheers.


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## gjelul (Dec 13, 2015)

Get CueChronicle ($) or Cue Tracker (Free), the rest is on BMI / ASCAP websites.

Prepare it and have the producers submit it. You can always register your cues online with your PRO.


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## BenG (Dec 13, 2015)

Yup, that is exactly what has been asked. To use a form from the production company to be submitted via the producer.


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