# Thickening your skin (with directors and producers)



## synthetic (Nov 30, 2006)

It takes a thick skin to write music for someone's film, especially as the budget gets above someone's $6k credit card movie. Most of my more humilating moments were when I was cutting sound effects, which you're not nearly as attached to as a piece of music you've written. On my first big project, I played the big scene for him, turned around to see him scowling on the couch. "F--k... Play it again. F--k." Then I was berated cut by cut on my work. I later learned that this guy had two opinions: something was either genius or total crap. But at the time, what do you do? I couldn't fight back, I just had to duck my head down and take it. I began taking notes, which has become my defense mechanism in these situations. On my way home from the studio, I got into a car accident. S--- happens, usually all at the same time. 

My second big project was with a name director. I watched as he chewed out the supervising sound editor/mixer almost weekly, but my turn (as sound designer) came one week in the dubbing stage. By this time in my career, I had a thicker skin and it didn't bother me as much. "That pass-by is worthless! And why do you keep reusing that effect? I never want to hear it again! And you need to hit every cut!" It got my blood pressure up, but by the end of the day I was smiling. "I got chewed out by [xxx]. Cool!"

So, any good stories of verbal immolation by a director or producer? You guys must have some winners. And how do you deal?


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## redleicester (Nov 30, 2006)

*Re: Thickening your skin*

Copious amounts of nicotine and scotch..... the only way. And if that doesn't work, go home and cry on the wife :???:


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## synthetic (Dec 4, 2006)

No good stories? I guess everyone wants to continue working...


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## José Herring (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: Thickening your skin*

I'm the type of guy that doesn't take shit from anybody, but in this business when I'm working especially on projects where the money means something, I've found that I've learned to take shit from everybody. The lower the budget the less shit I take though....err yeah! :???:


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## kid-surf (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: Thickening your skin*

Ditto Jose....

Otherwise, I haven't been treated badly yet. The worst thing that's happened to me was a director laughing at my cue saying "you're fucking kidding me right... that's horrible". 

So... is that being treated badly? 


Idunno, I've had worse experiences when people were trying to be too nice. I got fired because a director was too nice and didn't want to hurt my feelings. So it goes both ways. I'd rather have someone say "I fucking hate that cue it's fucking worthless it's going to ruin my glorious film" than "I'm loving that, but can you make it a little more ____".

Both mean the same thing (neither guy liked it). Said one way I know exactly what they are thinking, said another, I'm essentially being powder puffed. 

I'll take brutal honesty any day of the week. My skin is thick enough..... no ambiguity works better with my brain.


Actually -- I just got back from meeting with a director this morning. He's so open-minded he even wants to hear my ideas if I think a cut isn't working musically. How often does that situation happen? Plus it's not a shitty rate. (compared to what that recent survey said). It's nice to work with people that respect what we do.


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## José Herring (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: Thickening your skin*

I hear ya. 

I was only fired once in my life. HBO/Blockbuster action film. The thing that hurt is that one day everybody was saying how much they loved the score and the new direction. The next day I was being fired. The guy that fired me was saying that, "well, it's just not your type of film". :roll:

Luckily for me most people have treated me really well and only about 2 projects have been difficult. Chances are that 80% of the time you're going to get somebody who's cool. The other 20% you just roll the dice. Maybe you make it, maybe you don't.

Jose


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## Bruce Richardson (Dec 7, 2006)

*Re: Thickening your skin*

I just have two happy modes. Happy Mode A is in place about 90% of the time, where I am into the project, and the relationships are positive and all about the art. Happy Mode B is when someone starts telling me exactly what they want me to do (as opposed to collaboration). At that point, I am all about knowing exactly what someone wants me to do, and then I use that to hone my style in that area, no matter how much I may not personally gravitate to it.

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## Bruce Richardson (Dec 7, 2006)

*Re: Thickening your skin*

Another conductor fun moment...

William Revelli once spent about ten minutes screaming at me in a public rehearsal.

He was in as a guest conductor. We were performing Persichetti's Symphony for Band among other things, and were rehearsing that. There is a big drop out at the end of the last movement, followed by a sticked cymbal figure, two sixteenths and an eighth on beat one. For some reason, Revelli thought that figure was wrong. It wasn't, but he started yelling at the guy playing that part (Daniel Moore, who's now the percussion chair at University of Iowa). Daniel politely told him he'd played the part as written, and Revelli went berserk on him.

Eventually, you could sort of see the cogs turning in the old fart's head, and him realizing that Daniel was right...and then as this was happening he looked down and saw me in the next row, just sort of slumping in my chair and looking a bit incredulous at the whole silly exchange. Probably sneering and rolling my eyes, knowing me at the time.

Suddenly he's not screaming at Daniel any more. He's spotted fresh meat, and is now screaming at me, ranting and raving about Herbert L. Clarke, and how Herbert L. Clarke wouldn't be caught dead sitting in rehearsal like a bag of dirty laundry, and what the hell kind of attitude am I bringing to the stage, and on and on. I thought he was going to tell me my mother wore army boots before it was over...

I felt myself losing my grip, turning red, and starting to rise in my chair. I think I would have just walked up there, pounded his ass into the podium, and fed him his nuts. But just the last shreds of control were snapping, I looked behind him and there was Jim Keene, waving his arms, ten shades of pale, shaking his head and mouthing "NO, NO, NO..."

My trumpet professor, on the other hand, was standing on a chair, right behind Revelli, acting like a monkey. I cracked up.

Oh so sad. Sad, sad, sad. Five more minutes, some of the sounds were not even words as far as I could tell, just some sort of wild demonic patois.

A delightful man. Really.


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## DKeenum (Dec 7, 2006)

*Re: Thickening your skin*

I will never again think of William Revelli without thinking of this story!


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