Questions and Answers
Q: What is the point?
A: The point is to be able to make music as freely as possible while still staying in sync with the film.
Q: How does it work?
A: The film is showed on the big screen while I, on a small monitor on my podium, have my personal “help film”, which is a silent version of the film with my visual cues overlaid which is displayed in sync with the big screen.
Q: Why doesn’t everybody work this way?
A: Preparing visual cues is a time consuming task. To make it possible to conduct with visual cues only you need to have accurate, detailed and helpful cues. I create mine own cues, which means I can tailor them to my specific needs, and also to the specific needs of yhe orchestra, the venue or the context.
Q: Is no form of click track at all needed?
A: No, neither I nor the orchestra have headsets or click track.
Q: Are there any specific tehcnical requirements?
A: There are no extra thecnical setup needed besides what is required to show the film on the big screen in the hall, and to show my “help film” in sync with it.
Q: Can the same method be used for recordings of film music?
A: Yes and no. The recorded music for a film is very much created in the edit. For editing purposes it is extremely convenient to have the music lined up to the grid of a click track. I myself very much prefer to record film music with only visual cues and no click, because the music becomes much better in my experience. But it all depends on the people who will handle the editing and their working process.
