Ep. 2: Music in Movie Trailers (Ariella Abrams)

    August 6, 2019

    Music in Movie Trailers

    Sometimes we are not fully aware of how music is affecting our lives. Today’s episode is an example of this; the episode is about how we are influenced by music in movie trailers, probably without even realizing it.  Most of us do not think a lot about the music in trailers.  If we do, most of us assume trailer music is fairly randomly selected from a magically pre-existing movie sound-track. How important is the music in trailers? Is it an afterthought, or more integral to the message of the trailer?  What does the process of creating this music look like? Discover the niche industry of the movie trailer music world.

    Guest

    Ariella Abrams is a creative manager at Score a Score, an award winning music company in LA specializing in original music for marketing. A native to Los Angeles, she’s always been immersed in the entertainment industry, with a specific passion for music. Score a Score’s innovative approach to music licensing, creation, placement and supervision has been featured in Inc. Magazine Inc.’s 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for 3 consecutive years. Score a Score does work with the biggest companies, brands and film franchises in the world, including Google, Verizon, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Fox, NBC, CBS, Disney, Netflix, MasterCard, Sprint, Target, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Honda, Subaru, Acura, and Pfizer. In addition, Score a Score’s work has been featured in publications including Forbes, Rolling Stone, HuffPo, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Indiewire.

    Improv

    This segment features a try-this-at-home/hack/experiment that will enhance listeners’ lives with music.  Ariella recommends a technique that is also her top suggestion for anyone interested in film scoring: View a movie trailer without audio and imagine or create your own score for it.

    Connect

    How can listeners learn more about Score a Score’s work and connect with you?

    Coda

    Guests share a song or story about a moment when music enhanced their life.  Ariella dives into her personal relationship with music and how she found herself working in this particular subset of the industry.

    Other Resources

    • View Score a Score’s work, including the Avengers Endgame trailer (no verbal words, only music, images, written words on screen) and the CocaCola ad (submit your name) referenced on the show.
    • Are you a composer interested in breaking into the movie trailer score composition business? Ariella recommends watching as many movie trailers as possible, across genres and time periods, to get a sense of trailer trends.  Then apply to be a composer with various libraries, including Score a Score.  You may reach out to Ariella via email with questions about the process or biz.
    • “Inside The Competitive Business Of Music For Film Trailers” is an article in Forbes by Score a Score Founder/CEO Jordan Passman and includes a great graphic depicting The Journey of a Song in a Movie Trailer.

    3 responses to “Ep. 2: Music in Movie Trailers (Ariella Abrams)”

    1. When listening to this interaction I was reminded of the phrase heard many years ago….”Music is the language of the soul”. Never has there been any doubt for me about how music has impact. The interview was enlightening / reinforcing to what I have known to be true and the content helped me to understand much better. I’ll probably pay more attention to trailers now and be thinking back to this podcast!

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