5 Tips for Picking the Perfect Music for Your Documentary Film

The music in your documentary film can make or break the emotional effect it has on your audience. By choosing the right music, you can enhance the tone of your film, add emphasis to key points, and even create moods that wouldn’t be possible without music. Here are 5 tips to consider when deciding on the perfect music for your documentary film.

Tip 1: Listen To Tons of Music

The first thing you should do is start listening to a lot of music. We recommend listening to as many genres and mood options as possible. This will get your brain comfortable with different types of music and will make it easier to decide what sounds best in your movie. You can also listen to your competitor's soundtrack if you have them, some people choose their music based on what others are doing so it never hurts to look at other people’s work and see how they picked their music.

Tip 2: Get Out of the Box

Just because you’re making a documentary doesn’t mean your soundtrack has to be limited to classical music. A documentary filmmaker might just as easily use ambient electronica to set an emotional tone or choose dubstep or EDM if he's aiming for an energetic vibe. When writing your music playlist, don't forget that you have countless other options besides traditional music genres—you're telling a story after all! If one of your characters is into '80s glam metal, I'd say it's okay to throw in some Van Halen on their soundtrack. As long as it matches their personality and creates depth in storytelling and resonates with viewers, go ahead and add it.

Tip 3: Ask a Good Question

In a documentary, you want music that has a Reel Craze emotional punch. One of my favorite things to do is pick out music that asks a powerful question—for example, it might ask What if? or Why did you do that? It's a great way to help me bring more meaning to my film and create a more meaningful soundtrack. This works well for two reasons: 1) The human brain loves questions; we are wired to solve them. And 2) It gives your music a sense of purpose which helps it stand out and make it feel essential to your film. Tip 4: Find Key Words: Another one of my favorite tricks is looking for keywords—words like trust, love, hate, lonely, and togetherness.

Tip 4: Try Something New

If you’re working on a historical film, it may be tempting to only use music from that era. This can actually have an adverse effect, making your audience feel as if they are trapped in a time capsule. Try using contemporary music instead, or even integrate musical snippets throughout your documentary. It may seem unorthodox, but you’ll soon find out whether it works for your project or not! After all, experimentation is key when it comes to creating something new and innovative. Just remember to keep your core demographic in mind at all times; you don’t want them to lose interest because of jarring musical choices.

Tip 5: Have Fun!

You’re making a documentary—you should be having fun! If you enjoy music, then why not have fun with it? One of my favorite documentaries, Searching for Sugar Man by Malik Bendjelloul, had an excellent soundtrack that included some great modern rock songs. If you’re looking to pick up a copy of that soundtrack, I can help you out here. Either way, don’t get discouraged if your first few choices are rejected: ultimately it comes down to what works best in your Reelcraze film and is appropriate to its tone. But if you want some great suggestions on where to start, keep reading!