10 Movie Industry Secrets You Didn't Know
1. Musical Scores Are Usually Completed Extremely Late In Production
Though musical scores in many ways form the dramatic backbone of a movie, it's shocking just how frequently they're one of the last aspects of production to be completed.
Perhaps the most drastic recent instance is that of Rogue One, which saw Michael Giacchino replace Alexandre Desplat late in post-production, giving him just four and a half weeks to complete the score from beginning to end.
But the most infamous example must surely be James Cameron's Aliens. Composer James Horner arrived on set with the expectation he'd have six weeks to complete the score from start to finish, but the chaotic shoot hadn't yet been completed, so he wasn't able to view the completed film.
Things got worse when Horner began composing under immense deadlines, only for his work to be rendered useless when Cameron re-edited scenes, ruining the precise timings of Horner's compositions.
Ultimately, Horner recorded his final version of the score in just four days and swore off working with Cameron for a decade, but at least received an Oscar nomination for his efforts.
Extreme outliers though these might seem, it's incredibly common for music to be one of the last elements layered into a movie, despite its immense importance in shaping a film's style and tone.
Unfortunately not all filmmakers are as lucky as Sergio Leone, who convinced composer Ennio Morricone to record his score for The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly before the classic western even started filming.
This of course allowed the director to play the music while shooting in order to set the perfect mood.