Reverb question/opinion

Are there any reflective surfaces around?

No reverb.You would have some early reflections, but sands pretty dead.

Are they thinking beach boys type thing?

It's a Bollywood video...lol No kidding. It was described as the dancing on the sand...I would think it would be dry as hell, but I think they're looking for kind of a slight stadium thing. I'm trying the "Front Yard" preset from Nimbus...

Probably, unless there was a cliff somewhere nearby. But sometimes you don't want to be TOO realistic...

And make sure that reverb sounds VERY grainy! Chris

You should mix in a shit ton of wind, too.

Or bikinis.....

Reverb reality : what a concept !

I’d say just mix it to move the listener emotionally. I personally wouldn’t mix for the environment in a case like this

Not really my call, though. My client is bringing back critiques from the Director. So I asked the Director to give me an example of what he's looking for...because there's no reverb on a beach.

If the director is that naive, then the remix engineers will give him an education when he gets to the dub stage.    

OR, perhaps he just wants something stylistically "stadium-esque".  Either way works conceptually if he's shooting in the abstract.  If the song is intended to be a source cue or a live band playing on the beach, then obviously he's misled or inexperienced.  If it's just a montage song, then anything goes.  It can be a symphony, a gregorian chant, or dubstep.  It's all conceptual.  Not necessarily literal.  Don't get hung on literal unless you're LOOKNG at live musicians in the scene.

Be prepared to remix it at the last minute if you want to keep it in the film.  Or better yet - send them a directors mix and a normal "john" mix.  Or better still - STEMS - with the mega verb on it's own stem.  That way you will quite possibly dodge a bullet and be able to keep your song in the film when the remix engineers say "W T $#@$%" on the stadium mix, and instantly request music that's not so drenched.

OPTIONS!!!  Or Stems.  That's the best way to keep your music in a film.  Personal experience speaking here....  I've been on well over a hundred dubs, and music gets thrown out for things much more insignificant than reverb.  I've had dozens of placements just because :  a.) I was there.  b.) I had music on hand ready to drop in that was NOT wrong or controversial and it didn't annoy anyone.  Film Dubs - they are a political, logistical creative landmine waiting to explode....

Quint - some random thoughts as they come to mind....

These days, most songs are "licensed" and not created for the film.  Of course, there are exceptions.  Especially with huge artists who "write a song for the movie" where both record company and film company can multi-market alongside each other.  But for normal source cues, on the car radio cues, band playing in a bar cues, film montage cues, wedding band cues, TV montage songs, etc., the songs are sought out and licensed by a music super rather than "created for" the film by a composer.

Of course, the score is a different topic altogether.

Unique is OK.  Of course, the more abstract, the less options you will have for licensing, but unique IS OK.  If you write a song about Aliens, don't expect a lot of placements other than apocalyptic, end of world, Aliens are eating humans type films.  heh heh  You've painted yourself into a corner.

I do not generally aspire or desire to write in typical top 40 or super current musical styles.  Why?  Because often, those trends come and go and are dated almost before you can get them placed.  Evergreen songs can last decades.  For instance - a great bluegrass song could be placed in a 1940's film, or 2019 film.  The genre is "kind of" timeless.  Kind of.  Of course there are differences, but often EQ or some analog processing can put the song in either 1940 or 2019.  A great Hip Hop song is fairly timeless as well - hip hop has spanned a wide timespan - and the production esthetic is not RADICALLY different for most listeners.  Genre's that are not constantly changing in and out of style are a good place to aim.  On the flip side of the coin - Dubstep or Bro Country or radically auto-tuned vocal songs are going to time stamp the song / music for eternity and it will be almost unusable once the genre becomes passe.  (And none of us can control that)

The HUGE exception of course is classic songs that have become known and loved worldwide - of which most of us here other than DonR cannot accomplish.    Don's (Don't Fear) The Reaper is a great example.  IMO, that's a pretty unique song.  But it's a classic, and as such, paints a picture that hundreds of thousands of fans (and even non fans) can relate to.  Classic songs bring back memories for the listener, and that is where the gold lies.  Huge sums of money are happily spent for a Frank Sinatra or Zeppelin or Beatles song.  HUGE.  Unfortunately, if the world doesn't know your song and lyric from memory, you are in a different licensing world altogether.  <sigh>  

For music with lyrics, getting too specific or too detailed can be a detriment to placing it many times.  If the lyric is all about "Mary Anne", and the lead character in the film is "Jennifer"....well...sorry, no sale.  However, if your lead character is Mary Anne.... SCHWING!!!!!  If your song has specific and intimate beach lyrics and the film is shot in the desert.... No Sale.  

There are constant human emotions though that are undeniably transcendent no matter if you're 15 or 50.  That's where the money is.  Make everyone FEEL something, and you're in the zone.  Don't be too specific.  Hit a wide variety of people.