Comedy Film Composer
Comedy does not always need funny music. Sometimes the funniest musical decision is to treat something ridiculous with absolute seriousness.
Selected Comedy Film Music
The Music Doesn't Always Have to Tell the Joke
Comedy can be scored very literally.
Music can follow individual movements, gestures and visual events closely — an approach commonly described as Mickey Mousing.
There are situations where that degree of synchronization can work extremely well.
But I find that more sophisticated comedy often benefits from something less obvious.
Rather than having the music continually announce that something is funny, the score can create a musical perspective that makes the situation funnier.
Sometimes Serious Is Funnier
One technique I particularly enjoy is musical sarcasm.
Imagine a scene that is fundamentally ridiculous. The obvious choice might be light, humorous music that participates directly in the joke.
But another possibility is to do almost the opposite: treat the event as though it is monumentally important.
A huge operatic gesture, dramatic orchestra or choir applied with complete seriousness to something absurd can sometimes be much funnier than conventional comedic scoring.
The humor comes from the distance between what we are seeing and how seriously the music appears to be taking it.
Comedy Creates Permission to Experiment
One of the things I enjoy most about comedy is how much musical freedom it can provide.
A score can move between surprisingly different musical worlds when the film supports it.
I have worked with large, epic textures similar to those I might use in dramatic scoring and contrasted them with much lighter colors — guitar, flute and smaller instrumental combinations.
That contrast itself can become part of the personality of the film.
Know When to Follow the Action
Detailed synchronization is still an important tool.
There are moments when hitting a movement, reaction, reveal or cut precisely can strengthen the timing of a joke.
The important question is whether the music is improving the comedy or merely describing what the audience can already see.
Sometimes synchronization is the joke.
Sometimes ignoring the action and maintaining complete musical seriousness is much funnier.
Give the Film Its Own Sense of Humor
There is no single musical vocabulary for comedy.
The score might be light, enormous, understated, sarcastic, elegant or deliberately disproportionate to what is happening on screen.
What matters is discovering the particular comic language of the film rather than reaching automatically for sounds that audiences already associate with something being funny.
Sometimes the funniest thing a score can do is refuse to laugh at the joke.
Tell Me About Your Film
If you're looking for an original score and Nathan's approach feels right for your film, tell me a little about the project, where you are in production, and what you're imagining for the music.