the good in a shrinking music budget...

My wife and I watched "The Book of Eli" the other evening. I really liked the film. What really stood out for me of course was the music. The music was stark and other worldly, which fit with the visuals on the screen. What was really great was that the music was done by Atticus Ross, who until now was only known by the fans of industrial electronic fans. No I can't say that a small music budget was the reason for choosing Atticus Ross as the composer, but it got me thinking about how we are seeing more and more relative newcomers to the motion picture scoring scene. Could it be that with budgets for movies getting smaller and smaller that producers and directors are looking into untapped resources for music? Maybe forcing them out of the traditional "Hollywood" score and venture into the world of the independent musician with a room fool of synths, guitars, drums, and other weird auditory oddities? The result is not only a smaller expense report in the area of music, but perhaps a new and fresh sound for the film.
Now I love a Hans Zimmer score as much as the next person, however coming in from a different angle can sometimes take a project from being another good film to a great fresh film. As a composer I too have to remember that being traditional might kick you out of a project. Instead of trying to recreate and compete with Zimmer, Horner, Howard etc.; maybe I should take a lesson from Diego Stocco and do what it is I do best and put it out there for the film maker who is looking for something different and beneficial to the bottom line to discover. See if I write an orchestral score then the next step is to have it recorded with a live orchestra. When it comes to an orchestra, nothing beats the real thing. But if the score is pianos, guitars, drums, synths and weird oddities and there is no need to re-record it. Granted not every movie can use the previously described list of sound making devices to create it's score. But if it's a sci-fi film? Come on, after Jerry Goldsmith, and John Williams is there anything else to add in sci-fi orchestral scores?