Creating Sound for Video: Scoring a Documentary

“Creating music for a film makes me think of how much I’ve grown thanks to SoundCloud,” says Montpellier, France-based SoundClouder Julie Cocq.

As a student and composer, Julie has been interested in collaborating with filmmakers for a long time — so she made it known on her profile.

Evan Bartlett from Illinois contacted her to see if she would be interested in scoring his documentary film, Discovering the Beating Path. Releasing later this year, Discovering the Beating Path is an inspiring story of cancer survivors, Evan and his friend Elijah Accola, who embark on a 47 day journey across the American west from Illinois to show that there is life after cancer.

“To me, music brings so much to movies. It’s something that emphasizes emotions, that gives a peculiar ambiance, something that you’ll remember afterwards. To me, movie and music are practically indissociable. When I make a song, my mind is always wandering, filled with pictures,” says Julie. Hear one of her inspiring compositions from the soundtrack called “Ours”.

By building this awareness and meeting people through SoundCloud also led to this opportunity. Julie and Evan initially got in touch through SoundClouder Zach Schimpf whom Julie had collaborated with on SoundCloud many times. “Meeting new people and being a part of the SoundCloud community led me here.”

Beyond this relationship, interacting with the community and receiving feedback has given her confidence as a musician. “It’s so encouraging to read all the kind words and advices from the community members. That reassurance is very much appreciated, and it’s awesome to know that people love what you’re doing and love to do.”

Stay tuned on the blog, Tumblr and Twitter this week to hear from more creators involved in creating for film and video.