Background Music Composer & Sound Designer for Children’s Feature Film

Background Music Composer & Sound Designer for Children’s Feature Film We are looking for an experienced and creative Background Music Composer / Film Scoring Artist with strong Sound Design skills to work on a professionally produced feature-length children’s/family movie. This is a festive, warm, colourful and music-driven film primarily made for young children and families. We are therefore looking for someone who understands that scoring a children’s movie requires a very different musical approach from scoring a conventional adult drama. Project Scope The complete movie is approximately 1 hour 15 minutes long. The film already contains 4 fully completed original songs, representing approximately 15 minutes of the movie. These songs are final and do not require any work or modification. We therefore need approximately 60 minutes of film to be scored, although this does not necessarily mean 60 minutes of continuous music. The composer should understand when music is needed, when sound effects can carry a moment, and when silence is more effective. The work will include: * Original background score / underscore * Musical themes and recurring motifs * Scene transitions and musical bridges * Comedic and playful musical cues * Emotional cues * Magical / festive moments * Suspense and anticipation appropriate for young children * Cartoon-style sound effects and musical effects * Small musical accents synchronized with character movements, reactions and actions * Supporting existing dialogue without overpowering it * Creating a consistent musical identity across the entire film The Most Important Requirement: Understanding Children We are not looking for a conventional Indian/adult feature-film background score simply adapted to a children’s movie. The music and sound must actively help engage young children and keep their attention. For example, a character looking surprised, falling, running, hiding, discovering something, opening a door, reacting to something funny, or performing a small physical action may benefit from a carefully timed musical accent or playful sound. Think of the way good children’s films, animation and family entertainment use music and sound to make movements and emotions immediately understandable and enjoyable for children. This does not mean filling every second with random cartoon noises. The effects must be tasteful, musical and intelligently placed. We want someone who understands the difference between purposeful children’s sound design and simply adding generic sound effects everywhere. The score should help a young viewer feel what is happening even before they fully understand the dialogue. Musical Direction The overall film has a festive / celebration atmosphere, somewhat comparable to the warmth and musical richness associated with seasonal family movies. We want the movie to feel like a musical experience, rather than a dialogue-heavy film with occasional background music. Depending on the scene, the score may need to feel: * Playful * Funny * Curious * Mischievous * Warm * Emotional * Magical * Energetic * Festive * Innocent * Exciting * Child-friendly We particularly value composers who can tell a story musically and create memorable recurring themes rather than simply placing generic background tracks underneath scenes. Sound Effects / Cartoon Elements An important part of this project is the use of fun, expressive and cartoon-inspired sound elements. Examples could include subtle musical hits, pops, whistles, slides, percussion accents, movement sounds, reaction cues, comedic timing effects and other creative sounds. These should work together with the score rather than sounding like an unrelated sound-effect library placed over the movie. Strong synchronization and comedic timing are very important. Who We Are Looking For You may be a good fit if you have experience with: * Children’s films * Animation * Cartoons * Family entertainment * Children’s television * Kids’ YouTube / streaming content * Children’s games * Musical storytelling * Film scoring * Sound design A strong understanding of how music and sound influence children’s attention, emotions and understanding of a scene is more important to us than simply having many years of traditional film-scoring experience. Application Requirement Please do not send only a general music portfolio. We specifically want to hear examples demonstrating your ability to score children’s, family, animation or cartoon-style content. When applying, please include: 1. 2–3 of your most relevant examples. 2. A short explanation of your experience composing for children, animation or family entertainment. 3. Your approach to combining background score with playful/cartoon-style sound effects. 4. Your estimated timeframe for scoring approximately 60 minutes of a feature film. 5. Your proposed fixed-price budget or rate. Short Sample Test For shortlisted candidates, we may provide a short video scene of approximately 1–2 minutes and ask you to demonstrate how you would approach the background music and playful sound design. This will help us evaluate creative understanding, musical storytelling and timing, rather than choosing someone purely based on previous credits. The complete movie and detailed creative information will only be shared with the selected freelancer under the appropriate confidentiality arrangements. Deliverables Final deliverables are expected to include: * Completed background score synchronized to picture * Required musical/cartoon-style sound effects * High-quality WAV files * Individual stems where required * Separate music and sound-effect stems * Final synchronized reference mix * Project/session files where agreed * Full commercial usage rights for the production and its worldwide distribution and promotion We are looking for someone who can become a creative partner, understand the world of the film, and use music and sound to make the experience exciting and memorable for young children. If your strength is musical storytelling for children, we would love to hear your work.