How to brief a composer for your Kickstarter trailer

Your campaign trailer is often the very first thing a backer hears from your game. In a minute or two, the music and sound have to set the mood, carry the story and make people want to scroll down to the pledge levels. A good brief is the fastest way to get there, and it doesn't have to be long or technical.

Here's what we've learned from scoring campaign trailers for tabletop RPGs and games, and what we'd love every team to send us before the first note.

1. Start with the feeling, not the genre

"Epic orchestral" or "dark synth" tells a composer what to reach for, but not why. Try describing what a backer should feel at the end of the trailer instead: curious, a little scared, ready for an adventure, laughing. A genre can follow from that, and sometimes the best answer is a surprising one.

2. Send references, and say what you like about them

Two or three reference tracks, trailers or games are plenty. The most useful part is the sentence next to each one: "we love the slow build here", "this percussion feels like our world", "the voice-over in this one is exactly our tone". It also helps a lot to share something you don't want. Knowing what to avoid is as valuable as knowing what to chase.

3. Share the cut early, even if it's rough

Music in a trailer follows the picture: the hits, the pauses, the moment the logo lands. A rough cut, an animatic or even a storyboard lets us start shaping the music around your edit instead of guessing. Once the edit is locked, let us know. Changes to the picture after that usually mean changes to the music, so it's worth locking the timing before the final mix.

4. Know your dates

Tell us your launch day and any milestone before it, like a preview for your community or a press date. Leave room for at least one round of feedback on a sketch and one on the full mix. If you're planning a Kickstarter or BackerKit campaign, reaching out a couple of months before launch gives everyone room to breathe.

5. Decide where the trailer will live

A trailer for the campaign page, a cut-down for social media and a version for a store page can all need slightly different mixes and lengths. If you know where it's going, say so up front, and we'll deliver the right versions instead of adapting them at the last minute.

6. Talk about voice-over early

If your trailer has narration, the script, the voice and the recording all affect the music and the mix. Decide early whether you're bringing your own voice actor or would like us to handle casting and recording, and share the script as soon as it exists.

7. Agree on rights in writing

Before work begins, agree on how the music can be used: the trailer itself, your campaign page, social media, and perhaps the game or a soundtrack release later. Putting it in writing at the start keeps everything simple when your campaign takes off.

A simple brief you can copy

• The project: a few sentences about your game or campaign, and who it's for
• The feeling: what a backer should feel at the end of the trailer
• References: two or three, with a line about what you like (and one you don't)
• The cut: a rough cut, animatic or storyboard, and when the edit will be locked
• Length and versions: the main trailer plus any cut-downs you need
• Voice-over: script, voice actor, or "we need help with this"
• Dates: your launch day and any milestones before it
• Where it will live: campaign page, YouTube, social, store page
• Budget range: so we can suggest the best way to use it

You don't need every answer before you get in touch. Figuring some of them out together is part of the job, and honestly one of our favourite parts.

If you're planning a campaign, we'd love to hear about it.