I think you're talking about "artisitic license" here. I too have struggled with the concept of "artistic license" in my documentaries. It simply came down to reminding myself that the role of an artist, whether they are working in film or some other medium, is to re-present or communicate an idea to their intended audience. I've found that the score chosen for the documentary, or the lack thereof, can greatly enhance the perception of the films subject matter. Silent film audiences did not experience a truly silent film. Many films often had an orchestra to accompany the picture. This was done live but very few recordings were done of this live, orchestrated musical accompaniment. When home video tapes became so popular many prodcos who owned the rights to these works did not release them as purely silent films. They included a music track to accompany the visuals. There are exceptions of course, "nos feratu" being one of these exceptions where there are copies with and without the music track. Of course, this is only my opinion - take it or leave it - but, I strongly believe that you should utilize any tools at you disposal to communicate your subject in its truest light. Remember, you are trying to produce the strongest project possible, so use anything you can to do this. That's the way I see it. Shawn Flynn ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]