When John Frankenheimer did The Train, he was a young director replacing another director in France. After Wednesday, this guy is out of here because he's on another movie. Then he had a bunch of German actors come up and shoot them. It's amazing, but it shows what the attitude of filmmaking has to be. You figure it out, get it done and make something worthwhile with what you have.
Most filmmakers are incredibly inarticulate regarding music.
I think that's the best way to do it. When you talk to them on a music level, it's almost like talking about kitchen appliances. If you focus on the dramatic end, you'll succeed. For instance, in Storm of the Century, it's coming in because the evil demon's spirit is still in the house. So the music represents the presence of something which doesn't physically exist.