Why am I a Composer?: Film Scoring Secrets #2


AFX Industrial (film scores)

More than anything else I get asked "how's it done?" I've been promising a blog outlining some of the secrets behind scoring music for film and here is the second one.

The Work Ethic

Last time we looked at the basis of music (which is maths) but that's pretty dull isn't it? What people really want to know about is the physical day to day activity of scoring, the hands on stuff, but I think the real fascination for people comes from the fact that your score will be broadcast on TV or premiered in a cinema showcase.

Of course the film industry has a certain glamour to it, that is undeniable, but from having my studio based at Shepperton Film Studios I have experienced first hand how hard everyone in this industry works. Even the stars of films spend weeks living away from home (sometimes in a trailer parked outside my studio). OK so the rewards can be great but I know that most people would not swap my work load for theirs any time soon, that's for sure.

A Changing Industry

Over the last ten years there have been so many changes to the film industry, and keeping up with them all is also part of the remit of being a film score composer. It's no longer enough to understand the basics of the piano keyboard and how it relates to musical notation no, because along with the digital data explosion of the last decade, comes a new responsibility - to understand more and more about the film making process itself.

Although as a composer I will never expect film makers to speak in a musical language I am however expected to understand the language of film making. So I guess in a changing industry like ours simply being a composer doesn't cut it anymore. But that's OK I'm not complaining I'm just explaining how it all works and that how writing music is a much smaller part of the overall equation than you'd ever think.

The Stuff You Want To Know

How is scoring done? Well the very first time I sit down with a director and we watch the film through is called a 'spotting session', during which we decide where the start and stop points of the music should be. Quite often we will decide where the music cue will enter and exit exactly to the frame. At the same time we will discuss the scene in its entirety, the feeling that we wish to evoke in the audience and any thematic material related to each character. By thematic material I mean a leitmotif (recurring theme) that personifies each character and shapes and supports the underlying story. Spotting sessions may take a few hours or a couple of days depending on the length of the film, and the amount of music cues needed. This is often a fun (but brief) creative time and is without a doubt one of my favourite aspects of the scoring process!

That's all for this update but next time I will look at the next stage in this fascinating and creative process.

- David.