FILM SCORING IAN INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY
EML
Normal Music vs. Film Music
Normal Music
Music for musics sake
Collaboration between musicians
Mostly songs
Easy to understand without visuals
Film Music
Music for dramatic effect
Collaboration between musicians and non-musicians
Mostly instrumental compositions
Difficult to understand without visuals
Say by John Mayer Batman - The Dark Knight
Use of Songs in Movies
Kill Bill directed by Quentin Tarantino
Soundtrack by RZA of Wu-Tang Clan. Uses a number songs in a popular style
Use of Original Music in Movies
American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes
Soundtrack by Thomas Newman. Experimental use of marimba, ethnic percussion and
electronic textures
Music and Emotions
The role of music in film is to play the drama
The composer can choose to either subdue or enhance an emotion in a particular scene
The music can reflect emotion either from the point of view of the audience or the actors
Basic Emotions
Love Joy Anger Fear Sadness
Genres and common emotions
Action Tension, retribution, sadness, joy, love, hope, triumph
Romance Sadness, joy, comedy, love
Fantasy Awe, tension, sadness, joy, love, hope
Horror Fear, tension, surprise, relief, panic
Comedy Amusement, joy, love
A bit of Film History
Silent films were one of the earliest kinds of films.
No synchronized dialogue or music
The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse (1921)by Rex Ingram
Silent Films
Silent films had music fake books for various moods to be played by a live band/orchestra
The beginning of synchronized sound
Synchronized music began with invention of sound-on-disc processes such as the Warner Brothers Vitaphone
The Jazz Singer (1927) by Alan Crosland. An early film based on the vitaphone technique.
Modern day sound on film
A competing process, sound on film (dubbing), eventually won the movie sound format war giving rise to the kind of films we have today
Sound is usually printed onto the same piece of film as the picture
Macro of 35mm film audio tracks. From left to right:SDDS track, dolby digital track in between perforations, RCA Photophone, timecodeCourtesy: Wikipedia
Film Music from 1930s to 1970sFi
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Max Steiner
Erich Korngold
Styl
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Pre 1950s Romantic period classical Attached themes to characters Similar in style to opera Mostly European composers
Post 1950s Contemporary classical textures of
Stravinsky, Bartok and Schoenberg Twelve tone, Jazz, Dissonance, Rock,
Ostinati Rise of American composers Theme Songs
DavidRaksin
BernardHermann
AlexNorth
Henry Mancini
1938 1939 1944 1951 1960 1961 1969
RogerMcGuinn
Film Music from 1970s to TodayFi
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JohnWilliams
JerryGoldsmith
Styl
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1970 to 1980 Sweetening technique
(Overdubbing) Multi-track recording Rise of scores for TV serials
with Jazz/Rock influences Return of big lush orchestras
1980s to 1990s Rise of the synthesized score The pop influenced orchestra World beat/location influenced scores Blend of real and synthesized
instruments Rise of the rock/pop star film scorer
Vangelis DannyElfman
Thomas Newman
1970 1977 1981 1989 1990 2000
2000s Affordable studio technology Sound design in scoring Sequencers for syncing High quality mock ups Minimalism
HansZimmer
2010?
DaftPunk
The Film Making Process
Development
Obtain rights
Write the Screenplay
Prepare film treatment
Financing
Pre-production
Hire principal creative people
Casting
Scheduling
Hire Film Crew
Scout locations
Production
Rehearsals
Actual shoot
Editors start reviewing daily footage
Post -production
Film Editing
Temp tracks
ADR
Foley
Special Effects
Soundtrack
Sales & Distribution
Distribution to Theatres
Spotting the Film
You carry out the spotting session with the director and producer to decide:
The start and end of each cue
What each cue will sound like
What the role of the music is for the cue
Try to understand what the director wants in layman terms
Use temp tracks as guides
The Music Editor
The music editor:
Prepares spotting notes, timing notes and master cue list
Syncs temp tracks to the work print (Tracking)
Prepares click tracks, streamers and punches for the recording session
Oversees the dubbing of the music onto the film ensuring they are placed at the proper places
Does final editing of music, if any, after recording
Sample spotting notes
Excerpt from Complete Guide to Film Scoring by Richard Davis
Sample Master Cue List
Excerpt from Complete Guide to Film Scoring by Richard Davis
Comparing notes
Click to watch Treehouse of Horror VIII
Hands On: Syncing Movies to AbletonLive
Ableton only accepts movies in Quicktimeformat
Alternatively, Ableton can sync to external devices using midi timecode
Step 1: Add the Movie
Drag and drop Quicktime movie onto a track in Arrangement View
Step 2: View the Video Window
From the View menu, select Video Window. Video Window should pop up.
Step 3: Set the tempo
Select the clip, Warp and set to Tempo Master
Hands On: Syncing Tron Legacy
Spot the Tron Legacy trailer and sync appropriate music