Screen Scoring Courses

This introduction is intended for prospective film and media scoring majors, minors, and other students looking for an in-depth exploration of the field of film and media scoring. This course investigates the aesthetic relationship between film and music, discusses the many functions of music scored to visuals, analyzes effective applications of linear music to dramatic situations, and explores career opportunities in film and television music. This course presents early opportunities for students to start scoring simple film cues.

As a continuation of SCRN-202 and SCRN-240, composers will strengthen their use of MIDI/audio sequencing in scoring to picture, in conjunction with sample playback and synthesis software. Special attention is paid to the film scoring capabilities of sequencing applications using, tempo, meter, and synchronization in the process of scoring music to picture. Considerable emphasis is placed on developing skills in emulating a live orchestra through effective use of virtual instrument libraries These skill areas include performance techniques (tracking), editing, automation (real-time and edited), mixing, production, and the creation of work templates.

This course continues a focus on the analysis and composition techniques necessary for composing music for film. Connections between musical form and the composer's role in working to partner with the dramatic flow of film are principal in this course. Course work includes continued in-depth analysis of existing musical examples which demonstrate the role of music composition as a storytelling device. Building on concepts from FILM-240 composers will apply melody, harmony, rhythm, and form to specific dramatic situations. Students will compose several short original pieces. In-class discussions and peer review of works in progress will take place throughout the semester.

This course is a study of multitrack mixdown in a digital audio workstation environment, specifically for the needs of modern film and television scoring in a project studio. Balance and context of a mix are explored, and special consideration is given to genre-appropriate sound. In addition to aesthetic and technical concerns, people skills and delivery to specifications (including stem mixes and session interchange between DAWs) are emphasized. Mix material will be drawn from the student's own film scoring projects from other courses, and/or film scoring sessions from other composers.

This course explores the technical and aesthetic aspects of composing and recording music for documentaries, television, and feature films using both sequencers and sequencers combined with live players. Compositional topics include analysis of a given scene from a film composer’s perspective, creation, and development of themes, and use of form, orchestration, dynamics, and other compositional tools to enhance a particular scene. Technical aspects of scoring covered include topics related to studio production: proper preparation of Pro Tools sessions, score and parts preparation, and conducting and production techniques in a recording studio environment.

As a continuation of SCRN-240 and FILM-207, this course deepens a composer's experience with orchestral textures and timbres as dramatic storytelling tools. This course connects the screen with composing music that enhances the audience experience.

Throughout the history of film, a handful of composers have had an extraordinary and formative impact on the art of film scoring. Composers such as Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, and more recently, Thomas Newman, have invented, extended, or defined the grammar and vocabulary of film music. This course will take a full semester to closely examine the work and career of one composer in a rotating set of seminal figures in film scoring history. By studying their work, their impact on film music language, and how their careers developed, students will gain valuable lessons in the art and profession of film scoring.

Study of specific techniques of post-romantic composition commonly found in film underscores. Techniques studied include intervallic structures, polytonality, independent triads, and parallelism/constant structure. There will be extensive traditional score and film music analysis, as well as scoring projects based on each technique.

A technical course designed to give composers practical experience in the area of music editing for a scored film and temp-tracked film project. Class instruction and weekly private lab work will include the preparation of all documents involved in music postproduction, as well as various techniques used when synchronizing and editing music to picture on a digital audio workstation.

This course will provide opportunities for scoring scenes that use the same thematic material for one movie. Students will learn to create appropriate themes, develop variations, create a suite of proposed thematic material for a director, and score several scenes from the same film. Students will use MIDI sequences as well as live players to record their projects. All recorded projects will be conducted by the composers and screened for faculty evaluation. This course will also cover the basic knowledge of the music business as it relates to the film composer. Topics to be discussed will include initial meetings with directors, royalties, contracts, agents, the musicians union, and budgeting for a project.

This course will address the prevalent and recurrent need in films to emulate a wide variety of stylistic scoring approaches appropriate to the period setting and/or specific ethnic locale of a screenplay. Approaches to research and adaptation of authentic musical styles will be discussed. (Such styles include, for example, 17th-century European, African, 1920s American, etc.). Careful attention to instrumentation, arranging, orchestration, and dramatic theme development will be stressed. Assignments representing realistic situations will be recorded synchronously to the specific needs of film scenes.

In this course, students will examine and explore the challenges posed to a composer in addressing certain classic moments that occur as standard fare in dramatic and comedic films. Such moments include, but would not be limited to: The Kiss, The Revelation, The Chase, The Punch Line, The Victory, The Hero's Death, etc. The typical class session will be divided between a critical review of the previous week's writing assignment and a lecture on the next moment to be examined and scored. Lectures will be far-ranging, and examples will be drawn from the work of prominent film and TV composers. Students will learn how to confront the challenges posed by such parameters as limited budgets, period settings, anticipated sound effects, docudramatics, etc.