EML

FILM SCORING I
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

Normal Music vs. Film Music

Normal Music
Music for musics sake
Collaboration between
musicians
Mostly songs
Easy to understand without
visuals

Say by John Mayer

Film Music
Music for dramatic effect
Collaboration between
musicians and nonmusicians
Mostly instrumental
compositions
Difficult to understand
without visuals
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

Basic
Emotions
Love

Joy

Anger

Fear

Sadness

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

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, timecode
Courtesy: Wikipedia

Composers

Style

Films

Film Music from 1930s to 1970s

Pre 1950s
Romantic period classical
Attached themes to characters
Similar in style to opera
Mostly European composers

Erich
Korngold

1938

Max
Steiner

1939

Post 1950s
Contemporary classical textures of
Stravinsky, Bartok and Schoenberg
Twelve tone, Jazz, Dissonance, Rock,
Ostinati
Rise of American composers
Theme Songs

David
Raksin

Alex
North

Bernard
Hermann

Henry
Mancini

Roger
McGuinn

1944

1951

1960

1961

1969

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

2000s
Affordable studio technology
Sound design in scoring
Sequencers for syncing
High quality mock ups
Minimalism

Composers

Style

Films

Film Music from 1970s to Today

Jerry
Goldsmith

1970

John
Williams

1977

Vangelis

Hans
Zimmer

Danny
Elfman

Thomas
Newman

1981

1989

1990

2000

Daft
Punk

2010?

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 Ableton

Live
Ableton only accepts movies in Quicktime
format
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