Film Scoring

EML

FILM SCORING I AN INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

Normal Music vs. Film Music Normal Music • Music for music’s 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