Complete Guide to Film Scoring

This book is for anyone interested in writing music for movies or television. It takes the reader step-by-step through the art of film scoring, from the history of the field, through the process of writing the score, and finally to an explanation of the music business as it pertains to film and television composers. As a composer myself, I have worked with some of the top people in the business. In preparing this book, I interviewed over 20 of my colleagues— composers, music editors, music supervisors, and agents—and included their observations and anecdotes.

Successful film scoring is not a matter of just writing good music; it is writing good music that supports a dramatic situation. After teaching film scoring for several years at the Berklee College of Music, I have realized that the most important thing for the beginning composer to learn is how to approach writing this kind of music. This means finding the heart of the film, the soul of the film, and expressing that in music. No one can get inside a composer's head and tell them which notes to write. Every musician brings his own personal experience and musical point of view to a composition. But they can be guided and pointed in a certain direction, either by a teacher, a director, or simply a gut reaction to a particular scene. I have found that the best creative guidance I can give is to help someone find that heart of the picture in order to know what they want to express about it. That expression can then combine with other skills—compositional, technical, creative, business, and communication skills—to make a successful film score and a successful composer.

This is our approach in the Film Scoring Program at Berklee, and there are several dimensions to our program that are reflected in the structure of this book. First, it is invaluable to have an appreciation of the masters of film scoring, past and present. The chapters on the history of the field give an overview, and hopefully will inspire the student of film music to further study.

Second, every composer hoping to work in film scoring must know the process of film making and the evolution of a film score. The chapters on topics such as spoiling, syncing, and music editing will give the reader an understanding of this process that many established composers had to learn on the job.

Third, and the most difficult to impart in a book, are the chapters on creating the score. With the help of my composer colleagues, I focus on the important concepts in writing a film score. Again, my aim is to point the reader in the right direction, and hopefully the interested student of film scoring will take the advice of several of the composers in this book, and study, study, study.

The final chapters discuss an issue that is necessary to the livelihood of every professional musician: the music business. Royalties, agents, attorneys, copyrights, and other topics of the film music business are addressed at length. This provides a basic understanding for anyone entering the field.

The book concludes with 19 interviews with some of the top composers and agents in Hollywood. These interviews provide an illuminating glimpse into the careers of those who are successful in this field. Their relationships with directors, stories of how their careers began, the ups and downs along the way, anecdotes about how specific scenes were written, and many other issues are discussed.

How does this music end up on the silver screen? What does it take to be able to compose it? Who chooses the composer? Who chooses what the music should sound like? How long does it take? How do the finances work? This book answers these questions and many others about the art and business of film scoring.

—R.D., Boston, May 1999