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Thoughts on Writing Music for Film

I love the collaboration of scoring music to picture. It's fun and challenging. Each film is a new puzzle that needs solving. The answer is always there, but not always obvious. I've learned with patience and listening, it will reveal itself.

Continues below ...

Music for Media

Music for Media

Music for Media
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Ro & the Stardust

Ro & the Stardust

05:13
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Rifkin's Festival - Dreaming of Rose

Rifkin's Festival - Dreaming of Rose

00:45
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Spice King - Fate's Call

Spice King - Fate's Call

01:29
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Mr Sam - Music Excerpt

Mr Sam - Music Excerpt

00:00
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Ro & the Stardust

Ro & the Stardust

Spice King

Spice King

A Spoon of Honey

A Spoon of Honey

Jesus Would Have Loved Punk Rock

Jesus Would Have Loved Punk Rock

Rifkin's Festival

Rifkin's Festival

Ruth

Ruth

The Realtor

The Realtor

Mr Sam

Mr Sam

The Renovation

The Renovation

Glen Reige 20 WP

Glen Reige 20 WP

Home Team

Home Team

The Life and Legacy of Marcus Garvey

The Life and Legacy of Marcus Garvey

Queendom

Queendom

Sixth of June

Sixth of June

History in the Making

History in the Making

Our Hawaii

Our Hawaii

Queen Nanny

Queen Nanny

Thoughts on Writing Music for Film

(cont'd)

My process is a constant dialog between the macro and the details. I begin in the big picture world: Who are the characters and what do they sound like? What is the story about? Does it need a heavy-handed score or something more subtle? I get a sense of the world the music needs to inhabit. Then I sketch out big ideas, themes, motifs—maybe they are used, maybe they're a springboard. I talk with the filmmaker to better understand their vision and we make decisions around language, texture, color and pacing. This early phase is probably the most challenging, because getting it wrong here means a lot of wasted time later.

Next comes the micro phase where decisions come down to when to let the music flourish or when to barely have it audible. Maybe a dramatic crescendo, maybe a playful counterpoint. Whatever the scene needs. I always think to songwriting when I'm scoring to film. In writing a song the goal is to create music that does not impede or obscure the singer and the lyrics. In the same way film music must seamlessly flow with the scene it's set against. It is an accompaniment; when it's done well the scene can sing freely.

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