Complete Guide to Film Scoring

A while back, I read Complete Guide to Film Scoring: The Art and Business of Writing Music for Movies and TV by Richard Davis. Its a great book and definitely well worth the read. Here is the synopsis of the book:

“If you’ve ever wondered how to write music for film or television, The Complete Guide to Film Scoring is a necessary resource. This guide will take you through the film-making process, preparing and recording a score, the history of the field, and the business side of film scoring including contracts, fees, publishing, royalties, and copyrights.

Learn from the career experiences of 19 film-scoring professionals in interviews with composers such as Michael Kamen (Mr. Holland’s Opus, Brazil), Alf Clausen (The Simpsons, Naked Gun), Alan Silvestri (Forrest Gump, Contact), Mark Snow (X-Files, Millennium) and Elmer Bernstein (To Kill a Mockingbird, Airplane, Rainmaker).”

Anyway, I recently found this video series by Richard Davis on youtube which is very interesting. Topics he covers include:

– the basic process and timelines in films
– midi mock-ups
– temp tracks
– the need for the composer to be not just a musician, but a filmmaker as well.

Its well worth a look at if you are a composer or director

Videos

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6: