Scoring to picture

The Lounge Mission Briefs
#41

Yeah the winner may indeed end up being a more standard affair but yeah who knows.

I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the controversy in the Westworld competition but for one I think the winner being so ‘out there’ should have been a good reminder for a lot of people that you absolutely need individuality to stand out. You can’t just roll out the intimidating brass / rumbling celli / staccato strings if you want to stand out from the crowd.

If I remember correctly, the controversy was partly caused by the fact there was a connection between the winner and someone in the Westworld team who were the panel for the competition? That’s not nice admittedly.

Since I posted the link and watched the scene I actually started thinking that if I were to try it, I’d probably do it with something like Machinedrum as a poly or something. Definitely not orchestral samples. But stylistically it’s not my thing at all so it might end up feeling like a chore so probably not gonna even try it.

#42

New scoring competition from Spitfire.

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#43

They certainly manage to partner with some high profile projects! I’ve never seen Bridgerton (my partner watches it, though). Not sure it’s quite my thing, though I guess that is the challenge of being a good media composer- coming up with a great score even when the source material doesn’t resonate…

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#44

I didn’t watch the scenes yet nor am I familiar with Bridgerton but it’s probably not my thing either. If I’d had more time I would’ve given each of the three Spitfire scoring comp’s a go just for fun. Three very different shows in the competitions, which is nice. I always seem to prioritise writing ”my own music”, however, which has the funny notion that scoring for media wouldn’t be my own but that’s just how I feel about it. It’s certainly its very own thing within the field of being a professional composer/musician.

#45

A little peek at my entry as costume romance music is my kind of thing. Looking forward to winning.

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#46

I’ve heard the first rule in scoring for media is the music doesn’t have to be good, it just needs to fit.

Then again, the winner for the Westworld comp was ”notorious” for being very different from all those wannabe Hans Zimmers so would be awesome to hear something different (like your bit) for Bridgerton as well.

Then again, like I said, I don’t know Bridgerton at all so you might be right on the money! :grinning:

#47

I’ve always thought it was some cheesy British romance but I really know nothing as I’ve never seen it.

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#48

Yeah, certainly looks like a Jane Austen knock-off but I might be completely wrong.

#49

Sounds like a “live score” Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum would welcome :slight_smile:

#50

had a look at the clip…don’t think i’ll be giving this a try although it would probably make it for a change in terms of content and a way to try something different but mmh…not feeling it

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#51

Ok I might give this a go I think I could pull something out for it - I suspect less traditional scores will be what stand out the most, I can think of some interesting ways to work with the footage!

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#52

For a different kind of scoring challenge, Walker Farrell at Make Noise has posted a challenge of creating a soundtrack to a short clip of popping open a can and pouring it:

I guess that’s not really scoring – kind of synthesizing foley sounds, maybe? – but it sounds lke a fun short challenge I might have a go at.

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#53

If you end up scoring the scene, please share it here as well! Would be nice to see/hear what you came up with.

Just had a look at the scene and have to say it looks really challenging to me. And not only stylistically. Lots of cuts, different scenes within a scene - feels almost like a trailer. In my eyes/ears the tone of the narrator already takes the mood into a certain direction that, to me, doesn’t give the composer a lot of wiggleroom. Of course that’s on top of the visuals.

Would love for someone to surprise me with a unique but elegant score tho!

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#54

If I don’t hate what I do I’ll definitely share it :slight_smile:

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#55

That’s fun and frustrating when generating based on some prompts. I loved the idea but not the time limits imposed during game jam and someone wanted a synthesized “robot drinking a milkshake” effect.

#56

So I have something down for the first half of Bridgerton which I’m really happy with but that change in tone I’m really struggling with! I might try writing something seperate for that half and see how I can bring them together? Not sure if there are any good techniques for that kind of transition

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#57

I’ve listened to about ten submissions on Youtube and a few of them use a certain point in the dialogue where the first piece of music comes to a stop. In at least two it was the male character’s line (something to the effect of ”has something happened”), which was without any background music and I think it worked well to dramatic effect and allowed the next piece of music be different / start from ”silence”. I feel that works much better than have one continuous piece play through the whole thing.

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#58

Yea that’s the point I’m trying to transition to, where the chap comes in - it’s good advice - I think treating that as a hard stop and then starting something new is probably the way to go.

Technically I think you could get 3 quite distinct moods/pieces in here but I think that’s biting off more than I can chew!

There’s an exhale near the beginning which I really want to edit out - feels awkward having to keep it in.

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#59

So here’s my first draft - some areas definitely need improvement but I think I’m mostly happy with the structure and I think I successfully imparted myself into it - would be really grateful for any advice, feedback and opinions! I haven’t listened to any other entrants, I worry that it would put me off continuing :laughing:

One thing I’m doing that I might need to change is using a compressor and EQ on the master track - they say you can’t change or automate the dialog and I think that probably counts as altering it. So I’ll probably just have that exported as a seperate track and get the levels adjusted in post.

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#60

I think it sounds good. Nice to hear something different than the usual string pads into staccato strings, etc.

If I could share one thing which bothered me slightly (but that might’ve been a conscious choice, so not really wrong, per se) - the music felt a bit too prominent compared to the dialogue and rest of sounds. Maybe it can be slightly lower in the mix? To be clear, I could hear the dialogue clearly so it’s not a big problem as such, it just slightly felt that the music was the feature here, and not the dialogue. But that could be a individual choice thing.

I liked it.

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