Film Scoring and Sound Design

In this film scoring class, you will learn how to compose a score for a short film from a professional film composer. Lectures will include topics using harmonies, rhythms, themes, motifs, melodies and ostinatos to create emotional impacts. You will study exactly where to create emotions and movement with music, determine the correct tempo of a scene, work with sound design to create a sonic palette using instrumental textures and the importance of musical hits.

This course will help you understand how music enhances the storyline's visual elements. In order to sync music to film, you will need a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) such as Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Studio One or Cubase to install on your computer. You will also need a midi keyboard and headphones.

Most DAWs are equipped with some free virtual instruments and you will also be provided with a free list of downloadable virtual instruments. This course does not include lessons on using a DAW, however you will learn the technical aspects of syncing music to film. No music theory training is needed although can be helpful.

The animation that we will score can be downloaded on Cue Tube, which is a site to help composers practice composing for film. At the time of this course, this was a free site, however there is now a $25 one time charge. This will allow you to download many videos, including the one for this course called Spring.