Topmusicanswers
5 Tips for Writing a Film Score
- Begin with a simple melody. As a composer, your job is to create an original yet familiar theme that pushes the story forward. ...
- Compose narratively. Stick to the story and never abandon it. ...
- Think in terms of sound palettes. ...
- Know your role in the process. ...
- Stay on budget.
How do you price film scoring?
Typically if you're composing music for a film, you can ask for the film's budget and then charge a percentage of the film. Again, there are no fixed percentage that composers charge but it may go from 5% to 15% of the film's budget. Going by the minute – This method usually works quite well too.
How do you name a film score cues?
It's common for original music to be named with both a title “Knights Bridge” and with this formatted prefix (for example 2m4). The first number is the reel. The letter “m” stands for music. The last number is the actual cue number on that reel.
What makes a film score great?
First and most importantly, a soundtrack must match the tone of the film. In some cases this is pretty obvious; explosions shouldn't sound like a cough and vehicles crashes need to portray BIG forces of impact. But there's more to it than that, small scale cinema needs a soundtrack that's in proportion.
