My very first film score ever

[jsawruk 0]

Well, it's official. I am in the final week of completing my first film score ever.

The film itself is a documentary about my hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The film was made by students at a local middle school (which I attended years ago), through a grant program through the state of Pennsylvania and Penn State University. This grant program has created other community documentaries before, but this is the first of these videos to include music. I was hired to write this music, meaning that I am being paid, but only a small amount.

The video consists primarily of interviews of people in the city. Music will be primarily used in transitions and montages. The video will air on the local PBS station sometime in September.

The "soundtrack" consists of 7 cues. Of those 7, I wrote 6. The other cue is Mozart's String Quartet #18 in A Major, K. 464, Movement I.

Of my 6, three are for solo piano, two are Latin-style dance music, and the last is some urban electronic music. The first three are recorded by a live musician on a Steinway piano, while the remaining three were made in Acid. You can see just how little my budget allowed me to do!

I think this is really cool, and certainly a good (if not microscopic) step in the right direction. If anyone wants to know more, feel free to ask. There are some other interesting things happening for me musically, so I will keep you informed.

[Ren 75]

congratulations!

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

That's really cool, I'd like to hear some of it.

Ray Barnsbury

[ocelot 508]

Congrats.

[Jango Fett 0]

Congrats, it must been a lot of work

Maybe you can let us hear some of your pieces???

[jsawruk 0]

I think that I will put some pieces of mine up soon, including from the film score. However, I am very busy at the moment, so it probably won't be up until Sunday at the earliest.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Congrats.

- Marc

[charlesk 0]

Nice! Post the samples!

[PBL 0]

Congratulations

I remember the first film score I had to conduct... what an excitment (but also a burden) it was !! So difficult, so technical with the synchro...

But anyway, i wish you all the best for this project, and also the others to come :spiny:

Philippe

[hitman20 0]

I'd like to ask you, what methods did you use to complete your film score? Did you actually write it out first or did you use a program? The reason I'm asking is because I'm also working on a little project of my own.

[hitman20 0]

Oh, by the way, good job! I give anyone props that completes such a task.

[jsawruk 0]

First of all, there was no need for syncing in this score. In fact, I'm not going to insert the music into the film. There are no sync points, as is the nature of this film. Furthermore, since I am only recording one musician, I am not going to conduct that single musician or use a click track. In fact, I am encouraging the use of rubato to add expression.

I wrote the score using Acid and Sibelius. The piano pieces were written in Sibelius, everything else in Acid. I'm going to be using Sound Forge for the editing and mastering before I submit it to the post-production team.

Hope this helps!

[Mythos 0]

Congrats. from me too, jsawruk.

Ah...I remember my first score very well, man what an amount of work, but the satisfaction afterwards compensates for many difficult and selfdoubting hours during the work in progress.

[Joel 0]

Well Done! On the way to a proffesional Composer soon i bet! Wouldn't it be cool if you were just sitting in the cinema and you saw, in the credits "Music by..." and it was someone you once knew off these message boards. Actually, i don't think i've been to any message boards which have people who have such talent and character as much as this one.

Joel-Who feels proud to be a JWFan.net member

[FossMan 1]

Good job!

Question about the process: Are you given a budget and have to hire all the musicians and purchase all the equipment itself? And, since I have no idea what even a small budget is like, what was your budget (or what were you paid)?

Another question, this one about film scoring: Where can I find out info about the whole process of film scoring, (i.e. how music is synched with the film, etc.)?

Thanks and congrats!

[UCFKevin 0]

Very very cool.

[jsawruk 0]

Question about the process: Are you given a budget and have to hire all the musicians and purchase all the equipment itself? And, since I have no idea what even a small budget is like, what was your budget (or what were you paid)?

Another question, this one about film scoring: Where can I find out info about the whole process of film scoring, (i.e. how music is synched with the film, etc.)?

Answer to question #1 is easy. My total budget was exactly $0.00. My composers fee was small (less than $1000). Why? Because the producers and directors didn't think about music until after they did their budgeting. Therefore, they couldn't secure any more funds. The composers fee that they paid me is well below the acceptable standards.

3 tracks were done in Acid. I had the loop libraries and software already, so that cost me $0.00 directly. Indirectly, it would probably come to near $500.

The other 3 tracks were recorded by a pianist. This requires space, recording equipment and engineer, and a performer. I got the space free because I currently work at the hall, which is located at my alma mater. I got the recording engineer to come in for $0.00 in exchange for helping him in his studio with computer upgrades and the like.

Total expediture so far: $0.00

Then I had to hire a pianist. I figured that I could only afford one instrumentalist, and that's why this score is solo piano for these 3 tracks. I couldn't even hire a professional pianist; I hired a student at what my composition prof calls the minimally acceptable rate for a college student: $100.

Total expenditure: $100.00

As you can see, I spent $100 more than my budget allocated. I was over budget. The funds came from my composers fee. Hope this helps.

If you want to learn about film scoring, feel free to ask me or others here as a first resource. You may also want to read books and trade publications. A good place to start is with Film Score Monthly magazine. From there, you can move up to such books as Berklee Press' Complete Guide to Film Scoring, and another book called "The Art of Film Music". Then you should graduate up to Fred Karlin's "On The Track", which is a film scoring bible. After that, be sure to stay current and get inside business information from the Film Music Network.

[pianoman1 0]

Wow!!! Thats a really great project!!!! I wish I could be able to do that some time!!!!! Hopefully someday I'll have the chance. The Info above is really interesting.

Its quite impressive! Congratulation's and continued success!! Maybe we will see someday in the thearter's "Music By jsawruk" (you'd hafta request to put that in like AKA type of thing under your name so we'd all know its you)

Congrats again!

[jsawruk 0]

I put the files (MIDI and MP3) on my website for the time being. They are not necessarily final mixes, as I am still tweaking things.

http://themes.jw-music.net/music/cue1.mid - This is a solo piano piece that will be used somewhere in the film for some montages, but I don't know specifically which type. It may also be used as the end credits.

http://themes.jw-music.net/music/cue3.mid - This is a solo piano piece that will be used for landscape montages.

http://themes.jw-music.net/music/cue5.mid - This is a solo piano piece used during a segment on turn of the 20th century events.

http://themes.jw-music.net/music/Merengue.mp3 - This is a Latin merengue that will be used somewhere in the film, possibly for time-lapse footage.

http://themes.jw-music.net/music/dave's%20merengue.mp3 - This is another Latin piece (though it's questionable as to whether it's a merengue or not) that will be used in a segment on the Latino population in our area.

http://themes.jw-music.net/music/Underground.mp3 - This is an electronic piece of music that will be used for urban settings. The director wants to use this as the overture. I haven't seen the establishing shot, but I would rather see cue 1 as the overture.

Tell me what you think.

[charlesk 0]

I really liked the Underground music. You made it interesting and classy; that is in good taste. Having lived in Latin America I can say the merengue is quite accurate.

Cue 5 is enjoyable as a ragtime piece. Cue 3 has some of the special nostalgy of Gymnopaedias.

My feedback with the piano pieces, is that you should try to listen more piano pieces, to understand what you can really do with it. I can notice that piano is not your instrument, and that limits your creativity by making the accompaniments and arrangement of the melody very simple and repetitive, as if you were composing only what you could play. Piano is an orchestra in a box, if it is easier for you, compose for the piano as if you were composing for a full orchestra, adding more layers of instruments and rythms, and then reduce it to make it playable in two hands. If the final result requires a very good pianist, so be it, but you would have made a piece in which your creativity was not limited by your own technical limitation on a particular instrument.

[jsawruk 0]

I am always expanding my knowledge about all instruments, as all composers should. I still have a lot to learn about the piano for sure.

I was satisfied with the overall results I obtained for piano in these pieces, especially cue 1. I couldn't write them very complex, however, because of both the time and the limits of the pianist. Basically, the pianist, who isn't professional, had to sight read! Therefore, my goal was to balance good music with easy playability.

[jsawruk 0]

I have just learned that this tv film may air in PBS other than the one I am in.

I would assume that it would most likely air in markets such as Philadelphia, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Reading, Harrisburg, and Lancaster, PA.

However, the director informs me that there is a chance that markets outside of PA will pick it up as well.

If I know of anything definite, I will let you know. However, I seriously doubt it will reach the West coast (sorry ocelot!)

[jsawruk 0]

Ok, here's the latest up-date:

The program will premiere on 3 September 2003 at 8 PM EST on WLVT-39 Lehigh Valley PBS. There will most likely be additional airings, probably 5 or so altogether. It will only air on WLVT, contrary to early reports suggesting otherwise. I do not know how much of my music they will use.

It will be my first screen credit. The only other people I know with any screen credit as a composer are ocelot and my professor! :cool:

[Ren 75]

congrats Jeremy.

And they sound great!

[PBL 0]

Great news Jeremy ! Congratulations

[jsawruk 0]

Here's an update on the film, which aired last night:

Students' documentary on Allentown elicits pride, praise

[Ren 75]

wow, this is cool.