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Score It! Film Score Composing Competition


Score It! competition logo

Here are some tips and ideas to help you when you create your soundtrack for the Queensland Music Festival's Score It! competition. This school student competition has two sections, Junior (12-14 yrs) and Senior (15-18yrs), and entries close on 1st June 2007. If you haven't yet registered, you can access the details and download the films here.

The three short videos you can choose from are:
  • Film 1 - Medieval II
    Duration: 2 min 10 secs
    Creator: The Creative Assembly
    Synopsis: In medieval Europe armoured warriors on horseback attack a castle hurling flaming rocks and devastating cannons.
    Here is a sample of the video with a soundtrack we created using Acid Music Studio (7.7Mb wmv file) download
  • Film 2 - Sunny Day
    Duration: 2 min
    Creator: Eric Whipp, Wade Odlum & Cutting Edge
    Synopsis: A day in the life of Mike the loser on the streets of Brisbane and how he got his revenge.
  • Film 3 - New Sound Bytes
    Duration: 30 sec
    Creator: Tim Lovett, Animation Student at QUT’s Creative Industries Faculty
    Synopsis: Abstract images create an animated television commercial
    Here is a sample of the video with a soundtrack we created with FL Studio (Fruity Loops) (5Mb mov file) download

Here are some of the many software programs you could use to help you create your soundtrack and synchronise it to the video (click on the name of each program to link to pages with more detailed information on the features of each program):

Program NameVideo WindowSaves Audio Soundtrack with VideoOS Platform
Acid Music Studio YesYesWin
Vegas Movie Studio YesYesWin
Cinescore YesYesWin
Sibelius 4 YesNo*Win/Mac
Finale 2007 YesNo*Win/Mac
FL Studio (Fruity Loops) YesNo*Win
Sonar Home Studio YesNo*Win
Cubase YesNo*Win/Mac
Pro Tools YesNo*Win/Mac
iMovie YesYesMac
Moviemaker YesYesWin
Quicktime Pro YesYesWin/Mac
Band in a Box 2007 No†No*Win
Super Duper Music Looper No†No*Win

* For those software programs that don't save the audio track with the video, you will have to save your audio track separately first, then use a different program to combine the soundtrack with the video.(You can do this using Windows Moviemaker, or iMovie for example)

† These programs can be used for generating sound tracks of a certain length, which you can then combine with the video track.


Resources

As a composer, you will need lots of 'raw material' you can draw upon when creating your film soundtracks. These include sound loops (music loops which can be anything from a single percussive hit to a fully orchestrated song file), as well as various sound effects which help the action and atmosphere. Some of the web site links below have some royalty-free sound effects you can use in your compositions.
If you're using any of the loop-based programs, like Acid or Fruity Loops, or the Video editors like Vegas or Cinescore, you may find some of the Cinematic Loop Libraries available from Sony very useful.

Composing for Film

There are a number of factors you must take into consideration when composing for screen. As a composer, your job is to make sure your music suits the unfolding on-screen action. Does your music:
  • create a suitable atmosphere and mood?
  • support the on-screen action?
  • evoke an appropriate feeling of time and place?
  • support a certain character’s development?
Ask yourselves these questions each time you complete a cue. If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, then perhaps you should think about ways to make the cue more appropriate.

Creating Mood and Atmosphere

Music can bring amazing ambience to a scene, but it can also ruin the mood. Try and get a feel for the scene you are scoring: Is it funny? Is it romantic? Is it sad?

The right instrumentation goes a long way to helping mood and atmosphere. Burly action scenes might require a large sound (electronics & full orchestra), whereas a sad death scene may need as little as a solo French horn or oboe.

Evoking a time and place

Music can play with an audience’s conceptions of time and place:
It can simply portray the time and place the film’s story is set in (eg. Big Band music for a 1930’s drama, or Arabic flutes and percussion for a Middle-eastern action flick).
Music can make time pass quickly (eg. A montage).
Music can evoke images of a distant place (eg. American Indian drumming, as an old American Indian speaks of the ‘old ways’)
Some Web Resources for aspiring film composers -
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