🎬 Stop Scoring to Picture

⭐️ highlights 🎬 scoring Jun 20, 2023

Here’s a tip that’ll change the way you score scenes forever.

When starting off composing for media, many composers start by matching on-screen emotions 1:1.

If a character is angry, they think:

“What does angry music sound like?”

But here’s what separates the good film composers from the great:

To be truly impactful for an audience, music needs to speak beyond what we see on-screen. 🔎

Is that character really angry?

Or...

Are they lonely, betrayed, disappointed, bitter, tired, or even heartbroken?

By aiming to capture a character’s unspoken thoughts and feelings, we speak to their psyche.

That enables our audience to relate to them far deeper than if we mirrored their surface-level emotions.

So...

Next time you’re scoring to picture, ask yourself these questions:

"What can music offer to the scene that isn't already there?"\
"What's the character really thinking or feeling?"
"How does this moment in time relate to the character's long-term hopes, dreams, or fears?"

Explore how music can speak to these points, and you’ll INSTANTLY notice a difference in how your compositions work to picture.

Look beyond the screen, and let your music speak to the unspoken. 🎹

You're in luck - click on any of the links below to grab 'em!