SCOREcast 32: Tom Salta

Veteran video game composer Tom Salta stops by to chat with the boys about the art and business of scoring video games during SCOREcast’s 5th Anniversary episode.

SCOREcast 31: Total Request (Sorta) LIVE!

In our first Q&A episode, we open up Twitter, Facebook, and a hangout on Google+ to hear what’s on your mind about writing, producing, “politiking”, and navigating the business.

SCOREcast 28: Richard Bellis

Emmy Award-winning composer Richard Bellis hangs out with SCOREcast for an in-depth look at the state of the film music business.

How Do You Define “Team”?

We like to open up Fridays at SCOREcastOnline.com to what YOU in the community feel about important issues facing the entire post-production industry. The results are always interesting, but in this week’s case, we are asking a somewhat controversial question: What do you think about the various uses of “groups of people” in pulling off a score? We’ll explain precisely what we mean right after the jump…

Casting Your Score

How to assemble the perfect “cast” of musicians to enhance your score.

Ryan Leach: Long Distance Scoring

Today’s technology has made it possible to score a project with anyone no matter where they’re located. However, long distance scoring does come with plenty of challenges.

Spotting With the Composer and the Sound Designer

Yes yes yes…I know…we entertained this subject last month. However, in the tradition of Post, I am following up last in the process!

This subject has been of particular interest to me, and has sparked a lot of interest among my colleagues in Post Production. Discussing spotting is a subject unto itself as we have seen with all the fascinating articles and comments these past weeks. The focus this time will be on the advantages, disadvantages, pluses and minuses of spotting a project with the Composer AND the Sound Designer present with the Director. Sitting down in a room, all together, with the same goal in mind… helping the Director tell the story. On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer — why NOT do this? Save time and energy; reduce the classic ‘conflicts’ during the final mix; the left hand knows what the right hand is going to do; efficient; cost saving; keeps the creative focus. Ah, if it were only that simple.

Everything *BUT* Spotting

There are all kinds of things besides spotting that make a spotting session important. After the jump, some discussion: what they are, why they’re important, and how to turn them to your advantage. (And yes, I did make a special green logo for St. Patrick’s Day. You’re worth it.)

Getting In

For the next few weeks I’m going to use this column to dig into the three primary technical aspects of spotting: entrances, exits and function. There are three Fridays left in the month, so I suppose it’s good I thought of doing this now! First up: getting in. Let’s start with when to enter a scene. And right up front, a disclaimer: none of this is comprehensive. I sort of think that it couldn’t be. Each film is a different animal, calling for a different set of tactics. And for every rule there’s a brilliant exception. There are, however, some things that I think you ought to consider pretty much every time out. One of the most…

My First Spotting Experience

A few months ago I composed the score for my first film, a documentary called To Be One. This was a small project with a tiny budget, a flexible schedule, and an easygoing independent director. This suited me fine though, because I didn’t really have much of an idea of how to proceed. But SCOREcast’s Deane Ogden, Lee Sanders, and Brian Satterwhite helped me along the journey. More of the experience, and a tool to share… after the jump! The film was divided into three segments, each with a different composer. I wrote about 20 minutes of music for my 20-minute segment. Yes, wall-to-wall music. My director was in California and I’m in Texas, so…

Funny Looks and Spotting Jujitsu

People look at me funny all the time (I got that out of the way for you, just to save space in the comments!), but never more so than when I express my general philosophy about spotting films: I want to write the least amount of music possible for the project. Nowadays our up-front music budget seems to shrink with every new gig that hits our desk… so why would I take a wacky position like this? Why deny myself the (sometimes) glorious royalties that come from a wall-to-wall score? And doesn’t “writing as little music as possible” sound, well, kinda of lazy? My rationale, and more… after the jump. It’s simple, really: If my…

David Fluhr: Collaborating With Post-Production

Collaboration is a word that certainly can be overused, and trivialized. But I think it can also have everything to do with success– success of a project, success of a career, and success in life. We as creative artists sometimes get tunnel vision, or blinders while working. This can be both a benefit and a curse. The energy needed to create something from nothing needs to be tapped in ‘each person’s unique way’. More on this after the jump… Ultimately, sound, music, and picture are collaborations between many people on a team. All that matters are the results, not necessarily the methods, or the equipment. Do clients REALLY care what version of software you are…