10 Lessons on “Breaking In”
I often get asked for a checklist of things one can do to break in to the business. Here is my personal “top ten” of lessons learned.
Read More →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.
Read More →Producing Your Score
Nothing will give your music heart, soul, the real human touch, better than the sounds of skilled musicians. Even if you yourself are the finest, with years of experience, even adding just one pro player will double your firepower, and even casual listeners will notice. This is where you will be called on to put on your “producer” hat.
Read More →Spotting With the Composer and the Sound Designer
Discussing spotting is a subject unto itself. Here, Emmy-winning sound mixer David Fluhr talks about the advantages, disadvantages, pluses and minuses of spotting a project with both the composer AND the sound designer in the room with the director.
Read More →POLL: Which Collaborator Would Help YOU the Most?
With all this talk of collaboration, we are hoping you’ve been thinking about how you can enrich the sound and scope of your scores by utilizing the abilities of others who specialize in certain areas of the business. So with that, call us just a wee bit curious… Which scoring team collaborator do you feel [...]
Read More →Thoughts On Assisting Composers: Part II
Last time, in this space, I walked you through some of the scenarios I’ve seen as a composer’s assistant, and how I’ve either learned from them or eschewed them as personal practices in my own career. Let’s look at a few more, these ones having to do more with money and time. Budgeting It seems [...]
Read More →Thoughts On Assisting Composers: Part I
Tomorrow, I start my final year at USC. Because of that, today is my last day of full-time work at my current place of employment, Deane Ogden Music. This has easily been the best job I’ve had since moving to Los Angeles in 2004 and I will miss it greatly. Deane has generously taught me [...]
Read More →How to Work on Multiple Projects and Stay Sane
As a media composer, work is like buses. There’s nothing for a while, then three projects come along at once. In the last six months I have been inundated with composing and sound design work for film and theatre and I am constantly thanking my lucky stars. This is exactly what I wanted when I [...]
Read More →You Need Help… Or Do You?
Composing for picture is a team sport. The first question you have to ask yourself is “Is NOW really the right time for me to hire an assistant?” Hiring an assistant, however, is a process that you should take careful approach to. Here are some things to keep in mind.
Read More →SCOREcast 13: Working with Directors
In this 13th episode of SCOREcast, Deane talks from the road about the best habits to cultivate when working with directors.
Read More →SCOREcast 7: Scoring Documentaries
In this 7th episode of SCOREcast, Deane highlights a few of the major differences between composing for narrative films and documentaries, using his own experiences as examples.
Read More →Translator
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