Film Music Composer

When you are thinking about how to use your interest and talent in music for a professional purpose, you will find that there are many different options open to you.  One of the most attractive jobs that you might be interested in is that of film score composer, but how is this a job that you are going to get? As you might suspect, this is a position that pays extremely well and is amazing resume builder if you can get it; there are many things that make this job extremely attractive, but what you do you need to know to see if it is something that you are capable of doing?

In the first place, you need to know the genre.  Composing for film is much different than composing for any other genre of music, though it has some correspondence to orchestral composition.  When you are looking to break into the industry, you will find that you need to listen to what other people are doing and learn what you can.  John Williams, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman and Danny Elfman have routinely pulled down many of the major scores over the years, and getting  accustomed to their work is something that any aspiring film score composer should do.

You should also be aware of the fact that you are going to be working from a storyboard version of the film or from a first cut of the film.  With that in mind, you will need to figure out what moments are going to call for musical highlights and what sort of emotions the score needs to help the movie evoke.  Although the score is something that is a part of the background, it is a very important tool when it comes to making sure that the people who are watching the film get the right idea.

When you are writing music for a film, always remember that you should write more music than is called for.  Assume that the scenes will run the longest that they can run and never shortchange a scene when it comes the music.  To get some experience with this, you will find that working with aspiring film students can help.  Offer to do scores for them, or try rewriting the scores for movies that you are familiar with.

Remember that a rock solid background in music composition at the university level is extremely important as well.  Listen and learn and remember that this is a position that takes a great deal of work!