The 5 Stages of Writing a Film Score
Writing The Score
“Melody is the timeless element. Cool words change and cool tracks change, but the people who consistently win are the people who remember that it’s all about the melody.”
Everyone has their own process for writing a score, but here’s how I’ve broken it down…
1. Research
This is an opportunity to really get under the movie. Find out everything you can about the world and its characters.
Ask the director questions:
What’s your take on this story? Why did you decide on making this film?
What’s the main character about? What’s their deal?
What emotions or adjectives come to mind for this film?
What do you want the audience to get out of this?
The goal is to reach a total understanding of the story.
If it’s preferable for you to get a sense of the story without musical influence, you can ask the client not to send you temp or reference music. That said, there’s something special about temp music. We stand on the shoulders of giants—no idea is original and all things are derivative of the things that came before it. Familiarity is one element of what makes a “hit,” so use it to your advantage.
2. Development (The “Sketchbook” Phase)
Use this time to sketch things out.
Depending on the length of the project, I like creating a total of 3 to 20 minute “sketchbooks” of main musical themes and ideas for the film. Sharing that with the director might help you hone in on what the moods and vibes the music should be hitting. From there, you can cut and split the sections up into individual cues.
I also find that this helps me retain the musicality of a score. Writing music directly to picture has tricked me into thinking some elements of the music were getting in the way of the dialogue or SFX, when in reality, there are ways to be out of the way, without omitting key elements of the music.
The sketchbook phase is a great opportunity to gather everything you’ve imagined for the sound of this film—instruments, musical sound design, signature sound ideas, etc. While you gather, talk with your director about how they fit into the story.
On shorter projects, there will be filmmakers that feel that digging too deep into a film will be too complex of a step for a short film. They’ll love the approach—the care for details—but will ask for the execution of those ideas to be simpler. Sometimes, you can’t fit an entire character’s backstory in a 5 minute short film.
Give the score a theme, whether that’s a signature SFX, or a melody.
Play the main character – it’s their story. This also helps the audience relate. Play their thoughts and emotions. It helps to think of every single cue from the POV of the main character.
Don’t make the music bigger than the main character.
Be immersive—play the world this character is in. Use an item that’s a theme in the film. If it’s a time travel movie, incorporate time-specific sound design. If it’s set in ancient China, talk to Chinese musicians and study traditional (and modern) Chinese styles.
Use empathy towards the characters to immerse yourself (and therefore the audience) in the moment.
If it works for the context of the film, use the opening of the movie to say “you’re in for a ride... come with us on this journey.” The music can put you in the world of the movie.
You can use this time to work with the sound development team, and record ideas with musicians (soloists, ensembles, etc.).
3. Score
Once you’ve completed your sketchbook, you can use those ideas to create individual cues which you can sync to picture.
You have a lot to think about and a lot to do, but one of the most important things you’re going to do is this: Do not rest until you land on the optimal solution that maximizes the emotive response to a particular scene or character. Every note should be absolutely intentional and with purpose.
4. Music Preparation & Recording
Ideally, you’ll have recorded a lot of ideas with musicians during the development stage. Use this time to record everything that’s left, that is, replacing any temp orchestral sections, temp vocals, etc.
5. Delivery
I like to have 3 deadlines. It’s kind of a “mind games” thing for me, but it’s helpful to create urgency in my process, which I enjoy.
Due Date – A date you’ve given yourself to have the score completed.
Deadline – This date is a week before Hard Deadline. In an ideal world, music should already be 100% complete and delivered.
Hard Deadline – This is the date the filmmakers have given you. It’s the very last possible moment for delivery, and not ideal.