Film score/sound design/ re recording mixer

[juiceisgonbfamus]

Wats going on fp!?!? I ve been producing/makin beats /recording my self for about a year or 2 now... but ive been lookin into some sound design/film score projects... i was wondering if i can get some tips ....in makin this transition!!

i currently have fruity loops... a few vsts..
pro tool 8 mbox mini

wat are something i mite want to keep in my in film score?
are there any new programs/software i mite want to learn?
how is the film score industry?
how is the sound design industry?
job placements??

 

[decemberdusk]

Wats going on fp!?!? I ve been producing/makin beats /recording my self for about a year or 2 now... but ive been lookin into some sound design/film score projects... i was wondering if i can get some tips ....in makin this transition!!

i currently have fruity loops... a few vsts..
pro tool 8 mbox mini

wat are something i mite want to keep in my in film score?
are there any new programs/software i mite want to learn?
how is the film score industry?
how is the sound design industry?
job placements??

I can comment on the film score industry only, as I am not up on the "sound design" or "re recording mixer" scene. I have written for student films and medium budget films from here in Austin, TX to commercials in Hollywood. I talk to composers that work out in L.A. right now and the business is the WORST IT HAS EVER been. The place is saturated with "composers" fighting for a single job and to get that *big-budget* job you have to either:

a) know the producer(s) and or director(s) personally, or
b) have about 15 years of experience (and know at least one person making the film e.g. producer, director, music editor(s), tech crew, etc.)

Plan on living in the studio 24/7, HAVING NO LIFE and having deadlines that are next to impossible, unless you have about *AT LEAST* 5 to 10 people under you to do other compositional/ orchestration/ MIDI/ copying tasks while you "flesh out" a score. There's no real composing going on anymore. You will have about 20 people (that know NOTHING about music) CONSTANTLY critiquing your music until it is chopped and made into something that resembles audio junk so the egos of the director and the rest of the crew aren't hurt in any possible way. This happens to veteran seasoned A-List "composers" in Hollywood everyday- imagine what happens when you are new to this...

I go to Hollywood a lot to workshops, master classes, networking and to talk to the composers that are working there and I don't have any desire to become a film score composer... AT ALL! I find it fun to get into, but that's as close as I want to ever be. I have talked with Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean, Sherlock Holmes, Megamind, Lion King,etc.), John Ottman (Fantastic Four) and other A-List composers and they don't seem like a happy bunch at all. I keep in touch with one A-list composer via phone and he's barely making it and has been successful since the 80's...

Composing in Hollywood or anywhere for a film industry isn't what it used to be and with that said...

If you're ready for all of the above and still desire to be a film score composer, then I would suggest to do the following:

* Find all the student films that you can and get experience.

*Get your foot in the door by becoming part of a composer's crew... (know MIDI inside and out, DAWs, know software and computers, how to make STRONG coffee, etc.)

*Learn how to turn out a *polished* 45 to 60 minutes of orchestral music in less than two days (with no sleep)- so again, know your DAW and get the best orchestral VSTs/AUs that money can buy.

* Film scores "emulate" Classical music on a *VERY* rudimentary level, so know your Classical music well.

* Study music theory and orchestration (this is a WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD).

* Know notation programs like Finale, Sibelius and Overture like no one else!!!!

* Listen to the "greats" of film score composition: Max Steiner, Nino Rota, Basil Poledouris, Erich Korngold, John Williams, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Thomas Newman, Patrick Doyle, Elliot Goldenthal, John Ottman, et al.

* Have "thick skin" because egos are HUGE in the film business, as probably any entertainment business with money involved... man, the stories I have heard- OUCH!

* Learn ALL about film (frame rates, conversions, film compression types, how to sync film to sound, how to get musical "hits" at certain points in the film, etc.)

* If you CANNOT do the all of the above, there is about 200 other people that CAN and WILL for FREE standing right behind you...

You may still find a "traditional" gig where the director let's you do what you should have the skills to do, gives you ample time to be creative and use a real orchestra where the players are all angry and on union time (BIG $$$$) (are you ready for that?) for the film, but I haven't heard of that happening for a while now.

There are a lot of books out there that can help as well, just Google it. I hope it works out for you and just be prepared for what the industry will dish out. Good luck!

 

[hype the producer]

I have talked with Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean, Sherlock Holmes, Megamind, Lion King,etc.)

Dude and where's "Inception"? Imo one of his best scores.

I had no idea situation is that bad. Do you have any info on video game scores? What's the situation over there? I'm not expecting EA or Blizzard to hire someone unknown, but I know there are lot of independent developers and studios who doesn't want to pay ridiculous amounts of money to someone for scoring the soundtrack. And there's our chance. Also good idea is to work for free - if soundtrack is good and the game is success, entire industry will hear about you.

 

[decemberdusk]

I don't know much about the game composers, but I believe that they're doing better than film. I have a close friend that writes reviews on game scores and he seems to think that things are OK. I know that's there's more paying gigs for games, but I believe that it will unfortunately become similar its relative- the film score industry.

I wouldn't do anything for free... That's advice that I heard from EVERY composer I've ever talked to. At least get something, but don't do anything for free. Get a *contract* (**NO work-for-hire**, get royalties!!!) and some form of *payment*.

Why? Because in the world of film scores and (I assume) game scores, music always comes last on the budget, but they want it to be in there. If you do it for free, they'll expect everyone to do it for free or at a low, low price.

I'm telling you, those cats ARE SHADY! I'm still hearing about composers not getting paid what they signed a contract to receive from BIG studios. They just closed down two huge scoring sound stages that were staples of the film score recording business in Hollywood. These are composers that have million dollar mansions and this is how they (used to) make their living.

It's really sad and I really wanted to break into that industry, but I don't want to deal with all the mess. I had connections and a home ready to go in Hollywood, I was *that* close and had to make a serious choice... If you're willing to deal with all of the above details (in my first message) for free while trying to live, then that's awesome!

---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:35 AM ----------

Wats going on fp!?!? I ve been producing/makin beats /recording my self for about a year or 2 now... but ive been lookin into some sound design/film score projects... i was wondering if i can get some tips ....in makin this transition!!

My apologies to the original poster, I forgot to mention the area of film music that is all about getting an actual track placement in the movie- as in one of your Hip hop tracks chosen by a director to be in the movie. The problem with this though, is that you have to have your material known well enough for it to make it to the right ears.

So, in a sense, this is kind of similar to "paying your dues" in the compositional side of incidental film music...
I know that many of producers have their music placed in movies everyday and that is a BIG pay-off!! To name a few off of the top of my head- Rza in "Kill Bill Vol. 1", Elton John in the "Lion King" (the song portion of it) and tons of artists' tracks in "Moulin Rouge!" almost every movie has pop track in their movies nowadays!

So, if that was your question, just get known (which is the difficult part) enough to have your music playing on the director's/ producer's/ music supervisor's radio/ iPod/ CD player often enough and you'll probably get a movie placement + royalties for some serious dough.

Don't forget that contract my man! No contract, no music- PERIOD! Don't let those guys push you around.

 

[krushing]

I know that many of producers have their music placed in movies everyday and that is a BIG pay-off!! To name a few off of the top of my head- Rza in "Kill Bill Vol. 1", Elton John in the "Lion King"

Then again, these two might not be the best examples as I'm pretty sure both were hired to do the job because of who they are. Of course RZA's Ghost Dog soundtrack already was a sort of a modern classic at the time and well, Elton John is Elton John.

 

[decemberdusk]

Then again, these two might not be the best examples as I'm pretty sure both were hired to do the job because of who they are. Of course RZA's Ghost Dog soundtrack already was a sort of a modern classic at the time and well, Elton John is Elton John.

Yeah, true, I couldn't think of any better song writers or producers off the top of my head at the time though I actually thought the same thing when I was writing the message, but figured that so many pop writers'/ producers' music get placed in movies that people would know what I was talking about. The funny thing is that when you type in a movie + plus soundtrack in Google, 90% of the time the popular songs soundtrack will come up, not the OST (original sound track) with the composer's music.

That is unless the movie has purely composed music e.g "There Will Be Blood" even though the composer did use some previous material that can be thought of as popular, just rendered into the orchestral realm.