WORKING AS A FILM COMPOSER

by Diane Dannenfeldt

In the days when the major studios ruled Hollywood, working as a film composer meant working as a studio employee. Film composers were expected to be able to work in a variety of styles and had months to complete the score for a film. In fact, the film music composer often didn’t even enter the filmmaking process until an edited first cut of the film was available.

Today, most movie music composers work as independents– and have far less time to complete a score, often two months or less to produce and record an hour of music. Digital technology and temp tracks allow filming, editing and music composition to overlap.

Technology helps on the composing side, too. Electronic systems have, for example, eliminatedthe need for a composer to do musical notation by hand or to copy out each instrument's part from the complete score. But, as in other industries, labor-saving technology has increased demands for speedier work turn-around.

Film composers have to be creative and practical artists, solid musicians who also are adept with music and audio mixing technology.

The number of film composers far outnumbers the number of film scoring jobs. So out on their own, movie music composers also have to be masters of other skills, such as business and marketing. For Robert Toteras, an indie composer, that means spending only 50 percent of his time on music and the rest on hustling up work. The most important things in his business, he says, are the Internet and lists of new and old clients.

Moving up through the film industry takes time and contacts and flexibility. Along the way, that may mean pursuing jobs other than feature films. Film composer Cody Westheimer, for example, has scored video games, university educational programs, commercials, short films, film trailers and documentaries. He started with student films at the University of Southern California.

Some lexical units:

score(n) – a musical composition; specifically: the music for a movie or theatrical production;

cut (n) – an edited version of a film;

adept (n) – a highly skilled or well-trained individual;

indie (n) – one that is independent; especially: an unaffiliated record or motion-picture production company.

7. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Mark them as true (T), false (F) or not given(NG)?

1. A film composer is an expert who is responsible for making soundtracks for a film.

2. Making a score for a film is quite a labor-intensive process which takes much time but film composers have no opportunity to work long.

3. New electronic and digital technology helps to save strength and increase the speed of work.

4. An outstanding film composer should have a good ear for music.

5. This profession is not in great demand that is why many film composers have to look for another way of earning money.

6. Film composers never work in other spheres but they only make scores for different films.

8. For revision, fill in the gaps with necessary words or word combinations:

1. A film with a leading inspector, murders, policemen is a _____.

2. A film produced by photographing a series of gradually changing drawings, etc., which give the illusion of movement when the series is projected rapidly is a(n) _____.

3. A film involving the same characters in various day-to-day situations which are developed as separate stories for each episode, nearly broadcast all days by channels is a _____.

4. A film with frightening characters and often broadcast during Halloween is a _____.

5. A person who makes a film is a ______.

6. A person who writes the story of the film is a______.

7. This phrase is synonymous with ‘to make a film’ - ______.

8. It is the private film festival, which is an important showcase for European films held annually in the south of France – the ______.

9. It is an annual award in the United States by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievements in films – a(n) _______.

10. A person who watches a film on TV is a ______.

11. A person who is enthusiastically interested in and very curious about every film is a _____.

12. The role of secondary importance to the leading roles in a play or film is called _____.

13. A genre of crime film or fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity is a _____.

14. A character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot is a _____.

15. An interview for a role or job as a singer, actor, dancer, or musician, consisting of a practical demonstration of the candidate’s suitability and skill is an _____.

16. The written text of a play, film, or broadcast is called a _____.

17. A critical appraisal of a film published in a newspaper or magazine is a _____.

18. Actors and actresses usually wear their _____ at the Academy Awards.

19. A place at a cinema where tickets are bought or reserved is called a _____.

20. The type of a movie that gives an illusion of depth or varying distances used especially of an image or a pictorial representation on a two-dimensional medium when this illusion is enhanced by stereoscopic means is _____

21. The music or a musical composition for a movie or theatrical production is a _____.

22. A person who creates music for a film is a _____.

23. An edited version of a film is a _____.

24. An unaffiliated record or motion-picture production company is called_____.

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