Customer Reviews

Complete Guide to Film Scoring: The Art and Business of Writing Music for Movies and TV

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I bought "The Complete Guide to Film Scoring", i wasn't expecting it to be so... complete.

Actually, being a music major i was expecting a much more musical approach to this subject. I was interested in examples and more detailed information about how to write music for a film. The book includes this subject in a chapter, but it is treated pretty generaly.

What I found, and in really detailed way, were the means of making money with your score, full of examples, different approaches and all the necessary data to take full advantage of your score. However, it didn't satisfy me too much.

My partner and I are just starting to get into this business, but here in Switzerland, getting information on this industry is not so easy. Richard Davis' book was just what the doctor ordered for giving us a view into the different facets of the business; from who does what and when to what to be aware of when it comes to getting your pay.

Be warned that the book is about the business and not about getting into the business. Although the author is very postive, and very constructive, there is no discussion about managers, or agents, or any specifics about where one might begin to make calls, send demos or knock on doors. But that wasn't what the author was aiming for, and the book does not lack because of it.

The interviews with producing composers are fabulous, as well as the plethora of quotes from varied professionals in the business. If you're only going to get one book to find out about the film scoring business, this is the one to get.

Film composer Richard Davis's Complete Guide to Film Scoring is indeed complete. It is the only book I know that has all the fundamentals of composing the music for a film, from the spotting to the recording session and mix, giving fascinating facts and detail along the way. It even includes the financial part of the composing process and the agents, royalties copyrights, and contracts involved. As I first found my love for film composing, I knew nothing much of it and had many questions with no one to answer them. This book not only answered them but shed more light on vague parts of composing and even inspired me. The interviews of the various and rising new composers were delightful and the beginning chapter describing the development of early film music and its various developing styles and composers was very insightful and delighting to read. Richard Davis's book is a must-have for any aspiring film composer. Such knowledge that this book has comes only with experience but Richard Davis easily explains it so we don't have to learn it the hard way.

A great introductory guide to scoring films. Davis explains all the various film music jargon, the roles of music editors and producers (among others) and what royalties you are entitled to. Also covered is the history of film music, what techniques you use to synchronize the action, how to strike deals, the importance of personal relations, et.c. I found it to be an enlightening guide that gave me the answers I was looking for. The language is dry for the most part, but easy to read and learn from.

Composers interested in writing for film will find this book a very welcome addition to a field of education still in its infancy. With only 2 colleges in the u.s. offering degrees in film scoring (Berklee College of Music and U.S.C) and very little literature on the subject in print, it is difficult to learn the techniques involved in scoring for film and tv without actually being involved in the industry.

Complete guide to film scoring is exactly what the title would suggest, COMPLETE. Those familiar with On the Track (another great title for those interested in Film Music which is unfortunately no longer as relevent to TODAY's industry...) will find the Complete Guide to be the only book on the market capable of replacing this title as the standard in film music education.

The complete guide is an absolute must for those just beginning their careers, industry pros, or anyone with a love of the art of film music. It's packed with info without the atmosphere of a text book, covers every aspect of the industry, and is just an all in all fun read! Order it today and begin or broaden your knowledge of the scoring process.

As a musician interested in writing for film I was looking for a book that could give me the gist of the business and the craft. Richard Davis did a wonderful job with this very informative book, covering a lot of ground, but not getting lost in too many details. I strongly recommend this book to anybody who would just like to stick their nose into that business or need a reference point to start from. It was a good read and very helpful to me.

Exellent book for anyone interested in the process of writing soundtracks for movies or television. The author takes you through a history of film music on to the details of production, creating the music, and most importantly the business of film scoring. The last chapter contains interviews with nearly 20 of todays most visible composers.

The author writes in an easy to approach style, with step by step instructions on every aspect involved in creating music for soundtracks. I believe this book is/will be considered a reference on this subject. If you are interested in scoring music for film or television buy this book.

Concise description of the various aspects of a career in composing scores for films. Clear and useful outline of the technical components of working in the film score world. Good discussion of the business aspects as well. Interviewws with different composers and agents gives a sober but realistic look at working in the upper levels of the business. Not as much discussion of the intermediate and lower levels where most people will find themselves, at least at the start of their careers. Well worth the price.

WARNING: this book will make you want to become a film composer! The quick, easy-to-read form of COMPLETE GUIDE TO FILM SCORING is nearly flawless because the more you read, the more you'll want pursue film scoring as a career.

The first part on the History of Film Music I was actually planning on skipping but I'm glad I didn't because it was super interesting! This section contains just enough information to make the reading effortless; not too many details to bog down the opening chapters.

Production is the title of the next section, which explores how a movie gets made and, more importantly, how music is incorporated into the film. Section two explains the composer's time frame, the spotting session and how every member of the music department contributes to the score. Now this is when the book begins to get dangerous because, as you read it, you think, "So these are the people that will work for me when I'm the film composer".

The guide gets more dangerous in Part 3, the Music because this section talks about composition, styles, songs, soundtracks, animation, and ethnic music but presents no written music. Part 3's chapters only offer examples of movie soundtracks; therefore you could only understand the particular idea of the example by actively listening to the soundtrack of the movie. This fact has forced me to give this book four stars instead of five. (If more musical examples of great film music are what you are looking for, buy The Art of Film Music which is full of them!)

The next section deals with the business side of music. This section is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS and is the reason I gave this book a warning. The first chapter in the section talks about attorneys and agents. The way the author talks of about them, it gives the impression that the composer composes and everyone ELSE does the rest. Then, he explains copyrights and other aspects of publishing which was very informative. At the end of this section it explains royalties and throws huge dollar amounts at you. By the end of this chapter you can't wait to become a composer!

The last section has some fascinating interviews. 19 to be exact, and because there are so many, they kind of blend together.

Now let me explain the warning.

If you are good at interpreting scenes and are able to write music to match, then this book will only add to your knowledge and when you read it, you should be saying to yourself, "I can do all of this!" If you cannot interpret scenes and write music, you'd better plan on learning to do so because if you want to be a film composer, this book's added knowledge will NEVER make up for your lack of musical comprehension.

I've come to recognize that any of the Berklee Press books will be excellent, but this book exceeded my expectation in nearly every way. Even though this is a textbook, it reads easily, and just as important, it is inexpensive. I was expecting a much smaller book for the price, and was surprised by the amount of material covered.

The only negative thing I could say about this book was that I had kind of expected more musical examples and tricks, for example that a whole tone scale is commonly used for dream sequences. There really isn't that kind of material covered in this book at all.

What is covered is the various legal and practical aspects of making film music as a profession, and it is covered very well.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone considering a career in film music, or even to someone who is interested in film music.

Finally, a bit of trivia from the book: Where much of the classical community derides John Williams' Star Wars score as being a rip-off of Holst's Planets, it turns out that Williams actually had to convince Lucas to use original material, in the style of the planets suite, instead of Holst's Planets itself which was the temp track.