Knowing The Score: Film Composers Talk About the Art, Craft, Blood, Sweat, and Tears of Writing for Cinema [Paperback]

David Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Masters in Film | Publication Date: December 5, 2000

This collection of interviews with Hollywood composers offers the most intimate look ever at the process of writing music for the movies.  From getting started in the business to recording the soundtrack, from choosing a musical style to collaborating with directors, including Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, the Coen brothers, Terry Gilliam, Kenneth Branagh, and Ken Russell, from learning to deal with editing to writing with time-sensitive precision, the leading practitioners in the field share their views on one of the most important  -- and least understood -- aspects of filmmaking: the motion picture art that's heard but not seen.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It has been said that the most highly skilled worker on any movie is the composer of its musical score. Neither the 16 composers nor the film music record producer Morgan interviewed for this book says anything like that, of course, but what they do say leaves no doubt about their skills, professionalism, and intelligence. Morgan distributes their remarks in sections on such topics as getting started in the movie-music business, collaborating with film directors, creating distinctive as well as appropriate music for a film, researching to score historical films, orchestration, adapting pre-existing music, and recording. Morgan presents both montages of several composers' ideas on a subject and longer single-composer interviews on particular working experiences, such as Philip Glass discussing Koyaanisqatsi and Elmer Bernstein on adapting Bernard Herrmann's music for the original Cape Fear to score Martin Scorsese's remake. This is all fascinating stuff, and the only problem with the book is that it makes you want to see the movies it discusses again and this time really listen to them. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

David Morgan is the author of Monty Python Speaks! (Spike, 1999) and editor of Sundancing (Spike, 2000). He has written on film production and media issues for a variety of publications. Mr. Morgan lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (December 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380804824
• ISBN-13: 978-0380804825
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #789,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great discussions of the philosophy of film scoring., May 12, 2007

By 

D. Roewade "Desert Citizen" (Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knowing The Score: Film Composers Talk About the Art, Craft, Blood, Sweat, and Tears of Writing for Cinema (Paperback)

This book is a compilation of interviews and discussions with a prominent and diverse group of composers. There are wonderful passages reflecting the philosophy and experiences of these composers that make this book a really interesting portal into their minds and lives. Often the philosophy and approach behind an artform are more important to learn than the techniques of creating it - this book reflects that.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, January 3, 2007

By 

Sensei (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knowing The Score: Film Composers Talk About the Art, Craft, Blood, Sweat, and Tears of Writing for Cinema (Paperback)

Great interviews and inner views of composers of film. I would recommend it for any composer or enthusiast