Hello everyone! I've been asked to score an indie film 'Who Packed Your Plate' and I was just wondering if anyone had any advice/suggestions on anything reguarding scoring. I can't discuss the plot online, but the film producer used 'Lady Sings The Blues' as a reference point for the music. Thanks in advance guys!

PEACE

Congrats!!!

All I can think of is to start out with themes for the main characters and build the music from there.

Good luck!!!

See if you can find some dvds with isolated film scores, and watch the movies like that. It's very cool. It's amazing how the music alone without the dialog still puts the point across. Anything goes in indie films though... you just need to write some music. If they asked you to do it then they must trust that you will do something they will be happy with. If they used Lady Sings the Blues as a reference point, then maybe you should study that movie, paying attention to the scoring. Take notes!

VinaBlue said:

Thanks for the advice! Its funny how things work out sometimes. I was contacted by him through personally after he heard some material I did with a buddy of mine from the Netherlands. He sent a disc of our material to a contact at BBC and somehow they tracked me down Anyway, I think I'm going to go movie shopping today to see what sound works and what doesn't. This could be a big advancement for me. Thanks again Vina for the advice.

PEACE

Just wanted to share. I had the opportunity to "interview" J.J. Gonzalez, who scored the Tarentino flick "Curdled". I have my notes somewhere, but I remember him suggesting I "practice" scoring by picking a movie scene and watching it without sound and working on it.

I also almost had the opportunity to meet Shriley Walker and watch her work. http://walker.filmmusic.com/ I was in a program in college that encouraged women in "technical" careers or something like that. Anywho, my instructor knew Shirley and kept trying to get an appointment for me with her. Part of the program was to "shadow" someone for a day and also do an interview with a company that was in the field you were trying to get into. Well, he tried and tried, but it never happened... She was very busy. Later on I found out that she was working on Escape from LA.

Anyway, I'm REALLY excited for you. Keep us posted on how it's going!

Really try to understand what the film is trying to say. Understand what the characters are about. The score often reflects the feelings of the characters. However, sometimes film scores can spoonfeed the emotions to the audience, so you might watch for that. I like a more subtle, minimal approach (none of those sweeping orchestral stuff, LOL). It can also show a conflict of emotions.

A couple of days ago, I saw a film with a wedding scene and then outside the window, a funeral passed by. The score morphed from the wedding march to Chopin's funeral march in a very dissonant, chaotic way. It was kind of fun.

Also, you may want to look up some interviews of Phillip Glass. I saw him speak once and he says some interesting things about music's relationship to the film image. Like, "The music can be in front of the image or behind the image..." It might jog your creativity and give you ideas.