This course is designed for those interested to learn about modern film scoring techniques. Read more.
Jason Allen is a PhD in music, and was recently named one of the semi-finalists for the Grammy Foundations "Music Educator" award.
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In this course, we will learn the essential techniques used in writing music for film. Through a series of analysis of well-known film scenes from your favorite movies we will learn what makes a great cue, and then apply those techniques by writing our own. I’ll be showing you some of my own projects for film and television throughout the class, and walk you through my process when composing music for a film project.
By the end of this course, students will understand the tools, lingo, and techniques used in the film composing world and will be ready to dive in to their own projects. I’ll walk you through how to get started on your first project by using freely available movies that need a score.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with major American orchestras, film studios, and video game designers. I’m also a PhD in music composition and a university professor (of music composition).
Recently I was named as a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation’s Music Educator of the Year award because of my in-person university classes. Now I’m taking those classes online in order to reach more students, and give them the joy of Music Theory.
I’m planning on making several “sections” of this class, and this is Part 1. As the class grows, we will go deeper and deeper into my techniques.
In this class, we will cover:
- Tools of the trade
- Finding the emotional response
- Music Theory and Genre
- Using Modes in Film Scores
- Finding the Message
- Learning from Temp Cues
- “Spotting” the film
- Working with industry budgets
- Diegetic music and nondiegetic music
- Score and Source
- The Ostinato
- Working with silent films
- Setting up a session
- Marking hits
- Scoring the opening credits
- Motive and Leitmotif
- Working with Leitmotifs
- Working with rhythm in cues
- POV
- Finding and analyzing POV scenes
- Composing using POV
- Any much, much, more!
What are the requirements?
- Students will benefit from some background in music theory. The Music Theory Comprehensive curriculum isn’t required, but is recommended.
- Students should have some background in writing music, even if just thumbing around on a piano or guitar.
What am I going to get from this course?
- Get started building a portfolio of work to show their film composition talents
- Score a feature film using a variety of techniques
- Understand the process of writing music for film
Who is the target audience?
- Students interested in exploring film scoring
- Students looking to expand their musical interests to composing
- Students interested in music software
Our Promise to You
By the end of this course, you will have learned modern film scoring techniques.
10 Day Money Back Guarantee. If you are unsatisfied for any reason, simply contact us and we’ll give you a full refund. No questions asked.
Get started today and develop your music film scoring techniques.
Course Curriculum
| Section 1 - Welcome And Overview | |||
| Introduction | 00:00:00 | ||
| Tools Of The Trade And A Look At One Of My Projects | 00:00:00 | ||
| What I’ve Found In Other Film Scoring Classes | 00:00:00 | ||
| A Note About Examples In This Class | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 2 - Emotion And Music Theory | |||
| Finding The Right Emotional Response | 00:00:00 | ||
| Music Theory And Genre | 00:00:00 | ||
| Using Modes In Film Music | 00:00:00 | ||
| Finding The Message Of The Film | 00:00:00 | ||
| Threnody For The Care Bears | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 3 - The Process | |||
| Learning From Temp Cues | 00:00:00 | ||
| SpottingTthe Film | 00:00:00 | ||
| Budgets | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 4 - Diegetic Music And Non Diegetic Music | |||
| Diegetic And Non Diegetic Music | 00:00:00 | ||
| Score And Source Example: JAWS (1975) | 00:00:00 | ||
| Source Music Elements | 00:00:00 | ||
| When The Score And Source Collide | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis: Battlestar Galactica | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 5 - The Ostinato | |||
| Analysis: Captain America | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis: Requiem For A Dream | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Ostinato | 00:00:00 | ||
| Working With Silent Films | 00:00:00 | ||
| Setting Up A Session | 00:00:00 | ||
| Composing With Ostinatos | 00:00:00 | ||
| Building On Ostinatos With More Elements | 00:00:00 | ||
| Marking Hits | 00:00:00 | ||
| Finishing Up Our Intro | 00:00:00 | ||
| A Quick Analysis So Far | 00:00:00 | ||
| [DOWNLOAD] MuseScore (Notation) File | 00:00:00 | ||
| Working With Notation | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 6 - Motive And Leitmotif | |||
| Motive And Leitmotif | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis: Star Wars | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Opera Connection | 00:00:00 | ||
| Locating Leitmotifs | 00:00:00 | ||
| Composing Leitmotifs | 00:00:00 | ||
| Adding Rhythm | 00:00:00 | ||
| Our Long Cue So Far | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 7 - Point Of View (POV) | |||
| What Is POV? | 00:00:00 | ||
| Finding And Analyzing POV Scenes | 00:00:00 | ||
| Scoring A POV Scene | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis Of Our POV Scene | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 8 - Wrap Up | |||
| Split In Two | 00:00:00 | ||
| Coming In Part 2! | 00:00:00 | ||
About This Course
In this course, we will learn the essential techniques used in writing music for film. Through a series of analysis of well-known film scenes from your favorite movies we will learn what makes a great cue, and then apply those techniques by writing our own. I’ll be showing you some of my own projects for film and television throughout the class, and walk you through my process when composing music for a film project.
By the end of this course, students will understand the tools, lingo, and techniques used in the film composing world and will be ready to dive in to their own projects. I’ll walk you through how to get started on your first project by using freely available movies that need a score.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with major American orchestras, film studios, and video game designers. I’m also a PhD in music composition and a university professor (of music composition).
Recently I was named as a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation’s Music Educator of the Year award because of my in-person university classes. Now I’m taking those classes online in order to reach more students, and give them the joy of Music Theory.
I’m planning on making several “sections” of this class, and this is Part 1. As the class grows, we will go deeper and deeper into my techniques.
In this class, we will cover:
- Tools of the trade
- Finding the emotional response
- Music Theory and Genre
- Using Modes in Film Scores
- Finding the Message
- Learning from Temp Cues
- “Spotting” the film
- Working with industry budgets
- Diegetic music and nondiegetic music
- Score and Source
- The Ostinato
- Working with silent films
- Setting up a session
- Marking hits
- Scoring the opening credits
- Motive and Leitmotif
- Working with Leitmotifs
- Working with rhythm in cues
- POV
- Finding and analyzing POV scenes
- Composing using POV
- Any much, much, more!
What are the requirements?
- Students will benefit from some background in music theory. The Music Theory Comprehensive curriculum isn’t required, but is recommended.
- Students should have some background in writing music, even if just thumbing around on a piano or guitar.
What am I going to get from this course?
- Get started building a portfolio of work to show their film composition talents
- Score a feature film using a variety of techniques
- Understand the process of writing music for film
Who is the target audience?
- Students interested in exploring film scoring
- Students looking to expand their musical interests to composing
- Students interested in music software
Our Promise to You
By the end of this course, you will have learned modern film scoring techniques.
10 Day Money Back Guarantee. If you are unsatisfied for any reason, simply contact us and we’ll give you a full refund. No questions asked.
Get started today and develop your music film scoring techniques.
Course Curriculum
| Section 1 - Welcome And Overview | |||
| Introduction | 00:00:00 | ||
| Tools Of The Trade And A Look At One Of My Projects | 00:00:00 | ||
| What I’ve Found In Other Film Scoring Classes | 00:00:00 | ||
| A Note About Examples In This Class | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 2 - Emotion And Music Theory | |||
| Finding The Right Emotional Response | 00:00:00 | ||
| Music Theory And Genre | 00:00:00 | ||
| Using Modes In Film Music | 00:00:00 | ||
| Finding The Message Of The Film | 00:00:00 | ||
| Threnody For The Care Bears | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 3 - The Process | |||
| Learning From Temp Cues | 00:00:00 | ||
| SpottingTthe Film | 00:00:00 | ||
| Budgets | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 4 - Diegetic Music And Non Diegetic Music | |||
| Diegetic And Non Diegetic Music | 00:00:00 | ||
| Score And Source Example: JAWS (1975) | 00:00:00 | ||
| Source Music Elements | 00:00:00 | ||
| When The Score And Source Collide | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis: Battlestar Galactica | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 5 - The Ostinato | |||
| Analysis: Captain America | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis: Requiem For A Dream | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Ostinato | 00:00:00 | ||
| Working With Silent Films | 00:00:00 | ||
| Setting Up A Session | 00:00:00 | ||
| Composing With Ostinatos | 00:00:00 | ||
| Building On Ostinatos With More Elements | 00:00:00 | ||
| Marking Hits | 00:00:00 | ||
| Finishing Up Our Intro | 00:00:00 | ||
| A Quick Analysis So Far | 00:00:00 | ||
| [DOWNLOAD] MuseScore (Notation) File | 00:00:00 | ||
| Working With Notation | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 6 - Motive And Leitmotif | |||
| Motive And Leitmotif | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis: Star Wars | 00:00:00 | ||
| The Opera Connection | 00:00:00 | ||
| Locating Leitmotifs | 00:00:00 | ||
| Composing Leitmotifs | 00:00:00 | ||
| Adding Rhythm | 00:00:00 | ||
| Our Long Cue So Far | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 7 - Point Of View (POV) | |||
| What Is POV? | 00:00:00 | ||
| Finding And Analyzing POV Scenes | 00:00:00 | ||
| Scoring A POV Scene | 00:00:00 | ||
| Analysis Of Our POV Scene | 00:00:00 | ||
| Section 8 - Wrap Up | |||
| Split In Two | 00:00:00 | ||
| Coming In Part 2! | 00:00:00 | ||
Course Review
5.0
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This was actually a really great class with a lot of useful information.
I really loved this more than I thought I would
I had done some film studies at university and music private tuition but this kind of brings so much together, lately I like to see ballets and operas and I loved Torvil and Dean and I would love to see more Disney drama ice-skating and cartoon music and in the traditional ballets explained in music score. this teacher really opens the door to new things. I would be interested to see how live music interacts with events like now days there are big car promotion events and sports and other events or art galleries and interactive electronics with music in museums.
enjoyed course more then I thought I would
I had done some film studies at university and music private tuition but this kind of brings so much together, lately I like to see ballets and operas and I loved tovil and dean and I would love to see more disney drama ice-skating and cartoon music and in the traditional ballets explained in music score. this teacher really opens the door to new things.