FILM SCORING

The following lesson, developed by experienced

Berklee faculty, aims to survey the role of music
in film. Regardless of your scoring experience,
understanding the basic function of various
musical elements will help you create poignant
film compositions that help bring the screen to life.

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 Making Sound Decisions
How to Contribute to the Complete Audio Landscape of a Film
authored by Ben Newhouse

When you go to a concert, the primary

audio element is the music. When you
go to a movie, the music must share
the airwaves with dialogue and sound
effects. (In many cases, the director and/
or producer will consider those elements
to be more important than the music.)
An effective musical score will take into
account these other audio elements,
considering them to be much like a
counterpoint to the music.
Dialogue
Considerations
In most cases, the music should make an
effort to avoid the dialogue. Typically, the
dialogue directly delivers the plot to the
audience and most producers/directors
deem that to be more important than
the music and sound effects. If the music
or sound effects should distract from an
important line of dialogue, they will likely
be removed entirely.
Ben Newhouse
Ben Newhouse’s commercial music
has been used in more than 3,000
episodes of television, including
projects for ABC, CBS, NBC, and most
major cable networks. Newhouse’s
music is the soundtrack for the Disney
DVD logo, several independent
films, and Las Vegas stage shows.
Newhouse was awarded the BMI
Pete Carpenter Fellowship in 1999.
The University Continuing Education
Association awarded his Berklee
Online Orchestration 1 course
“Best New Online Course” in 2009,
and Berklee awarded Newhouse a
“Distinguished Faculty Award” in 2015.

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SETTING THE SCENE:
The opening sequence of Troy (2004)
Music: James Horner
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Notice: The music interacts with
the dialogue in multiple ways. As the
graphics begin, the music consists
of a drone, ethnic vocalizing, and
intermittent drum hits. After the opening
graphics, a voice-over enters. Observe
how carefully the drum hits are placed
around the pauses in the voice-over.
When the voice-over ends, the drums
pick up again. At the end of the scene,
the music stops entirely when the
discussion between the two kings
begins, allowing the audience to
focus entirely on the dialogue.
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Working with
Sound Effects
Just like dialogue, the composer should
consider the sound effects in their
composing process and treat them
as ideas that act as counterpoint to
the music. Some considerations when
working with sound effects:
In scenes that are heavy with sound
effects, consider using no music at
all: gun fights, car chases, bombs
detonating, etc. Such scenes often fill
the air with sounds of clashing metal and
explosions. In many cases, those effects
are extremely detailed and sufficient
to drive the energy of the scene
themselves.
In scenes with clashing metal,
consider limiting your percussion.
Clashing swords and similar sounds
directly compete with cymbal crashes.
Often, action music built primarily
with driving strings and brass work
better for such scenes than music that’s
predominately percussion.
It is not the role of music to literally
recreate the sounds of events on the
screen. The composer need not—and
should not—put a cymbal crash and
bass drum hit at the moment of a big
explosion. Literally portraying that
explosion is the job of the sound effects.
The music, on the other hand, should
portray the emotional implications of
that explosion.
SETTING THE SCENE:
The explosion scene in Cold Mountain
(2003)
Music: Gabriel Yared
Director: Anthony Minghella
Notice: Before the explosion, when the
northern troops are placing explosives
beneath the southern troop positions
in this Civil War epic, the music is a
suspenseful drone with improvisatory
fiddling. During the explosion, the music
stops entirely. After the explosion, the
music reenters as a poignant piano solo.
Here, the sound effects portray the literal
events on the screen while the music
portrays the emotional events.
HIGHLIGHTING
VISUAL EFFECTS
By definition, the discipline of film
scoring involves aligning music with
visual images on screen. This means
the composer must make a series
of decisions regarding the timing of
the music—when the music should
start, stop, and change emphasis.
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Musical Entrances
and Exits
Music should start/stop when there is a
change in the emphasis and meaning
of the picture. Such a change can be
initiated by:
• a shift in dialogue
• a change in camera position
• a change in setting, and/or the action
(such as a car driving off or a character
discovering an opened door)
SETTING THE SCENE:
The beginning of The Green Mile (1999)
Music: Thomas Newman
Director: Frank Darabont
Notice: The music enters when the
setting changes—shifting from the main
character’s bathroom to the halls of his
retirement home. Initially, the music is
source music intended to sound like
the soft background music often played
over the speaker systems at retirement
homes. The music changes with the
next change in setting. As the main
character leaves the retirement home
for an outdoor walk, the music shifts
from source music to orchestral score.
The music exits with a last change in
setting, as the main character reaches
the destination of his walk and the scene
shifts indoors to the retirement home.
The emotional content of a film often
changes within a scene and the music
must match that contour. Typically,
changes in the emotional content are
initiated by the techniques mentioned
previously—changes in dialogue, setting,
camera technique, and/or action.
SETTING THE SCENE:
The helicopter arrival scene from
Jurassic Park (1993)
At the end of the scene, the characters
encounter a real, live dinosaur. At
this moment, the music shifts to a
beautiful, reverent theme, marking the
awesome revelation the characters are
experiencing. This brings us to our next
topic: pacing.

Music: John Williams

Matching the Pacing
Director: Steven Spielberg
Notice: The music plays continuously. of Picture and Music
However, the music contains multiple
One of the primary tasks of a film
shifts that follow the contour of the
composer is to match the pacing of the
scene. When the scene begins, the
music to the pacing of the visual images.
characters are on a helicopter ride to
The “tempo” of the visuals is determined
Jurassic Park, which (in the film) is located
by several factors, including the speed
on an island off the coast of Costa Rica.
of picture cuts and the content of the
During the helicopter ride, the music is
on-screen action. While the tempo of the
up-tempo action/adventure music. This
visuals cannot be described in precise
music conveys the upbeat and positive
beats per minute, they can be expressed
feeling of the helicopter journey.
generally (such as up-tempo or down-
tempo) and the music should match
When they first see the island, a heroic
accordingly. Think of any of the action
trumpet and brass theme enters. While
sequences from the first Matrix movie.
the up-tempo energy of the music
There are several shifts in the tempo of
continues, the entrance of the brass
the visuals. Throughout much of each
theme matches the grandeur and epic
action sequence, when the characters are
nature of the scenery; jungle cliffs and
involved in a full-speed chase, the picture
towering waterfalls.
cuts move quickly. These moments are
scored by intense, up-tempo music. At
When the helicopter lands, the
other times, the action pauses—and the
characters get in Jeeps and begin to
music slows accordingly.
explore the island. At this point, the
music shifts to a light, up-tempo march—
marking the shift from a helicopter ride
to a terrestrial vehicle journey.

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 List of Musical
Characteristics
We looked at instances where the music
changed in structure to follow contour
shifts in a scene. This included changes
in the instrumentation, tempo, harmony
and other aspects of the music.
For brainstorming purposes, it is
helpful to maintain a list of musical
characteristics we can change when
there is a shift in the picture, referring to
the list when necessary while composing
to picture. Below is one possible list:
Make a change in instrumentation
• Move melody or other musical
ideas from one instrument
to another
• Increase overall instrumentation
• Decrease overall instrumentation
Make a change in harmony
• Modulate to a new key
• Arrive at an important point in the
progression, such as a resolution
to tonic or a deceptive cadence
• Increase or decrease the
harmonic rhythm
• Change the harmonic language,
such as shift from a major to
a minor key
Make a rhythmic change
• Increase or decrease the tempo
• Change the meter
Miscellaneous changes
• Stop the music entirely
• Start the music
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• Switch to a new melody or musical
idea entirely
• Change the counterpoint
structure, e.g. move from a
homophonic chord progression
to a melody-countermelody-
harmony structure
• Change the overall pitch register
Like our previous list regarding
dialogue, and like much of what you’ve
learned about composition, not all
of these techniques need to be used
simultaneously. Often, employing just
one of the techniques above is sufficient
for highlighting a shift in the contour of
the picture.
KEY CONCEPTS
• In most cases, the music
should make an effort to
avoid the dialogue.
• Just like dialogue, the
composer should consider
the sound effects in their
composing process and treat
them as ideas that act as
counterpoint to the music.
• The emotional content of a
film often changes within a
scene and the music must
match that contour.
• One of the primary tasks of a
film composer is to match the
pacing of the music to the
pacing of the visual images.

Explore Film Scoring
Programs at Berklee
Berklee offers multiple undergraduate
and graduate degrees in scoring for
film, television, video games, and
other media. Explore our programs
below to learn more.
BACHELOR OF MUSIC
IN FILM SCORING
(Boston, MA Campus)
Develop your aesthetic vision while
writing, recording, and producing
professional-grade compositions
designed for film, television, video
games, or other visual media.
> Learn More
BACHELOR OF PROFESSIONAL
STUDIES IN MUSIC COMPOSITION
FOR FILM, TV, AND GAME
(Online)
Build your professional portfolio
while gaining the practical skills to
compose, arrange, and orchestrate
effective dramatic music for visual
media, including film, television, and
interactive media.
> Learn More
MASTER OF MUSIC
IN FILM SCORING
(Online)
In this degree program, you will learn
how to compose in a wide variety of
styles, produce a recording session,
mix at an advanced level, and promote
yourself as a professional composer.
> Learn More
MASTER OF MUSIC IN SCORING
FOR FILM, TELEVISION, AND
VIDEO GAMES
(Valencia, Spain Campus)
In this intensive program, you will
learn with a close cohort of classmates
on Berklee’s Valencia, Spain campus
for three semesters, with an optional
fourth semester internship.
> Learn More
COURSES AND
CERTIFICATES IN MUSIC
FOR FILM, TV, AND GAMES
(Online)
Berklee Online’s courses and certificate
programs are a great way to enhance
your skills over a shorter period of
time than the degree programs, with
options ranging from 3-18 months.
> Learn More