Now this is where things get interesting. I have already talked about why I want to compose film music. But how do you practice composing music for movies?
One way is to grab any movie you like and compose an original score for it. This is a bit tricky for two reasons. First, you will have heard the music when going over the scenes and will be influenced by it, which makes it hard to come up with something truly original. Second, you will be competing with well-established and respected composers in the field, and your music will be compared to theirs. It will be similar to what it would be for a Hans Zimmer or Rachel Portman to compose an original score to a scene that has a piece of temp music set to it. (Temp music: music that is put under a scene temporarily.) That piece of temp music is already setting the tone of what is expected from a composer, and it will be nigh on impossible to come up with something that will be perceived as better.
Then what is the solution? An internship, or write your own movie. Since an internship for me is currently not an option, and because I love writing and making up stories, writing my own movie script is a good and fun alternative.
And with that I started writing. The idea was to write something high-level, an outline. However, soon I got a bit too involved and wanted to know more details about the story. A bit further along in time I had written 60 minutes of movie. The thought hit me that if it was that easy, why not make it a full-length script? Perhaps easier said than done, but all of a sudden it was done.
Yes, it is done. I now have a full-length movie script.
With the script finished, I can start breaking it up and start composing music for it. When the music is finished, I will share it with you and share some of the details of the scenes. It will be fun, so stick around.
And speaking of fun, wouldn’t it be fun to see the movie on a big screen? That it actually gets made? This will involve a few more fun exercises, such as find out where to send it to, how to talk with film producers, and learn more about the movie industry.
In other words: why not get that ball rolling as well. Easier said than done? Perhaps yes, but then all of a sudden it just might be done. And then there it will be, on a screen near you. Fun? You bet.
After the music has been composed and presented here on this website — together with parts of the story to give you some context — I will continue writing scripts. Whether they will be as detailed or long as this initial one will remain to be seen. I love to make music, and love to experiment more with composing for movies. But right now there are at least 4 other stories for movies that I can think of expanding into a full-length movie, so who knows.