SCORESMITHS

A Masterclass for Writing Music for Motion Picture. With Composer Chris Thomas.

In this 2nd collaboration with Composer Chris Thomas, we created a 9 hour e-learning course for film scoring. Chris is an accomplished film composer and music teacher with an impressive list of credits to his name including major motion pictures, numerous awards, an original symphony composer and a TEDx speaker. I met Chris through our first production collaboration, Imagine Symphony Live.

For this project, Chris approached me with his thought that there is a large gap of widely available knowledge in the realm of how to compose original music for motion picture. We both agreed that the timing was right for a course like this because access to the tools to get started as a composer has never been easier, but what is mainly lacking is the knowledge and skills to use them. 

The following is an in-depth look at how we produced this course, the creative decisions that went into it, and solving the problems of working in the era of social distancing. I will also address some lessons that I learned from the experience of multiple days of long-run recording which was new to me. 

For more info about this film scoring course, please visit www.scoresmiths.com

SPEAKING OF CINEMA:

Crafting the Look of ScoreSmiths

Right from the beginning, we made the decision that since the topic of the course is cinematic music, we wanted to maintain a cinematic visual feeling throughout the course in order to help the viewer feel like they’re in the world they might be writing for. We didn’t want the viewer to feel like they’re watching a tutorial (even though it is), but rather immersed in a cinematic environment. To accomplish this we chose to shoot in widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio and use a cinematic lighting style instead of typical “how-to-video” style lighting. In cinema, the light source should never feel artificial or like light was added to the scene. It should always look and feel as natural and environmental as possible. 

We filmed this course in 3 different set-ups at 2 different locations at the local community college where Chris is also a member of the teaching faculty. Since this was filmed during the 2020 pandemic, we had to keep it small and distanced. Chris and I worked without any additional production crew which meant I was the only one to direct, set up lights, operate 2 cameras, monitor sound, arrange the set design, and be my own DIT. 

Equipment used

Cameras:

• Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4k
• Sony A7riii
• Atomos 4k monitor/recorder

Lenses:

• Sigma 35mm
• Canon 50mm
• Canon 24mm.

Lights:

• 1 LED 3k fresnel
• 2 Nanlite Pavotube 30c

The majority of the course was filmed in two days at this location. It’s simply a large room with giant west-facing windows and wood paneling. This room is typically used for music rehearsals and classes. Acoustically it’s designed for a big washy reverb sound which is is ideal for most musical purposes, but in our case with only one person speaking, the room-wash presented quite a problem for spoken audio recording. Fortunately, the studio is equipped with moveable platforms that are normally used for orchestra risers. We were able to simply place them as vertical sound barriers which dramatically reduced the amount of echo and gave us a much cleaner sound. Additionally, the black panels also served as negative fill and light spill control.

Like many filmmakers and photographers, I love to work with natural window light. The quality is very hard to match with artificial light and, most importantly, it’s free. It worked for the first few hours of recording, but later as the sun and clouds moved, it became too unreliable so we switched to a more controlled studio style set up which we tried to match as close as we could to the window look. This room has blackout curtains which we partially closed, but left just enough of an opening to achieve a nice directional window light without completely washing out the room. I used a 3K LED fresnel and two 4ft LED tube lights for fill and backlight. Once we had it all dialed in, this combination looked natural and beautifully cinematic. Window light is a double edged sword. The quality is wonderful, but inconsistent due to the constantly changing position of the sun and weather conditions.

Scene 1- (Window Key Light)

Scene 1 – (Controlled Key Light)

If we had bigger lights available, we could have made the scenes match better, but this 3k was the biggest light we had. Even though there is obvious difference in the ratios, the look is close enough considering that these scenes are filmed as separate modules of the course so the difference isn’t really noticeable unless comparing the scenes side by side like this. 

Continuing the goal of creating a cinematic environment, we filmed this module in an actual theater. We wanted to create the feeling that Chris was speaking commentary to someone sitting with him while watching a film. We aimed a very hard backlight to make it look and feel as if it were coming from a projector and used a reflector to bounce that same light back at his face as if it was coming directly from a movie screen. 

The theater where we filmed this was actually a performing arts theater, not a movie theater. Therefore it had a stage and a piano on-hand for us to use.  We filmed this set up just to create more diversity in the scenes and keep the course fun to watch as well as listen to. 

We kept the 3k fresnel in its same location as from the previous scene and turned up the brightness for the much longer distance of throw. Then we keyed from frame right with one LED tube and added edge light from frame left with another tube. 

By far the most fun sequence of the project was this short piece demonstrating the way music affects the mood and feeling of a scene. Here Chris was using a gag of snapping his fingers and transporting from one scenario to another and letting the music inform the viewer of what to feel.

We moved fast with minimal set ups and filmed this scene in just a few hours on a single evening. 

Scene 1, Shot 1: Elevator. Chris appears and is disoriented. Camera on sticks.

Scene 2, Shot 1: Night woods

Chris being chased by an axe murderer. Camera moving on gimbal. We lit this night scene with just 2 LED tubes set to lightning strobe effect and they were handheld by a PA. The fog was added in post. 

Scene 2, shot 2: Camera tracking sideways from left to right. Same handheld LED lighting.

Scene 2, Shot 3: Reverse leading shot.  Same handheld LED lighting.

Scene 2, Shot 4: Medium close up. Chris falls down and lands at killers feet. Same handheld LED lighting.

Scene 2, Shot 5. Over the shoulder. Chris snaps his fingers and escapes at the last second.  Same handheld LED lighting.

Scene 3: The almost kiss

Chris sees his lovely wife and tries to kiss her. She snaps her fingers before he has the chance. Camera orbiting on gimbal. All natural light. No fill or modifiers. 

Scene 4: Night street

Chris appears in the middle of at street and narrowly escapes getting run over by a car.  Same handheld LED lighting augmented by practicals. 

Scene 5: Chris arrives back in theater. 

Complete “Snap sequence” clip.

Audio is a topic we’ve never discussed before, but as an independent film production company, and given the scope of the ScoreSmiths production, I feel it’s important to address our process for recording the sound.

While our real specialty is cinematography, audio is obviously a critical part of the production process. A true audio expert might have accomplished this production differently and/or better than we did, but our goal here is simply to explain our own technical process. Feel free to make your own judgements– we won’t take it personally.

We had to be able to capture multiple tracks of audio simultaneously including live instruments (piano and cello), playback of music samples from Chris’s computer, and he needed to be able to talk without having the different sources competing with each other in the volume mix.

Hardware

• Zoom H6 multi-channel mixer/recorder
• AT2020 Cardioid Microphone
• Kopul headphone Y-splitter
• Sony 7506 studio headphones (Chris’s computer playback monitor)
• Marshall Monitor headphones (My mixing monitor)

The vocal mic served to capture both the spoken audio as well as the live instruments. We also used the XY stereo mic built into the recorder as a secondary backup track. By having two microphones recording the vocals/instruments, we were able to record one channel at a higher gain, and the backup channel at a lower gain. That way, if there were any moments where the recording level was too loud and became distorted, we could use the backup low-gain track.

In this example below, you can see where we made use of that backup track during this segment where Chris was playing samples on the piano. The piano was a bit too loud on the primary vocal track, so we were able switch back and forth between the vocal track and the backup track for the piano.

Another important element was for Chris to be able to playback samples from his computer and be able to talk the viewer through what was being played without the two sound sources competing with each other in the volume mix. In order to avoid that competition between the vocal recording and the computer playback, we split the output signal from the computer into headphones for Chris and also directly into the recorder. Without any external speakers projecting the playback, we were able to keep the vocal mic isolated from the samples. That allowed us to have complete control during post-production to mix the two levels independently for a nice clean result.

ScoreSmiths truly stands out from the crowd of subscription courses. As one who is not even pursuing a career in composing scores, I can confidently say that this course is filled with true genius that will quickly elevate any learners knowledge of music theory and how it functions in the world of cinema. I’ve always had a love of music, especially classical music, but I know that I personally left this production with a vastly deeper understanding and appreciation for the orchestral creative process.

This entire course was designed from the ground up to be easy to grasp and full of actionable steps to immediately improve your own compositions.

Anyone who chooses to invest in their own musical career by signing up at ScoreSmiths, will not only be gaining brilliant knowledge, but will also really enjoy watching this course which is visually beautiful, filled with real film clips from major motion pictures, TV series, and even small indie films which all demonstrate the inseparable relationship between film and music.

For those interested in producing an E-learning course, we at Bradley Lanphear Films can help you turn your course into a cinematic experience that will truly impress your audience.

Concerned about the cost? Don’t be. We can help you achieve your vision without breaking the bank. Contact us to see how we can help you create something amazing.

“Having worked on the Los Angeles film scene for over 15 years, I was stunned to find Hollywood-grade cinematography in central Oregon! I’m so glad I called Bradley Lanphear. We have since worked on three film productions together. I couldn’t be more impressed with the quality and professionalism in his craft, and relentless work ethic. Bradley is a 5-Star experience, so don’t hesitate to call the best.“

Chris Thomas, Composer

For more info about this film scoring course, please visit www.scoresmiths.com