Complete Guide to Film Scoring: The Art and Business of Writing Music for Movies and TV

by Richard Davis

An essential resource for both students and professionals, offering shrewd insight into the business, process, and art of writing music for film and TV. Interviews with top film scoring professionals add the priceless insight of the wisdom that comes with experience.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Film, Textbooks

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Bob Fish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Valuable for its interviews at the end and maybe the little history in the beginning. But everything in between is mostly quite outdated, though at times interesting.

[The · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Not a book about music theory or notes; it's about the business, logistics, and practicalities of working on scores, with a bunch of interviews with successful composers talking about their successes and failures. It's a tiny bit out of date (1999), but really good stuff.

[Famke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit stappenplan voor hoe je filmmuziek moet maken is fantastisch en ook nog in kindertaal geschreven. Meer hoef ik niet

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative on all aspects of scoring a film. The book also touched on some basic aspects of film-making outside of scoring, that will directly affect the composer.

I particularly enjoyed the Interview section at the end. It was interesting to read about the different paths to success and composition processes of successful film composers. There isn't just one way to make it in the industry.

My only concern is how outdated the book is. It was written in 1999 and technology has progressed quite a bit since then. A lot of the information still seems relevant and the rest is definitely relevant from a historical perspective. Most concerning was how often the author mentioned the "development" of digital technology in film-making. To the best of my knowledge everything is done digitally now, so I would be interested to learn about the impact this has had on the process of scoring a film. I also found it amusing when the author talked about submitting your "tape" to show the director what you can do and how you could make each side of the tape themed in a certain way to show different styles of your writing. Now you would probably just send an email with a link to your soundcloud profile or something...

[Sean Spruiells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book with much of the information one would need to get started as a professional Film Scorer. I wasn't to keen on the interviews at the end because many of the chapters had excerpts from each of the composers interviewed, from there it was kind of down hill. All and all it was a great book. Seemed more so like it could possibly be used as a classroom tool for teaching film composition to students.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was especially interesting to read about the history of film scoring. Very fascinating.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took Introduction to Film Scoring at Berklee College of Music during the Spring Semester of 2003, and this was the textbook required for our reading assignments and ultimately quizzes and tests.

Well...truth be told, I didn't read it back then (I read a little), or rather I fell behind the schedule of weekly reading assignments within 2 or 3 weeks. The book is quite informative, and just like a textbook, the writing is straight to the point and authoritative. I enjoyed it much more, the second time around.

I managed a C+ in the class (if I remember correctly), but lately with iMovie I have been creating videos of my own by setting new still photos against old audio recordings. Its amazing how the music comes alive with just a few pictures added in relative to the audio. The book is a great supplement and an eye opener to the world of scoring music cues to film, and the interviews are the icing on the cake.

[Conan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! Not only as a musician, but as an individual with a thirst for knowledge. You do not have to be a musician or even be in the music or film industry to enjoy this book. If you want any knowledge about how things work in the industry and the history of music in film then it’s a good read.

They don’t really talk “music” terms and it won’t improve you as a composer (which is why I originally wanted to read it), but it gives you a better understanding of the world for a business approach OR simply general knowledge info. I can see myself talking about the topics in this book (especially the history of music in film) at dinner parties and with friends for years to come. It’s a winner

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! This book gives such a wide variety of the film scoring spectrum, from the artistic side of creating the music to the legal side of royalties and copyrights. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in how music is used in film!

[Victor Visuerte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure it is a complete guide, although a bit outdated. Great history chapter and explanation of the filmmaking process, and you finally get a view from inside the industry about how to make music for screen.

[Sarah Toth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Complete Guide to Film Scoring, was by far, the best music reference book I've read. Richard Davis works in the film industry and is therefore, very knowledgeable on the subject. He also interviews countless popular film composers throughout the book which really helps with his credibility as well as keeping the book interesting. I will definitely be using this book as a heavy reference text for my classes.

[Angus Mckay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's already a little outdated, which is to be expected with the rate at which the music industry is changing. Still, it's well worth reading if you have any interest in film/media scoring.

I especially enjoyed the history chapter.

[Cassie Kabrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to learn about film scoring and the history behind it. I read it for school and actually enjoyed it.