DESCRIPTION OF EACH CURRICULUM MODULE
Film Scoring 1 / 2 / 3
Over three quarters you will be taken from composing preliminary film scoring exercises to creating weekly film and media specific compositions for scenes of films, animation, advertising, video games, and in various genres such as comedy, horror, thriller or action.
This module covers many topics such as the functions of film music, scoring approaches and problems, scoring techniques, composition techniques and emotion, spotting for music and dramatic intent, motifs and theme development, scoring under dialogue, scoring action scenes, “why is the cue not working?”, credits music, segue cues, amongst many others.
Expected homework: 4 hours/week
Lecturer: Nuno Dario
Orchestration 1 / 2 / 3
Orchestration is a job on its own. Many film composers work as orchestrators too. If you are working on your own film scores or working for someone else, in three quarters you learn the fundamentals of instrumentation and orchestration as well as special orchestration and instrumentation techniques for Film and TV. Topics addressed include writing and arranging for Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, the power of orchestration in film music, writing for smaller music ensembles, hybrid scores, virtual orchestration and augmented score.
Expected homework: 2 hours/week
Lecturer: Nuno Dario
Music Technology & Production 1 / 2
The demands of the industry stress the importance of exceptionally good music production skills. Over two quarters you will develop the skills that will enable you to raise the level of your own music and music mock ups’ production. Topics include DSP and audio production, dealing with live recordings, virtual instruments, score preparation, mixing (including topics gain staging, space and depth, balance, FX), stems and multitracks, overdubs as well as music mastering and audio delivery formats.
Expected homework: 1 hour/week
Lecturers: Kati Falk-Flores / Joel Dollie
The Language of Cinema
In one quarter you will dive into the universe of filmmaking in order to gain a better understanding of how a film works. Learning film structure, what a long shot is, genre, camera POV, transitions, aesthetics, and overall language and technical elements will help you to develop a fundamental skill for a film composer – understand the film you are working on.
Expected homework: 30’-1 hour/week
Lecturer: António Rui Ribeiro
Film Score Studies 1 / 2
Over two quarters you will study film scores and gain a deeper insight on how a full successful score is crafted based on its technical elements, dramatic intent and scoring approaches. Why does the music modulate, why would the theme change, why is this specific instrumentation used, music in’s and out’s, are just some of the topics covered.
Expected homework: 30’-1 hour/week
Lecturer: Steve Rothstein
History of Film Music
Over one quarter, you will look into the history of film and TV music through comparative examples and see how its main trends, connection with the film, developments and aesthetics have evolved over the years.
Expected homework: 30’-1 hour/week
Lecturer: Conrado Xalabarder