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Music Composition for the Screen, MFA 54 Credits 2016/2017

1st Semester – Fall (13 Credits) 2nd Semester – Spring (12 Credits)

32-6221 Scoring I: Composing 32-6222 Scoring II: Color and Dramatic Music, 4 Complexity, 4 32-6251 , 3 32-6252 Orchestration II, 3 32-6630 History of Cinema, 3 32-6631 The : A Survey of 32-6651 Film Analysis, 1 the Craft, 3 32-6901 Lab (Tutorial), 2 32-6901 Lab (Tutorial), 2

3rd Semester – Fall (12 Credits) 4th Semester – Spring (12 Credits)

32-6223 Scoring III: Genre and Style, 4 32-6224 Scoring IV: Directed Study in 32-6261 Music For Games I, 3 Composition, 4 32-6441 Conducting to Picture, 3 32-6262 Music for Games II, 3 32-6901 Lab (Tutorial), 2 32-6441 Conducting to Picture, 3 28-6901 Lab (Tutorial), 2

Semester in LA – Summer (5 Credits)

32-6989 Internship/ Apprenticeship, 1 32-6981L Career Development, 1 32-6998L Thesis/Practicum: Final Project, 3

Music Composition for the Screen, MFA Course Descriptions 2015/2016

32-6221 Scoring I: Composing Dramatic Music

The first in a four-semester composition and orchestration sequence which is the core of the MFA program, this course is designed to introduce students to the craft of composing dramatic music and marrying music to story. Composition for the screen is an applied art, and requires that the composer be guided in his or her choice of musical vocabulary by the emotional and thematic values embodied in script, performance, and directorial intent. This course will explore the application of a variety of musical devices, including style, form, harmonic language, melodic development, and rhythmic elements, to musically express emotional states or thematic links. Lessons in technique will drive writing assignments geared to specific scenes wherein music must support the dramatic context. Taking the course in tandem with Lab (Tutorial), students will utilize Logic Pro software (or their own preferred DAW) to realize mock-ups.

32-6222 Scoring II: Color and Complexity

The second installment of the core four-semester composition sequence, this course will add color and nuance to the "black and white" palette explored in semester one through an intensive focus on orchestration and timings as well as further studies of the harmonic vocabulary. The effective use of the wind and percussion sections of the film orchestra will be added to the aspiring screen composer's tool kit, as will special categories such as scores driven by rhythm section and electronic elements. Taken in tandem with Lab II and further studies in the use of DAWs as a production and mixing tool.

32-6223 Scoring III: Genre and Style

This third installment in the four-semester composition/orchestration sequence will allow students the opportunity to hone their skills through a practicum in film and musical genre scoring. Genres will include and rock/contemporary music, while film styles will encompass comedy, horror, period, action, and animation. The assignments will be a combination of electronic, acoustic, and combination scores, where students will demonstrate their mastery of different dramatic scoring-to- picture styles. This class is the practical application of techniques covered in Scoring I and II, allowing students to create a portfolio of professional-level work. Taught in tandem with Lab (Tutorial), semester 3.

32-6224 Scoring IV: Directed Study in Composition

In the final installment of the four-semester composition sequence, students will meet one-on-one with their primary composition instructors to fine tune their craft, making use of various independent projects on which they have already collaborated with the Film & Video, Television, and Interactive Arts & Media Departments. Individualized instruction allows each student to identify techniques and concepts they feel they have not yet fully mastered or integrated into their work, and to concentrate on those areas. This will assist students in identifying personal strengths and styles, and will help them select an appropriate thesis project. Once projects are chosen, students work with instructors to begin their final theses. Further emphasis is placed on multiple recording sessions, using large ensembles comprised of professional musicians, recorded in a professional recording studio. Taught in tandem with Lab (Tutorial), semester 4.

32-6251 Orchestration I

This course will explore the process of creating the mood and tone of a film through the use of the production techniques available to today's film composers. This will include the integration of electronic samples with traditional orchestral instruments, as well as how dynamics, rhythm, register, harmony, melody, and the distribution of elements throughout the instrument range contribute to the effectiveness of the score. Film scores will be deconstructed to arrive at an understanding of how the composer achieved the desired musical effect. This first installment focusses mostly on electronic sounds, samples, and modern recording, production and mixing techniques. Students will be required to compose cues with the techniques learned through the analysis of existing scores.

32-6252 Orchestration II

This course continues to explore the process of creating the mood and tone of a film through the use of advanced production techniques including integration of electronic samples and traditional orchestral instruments, as well as effective use of dynamics, rhythm, register, harmony, melody, and the distribution of elements through the instrument range. This second installment goes in depth into classical orchestration techniques, and how they apply to the recorded medium of media music. Students will analyze scores and will be required to compose cures with the techniques learned through analysis.

32-6261 Music for Games I

This course explores the application of non-linear composition techniques in the production of dramatic music for use in interactive games. Students will learn techniques of composing music that will ultimately be controlled through game play and game audio engines. The class will explore building scores that involve multilevel dramatic elements and instantaneous transitions, as is common in most interactive games.

32-6262 Music for Games II

This course continues to explore the application of non-linear composition techniques in the production of dramatic music for use in interactive games. Students will learn techniques for composing music that will ultimately be controlled through game play and game audio engines. The class will explore building scores that involve multilevel dramatic elements and instantaneous transitions. In addition to composing music appropriate to game composition, students will develop the skills to program their music into the game engines.

32-6441 (1) Conducting to Picture

This course is a tutorial in the art and science of conducting live orchestra to picture in film, television, and new media recording sessions. Instruction will focus not only on the traditional role of the conductor in interpreting score and bringing out the strongest performance, but on the preparation, discipline and equanimity required to balance the dizzying array of events occurring simultaneously in a scoring session. This first section focusses on conducting technique.

32-6441 (2) Conducting to Picture

Continuing the tutorial in the art and science of conducting live orchestra to picture in film, television, and new media recording sessions, this second installment acts as a companion to the recording sessions at the end of the third and throughout the fourth semester of the program. Students will prepare themselves to conduct their own pieces in the sessions, as well as conduct each other’s works.

32-6630 History of Cinema

This course presents a chronological investigation of film from the pre-history of cinema up to the digital age. Emphasis is on understanding film both as an engine for an and artifact of society, culture, and geography. Students are introduced to major directors, films, and movements that contributed to the development of cinema.

32-6631 The Film Score: A Survey of the Craft

This course is an exhaustive review of the development of film scoring art and craft, from the generic cues written to accompany silent film and the defining work of and Erich Korngold to Golden Age auteurs such as Herrmann and Bernstein and contemporary composers/producers like , Danny Elfman and . The emphasis is on the unique musical vocabulary of the film score and on learning to recognize the signatures of benchmark composers. Students will conduct detailed analyses of both written and recorded examples, with a concentration on contemporary harmony and voicing and the study of dramatic construction.

32-6901 Lab (Tutorial)

The Lab (Tutorial) will be offered in semesters one, three and four of the MFA program, and is designed to function as an adjunct to the core composition and orchestration classes. It is in the lab that students will not only accomplish the sketching and sequencing which leads to the realization of the ideas initiated in the classroom, but learn to use and master the tools of the trade. Software taught will include Logic Pro, ProTools, and VE Pro.

28-6151 Managing and Licensing Intellectual Property

Composers in the 21st century are increasingly dependent on their ability to effectively administer the intellectual property created through their work. Offered in the second semester of the two-year program, this course examines issues relating to the management and licensing of intellectual property in arts, entertainment and media. The course includes analysis and simulated hands-on management of real- world intellectual property portfolios chosen by the students, from identifying portfolios that are ripe for extraction of unrealized value to formulating plans for delivering that value in the form of incremental revenue to the intellectual property owners.

32-6989L Internship/Apprenticeship

The centerpiece of the capstone graduate semester in , MFA candidates will serve internships and/or assistantships in critical sectors of the film and television music industry. These positions will occupy weekday afternoons, and students generally are placed with working film, television and video game composers, but may also be at studio music departments, music editorial houses, or recording studios. Each of them represents the trailhead of a career path.

32-6981L Career Development

A unit of the capstone Graduate Semester in L.A., this course is designed to apprise MFA students of the various avenues of employment for aspiring composers of music for the screen, and to coach them in the self-promotional skills peculiar to the motion picture industry. Meeting on weekday mornings, we will explore all the ancillary trades, such as music editing, orchestration, sound design, music copying, and various studio-based jobs in addition to the paths followed by successful composers. There will be almost daily visits from industry professionals in all areas of the trade.

32-6998L Thesis/Practicum: Final Project

Students complete their studies with a final project, chosen with their instructors, recorded with an orchestra comprised of LA’s finest studio musicians at one of LA’s premier sound stages, and mixed over two days by a leading LA scoring engineer.