Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
Anybody know of good film scoring forums on the net, forums that have members with regular participation? I did some googling, foung a couple film scoring forums but the activity seems so low not worth bookmarking.
film scoring forums ? (need links)
- Thread starter Randall_Oelerich
- Start date
Jason Ramsey
Admin
well, if you can't find a satisfactory one, perhaps we should make a little home here on 'user for it.
later,
jason
later,
jason
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
For sure. Seems like a natural thing to do (have a film scoring forum here), because after all dvxuser is for all things related to film. AUDIO is a bit general, I suspect many users here think of it as relating to audio capture with mics, post tweaking of dialogue and sfx, foley, etc. It would be nice to have a forum here on FILM MUSIC for posts about soundtrack related discussion, composing either from scratch with software or loops, etc.
Richard Crowley
Veteran
Have you considered the "Music - Creation / Composition" forum over on CreativeCOW?
http://forums.creativecow.net/musiccreationcomposition
There seems to be a fair amount of traffic there of recent vintage.
Dunno how one goes about requesting another forum here? (Or what the chances of the administrators agreeing to it?)
http://forums.creativecow.net/musiccreationcomposition
There seems to be a fair amount of traffic there of recent vintage.
Dunno how one goes about requesting another forum here? (Or what the chances of the administrators agreeing to it?)
JordanBlock
Well-known member
Look up about 4-5 inches, Richard 
Richard Crowley
Veteran
Look up about 4-5 inches, Richard
I guess I'm not seeing whatever you are referring to?
JordanBlock
Well-known member
Jason is an administrator, he can make a new section.
Richard Crowley
Veteran
Doh! :embarasse:
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
That would be a forum of last resort; it (Creative Cow) is just horribly organized, unlike forums like dvxuser that use the SMF forum software engine. I want a forum with organized threads, members, member profiles and friends for networking, etc. Or else hoping maybe Jason (admin) here might create a Film Music forum for filmmakers and musicians to dialogue about music use in films, film composing, software and equipment, loops, blah blah blah.
Richard Crowley
Veteran
IMHO ALL web-based forums are pretty horrible. This one included. I hold my nose every time I come here (or the other web-based forums).
After using Usenet for 15 years, these web-based things are terribly fiddly and horribly inefficient. I detest constantly scrolling to get to the next text. I desperately miss the ability to see the entire latest 30-50 threads on a single screen, and clicking on one to (instantly) expand the hierarchical thread. If I want to look at someone's picture I'll click on their name and endure a pop-up or something. In the same amount of time I can make it through 10x MORE newsgroups, threads, and postings on Usenet than on ANY web-based forum.
Apologies for the off-topic posting. We now return you to your regularly scheduled topics.
After using Usenet for 15 years, these web-based things are terribly fiddly and horribly inefficient. I detest constantly scrolling to get to the next text. I desperately miss the ability to see the entire latest 30-50 threads on a single screen, and clicking on one to (instantly) expand the hierarchical thread. If I want to look at someone's picture I'll click on their name and endure a pop-up or something. In the same amount of time I can make it through 10x MORE newsgroups, threads, and postings on Usenet than on ANY web-based forum.
Apologies for the off-topic posting. We now return you to your regularly scheduled topics.
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Galleddrim
Active member
Depends on what you're looking for. I frequent the forum over at http://vsl.co.at.
The forum is dedicated to the discussion of the Vienna Symphonic sample libraries for composition and orchestration, but there are a lot of film composers hanging out there regularly. Activity is high, and people are always sharing high quality samples of their work.
The forum is dedicated to the discussion of the Vienna Symphonic sample libraries for composition and orchestration, but there are a lot of film composers hanging out there regularly. Activity is high, and people are always sharing high quality samples of their work.
*david*
New member
As a new member and composer myself, I would like to second the request for a film scoring sub-forum here. And does anyone know if there are any regularly populated chat hubs, like IRC channels or something, with people discussing film, indie projects, etc.? I do IRC with my online gaming community and it's a blast.
Richard Crowley
Veteran
CAN and WILL appear to be two different things. While we debate it here, an active online forum on the subject continues to run over there.
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
Richard what do you mean by "over there"? If you mean vsl.co.at, I don't see a film scoring forum or subforum 'over there'.
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
Looks like the mods here are not going to create a film scoring forum, so I did more hunting for active forums (with recent posts, etc) on the net for at least music composition and found a couple that I am going to explore more, likely join up on. Maybe these two links will helps others on a similar quest:
http://composersforum.ning.com/forum/categories/the-art-of-composition/listForCategory
http://www.composeforums.com/forum/default.asp
http://composersforum.ning.com/forum/categories/the-art-of-composition/listForCategory
http://www.composeforums.com/forum/default.asp
ChrisHurn
Well-known member
I think a music sub forum under audio would be a pretty nifty idea, and wouldn't clutter the site since it'd be hidden under audio - either way, music is so important to so many films, and it seems like if we have a forum for sound, we should have one for music too - I can't tell you how many indie/short films I've watched lately with rubbish scores, in the sense that you can tell the filmmakers skimped on music and just used poorly chosen stock music or something. (When they didn't have to!)
What's important is developing a stronger connection with filmmakers and composers. At DVXUser we have a bunch of really great composers, many of them working on the DVXFests over and over, and doing a great job. It's a little unfortunate that music gets less attention than many other aspects of filmmaking sometimes. It can do so much for a film.
One great thing about the technology and sampling now is that the sounds are getting pretty real, computers are more powerful which allows for more realistic mockups and home scores - which is another tool a low budget filmmaker can use. You literally can get a Hollywood level score done in your basement if you have a composer that can write well, has some good samples, and maybe with a little over dubbing. Same applies for songs.
I'd love to see more connection and attention to music here. I feel a lot of directors don't know how to deal with composers, and maybe a forum here could be a great help to people. Everything could be discussed from samples, to techniques, to collaboration,etc. Would be cool. It would also be nice to bring together songwriters and filmmakers - for those who want song based scores. There are so many talented songwriters out there, unsigned - looking for oppertunites. So many of them don't know anything about the independant film scene and if they were to be teamed up with talented filmmakers (like we have here), it could be a very rewarding experience for not only them, but also the filmmakers.
I find a lot of these composer forums are either really inactive, or focus on one specific sample library, or have on going wars about what sample library does this and that, and it's all just too technical for the art, or practical side of things. Since we have a lot of filmmakers here, the focus would probably be on collaboration, general tools, how to actually spot and write cues for a film --different moods, timings, techniques (which is talked so much less about than which sample does this and that) - more on the actual filmmaking process and how it works with music. That's what's lacking in online communities for film music right now - DVXuser could be a home to it.
The way a director approaches the score can also make a huge difference to the result of it. Which is why I feel a lot of indie films lack thematic scores. Of course it comes down to the composer too - and a lot of composers deal more with ambient or underscore, not so much strong themes or motifs. However, I can tell you I really believe the score is only as good as the film, and the director. Some filmmakers seem to get this idea that music is like "Okay I want this here, and this here, and this here, and this here". You're not ordering take out - that's not going to get memorable results. You have to be open as a filmmaker to exploration. The same way you treat an actor. You can't go around saying "be happy, now be sad, now be louder" - that's going to result in a terrible performance. You have to work up to a performance, the same way you work up to a score. At least a good one. These kind of things are so important, and so often underlooked.
What's important is developing a stronger connection with filmmakers and composers. At DVXUser we have a bunch of really great composers, many of them working on the DVXFests over and over, and doing a great job. It's a little unfortunate that music gets less attention than many other aspects of filmmaking sometimes. It can do so much for a film.
One great thing about the technology and sampling now is that the sounds are getting pretty real, computers are more powerful which allows for more realistic mockups and home scores - which is another tool a low budget filmmaker can use. You literally can get a Hollywood level score done in your basement if you have a composer that can write well, has some good samples, and maybe with a little over dubbing. Same applies for songs.
I'd love to see more connection and attention to music here. I feel a lot of directors don't know how to deal with composers, and maybe a forum here could be a great help to people. Everything could be discussed from samples, to techniques, to collaboration,etc. Would be cool. It would also be nice to bring together songwriters and filmmakers - for those who want song based scores. There are so many talented songwriters out there, unsigned - looking for oppertunites. So many of them don't know anything about the independant film scene and if they were to be teamed up with talented filmmakers (like we have here), it could be a very rewarding experience for not only them, but also the filmmakers.
I find a lot of these composer forums are either really inactive, or focus on one specific sample library, or have on going wars about what sample library does this and that, and it's all just too technical for the art, or practical side of things. Since we have a lot of filmmakers here, the focus would probably be on collaboration, general tools, how to actually spot and write cues for a film --different moods, timings, techniques (which is talked so much less about than which sample does this and that) - more on the actual filmmaking process and how it works with music. That's what's lacking in online communities for film music right now - DVXuser could be a home to it.
The way a director approaches the score can also make a huge difference to the result of it. Which is why I feel a lot of indie films lack thematic scores. Of course it comes down to the composer too - and a lot of composers deal more with ambient or underscore, not so much strong themes or motifs. However, I can tell you I really believe the score is only as good as the film, and the director. Some filmmakers seem to get this idea that music is like "Okay I want this here, and this here, and this here, and this here". You're not ordering take out - that's not going to get memorable results. You have to be open as a filmmaker to exploration. The same way you treat an actor. You can't go around saying "be happy, now be sad, now be louder" - that's going to result in a terrible performance. You have to work up to a performance, the same way you work up to a score. At least a good one. These kind of things are so important, and so often underlooked.
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I'm initially an audiphile, been years. I have tons of loops and tracks, all original. If a music sub starts up here I will contribute a bunch for people to use. Multitracks and all. Whatever I have to do to release them will be done as well. I really like this idea. Will throw about ten tracks your way if this happens. I love dvx. All for this move if it happens.
T
T
I'm initially an audiphile, been years. I have tons of loops and tracks, all original. If a music sub starts up here I will contribute a bunch for people to use. Multitracks and all. Whatever I have to do to release them will be done as well. I really like this idea. Will throw about ten tracks your way if this happens. I love dvx. All for this move if it happens.
T
T
Amazing.