How To Score Films - The Dark Art of Spotting

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If you want to score films, write music for films or become a film composer, you have to know about spotting. Spotting is the art and science of working out where music goes in a film and what its purpose is. In this film scoring tutorial, award winning composer Guy Michelmore shows you how to break down a scene and work out what to write where and why.

[@gagemorgancomposer]

Guy, you are an absolute gem. I love how passionate about music you are and your insight is absolutely incredible and extremely valuable. I hope to meet you one day!

[@nicklymberis5371]

I just started the Cinematic Orchestration course after consuming a ton of your videos. I'm on Unit 1, Chapter 3... and I'm already convinced I need to drop accounting, get composing and have my work played by a live orchestra 😅 thanks for the inspiration!

[@tuttib1902]

Guy the Rebel. "Your job is to undermine the score......" would so love to hear that! Brilliant stuff as usual.

[@samuelgl]

Hi Guy! Would you review Symphonic Motions? Thanks!

[@thewrenchreviews9986]

Most excellent sir. It is very interesting to see and understand your approach to scoring things like this. Thank you for a peek behind the curtain. Makes my old heart beat with a bit more enthusiasm.

[@mellifluousfable]

Brilliant. I'm at work right now but as soon as I get home, I'm going to devour this episode with a cup of tea. Been hoping for a new upload soon and here it is! 👍

[@mellifluousfable]

And.... It was totally worth the wait! Loved it. Thanks Guy 😉

[@tristanmichael2051]

Fantastic Guy! One of the most useful take away videos you've uploaded. I think people getting in to this will take a lot from your 15 mins here - well done! Cheers Tristan .

[@SlowDescentToWild]

Fascinating and so helpful!

[@charlesgaskell5899]

Fascinating to hear how you have reinvented your music, so that it doesn't sound like something that could have been written 10 years ago. Thanks for the insights! (and to the director, for letting you make a video about his trailer)

[@ArtimusClyde55]

The only channel I have email notifications for

[@neogenzim1995]

you're the best character on youtube.

[@ximenafuentes3522]

Thank you very much, it's been very helpful :)

[@RobertRodriguezMusic]

Loved the new TSE trailer!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Shout out to Hugh the editor!

[@StefUllrichMusic]

Damn right it is 75-95 percent of the job. It's so easy to write a great piece of music for the wrong film.

[@bookstuart]

Excellent walkthrough Guy, you added a few notches more to my learning curve. Thank you

[@rumar4u]

I remember the movie “The Exorcist” being a great movie. The best thing was the score because it never hinted you anything in advance so it kept you all thru out the movie in suspense waiting for something super creepy to happen. Not like today’s jump scare scenes and B.S.

[@TheOblivionMemeGuy]

Sounds great. Great use of the guitar, really adds tension to the footage.

[@nishanthkiran7639]

The most funniest grandpa anyone could ever have :- )

[@f.herumusu8341]

Wouldn't call anyone who is still established in the industry a "grandpa". Maybe just the point of view of the kiddies.

[@AMBIOSIS]

@@f.herumusu8341 Lighten up mate, find your sense of humour.

[@Redhollow]

Every video just oozes with charm.

[@f.herumusu8341]

@@AMBIOSIS I think I have a great sense of humor. Calling a working professional composer who gives great lessons for free a "grandpa" seems to me to be sign of mistaking humor with lack of respect.

[@zian3694]

you should not use most before funniest because you should not use two superlative degrees together.

[@BLUEMOUNTDIGITAL]

very very thought provoking

[@Rockhopper1]

Thank you, the film looks really good. Learnt something new today,

[@baydenadams1633]

thankyou so much for this video

[@sebastianmoggia4800]

Beautiful... Very helpful video 👏👏👏

[@MartinJG100]

Deft touches, Guy. Nice work on the guitar. I always knew you were a natural on them there strings :)

[@ateha8795]

Thank you for your video. You point out important subjects to think about for musicians. I want to recommend you usage of hashtags (#filmscoring, #composition #filmcomposing) for KZbin search engine optimization and visibility. KZbin doesn't really use Tags anymore.

[@nightnoodler812]

That was great.. voice as the motif..I always think of melody and rythm. pitch and tone, for voicing, that was cool , Thank you Guy very much, you always give me these interesting musical directions to move in..I love it. very inspiring.. and the sound design ideas too.. I was experimenting with a very old cartoon, where the character lights a match, and it just came to me to use white noise filter and a little vloume/tonal change, and sounded not bad..but needs work on the attack..and the fizzle at the end..Thanks again love you vids, just when I slow down lack a little drive, watch you vids, and always end up firing up the VSTs..

[@fabkid72]

Really interesting to hear your approach to this Guy. I've heard it said that spotting well is half the trick - thank you for the insight. Would be very interested to hear you speak with directors/producers about their side of the deal - common mistakes new/bad composers make; communicating ideas between musician and 'civilian'. Thanks again!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

good idea

[@paulraggett7837]

Thanks Guy. That was really interesting.

[@nefdsnet]

A scene like this would be great for a scoring competition. Just imagine how much better this would be with a chiptune soundtrack. Only if you've previously worked with the director though. 😂

[@ryevick]

So are you saying you wouldn't use Mario Brothers 8 bit music for this movie?

[@notreallydavid]

I would.

[@jimp5713]

Would be cool to see a how you did this video what all instruments and effects and the final mix -Sounds really good! And did you do other music for this movie and where can we see it?

[@yousefyaqub661]

Can you do a video on how to create melody's.

[@lyralindamusic]

Wow, Guy, I'm on this exact unit in MFTM and picked this film clip as my assignment. It seems that the sound design is already included in the film clip that came with the course. This is very helpful. I've been a bit stumped about how to approach it. My ideas seem to come out like an old Alfred Hitchcock movie (Ha ha). Thanks so much!!

[@basilomusic__]

Thank you❤

[@kharitonovmusic4225]

Thans for this video, Gue! It is unreal interesting) Would you post some videos as this in future? Like preparation/your thoughts for writing music and the final result. This is wonderful content and super interesting video) Thank you again!

[@borregof]

Really, REALLY love your content! I'm a newbe who just ordered Cubase Pro 10.5. Can't wait to play around with this! :)

[@cleverestx]

Studio One 5 is where it's at now. Combine that with a Roli and WOW...They even have Notation integrated into it as a view available for all tracks :-)

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Good choice :)

[@tobybarker6808]

Interesting the junction of sound design and score design

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Its very interesting

[@vinckduck9690]

this is very helpful!

[@Wingineer]

Great job guy. What did you use for the deep thumps?

[@ChrisMuellerMusic]

Guy, where can I get short movies like this for my own work? Or do you even have a course (besides the great free one) that comes with such movies?

[@ChrisMuellerMusic]

Oh my... I should have watched the video until the end before asking the question -.- Nevermind me and thanks for the Video!

[@klisher]

Great thought provoking video.

[@salliemorrill2671]

That was amazing.

[@ryanwayman3472]

I would love to see a video on the technique and uses of the mod wheel on your keyboard and how you implement it when recording strings and other instruments.

[@OM-md6ki]

Me too!

[@DevanshRastogi]

Never been this fast before... Big fan of your composing... Hope i can be like you

[@satyajitkelkar]

Superb Sir !!

[@AndreasvanHaren]

Hi Guy, is it possible for you to make a video about defining and notating the cues I a scene, using a cue sheet? I see a lot explanations of spotting and cues, but what actually does define a cue itself and where do you draw the start and end moments?

[@peavynation]

I love Guy. I love his courses. He's what youtube and the internet were made for.

[@andybullemor-music5928]

"What we need to do is create a powerful sense of dread" - Super Hans

[@solarsuk2562]

The longer the note. The more dread.

[@andybullemor-music5928]

I have that same orange Ikea lamp

[@MikeChristou]

Is the pulse at the end when he takes his mask off up until the credits a synth or a guitar with a gate?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Guitar I think

[@NormanFernandezKeyboardPlayer]

Where can you get Musicless Movie Clips to Practice?

[@proteus1]

10 secs before the way-point, I would slowly bring in dance / rave type music and fade the first sound design, into the slowly reverved and slowly increasing in volume the rave/dance like the sound is coming from a few houses or a street away.

[@pjdahmen]

Great tutorial

[@storiesreadaloud5635]

If you have to sit under a v.o. then I suppose EQ will be useful here, just like mixing?

[@ajryangameaudio]

Postgraduate Taster Week Dessert, yum!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Correct! Its a small insight into why this job is difficult!

[@dafingaz]

Nice!

[@ShredmasterScott]

I wanna be like this guy when I grow up.....

[@spamatica]

Love these videos! Technical question though, I seem to be missing some of the sounds in the final video. Guy talks about Drum and Bass in the walking sequence but however I listen I cannot hear it. Could it be a mixdown to stereo issue, the original is 5.1? Or is it on my end, I'm listening on a simple laptop. Does others hear it?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Its laid well n the background in the tunnel sequence. The track was quite good actually IMO!

[@statueoftheabyss6886]

Same here, thought I was going crazy.

[@statueoftheabyss6886]

@Ryan Wood - Composer Ah, did wonder, will check it out properly later. Just assumed it would translate on most mediums, glad its not my hearing though as that was the main concern.

[@spamatica]

Ah, yeah, hear it now. Bass heavy, pretty subtle though.

[@meljames2729]

Guy, how about a gear breakdown for you, you have something sitting on the keyboard that has only recently appeared and your Akai APC mini seems to have been retired

[@PantaFlux]

You probably refer to the video switch ATEM Mini by BlackmagicDesign: www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/atemmini

[@VleiRatFilms]

Cooool .. Again!

[@Cid3rArmy]

Guy you've inspired me after 15 years off to really get back into playing and creating music. Great channel sir 👍👏👏👏

[@michaelgibb]

Do you know of a good place to get films to practise with?

[@ephjaymusic]

01:51 - having flashbacks to the HBO scoring competition...😉🤣 Just a little joke guys!

[@michaelmcdonald3427]

lmao agreed

[@paulembleton1733]

I’m five minutes in and thinking I need to say I’m five minutes in and this is gripping stuff....pause...now back to vid.

[@mosquito3918]

I wanted to go fullscreen all the time. Got so confused :D

[@By-UMusic]

No swim with your midi keyboard again ? 😂. Nice video ❤️ Edit : Where to get video like that ? Can anyone give me details about that ? I'm gonna scoring that clip by myself 😁

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Join the how to score films course!

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Now, imagine Guy making a whole series of crazy videos for us to practice with. Can't use Jaws footage? No worries, we have Guy diving in the pool. Can' use Godzilla footage? Not a problem, we have Guy and his weird inflated animals. :)))

[@jessebones7072]

Love your stuff Guy. Working on building funds at the moment to join one of your MA courses, I have pieces of experience in the field, do you think the short film scoring course would be a good stepping stone in the mean while? Keep up the good work!

[@j.tahtstrauts3049]

Guy, you would have made a great John LeCarre character.

[@brainwasher3742]

Very interesting watching a composer’s process. Did you have a sound designer for this project? I think this is a sequence that really needs tight collaboration between the two sound departments.

[@dhoch]

How about an 8 bit loony tune sequence for some true originality and creativity. Sorry, could not resist due to the times being as they are.

[@chonkypixel1006]

Is it OK to lean your elbow on a brand-new and expensive keyboard's keys?

[@SuyashKhubchandani]

Yes omg I love you Guy, but that is a rather expensive elbow rest hahaha Kept working my anxiety

[@dibblethwaite]

Of course it's OK. The more expensive the more OK it is. Any decent keyboard is easily robust enough to cope with that. Think about the hammering concert pianists give their instruments.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Look - these are tools that get used 12 hours a day. I just cant be precious about any of it or I would stress out day and night.The S88 is a rugged well built professional piece of kit. It can stand it.

[@Larsmannetje66]

Guy Michelmore Someone at Native Instruments is smiling and softly murmuring: “I did something right!”

[@PhillipParr]

When you buy a £30 Casio it'll flex and creak and make funny noises and be unhappy, but it's only designed to last for a short time. But when you get the opportunity to lean on something that's designed to last much longer... your anxiety will go :)

[@Iduininane]

Wow

[@kenb6870]

actually, "undermine" might be a good way of phrasing the scene...your expectations are changed...you really don't know or even suspect which way is up...who is the pro and antagonist of this clip...

[@gr500music6]

Wonderful insight! This takes a lot of intelligence. Now, if music can make a film better, why can't film make music better? (Talking about music videos here, such as found on Vevo, where if you listen to the sound with the picture off the song is revealed to be weak, Petey). The answer remains: "video killed the radio star." Music compliments and enhances our visual sense, but our visual sense, for better or worse, ranks all the others.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Music and the moving image is a conversation so it does work both ways

[@hootist]

Dia getic ..... new word to me :)

[@TheClassicalSauce]

Maybe try like a Mario brothers type thing that sounds like a game boy from 1991? Jokes... jokes.

[@abelgeorge4953]

Very sorry to butt in but I think the camera to your bottom left ( next to your faders) is adding a ton of sharpening into the video... Try reducing it in its settings... Going by the previous videos I think that's a go pro so it should be pretty easy to bring down that sharpening... Anyways It was nice to see this style of video today... Please consider more similar videos for different genres of clips . Btw did u try scoring for the westworld competition... How would you have approached that?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Yes I can see that now. This setup is an XA20 + Gorpro hero 8 and either a GH5 or ana 5100 can't remember which on this occasion!

[@Mr77Palmer]

Interesting. There is really no score here at all. Just creative sound design and electric guitar as the Ghoster's iconic instrument with two notes going back and forth. There's so much more here than just being able to write music.

[@theozockt4880]

ey first

[@jockojohn3294]

Grandpa, what do you do with all this electic stuff?.....mommy says you make people scared to watch movies.....Oh, Abby, it's nothing like that, I just make death more acceptable......Oh, that's better grandpa.....Grandpa....can you make ABBA play.....they make fun music.....