Course Descriptions
History of Cinema (3 credits) 24-5551
This course presents a chronological investigation of film from the pre-history of cinema up to the digital age. Emphasis is on understanding film as both an engine for and artifact of society, culture and geography. Students are introduced to important moments in film history from around the world and across a range of genres and movements via representative works. The course includes the full gamut of roles that sound (and its absence) can play in the cinema. Students develop critical methodologies designed to connect their experiences as viewers with the collaborative filmmaking process.
Composition I - Music and Drama (4 credits) 32-6221
This combination lab/survey course explores the development of music as under-score to live dramatic performance, from its ceremonial use in the ancient world to its most contemporary expressions in postmodern theater. Designed to teach composers how to derive their musical cues from script and performance rather than "concept," this course acquaints aspiring screen composers with the incidental (i.e., non-concert) use of music as emotional subtext. The class is an active collaboration between the Music and Theater departments, and requires the creation of original music for short dramatic scenes developed in the classroom by student actors, with their faculty advisors serving as directors.
Composition II - Music and Movement (4 credits) 32-6222
The second of two required courses leading to the thesis project, this "life drawing" class for composers is a study in use of music to support the human form in motion. The objective is a thorough understanding of the art and mechanics of scoring physical action, whether such action takes place in a feature film chase sequence or a video game. By way of dramatic dance pieces designed and performed in the classroom utilizing the Laban Method and its notions of zones and drives, students will create scores that capture and complement physical action.
Global Folk Traditions (4 credits) 32-6661
The musical palette of the composer of music for the screen is no longer limited to the colors of 19th century Romantic or 20th century Modernist concert music. The approach of artists such as Thomas Newman and Mychael Danna owes much to their embrace of native folk traditions, ranging from African ceremonial music and Indonesian Gamelan to Pakistani Qawwali, Celtic and Middle Eastern forms, and more. This course is an introduction the tonal vocabulary and the instruments of selected folk traditions, and presents the student with the challenge of writing pieces which combine indigenous and orchestral traditions in a visual context.
Lab (Tutorial) (1 credit) 32-6901
The Lab (Tutorial) will be offered in each semester of the MFA program but the last (semester in Los Angeles), 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 technical
tools of the trade, which include workstations outfitted with Apple Intel iMacs, Korg controller keyboards, Logic Pro 7 software, and Finale notation software.
Aesthetics of Cinema (3 Credits) 24-5552
Aesthetics of Cinema builds on the knowledge acquired in History of Cinema. Students investigate key historical moments through close critical analysis, with particular emphasis on the role of sound and music in the cinema. They are expected to develop a sophisticated analytical approach to the aesthetics of cinema as a basis for acquiring their own vocabulary and methodologies to utilize as music composers for the screen.
Scoring Science-Fiction, Fantasy & Horror (2 credits) 32-6229
Film music is at its most thrilling when the visual it accompanies is the most imaginative and audacious, and the genres of science-fiction, fantasy and horror have offered composers--from "King Kong" to "The Rings Trilogy"--a large canvas suitable for bold strokes. In fact, many of film music's greatest innovations have arisen from the need to depict alien worlds, heightened emotions, and altered states of consciousness. This class combines survey and score analysis with targeted writing assignments designed to encourage experimentation and foster originality.
The Operatic Tradition (2 credits) 32-6664
Based on the thesis of film music historian Roy M. Prendergast – that film scoring derived its basic language from that of opera and the Viennese school – this in-depth survey of the tradition emphasizes Verdi, Puccini and Wagner and their influence on early film composers such as Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Includes an extensive examination of how the Wagnerian use of leitmotifs has been carried forward into film music.
The Film Score: A Survey of the Craft (2 credits) 32-6631
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 Max Steiner and Erich Korngold to "golden age" auteurs such as Herrmann and Bernstein and contemporary composer/producers like Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman and Thomas Newman. The emphasis is on the unique musical vocabulary of the film score and on learning to recognize the signatures of benchmark composers, and students will conduct detailed analyses of both written and recorded examples.
The Jazz Score - An American Original (3 credits) 32-6225
Aside from opera, no popular musical form has so influenced film scoring as jazz. From The Man with the Golden Arm to Romeo Is Bleeding and the films of Spike Lee, jazz has lent urban films their grit and credibility. A lab approach to the craft of writing jazz charts for film is combined with a survey of the contributions of composers like Elmer Bernstein, Quincy Jones, Mark Isham and Terrence Blanchard.
Film Orchestration I – Vocabulary (3 credits) 32-6223
The first generation of film composers borrowed their musical vocabulary from the concert hall and the musical theater stage. They soon found, however, that
the visual language of film demanded a new approach to orchestration which employed the traditional orchestra in unconventional and sometimes radical ways. This course introduces students to the battery of techniques pioneered by such cinematic originals as Bernard Herrmann, Miklos Rosza, Jerry Goldsmith, and Thomas Newman, offering both a thorough analysis of selected scores and a series of imitative exercises to ground the student in the basic vocabulary of "movie music."
Film Orchestration II - Writing from the Instrument (3 credits) 32-6224
One of film music's most notable contributions to orchestral language has been its inventive and highly coloristic use of both symphonic and folk-based instruments. Such invention is a matter of necessity when the goal is maximum dramatic effect, and composers like Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Corigliano have often reconfigured the standard orchestra in order to achieve this. This course is an exhaustive, section-by-section study of the technical capabilities and expressive range of both the conventional and non-conventional instruments used in music for the screen. Each session will focus on a different instrument or class of instrument, and most will be introduced "live and in person" by expert players. Students will have the opportunity to compose short pieces which explore the instrument's technical limits and dramatic potential.
Techniques of Synchronization - Survey/Lab (3 credits) 32-6954
A intensive review of the history, art and science of synchronizing music to picture which puts the student composer in the roles of both conductor and music editor and explores the interplay between music and image from all angles. From disc and magnetic film-based mechanical interlock systems to the introduction of SMPTE and EBU time code and today's computer-based sequencers, the technology of synchronization will be examined. Professional synchronization programs such as ProTools and Auricle are introduced and taught; students learn the language of spotting notes, clock timings, streamers and punches, and how to effectively "track" a picture.
Directors & Composers I - A Survey (2 credits) 32-6931
The first in a two-part sequence designed to team screen composers and directors in a workshop environment, this course is a comprehensive survey of the most significant and influential director-composer collaborations in the history of cinema. These creative marriages, among them Hitchcock-Herrmann, Spielberg-Williams, and Burton-Elfman, have engendered new dialects in the language of film music, and they will be examined with the objective of encouraging the
development of similar matches between Columbia directors and composers. The answer most often given by screen music professionals to the question "How do I get started in this business?" is "Find a director." This course is at the heart of
the MFA program's key objective: to make it possible for graduating composers to leave CCC with at least one such relationship already formed.
Directors & Composers II – Lab (2 credits) 32-6932
A "real world" experiment in fostering home-grown director/composer collaborations which will involve both Film and Video and Music Departments in "pairing up" selected graduate-level filmmakers and composers.
Thesis Development/Practicum (6 credits) 32-6998
Offered in collaboration with the Dept. of Film & Video and in preparation for the final graduate semester in Los Angeles, this course is taken in Spring semester of the MFA candidate's second year, and is designed to guide the student toward selection of a thesis scoring project through mediated interaction with advanc-ed film students selected for participation in the Practicum program. The course will enfold a number of thesis-related activities, including development of a written proposal, ideation and sketching, advising, script breakdown and budgeting, pre-production meetings, interaction with other crew members, and intensive involvement with the filmmakers themselves. It is a six credit course requiring an equivalent number of contact hours each week.
Music Business Affairs (2 credits) 32-6971
The business aspects of composing music for visual media will be examined, including the role of the composer, agent, manager, and studio music departments in "casting the composer" and brokering the deal. The course will introduce students to the many different kinds of composer deals currently being made in Hollywood and the indie world. Performance income, soundtrack royalties, and all other potential revenue streams will be discussed.
Career Building Workshop (1 credit) 32-6972
The combined efforts of faculty, job placement personnel, internship providers, and industry partners will serve to shepherd the student into the field of scoring for visual media. Coaching on how to prepare an attention-getting presentation reel, acquire an agent, how to network, conduct oneself at job meetings and navigate the shark-infested waters. Apprenticeships flow from this workshop.
Conducting To Picture (2 credits) 32-6441
A tutorial in the art and mechanics of conducting a live ensemble in synchronization with picture, including training in the use of variable click tracks as well as "free timings" with streamers and punches. Students learn to conduct to picture with both pre-existing and original cues with click track, streamers and rubato "feels.” Coursework includes both simulations, in which students will practice baton technique with concert score and video image, and a final assignment involving live musicians, picture, and selected cues from seminal film scores such as "Psycho."
Internship/Apprenticeship (1 credit) 32-6989
As an integral part of the Summer Semester in L.A. and a prelude to professional engagement, students are placed in internships or apprenticeships in the music wing of the film, television and electronic media industries. Such positions may include work for the music department of a studio such as HBO or Disney; on a scoring stage or in a recording studio; for a performing rights society like BMI or ASCAP; or assisting an individual composer or a music production house such as Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures or Mark Mothersbaugh's Mutato.