as film composers have additional duties and understandings that may extend beyond traditional discussions of music. Most musicians are familiar with the five elements of music: harmony, rhythm, melody, texture, and form. When analyzing music of any genre or medium, we can look at it through the lens of each of these elements and come to conclusions about the music in order to deeper understand the composer and their style and choices. Film music does not exist in a vacuum, a

One of the biggest pieces of advice early composers will get is to “find their voice”. To many composers, this comes across as “just do it” with no further explanation. How does a composer find their voice and what does it mean to “write like yourself”, especially in a medium like film music where one day you could be writing a romantic orchestral cue and the next it’s a latin jazz infused chase scene?

Composers are oftentimes one of the few non-hyphenates in a film's production. Is it time for a change?