Describing the score: Berklee students help find music for films

This story was originally covered by PRI’s Here and Now. For more, listen to the audio above.

Music can have a huge effect on the tone of a film. During production, filmmakers frequently use scores from previous films to test scenes. Finding the appropriate temporary music is about to get easier at Paramount Pictures, thanks to students in Berklee College of Music’s film scoring class.

The students are attaching keywords to film scores in a database for Paramount. Student Alexandra Zwart explains the project: “we have to put together audio descriptions which, you know, really capture the whole essence of the cue that we’re working on.”

The music can change moods very quickly. Andrew Lemb describes adding key words to a song from the 2005 film “The Island”:

You gotta be very specific. You gotta write, like for example, what I did was — very beginning of track: very mysterious, soft high strings. And then, you know, halfway through, it gets into a very heroic feel.

Adding keywords requires a level of critical listening that Zwart says enhances her musical awareness: “It’s really helpful to be able to really analyze and identify what they’re using and to see it sync up to the picture, too. It’s really helpful to apply it to my own film scores and my own style.”

As a final project, Paramount has given each student an old film clip to write music for. Zwart is brainstorming what will best accompany Koko the Clown, while Lemb is working to complement Betty Boop.

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