Creative Strategies in Film Scoring

“Creating music for film or TV is a team effort, and this book will guide your collaborative process to create the best possible music for your project. It will help you hone your collective creative vision to produce the best storytelling effect. Newhouse’s style is clear and engaging, and easily comprehensible by filmmakers at all levels of experience. His examples at the end give you a look behind the scenes at how effective music gets created. This process will bring your team into the professional world and greatly benefit your collective work. It will save you time and resources, empower everyone’s perspective and insights, help you generate effective ideas, and ultimately, lead you to a better movie.”

—Pinar Toprak, Composer (Captain Marvel, Krypton)

“Creative Strategies for Film Scoring is an indispensable guide for any film composer—from beginner to seasoned pro. Newhouse removes the mystery surrounding composing for film and reveals a replicable method that enables any composer the ability to write effectively and successfully for the screen. He breaks down the process of writing film music into bite-size techniques that are easily digestible, yet very powerful when employed in a movie. This unique scoring approach Newhouse unearths is timeless. It will be as relevant 25 years from now as it is today. He is very generous to share these insights with us!”

—Sean McMahon, Composer/Orchestrator (400 Days, Spider-man 3); Chair of the Film Scoring Department, Berklee College of Music

“This book presents a clear map for composers, producers, directors, and all the team involved in a film or TV production to navigate the often bumpy, confusing, and pitfall-filled path to successful score creation. Musical score creation for media can be a treacherous and intimidating experience for the unprepared. In this book, Professor Newhouse lays out a framework to guide the process from start to finish which makes an incredible amount of sense for everyone involved. His latest book presents a visionary approach to film scoring combining the emotional and stylistic elements of music creation with a sensible framework from the business world. This approach is sure to help the whole team involved in film and TV score creation.”

—Tim Aarons, Music Supervisor/Composer (Forensic Files, Ancient Aliens, Biography)

“Educator and composer Ben Newhouse is ‘pulling back the covers’ and giving a behind the scenes look at the music scoring process through Creative Strategies In Film Scoring. Giving insight into his years of experience as a composer in Hollywood and educating countless students, Ben shares his knowledge and processes for effectively scoring music to picture. I have personally wondered about the creative process, where our ideas come from, and how to spark inspiration. Ben tackles these questions with his unique view of creativity, practical demonstrations of his approach to generating winning ideas, and insight into the organization skills necessary to succeed in scoring music for picture. Thank you Ben for continuing to generously share your wisdom and experience with your students and readers.” 

—Ryan Neill, Music Supervisor (The Terror, Modern Marvels); VP Music Production, Spirit Music Collective