Music (Film Music)

Writing music for the moving image has become an increasingly attractive career option. Refine your composition, arranging and production skills and develop an entrepreneurial approach to working in the film music industry at Leeds Conservatoire.

Developed to meet industry demands, this is the first course of its kind in a UK conservatoire. It uniquely combines one-to-one composition tuition, Mac lab production software sessions, and a variety of supporting topics such as harmony, orchestration and historical, cultural and professional studies. Students will have access to a unique library of notated soundtrack scores and cues, and the conservatoire’s well-equipped Apple Mac suites, not to mention established links with the film music industry.

The course also benefits from masterclasses delivered by professional film score composers, directors, industry specialists and in-house talent. These are in addition to the weekly lectures and seminars and usually generate between 2-3 hours extra per week. There are monthly ‘Film Night’ events where students showcase their music to film in front of a live audience and a panel of professionals. Visitors have previously included Nicholas Dodd, Harry Escott, Michael Price and David Julyan and may include David Arnold and Harry Gregson Williams in the future. We are also visited regularly by notable alumni successful within film music; in the past these have included ex-students who have worked (or are still working) in Hollywood.

At Level 6, students also participate in ‘Student Enhancement’ activities, where various valuable and interesting events take place, such as one-to-one sessions with directors and professional film score composers.

The BA (Hons) Music (Film Music) modules focus on developing you as a professional film composer through one-to-one tuition, small group work and creative projects. The professional studies strand will develop your core business skills, and other optional modules will introduce additional cross-genre capabilities.

The programme has strands in Specialist Study, Contextual Studies and Professional Studies that span the three levels of the programme. Students focus primarily on their Specialist Study.

Year 1 (Level 4)
Compulsory modules:
Specialist Study Film Music 1
Specialist Group Study Film Music 1
Film Music in Context 1
Professional Studies 1: Working in the Creative Industries
Creative Project

Year 2 (Level 5)
Compulsory modules:
Specialist Study Film Music 2
Specialist Group Study Film Music 2
Film Music in Context 2
Contextual Studies 2
Professional Studies 2

Contextual Studies 2 optional modules, one of:
Arranging and Orchestration
Collaborative Composition
Entrepreneurship
Introduction to Music Technology
Music and Ideology
Musical Direction
Performance with Electronics
Songwriting

Professional Studies 2 optional modules, one of:
Artistic Management
Business Start-up
Concerts and Touring
Instrumental Music Tuition
Self-Promotion and Music Marketing
Structure and Functions of the Film Music Industry
Working with Music in the Community

Year 3 (Level 6)
Compulsory modules:
Specialist Study Film Music 3
Final Project
Contextual Studies 3
Professional Studies 3

Students select either an Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Project or a Practice in Context Research Project for their Final Project module.

Contextual Studies 3 optional modules, one of:
Composed Theatre
Computer-Based Composition
Electro-acoustic Composition
Emerging Music Models
Extended Improvisation
Intercultural Music
Software Environments – Performance and Sound Creation

Professional Studies 3 optional modules, one of:
Business Leadership and Ethics
Community Music Project
Film Music – Aesthetics and Narrative Function
Live Music Management
Music Journalism

Module specifications can be accessed via the Leeds Conservatoire website: http://bit.ly/LC-Film-UCAS

The course is assessed via practical and written assessment and will involve composing, arranging and production of film music. Periodically students will be required to produce notated scores (handwritten or Sibelius) to accompany their work. The exact nature of assessments will depend on the Contextual Studies and Professional Studies module options chosen at Level 5 and Level 6, as well as the choice of project for the Final Project module at Level 6. Formal assessments tend to take place at the end of each semester or the end of the year. There are a handful of assignments with deadlines halfway through a semester.