ObjectivesIt is taught by experienced professional film/TV composers and gives you the opportunity to collaborate with film-makers and animators on other courses with the University. You will also have the chance to write for a large range of ensembles, including a professional ensemble.
Entry requirementsThis course is ideal if you are a composer aspiring to work in the media industry and want to learn more about the practical and theoretical techniques for composing and producing music for film and TV.
Academic titleComposing for Film and Television MMus
Course descriptionWhat will you study?
You will compose music for a large variety of different types of moving image and will have opportunities to work with film-makers, screen designers and animators. You will explore and analyse the main developments in the history of film music in the 20th and 21st centuries, including the ways in which music has been used to create and convey atmosphere and mood; and depict setting, character and action.
We study in-depth the aesthetics and functions of music composed to image, exploring the relationship(s) between the composer and producers, directors, music editors etc. You will also study and practice the use of main themes, underscoring and the harmonic languages of soundtracks, both in big- and small-screen contexts. A further opportunity is to have a compositions performed by the ensemble in residence, conducted by each individual student to picture, in a fully professional 24-track recording environment.
Course structure
Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list.
Core modules -Composing for Film and TV I -Composing for Film and TV II
-History of Film Music
-Major Project
-Major Project Progress Report
-Research Methods and Scholarly Practice
Option modules (choose one)
-Analysing Popular Music
-Art and Design options
-Composition
-Conducting
-Music in Context
-Music in Education I
-Research Seminars
-Performance Studies I
-Sound Design
-Sound Diffusion
Modules taught at University of Surrey
-Aesthetics
-Analysis
-Case Studies
-Classical Studio Production
-Critical Musicology
-Criticism and Reviewing
-Popular Musicology