I recently entered my first scoring competition, a short-form re-score challenge called “Vesper,” hosted by the good folks at The Cue Tube.
It was mostly just for fun. I haven’t done a professional score in several years, so it felt great to dust off the old film scoring chops. Lately, I’ve been getting back into it for my own enjoyment—out of love for music and an appreciation of great scores—not so much as a chosen career path. I learned a ton through the process, and it was a blast to be a part of. They even gave my submission a review, which I thought was spot on.
Director’s Feedback
Our opening is quite melodic, and the danger here is being too distracting by creating an “earworm” effect. Overall, this is the tendency with this score. It’s nice writing, with some tasteful sound choices, and it’s full of nice ideas and variety. But it’s a little too cohesive, if anything, and distracts from the dialogue while also falling slightly short in the “storytelling” department.
As we move into the titles, it’s brilliant to hear a song! Bravo! This really made me smile—a great sense of passion in the vocal, too! The title piece swings along nicely and has absolutely the right ‘vibe’ for a Bond theme.
This is the strongest part of this submission by far.
Have a careful listen to the more successful underscoring submissions and try to develop a more restrained hand when working with dialogue, in particular.
Scoring to Picture
“Scoring to picture” or composing a soundtrack is a lot like film editing. Generally, if people notice the music, then you haven’t done your job.
The musical score needs to support the story. In most cases, if the music is noticeable to the audience, it’s actually hurting the film. One exception to note is in the case of a montage scene, or something similar, where the music plays as a co-star. A montage scene in a movie is often used to compress time and convey a lot of information quickly. It typically shows a sequence of short shots, often set to music, that illustrate a character’s progress, change, or a shift in events without the need for full scenes. The music in a film montage is often loud and doesn’t have to compete with dialogue.
I’m experienced in all aspects of filmmaking, and I know the score plays a big part in any film, no matter the genre. It’s good to understand what goes into it from every viewpoint—whether you’re a producer, director, music editor, or film editor.
We all have to wear several hats nowadays in the independent filmmaking world, so having a good idea of how a film score is created can only help.
The short film created by The Cue Tube, called Vesper, was a take on the 007 Bond films. It needed to be re-scored in that same manner—by using familiar-sounding techniques and harmonic structures that composers of Bond films, like the legendary John Barry, as well as modern composers like Hans Zimmer and Thomas Newman, have used in the past.
I was surprised by the professionalism demonstrated by many who entered. There’s a lot of serious talent out there, folks!
David Tregoning won the contest, which came as no surprise to me once I heard his entry. Really top-notch production—it was a cut above the rest. To be honest, at first, I thought it borrowed a bit from the theme used in the Bond film Goldfinger, but enough of it was truly original and so professionally done that I could see why it was chosen as the winner. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/2cUqCOcOUPQ?si=cvOLwJVcS6Uay44B
A special mention (or runner-up, I guess) went to Elise Van Wolfe for her beautifully crafted submission. I think she was the only person, other than me, who attempted vocals in the title role section of the re-score, as any proper Bond film has.
I wanted Adele for my re-score, but she wasn’t available, so I sang it myself. I think I sounded a bit like Engelbert Humperdinck, which could be good or bad, depending on your preferences or age.
But Elise Van Wolfe’s song and performance were just as good as Adele’s in my book. Her vocal performance and re-score were stellar in every way.
Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/MX6joCN8HIc?si=2XGwQB_Tup9tYzgE
Both of these people are brilliant and have bright futures as film composers. You should look them up if you’re in need of a composer for your projects.
Judging by the entries I heard, many of these people take the craft quite seriously. I would reach out to many of them without hesitation to score any of my own film projects.
You can find these re-scores by searching for “Vesper Cue Tube” on YouTube. Check them out—you’ll be amazed.
Contact these composers for your projects. I bet many would jump at the chance!
Here are a few links, including my own entry:
https://youtu.be/qdrffJnXI5g
And a few others:
https://youtu.be/t-OOXUyUFXc?si=168a5AGfjLItHpPp
https://youtu.be/Pp9EUmSkep0?si=H3Wy9NCg_bw490Hb
https://youtu.be/KYLT5lIeiPc?si=lRErYtpf7pXTaMuK
https://youtu.be/5w_70DzhPA8?si=MzMVI-FFyU9Am0T8
https://youtu.be/8cY3cqZYMqg?si=mg45Bb6QnOzFi6Ji
Next up from The Cue Tube
BUGS!
I’m in! Check it out:
The Insect Kingdom – The Cue Tube Re-score