bigmacbear (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bigmacbear) wrote2006-04-12 10:54 pm
bigmacbear) wrote2006-04-12 10:54 pm
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Songwriting class
This should be very interesting.
Our instructor, Sue Ennis, began by going over the syllabus and mentioning her own experiences, including co-writing songs for Heart including "Dog and Butterfly", writing for children's theater, and collaborating on "occasional music" and commercial jingles.
Next we went around the room and introduced ourselves, talking about what background we have from a musical and/or professional perspective, what (if anything) we've already written, what instruments we play, and what we'd like to get out of the class. There are 13 of us: four choristers, two men -- myself included -- and two women; a multi-talented progressive-rock musician; a young woman who aspires to front a prog-rock band; a fellow who writes musicals, including some for children, and who would like to write a musical directly for the screen; several folks who are also in the main Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program (for which this course is an elective); and a cellist who would like to write more modern tango music to dance to. Some are self-taught, many have other academic backgrounds and decidedly non-musical careers, and a few are professional musicians.
We went over the best song ever written for the screen according to the American Film Institute -- "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, of course. We discussed a number of other songs from film, and got into a discussion of one of the most prolific composers for film of the past few years -- Diane Warren. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gmjambear tends to call her a <cough> hack <cough>, only partially in jest.) Sue was considerably more diplomatic, and chose to focus on Ms. Warren's techniques for finding inspiration rather than the results of that inspiration.
Early on in this course I thought ofredcub and wish he were here to take advantage of this. It should be a fun few weeks. I also wonder if any of the schools around here have something similar for aspiring screenwriters?
Our instructor, Sue Ennis, began by going over the syllabus and mentioning her own experiences, including co-writing songs for Heart including "Dog and Butterfly", writing for children's theater, and collaborating on "occasional music" and commercial jingles.
Next we went around the room and introduced ourselves, talking about what background we have from a musical and/or professional perspective, what (if anything) we've already written, what instruments we play, and what we'd like to get out of the class. There are 13 of us: four choristers, two men -- myself included -- and two women; a multi-talented progressive-rock musician; a young woman who aspires to front a prog-rock band; a fellow who writes musicals, including some for children, and who would like to write a musical directly for the screen; several folks who are also in the main Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program (for which this course is an elective); and a cellist who would like to write more modern tango music to dance to. Some are self-taught, many have other academic backgrounds and decidedly non-musical careers, and a few are professional musicians.
We went over the best song ever written for the screen according to the American Film Institute -- "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, of course. We discussed a number of other songs from film, and got into a discussion of one of the most prolific composers for film of the past few years -- Diane Warren. (
gmjambear tends to call her a <cough> hack <cough>, only partially in jest.) Sue was considerably more diplomatic, and chose to focus on Ms. Warren's techniques for finding inspiration rather than the results of that inspiration.Early on in this course I thought of
redcub and wish he were here to take advantage of this. It should be a fun few weeks. I also wonder if any of the schools around here have something similar for aspiring screenwriters?
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