There is an ongoing collaboration between the SMPTV program and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Each student in SMPTV will have numerous opportunities to compose and produce their music for a number of student film projects during the course of the year. To facilitate this, we have organized regularly scheduled meetings which bring composers, directors and producers together every 6-7 weeks. In this way, the directors and producers are able to pitch their current projects and express their needs for music in their films. After the pitch, all of the composers in attendance introduce themselves and continue to network with one or more filmmakers on their way to landing the gig, and scoring the film.

 

Once a composer has the director’s final approval of music for the film, the composer and director work together to book a scoring session through the Cinema School. The Cinema School provides all recording services including an engineer, and facilities (Spielberg Scoring Stage, and Studio “B”).

 

SMPTV employs a contractor for student film projects. It’s the contractor’s job to work with the composer to hire the right players for the scoring session. Furthermore, it is the filmmaker’s responsibility to cover production costs, including the engineer and musicians’ fees.

 

Once the music has been recorded, the composer’s job is complete. Due to a very tight post-production schedule, the filmmakers will edit, mix and dub the music without any assistance from the composer. The composer can see the finished product at a public screening on campus and a DVD copy of the film is made available to the composer.

 

There are approximately 80 student film projects scored each year by the students in the SMPTV program.

For a breakdown of the different types of film and video projects offered, go to the next page