Composition Assignment: Film Scoring Part 3 - Delivery
Composition Assignment: Film Scoring Part 3 - Delivery
Due Date: March 7, 2024
Situation
After watching your second draft of cue 1m03, the director requested just a couple of final tweaks but is otherwise happy with your cue and is ready for you to deliver everything in STEMS.
STEMS
The first thing you should know about STEMS is that they almost always require a conversation to understand what the person is asking for when they ask you to send them the STEMS. STEMS in general mean your creation delivered as several sub mixes (e.g. Melodies, Harmonies, Percussion, SFXs).
In the context of film music, the purpose of STEMS is so that the dubbing engineer (the person responsible for creating the final audio mix of the film) can have better control over how to best fit your music into the overall mix. For example, they and the director may decide that they need to lower the volume of the melody to make more room for dialogue but they still want to keep the Harmonies, Percussion, and SFXs at their original levels.
Creative Brief
Compose a new version of cue 1m03 based upon the feedback you received from the director.
NOTE: The time for creative difference has passed and it’s time to only deliver exactly what the director has asked for.
When you are finished composing export the “Stereo Mix” of your cue along with whatever STEMS makes sense based upon the sounds/instruments you are using.
STEMS can mean different things to different people and in different contexts. So when someone asks for “Your STEMS” it’s best to ask them what they specifically want. In general, STEMS mean delivering your music as several audio files where each audio file contains a single part or a single layer.
File Format & Standards
The “Stereo Mix” version of your project should have a peak volume of between -1 and -24 dB and then each of your STEMS should be whatever volume they are within the “Stereo Mix”.
Naming Convention
Your files should be named exactly as follows.
Stereo Mix:
SP24-MUSC-228_P2_FirstName-LastName_1m03_Stereo-Mix_V001
STEMS:
SP24-MUSC-228_P2_FirstName-LastName_1m03_STEM-Name-of-Stem_V001
WARNING: Make sure that all your version numbers match across all delivered files. So if you have to update your Melodies stem to V002 export a new copy of all your other files as well and make sure that their file names all end in the same version number. This avoids confusing the person you delivered the files to.
Example files:
SP24-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_Stereo-Mix_V001SP24-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_STEM-Melodies_V001SP24-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_STEM-Harmonies_V001SP24-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_STEM-Percussion_V001SP24-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_STEM-SFXs_V001
Naming Convention Explained: [Semester]-[Department]-[Course Number]_[Project Number]_[Composers First Name]-[Composers Last Name]_[File Name]_[Version Number]
Evaluation Standards
| Criteria | Points |
|---|---|
| File Format & Standards - Did you follow all file formats and standards described here or previously discussed in class? | 1 |
| Naming Convention - Did you follow all naming conventions and standards described here or previously discussed in class? | 1 |
| Creative Brief - Did you realize everything that was asked in the creative brief? | 7 |
| X Factor - Does it have that “X” quality? | 1 |
| Total | 10 |
Submission
Upload your completed materials to the same Dropbox folder as last week: SP24-MUSC-228_W04_Project-02
Warning: Please take extra care when uploading your files to ensure everything is in the correct file format and named exactly as requested. If, for any reason, you need to upload additional versions, please increment the version number at the end of the file for each new version of a file.
Example version progression:
FA23-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_V001FA23-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_V002FA23-MUSC-228_P2_Daniel-Dehaan_1m03_V003
Peer Critique
Please be prepared to present your DAW project to the class so that we can collectively learn from or improve your work.
Example Documents
- Example Contract - Short Film.pdf (99.4KB)
- Cue Sheets