How to make Film Score music with creative constraints

What makes Film Score tick

Film music serves a picture, a mood or a character, and it has to do so in exactly the time available. Harmony is often chosen for colour rather than for function. John Williams borrows the Lydian raised fourth for magic, wonder and flight, and Walter Piston's textbook Harmony, in the edition revised by Mark DeVoto, calls whole-tone harmony one of the platitudes of the "Hollywood style". A borrowed chord or mode sets a mood in one move. Meter and tempo move (a bar of 5/4 where the character stumbles, an accelerando into the chase), and the orchestration is an instrument in its own right. The same theme means something different on a solo cello and on full brass.

One of the core tools is the leitmotif, a short recurring idea tied to a character, place or idea. It keeps its identity while it is transformed, whether inverted, slowed, reharmonised or given to a different section. One good four-note idea, developed, is a score. Twenty good ideas, undeveloped, is a playlist.

Constraints that work in Film Score

• Lydian Mode: a major scale with a raised fourth. In John Williams's scores that raised fourth is associated with magic, wonder and flight, and it works in one chord.
• Changing Meter: write the theme in 4/4, then restate it with one bar of 3/4 inserted. That stumble gives you drama for free.
• String Quartet: orchestrate the whole cue for four voices. If it works with four, it will work with sixty; if it does not, sixty will not save it.

Mistakes that flatten a Film Score track

• Everything epic. A score that is loud for thirty minutes has no climax. Most of a cue should be quiet enough to talk over.
• Melody in the dialogue range. When there are words, keep sustained lines out of the speaking voice's register and leave the 1 to 4 kHz band, where most of speech intelligibility lives, as clear as you can, or the director will mute you.
• No silence. The most powerful cue is often the moment the music stops. Write the stop into the sketch.

How to use the 144 Film Score cards

Start a film score brief from the scale or chord card. It sets the mood, and in film work the mood is the assignment. Add a tempo or meter card for motion. Backwards Composition Process is a good film-scoring habit in general. Write the final chord first, then earn it. For odd meters, the time signature exercises are a warm-up.

The 24 cards below are a selection of the 144 tagged Film Score in the deck. The button above opens a draw with Film Score already selected; the hand you pull is your brief for the session. Pull cards, accept the brief, ship a sketch.

Film Score constraint cards

• Chord Diminished Use a triad with two minor 3rds stacked. Creates tension and instability.
• Chord Augmented Incorporate a triad with two major 3rds stacked. Creates a suspended, floating quality.
• Chord Augmented 7th (AugMaj7 or Aug7) Use an augmented triad with a minor 7th (Aug7) or major 7th (AugMaj7). Creates an exotic, colorful tension.
• Chord Maj7♯11 (Lydian Chord) Implement a major 7th with an added sharp 11th, implying a Lydian sound. Creates bright, modern color.
• Chord Diminished 7th Incorporate a diminished triad with an added diminished 7th. Creates symmetric tension with multiple resolution options.
• Roman Numeral I - ♭IIMaj7 - I (Phrygian Modal Interchange) Use a ♭II chord (often Maj7 for color) for a Phrygian sound resolving to tonic. Creates exotic color with resolution.
• Scale Lydian Mode Compose with this major scale with a sharp 4th (e.g., F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F if F is tonic). Creates a floating, dreamy quality.
• Scale Melodic Minor Scale (Jazz) Use this natural minor scale with raised 6th and 7th (ascending and often descending in jazz). Creates sophisticated minor color.
• Scale Whole Tone Scale Compose using this symmetrical scale composed entirely of whole steps (6 notes). Creates an ambiguous, floating quality.
• Time Signature 5/4 Compose a piece or section in 5/4 time (e.g., "Take Five"). Creates an asymmetrical yet flowing rhythm.
• Time Signature Changing Meter Alternate between at least two different time signatures within the piece (e.g., 4/4 to 3/4). Creates dynamic rhythmic shifts.
• Instrument Piano Only Compose a piece using only the piano (acoustic or electric). Explore its full dynamic and timbral range.
• Instrument String Quartet Write for the traditional string quartet: two violins, viola, and cello. Focus on conversational interplay between voices.
• Instrument Woodwind Feature (Solo or Section) Feature a woodwind instrument (e.g., flute, clarinet, oboe, sax) as a soloist or a small section. Highlight its unique timbre.
• Production Found Sounds Composition Create a composition incorporating at least three non-traditional sound sources (recorded environmental sounds, household objects) as primary musical elements. Focus on transforming ordinary sounds into musical material.
• Challenge Backwards Composition Process Write the end of the piece first, then the section before that, working your way to the beginning. Let the conclusion determine what comes before.
• Tempo Gradual Accelerando Throughout Start the piece at a slow tempo and gradually increase the tempo consistently until the end. Create a sense of building energy and momentum.
• Tempo Extreme Rubato Perform or compose with highly expressive and exaggerated fluctuations in tempo, pushing and pulling time freely. Create emotional expressivity through timing.
• Tempo Very Slow Tempo (Largo/Grave) Compose at an unusually slow tempo (e.g., 40-60 BPM or slower). Create space for subtle details and deep emotional expression.
• Tempo Multiple Distinct Tempo Changes Include at least three clear and distinct changes in tempo within the piece (e.g., slow intro, fast main, slow outro). Create dramatic contrasts.
• Style Emulation Dramatic Film Score Cue Compose a short piece (1-2 minutes) as if scoring a specific dramatic scene in a film (e.g., chase, suspense, emotional moment). Focus on emotional narrative.
• Style Emulation Ambient Soundscape Create an atmospheric piece focusing on texture, mood, and slow evolution, often without a strong rhythmic pulse or traditional melody. Emphasize spatial qualities.
• Instrument Violin Feature (Solo/Prominent Melody) Include the violin as a featured solo instrument or carrying a prominent melodic line. Highlight its expressive range and timbral character.
• Instrument Cello Carries Bass Line or Melody Use the cello to create your primary bass line or to carry a significant melodic theme. Exploit its wide range and emotional expressivity.

Keep going

• 20 chord progressions to steal
• 25 production constraints to finish a track
• Odd time signature exercises
• 33 songwriting briefs
• Working with creative constraints

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