BONUS MATERIAL
Web Examples: Watch student-friendly videos that would inspire great film scoring projects

One of the most exciting aspects of modern music-production software is the ability to incorporate video. Programs such as Apple GarageBand '08 and Logic, Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio, Ableton Live, and the popular notation program Sibelius allow users to import video directly into a video track (see Fig. 1). Users can compose music, record dialog, and create Foley effects that sync up with the onscreen action. Students of all ages enjoy the film-scoring experience, and teachers can create projects based on the expertise level of the students and the musical concepts they want their students to learn.

FIG. 1: In Apple GarageBand, thumbnails from the video appear in the topmost track, and any audio from the video appears in the track immediately below it. Students can add music and other sounds of their own in the tracks below those two.

The first step is finding appropriate videos. There are a number of sources of copyright- and royalty-free videos on the Internet; the most popular is the Internet Archive (www.archive.org). The site has many film collections, but with nearly 2,000 copyright- and royalty-free videos, the Prelinger Archives (www.archive.org/details/prelinger) is the best (see Fig. 2).

Do not allow your students to browse the archives unsupervised, as there are videos that are inappropriate for children. For examples of student-friendly clips, visit the Web Examples page at www.metmagazine.com, where I've included two short videos to choose from.

In addition to videos found on the Internet, you can import video clips from educationally licensed DVDs using shareware programs such as HandBrake (http://handbrake.m0k.org/). This software lets you import chapters from DVDs that can then be edited using software such as Apple's iMovie and Windows Movie Maker. Properly licensed DVDs are available from educational catalogs, but they often cost four or five times as much as home-use titles.

Do not assume it is fair use to utilize a commercial video in a film-scoring project just because it's for educational use or because the clip is short. For example, selling the video project or posting it on a Web site could constitute a copyright violation. Be careful about footage from major motion pictures in particular; due to widespread piracy, film companies constantly monitor the Web and zealously guard their copyrights.

Finally, you can use videos shot either by you or by your students. Shooting videos gets the students even more involved in the creative process, because scoring is part of a larger project.

Once you have acquired a video clip for scoring, it is time to import it into the software you are using. Most music programs have a menu option called Import Video. This imports not only the images, but the audio as well. It is up to you whether or not the students have access to the original soundtrack. You might consider stripping the audio from the video clip ahead of time and making the “audio-free” version available to your students so they don't have a preconceived musical notion for their project.

FIG. 2: The Prelinger Archives is a great source of copyright- and royalty-free videos.

A word of advice about the length of the clips: keep them short — 1 to 2 minutes is plenty of material to work with, at least for beginning projects. Scoring can take quite a few class sessions, so keep it short to ensure student success.

Next, you need to establish guidelines for the project. Will the entire class participate in scoring a single clip, or will you have small groups, or even individuals, each score the same clip in their own way? Or perhaps each group will score a different clip.

Then there are requirements for the musical composition, Foley effects, dialog, and so on. When using loop-based software such as GarageBand '08 or Image Line FL Studio, you need to decide if students will be allowed to utilize loops or the music should be entirely original. More-advanced students might be required to compose original scores, while nonmusicians might be allowed to use loops exclusively. Depending on the amount of time allotted for the project, you might decide to exclude certain aspects of the project, such as dialog or Foley effects.

Once guidelines have been established, students need to learn how to sync their compositions to the video. Most programs have a vertical line that marks the audio playback location in relation to the video. Sibelius has a handy feature that creates hitpoints in the score, allowing students to mark where events in the video happen. GarageBand '08 has a built-in set of Foley effects (see Fig. 3). Using the Loop Browser feature, students can drag effects directly to any point in the audio tracks, making it quite simple to sync the music and sound effects with the action in the video.

If students are going to record their own dialog, you need to set aside ample time for script writing. This can be a great way to incorporate the language arts teacher(s) for an interdisciplinary project. Once the script is complete and approved, students can record their voices directly into the project using the computers' built-in microphone, a headset microphone, or a USB microphone, such as the Snowball from Blue Microphones.

FIG. 3: GarageBand provides lots of Foley effects that can be added to any film soundtrack.

After the students have completed their film-scoring project, they can post it to a media-sharing Web site such as TeacherTube (www.teachertube.com; see Fig. 4) or podOmatic (www.podomatic.com) so others can evaluate and critique their finished product. Posting student work on the Internet may have some restrictions in your school district, so be sure to check the Internet usage policy beforehand.

One of the most exciting aspects of such projects is to see how different the finished videos are. Students always come up with really creative ideas when film scoring. Comparing the work of different groups can lead to wonderful discussions. You might also want to play the original score for the video after all the student work is displayed. Students can compare and contrast their work with the original. If the audio was stripped from the clip, this comparison can be most rewarding in terms of illustrating the process of film scoring and how difficult it can be.

Here are a few tips to remember if you are considering incorporating film scoring into your music curriculum.

FIG. 4: TeacherTube is a great place to post student projects for others to see.

• Start small — keep the film clips short. Have the students insert only Foley effects the first time. If the project goes well, consider adding music and dialog next time.

• Try to use copyright- and royalty-free clips — you can do more with the finished product if you do.

• Think about how you will showcase the finished products.

• If at first you don't succeed … (you know the rest).

To ensure that the project is successful for the students, you might consider creating your own film score ahead of time to use as an example. The time spent will help you identify and prepare for aspects of the project that students might find difficult. You might also find yourself getting carried away. Film scoring in the music classroom can be a lot of fun for students and teachers alike.

James Frankel is an instrumental-music teacher at the Franklin Avenue Middle School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Teachers College, Columbia University, and at Montclair State University. He is the author of Teaching Classroom Music in the Keyboard Lab (SoundTree, 2003).

BONUS MATERIAL
Web Examples: Watch student-friendly videos that would inspire great film scoring projects