# Keeping a catalogue of film/tv scenes for reference



## Fab (Mar 19, 2017)

I want to start building a catalogue of scenes which I think are good examples of score/cue. When I sit down to watch something I usually think about this type of stuff anyway.

So, noting down story related points, i.e. Explainer scene + context

As well as more technical stuff, ie. bpm, instrumentation concepts etc

I dunno, even the kind of lighting/how its edited etc, just anything that might come in handy.

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I mention it because I have a bunch of things I like and I think it could be a time saver or at least something to get the ball rolling when out of ideas, as opposed to being as a replacement.

Good Idea? Curious if anyone does this, or doesn't. Why it is good or bad etc. Just any input from your experiences.


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## d.healey (Mar 19, 2017)

I just do this mentally, I probably should write them down so I don't forget, but I guess the ones I don't forget are the important ones


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## Fab (Mar 19, 2017)

that's what I have done up til now also, good point...the important ones are easier remembered.


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## Fab (Mar 20, 2017)

so there is only one other film/tv composer on this forum? Or did I ask something arbitrary...hmmm


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## Saxer (Mar 20, 2017)

Would be great to have a collection like this! Couldn't abstract of your post if you want to start an open collection here or if you just want to tell us what you are going to start for yourself?


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## gsilbers (Mar 20, 2017)

well, there is like only 13 plots in Hollywood 

I do see producers and directors here in LA that they buy a cr ap load of dvds and blue rays and I am guessing they reference it all the time.

with so much VOD I think you could buy the movies online.

but the easiest would be to have a journal with the info. or an excel sheet so you can search metadata terms.
it would be a great service is someone sold these!


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## utopia (Mar 20, 2017)

I think it'd be interesting to have a list that everyone could contribute to. It would grow very quickly and probably have tons of useful information for all of us.


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## Farkle (Mar 20, 2017)

Fab said:


> I want to start building a catalogue of scenes which I think are good examples of score/cue. When I sit down to watch something I usually think about this type of stuff anyway.
> 
> So, noting down story related points, i.e. Explainer scene + context
> 
> ...



If you are a certain type of composer, it's a very good idea. I recommend trying it. Personally, I have a spreadsheet that I add to that has scales and chords that have moods and meanings. With reference film scores/classical scores. It helps me kickstart if I need to.

And, I regularly study film cues on film, and how they interact with story. So, just keep shedding your chops, keep analyzing scores and films. If you want to make a spreadsheet, do it. It helps me out.

Mike


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## Nmargiotta (Mar 20, 2017)

Its a great idea. Ive been meaning to put my own excel spreadsheet library together as well. It would be so great if there was an online database that was filled with tagged cues, it would be an amazing tool if it existed. Extremely helpful to not only us composers but colorists, editors, directors, dp's I can see it being super useful to just about any creative in this industry. Imagine a tagging system similar to a production music library but with color/edit tags, any descriptive term that would describe the scene, even referencing eras of film. I would pay for access to a service like that!

Utopia- I think having everyone contribute would be really great. Even if it was just a basic spreadsheet.


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## Fab (Mar 20, 2017)

there we go, everyone gets a like...thanks, some interesting points and it makes me think it is a good idea. Never really been one for spreadsheets, hmm...maybe I will try it. Feels like it would be less messy, nice boxy grid to work in...like Live.


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## gsilbers (Mar 20, 2017)

Nmargiotta said:


> Its a great idea. Ive been meaning to put my own excel spreadsheet library together as well. It would be so great if there was an online database that was filled with tagged cues, it would be an amazing tool if it existed. Extremely helpful to not only us composers but colorists, editors, directors, dp's I can see it being super useful to just about any creative in this industry. Imagine a tagging system similar to a production music library but with color/edit tags, any descriptive term that would describe the scene, even referencing eras of film. I would pay for access to a service like that!
> 
> Utopia- I think having everyone contribute would be really great. Even if it was just a basic spreadsheet.



very cool idea. we could obviously start with john william and hans zimmer since they have books out there.


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## Nmargiotta (Mar 22, 2017)

gsilbers said:


> very cool idea. we could obviously start with john william and hans zimmer since they have books out there.



Absolutely! Id love to hear others chime in with ideas, maybe get some more buzz and we can start something within the VI community!


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## MatFluor (Mar 22, 2017)

Nmargiotta said:


> Absolutely! Id love to hear others chime in with ideas, maybe get some more buzz and we can start something within the VI community!



If you're talking a simple webapp for this - and the hosting would be paid (small subscription fee) - I could sit down and program something cool (wouldn't be my first time).

What do we need?
- Film title
- Min/sec start and Min/sec end
- Description of the scene
- Variety of Tags
What else? I think it might be possible to hook up IMDB for the film info...

I'm in with coding and hosting that if there's interest 

Greets,
Matthias


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## Nmargiotta (Mar 22, 2017)

Matthias, very cool! 
Yea a web app would be ideal. I would even be happy with a spreadsheet but a nice basic UI would be fantastic, with searchable tags, etc. 

Film Title, Min/Sec in/out, Description of scene, tags, film info/composer info, as much meta data as possible. Say a director or editor wants something edgy, dramatic, non orchestral, with synth, and heavy percussion, fast paced from a chris nolan film. In your mind you'd go HZ but this would even narrow it down and show only cues that match that discription within Hans/nolan work as well as show options from other composers / films. 

The biggest task will be putting together the data from the cues. What would be the most effective way of collecting the data on the cues/films. I dont know of any site/service that has film music catalogued. Is there anything remotely close out there? I can see user generated data working but it would also require quite a bit of time/work for even one film. Essentially one would have to spot the film describing each cue, time code relation, and write descriptive data for each cue. 

Any suggestions as to this ?


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## MatFluor (Mar 22, 2017)

Nmargiotta said:


> Matthias, very cool!
> Yea a web app would be ideal. I would even be happy with a spreadsheet but a nice basic UI would be fantastic, with searchable tags, etc.
> 
> Film Title, Min/Sec in/out, Description of scene, tags, film info/composer info, as much meta data as possible. Say a director or editor wants something edgy, dramatic, non orchestral, with synth, and heavy percussion, fast paced from a chris nolan film. In your mind you'd go HZ but this would even narrow it down and show only cues that match that discription within Hans/nolan work as well as show options from other composers / films.



Search/DB work is no problem in that regard.



Nmargiotta said:


> The biggest task will be putting together the data from the cues. What would be the most effective way of collecting the data on the cues/films. I dont know of any site/service that has film music catalogued. Is there anything remotely close out there? I can see user generated data working but it would also require quite a bit of time/work for even one film. Essentially one would have to spot the film describing each cue, time code relation, and write descriptive data for each cue.
> 
> Any suggestions as to this ?



I don't know either if something similar would exist. Basically yeah - that Database would grow over time as people use it. Maybe there are some catalogues lying around at the film studios?

If the site is made easy-to-use and appealing, I hope that people are willing to put in the effort to "fill-in" the database 

In my mind (from quickly thinking it through) there could be different tiers as well e.g. one tier with full-DB access, another tier with a "custom-db" which only this person can access (kind of "private lists") and more.

I love the idea, and I'll start coding this weekend a bit - maybe I can get some Beta-screenshots up next week


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## tav.one (Mar 23, 2017)

I think *Airtable* is perfect for this.
I landed on this after trying more than 2 dozen apps/services.

I maintain a database of my favourite soundtrack pieces, with custom options like instruments that were used (Strings, harp, etc), techniques I liked (Harmony, modulation, sound design), mood (uplifting, dark, nostalgic) & notes.

Its free and has a cross platform app as well.


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## MatFluor (Apr 12, 2017)

A short update for those interested:

The app is almost ready, the first Alpha test was good so far  Some Bugs to fix, some more test to see if I have everything that a working composer or enthusiast needs.

Also - since I don't intend to make a ton of money with this, I decided against some monthly subscription model. Instead, there will be sponsor banners on the site (visible, but they won't interfere) to get the necessary funds to keep the site up. That means - it's free for composers! Security wise, I will use OAuth (you know, those little "Sign-in with Facebook" things), so no critical information is stored at my webapp.

I'm looking forward to this little project  I add some screenshots to give you a taste of the current state.

(By the way - should I open a seperate thread once it's done? e.g. in the Commercial announcements?)


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## Nmargiotta (Apr 13, 2017)

Wow great job!! this looks really good! I'd like to see others input and hopefully we can pickup steam with others contributing. Being that video will/could be a major feature what is the best and legal way of having those clips play? That maybe the biggest hurdle here? To be honest I would still find this DB extremely useful with even just time markers and digging up the movies from my own collection/Netflix as well. But ultimately embedded video would be incredible. Any thoughts?


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## MatFluor (Apr 13, 2017)

Nmargiotta said:


> Wow great job!! this looks really good! I'd like to see others input and hopefully we can pickup steam with others contributing. Being that video will/could be a major feature what is the best and legal way of having those clips play? That maybe the biggest hurdle here? To be honest I would still find this DB extremely useful with even just time markers and digging up the movies from my own collection/Netflix as well. But ultimately embedded video would be incredible. Any thoughts?



From the legal perspective it's not a problem - it's not the whole movie to see the cue, it's just a Youtube clip you can optionally add. If the YouTube clip show the particular scene or is just the track form the OST is a different matter - but it's really only the YouTube clip.


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