# New Composers Challenge - The Artist! A dramatic silent clip!



## Kevin (Sep 11, 2016)

Hello everyone,

With the last Composers Challenge using an action clip from the award winning game 'Mass Effect 2', I thought that the next Composers Challenge should take us into another realm.

The Artist is an Oscar winning silent film which follows the life of an actor in the silent film era. Ludovic Bource wrote an Oscar winning score for the movie.

The 3 minute scene is from the dramatic climax of the movie where the actor is down in the dumps because , faced with the ultimate choice in life and his love interest is desperately trying to find him:


I thought that this clip would be a good choice because we have not had drama as yet and drama is an important genre to master. You could take any approach to this, don't feel like there is only way to do this; you could make it sound like a musical score from that time period or you could make it more modern sounding (since the emotion is timeless).

What is different about this challenge is that there will be professions from the film music industry reviewing the entries in addition to the contestants own:
1) William Stromberg - Composer best known for Trinty & Beyond and Starship Troopers 2 and Master of Re-recordings.
2) Alain Mayrand - Composer best known for The Legend of Silk Boy and Orchestrator/Conductor of Elysium.
3) Vladimir Nikolov - Orchestrator who worked on The Artist.

Also a couple International Film Music Critics Association members will also be commenting on the entries.

The deadline for this challenge is November 12th. Either the composers can:
a) upload their own entries to YouTube (but unlisted) and send me the link so I can make a playlist.
b) send me the music file (through a file sharing website), tell me where the music goes, and I can do it myself. The music file should be MP3 or equivalent.

It is important that the entries be anonymous. The identity of the composer videos will be announced after the voting has finished.

In regards to the voting, the composers, or anyone else who wants, will submit their votes/rankings by rating each entry out of 10. The votes will be averaged out of 10 and the top three will be announced.

Everyone will receive reviews on their efforts (either from other composers, members of the community or myself included). The composers of the challenge are requested to give a short review of the other works. If anyone who finishes outside of the top three wants to know how they did, then contact me. If anyone not participating in the challenge wants to be a reviewer, you are more than welcome to.

The prize for winning the Composers Challenge would be either one of the following (depending on the winner's preference):
a) A CD paid for by me shipped to the winner's address
b) A cash equivalent (up to $25-30 Canadian (exchange rates pending).

If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please contact me at composerschallenge at hotmail dot com.

Best of luck to everyone and have fun!

Kevin

PS: I forgot to mention that anyone who directly plagiarizes from The Artist score (even if the music was not used in the movie) will be disqualified. Use your own voice, not someone else's.


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## Kevin (Sep 21, 2016)

There's still plenty of time to sign up for the challenge! I know of at least half a dozen composers who will be entering.


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## Kevin (Oct 5, 2016)

Don't be afraid to enter, you're guaranteed to have constructive feedback about your entry. 

More than a month left to before the deadline, plenty of time to sign up!


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## Kevin (Oct 13, 2016)

Another update: Composer James Peterson has agreed to be a part of the professional review team. James is best known for his work on the The Red Canvas (for which the "Ballet for Brawlers cue is magnificent).


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## Kevin (Oct 29, 2016)

There's two weeks left until the deadline, plenty of time to sign and write!

Remember if you enter, you will receive feedback from professional composers:
1) William Stromberg - Composer best known for Trinty & Beyond and Starship Troopers 2 and Master of Re-recordings.
2) Alain Mayrand - Composer best known for The Legend of Silk Boy and Orchestrator/Conductor of Elysium.
3) James Peterson - Composer best known for The Red Canvas (with its 12 minute Ballet for Brawlers cue).


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## Kevin (Nov 6, 2016)

Just to remind everyone, the contest ends this Saturday!


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## Kevin (Nov 14, 2016)

Hello everyone,

In the end, it turned out that we have 12 wonderful entries (which is more than the last two composers challenge).

Now that the contest is closed, the voting can begin. Let me be clear, everyone (not just composers) can vote and giving feedback on the entries is highly encouraged. The comments allow each of the composers to learn from this experience.

For voting, you rate each entry out of 10 (one being the worst and ten being the best). At the end, the votes will be added up and the top three will be announced.

Composers who entered this contest: You cannot vote for your own entry.

Here is the playlist: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZTxpL6wfPQrOtsNIN8WMD5zPG0qhHsVy

These clips have been labelled for the purposes of anonymity. If you entered the contest or if you know someone who entered the contest, please do not name the entry in question or name the composer in question.

The deadline for voting will be November 27th. That gives you two weeks to listen to the clips and vote. I know that there are a lot of entries but if you do one or two a day, then it becomes easier.

If you have any questions, please contact me at composerschallenge at hotmail dot com.

Kevin


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## Tomas Simon (Nov 21, 2016)

Hello everyone!

It looks like I’m the first one to vote and give feedback.I was hoping to enter the contest as well but I learned about it a little late and couldn’t finish in time for the deadline. That’s ok I still finished it in my spare time 


So, my votes. I picked my 5 favorite entries and made a top 5. It was very difficult to decide, especially on the winner, any one of them could be the winner in my opinion.


The rest of the entries are listed in no particular order but I still tried to give some feedback on each one. I hope I’m not offending anyone with my comments but I tried to be honest.

I tried to be concise and divided my comments into positive (+) and negative (-).


My top 5:


1.Entry 7
+very appropriate music
+feels a little like hitchcock movies
+sounds professional
+cool rhythm
+good flow and transitions
+ending is very dramatic
+tempo changes add to the tension
+my favorite ending of all the submissions

2. Entry 12
+sounds great and natural
+feeling of mystery
+orchestration
+good transitions
+music flows well to fit every scene
+great dynamics

3. Entry 5
+good piano playing
+sounds like it was recorded live to picture
+nice use of pedal notes
+very good build up at the end
-i would prefer more instruments
-ending a little sudden

4. Entry 9
+creepy (in a Danny Elfman sort of way)
+interesting phrasing
+great dynamics
+orchestration
+good dialogue between instruments
-ending sounds too humoristic/cartoony
-some samples sound a little cheap

5. Entry 4
+very creepy and tense
+ending scene is awesome, sad and dramatic
+varied instrumentation
-sound is not bad but could be more natural
-some transitions too sudden, ends abruptly

Honorable mention: Entry 8
+original orchestration
+interesting and crazy in a good way
+cool rhythmic pulse
-sounds very harsh, would have made my top 5 if it had better sound
-mixing is not great. Some weird distortion (limiter?)

In no particular order:

Entry 1
+sounds good
+car scene
+good orchestration
-too happy
-needs more movement
-some parts not very appropriate

Entry 2
-volume jumps
-sound is not the best
-no clear musical direction
-percussion

Entry 3
+good pauses
+music breathes
+good transitions between parts
+good tension when necessary
-too happy overall
-not the best sounds

Entry 6
+original phrasing
+orchestration
+good transitions
-sound not the best in some parts
-percussion
-mixing

Entry 10
+cool melodies
+good buildup for the end scene
+interesting rhythm
+appropriate style
+transitions
-sample sounds and mixing not great

Entry 11
+appropriate mood
+slow tempo fits picture
+good ideas
-but would be better with more work
-too few instruments

EDIT: I just realised we were supposed to order all of the entries from 1 to 10. If this is mandatory let me know and I will make a quick list.


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## Kevin (Nov 22, 2016)

That's great. Can you also rate each entry out of 10. You don't have to put them in order.


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## Kevin (Nov 22, 2016)

For anyone else, there's still time to watch, review and vote (it is due this Sunday night)!


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## Kevin (Dec 1, 2016)

Just so everyone knows, the results will be announced next week. My personal/work life has been very busy (especially since my brother's wedding is this weekend). Thank you for your understanding.


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## Kevin (Dec 6, 2016)

Hello everyone,

First of all, I want to thank everyone would participated in this composers challenge. We actually had more entries than with Dear Esther and Mass Effect 2 which is a very gratifying feeling.

I tell you that two of the professional composers (James Peterson and William Stromberg) were unable to review the entries due to professional commitments. However, Alain Mayrand and Vladmir Nikolov.

Before I announce the top three, I want to explain the voting process. People voted each entry out of 10 and then I averaged out the votes per entry to determine the winner. I have also complied all of the reviews and comments that people shared out the each entry so each composer will receive those comments from me shortly after this posting. Note: when you read them, each new number is someone else commenting on it.

It was very close between first and second place with 0.02 a difference between them.

The winner of The Artist Composers Challenge is:
Entry 12 - CS_TBL of Filmtracks with an average score of 8.77 out of 10:


Second place went to Entry 7 - HowdyDoodle of Reddit with an average score of 8.75 out of 10:


Third place went to Entry 4 - Sciscitatio of Reddit with an average score of 7.45 out of 10:


If you did not finish in the top three but want to know where you finished, please contact me personally at composerschallenge at hotmail dot com or my personal email (if you already know it).

I have a few ideas of clips that I want to do for the next composers challenge. The next challenge will start sometime in the new year.

Kevin


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