# STARGIRL - Scoring Competition Submission Thread



## fish_hoof (Jul 15, 2021)

Hi all, 

Wanted to create a thread where everyone can post their submissions where they can be open to feedback, praise, etc. Let's just learn the lessons from last time and not turn this into a negative bashing thread. 

All the best everyone!


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## angeruroth (Jul 15, 2021)

Damn, I've downloaded it but I have no idea when I'll be able to score it...
Anyway, I hope this time people's behavior is more civilized.

Good luck everyone! (and thanks to everyone involved!).


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## Getsumen (Jul 15, 2021)

The scene seems oddly hard to score to. I feel like each section is just so short that you'll be transitioning a bit more often than usual


Does anyone know what the original score was? Curious to see what it was.


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## Loïc D (Jul 16, 2021)

And I’ll try to enter this one, aside of crazy working hours.
Inspiration so far : none. 
I’ll probably end up with something silly, just to have fun.


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## KEM (Jul 16, 2021)

Getsumen said:


> The scene seems oddly hard to score to. I feel like each section is just so short that you'll be transitioning a bit more often than usual
> 
> 
> Does anyone know what the original score was? Curious to see what it was.



Agreed, it’s extremely short and each of the different sections that need to be addressed happen for what, 20 seconds at most? And we’re not given any context to the scene given how short it is, making it even more difficult.

All that being said though, should prove to be an interesting challenge, and I’m excited to score it.


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## Markrs (Jul 17, 2021)

For anyone new to scoring a scene I found the below YouTube video very helpful.


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## Dr.Quest (Jul 17, 2021)

Markrs said:


> For anyone new to scoring a scene I found the below YouTube video very helpful.



This is great! Thanks for the post!


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## from_theashes (Jul 18, 2021)

This is my entry for the Stargirl Scoring Competition:




I'm really glad, Spitfire did another competition like that. Good luck to everyone participating!


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## Baronvonheadless (Jul 19, 2021)

Here's my entry. I refuse to do anything too out there, but also tried to focus more on minimalism, underscoring, and sound design rather than a full on score.

I think the westworld winner was interesting, and respect the out of the box thinking but honestly, I understand the controversy. I don't believe in trying TOO hard to set yourself apart and to do something that hasn't been done, because I feel like there isn't anything that 'hasn't been done' in this day and age. I think no matter what, if you're not directly trying to rip someone off or copy something, your unique voice will shine in your score or art - as long as you are listening to your voice/heart.

Trying too hard to be different just feels disingenuous to me. 

Anyways, here goes nothing.


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## dcoscina (Jul 19, 2021)

I'm going old school and scoring this in Dorico. why not eh?


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## Baronvonheadless (Jul 19, 2021)

Here is my attempt!


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## shadowsoflight (Jul 19, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Here's my entry. I refuse to do anything too out there, but also tried to focus more on minimalism, underscoring, and sound design rather than a full on score.
> 
> I think the westworld winner was interesting, and respect the out of the box thinking but honestly, I understand the controversy. I don't believe in trying TOO hard to set yourself apart and to do something that hasn't been done, because I feel like there isn't anything that 'hasn't been done' in this day and age. I think no matter what, if you're not directly trying to rip someone off or copy something, your unique voice will shine in your score or art - as long as you are listening to your voice/heart.
> 
> ...


Big +1 on sticking to your unique voice! I think you did a great job of being yourself, while fitting the scene and without being disingenuous. I was getting some Battlestar Galactica throwbacks in that final shot 

I'm finding it really interesting to watch these and hear different interpretations, so I'll share mine too. I similarly tried to just be myself with this one.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 20, 2021)

Ok gang, had fun doing this one. Tried to be myself and blend my two loves of Hard Rock and Film Score... Hard Score. 

Took Pinars suggestion literally by recording my breaths and making pads out of it, along with subtle hit points. 

Blessings to all who enter!


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## jaketanner (Jul 20, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Ok gang, had fun doing this one. Tried to be myself and blend my two loves of Hard Rock and Film Score... Hard Score.
> 
> Took Pinars suggestion literally by recording my breaths and making pads out of it, along with subtle hit points.
> 
> Blessings to all who enter!



I like this a lot...great job!


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## fish_hoof (Jul 20, 2021)

jaketanner said:


> I like this a lot...great job!


Thank you so much Jake!


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## Stardog24 (Jul 20, 2021)

Hey gang. Long time vi-control lurker, first time poster.

Thought I'd have a crack at this one for the simple fact that it's a great opportunity to write an over the top superhero cue, and who could pass that up.

I'm really loving going through and listening to everyone's interpretation of the scene. Feel like I've now listened to everything except for the original. 

Let me know what you think.


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## Peter Satera (Jul 20, 2021)

Stardog24 said:


> Hey gang. Long time vi-control lurker, first time poster.
> 
> Thought I'd have a crack at this one for the simple fact that it's a great opportunity to write an over the top superhero cue, and who could pass that up.
> 
> ...



Good work! Really liked it.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 20, 2021)

Very nice!



Stardog24 said:


> Hey gang. Long time vi-control lurker, first time poster.
> 
> Thought I'd have a crack at this one for the simple fact that it's a great opportunity to write an over the top superhero cue, and who could pass that up.
> 
> ...


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## fish_hoof (Jul 20, 2021)

Hey all, 

Posted this in another thread, but wanted to share here as well. I had fun doing this one. Tried to be myself and blend my two loves of Hard Rock and Film Score... Hard Score. 

Took Pinars suggestion literally by recording my breaths and making pads out of it, along with subtle hit points. 

Blessings to all who enter!


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## ghostine (Jul 20, 2021)

Their sound effect is so loud...
Here is mine. Hope to get some feedbacks, thank you!


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## ghostine (Jul 20, 2021)

Here is mine. Hope to get some feedbacks, thank you!


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## The Music of Cassiel (Jul 20, 2021)

Hi, all! Here is my submission. I seriously loved the opportunity to score something with such quick changes. I hope to prove that there’s no real challenge at doing that at all!


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## The Music of Cassiel (Jul 20, 2021)

As a woman, seeing Pinar lead the way is *everything* to me. I worked on this harder than anything else because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. AWFC members, let me know if you’re doing this, too!


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## _Adam_ (Jul 21, 2021)

This is my entry. My first time trying to compose to picture. It was great fun! 😊


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## Stardog24 (Jul 21, 2021)

Aldunate said:


> Spitfire has gone so much for the film composers that anything FFFFF brass should win.


My entry is definitely in the FFFFF brass club.  I even made sure to fill my modwheel with NOS before I started.


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## from_theashes (Jul 21, 2021)

I mainly went with synthesizers and pads this time, trying to match the action, tension and emotion:



Good luck everyone!


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## fish_hoof (Jul 21, 2021)

That is why I love music and film scoring. One scene, and all completely different scores. Love it! Thank you all for sharing!


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## jaketanner (Jul 21, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> That is why I love music and film scoring. One scene, and all completely different scores. Love it! Thank you all for sharing!


The crazy part about it, is that only one interpretation is technically "correct" as per the director's approval...LOL. I do like a lot of these BTW. Some that I've heard could have easily been in the show.

This is what makes this so hard, because I am trying to avoid what is obvious (I did that with West World...and we all know how that went)...so thinking outside the box is probably a good idea here. However, as David pointed out...still staying true to the show's overall vibe is probably a good idea also.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 21, 2021)

jaketanner said:


> The crazy part about it, is that only one interpretation is technically "correct" as per the director's approval...LOL. I do like a lot of these BTW. Some that I've heard could have easily been in the show.
> 
> This is what makes this so hard, because I am trying to avoid what is obvious (I did that with West World...and we all know how that went)...so thinking outside the box is probably a good idea here. However, as David pointed out...still staying true to the show's overall vibe is probably a good idea also.


It's definitely a challenge. I'm on the mindset of writing what music you do best, listen to your instincts, and try to stay true to the show. Whatever happens in the end, will happen. This time around, I am happy with what I wrote. I love to write in that "Hard Score" type vibe. I got caught up too much in the West World competition with trying to be completely off the wall different... which led me to re-do my entry completely, chasing my tail and submitting a score that wasn't who I was as a composer. I'm happy this time around. Win or loose.


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## jaketanner (Jul 21, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> It's definitely a challenge. I'm on the mindset of writing what music you do best, listen to your instincts, and try to stay true to the show. Whatever happens in the end, will happen. This time around, I am happy with what I wrote. I love to write in that "Hard Score" type vibe. I got caught up too much in the West World competition with trying to be completely off the wall different... which led me to re-do my entry completely, chasing my tail and submitting a score that wasn't who I was as a composer. I'm happy this time around. Win or loose.


Worst case, you have another cue for your reel. That’s going to be my approach.


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## dcoscina (Jul 22, 2021)

I ended up sticking with my initial concept in Studio one 5.3… changed a section to more of A heroic interlude (a la James Horner) and scores the second half more moody, 80s thing.. outro (Stargirl title card ad) features a quote of the theme I composed for the title character before embarking on this cue… just so I had some thematic foundation to draw upon.
DC Stargirl Scoring Competition

EDIT- UDATED 25/07/21


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## shadowsoflight (Jul 22, 2021)

Here's mine - used stock DAW and freely available VSTs only. Probably pretty generic sounding but it's my first time scoring something like this. Really cool to see the different interpretations!


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## robgb (Jul 22, 2021)

I think this is a great contest, but that clip does not inspire me in any way. I suppose that would make it more of a challenge for some.


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## Dr.Quest (Jul 22, 2021)

Seems to be a common theme here - “This doesn’t inspire me in anyway. I don’t get it. Oh well, guess I’ll try something. Sigh.”
Maybe you’re trying to get into the wrong career.
To me this would be a cool gig to have.
A great composer will always elevate the scene/movie regardless of what they might think of it. The original Planet of the Apes would have been a pretty mediocre B movie without that innovative Goldsmith score.
Just my opinion of course.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 22, 2021)

Dr.Quest said:


> Seems to be a common theme here - “This doesn’t inspire me in anyway. I don’t get it. Oh well, guess I’ll try something. Sigh.”
> Maybe you’re trying to get into the wrong career.
> To me this would be a cool gig to have.
> A great composer will always elevate the scene/movie regardless of what they might think of it. The original Planet of the Apes would have been a pretty mediocre B movie without that innovative Goldsmith score.
> Just my opinion of course.


I tend to agree. I've done tons of gigs that might not have been initially inspiring... but I get inspired by being able to add something to the project that lifts it up to another level and help tell the story. With this competition, I felt the opposite. The idea immediately came to my head and I knew I wanted to do a rocker "hard score". It was fun (Had my G string all the way up to my low E) and challenging to do something different than what the original score was. But that is me and my perspective. Guess my ultimate point is... if its not inspiring, but you want to enter. Do something radical in it to get inspired!


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## dcoscina (Jul 22, 2021)

EDIT- I revised this and have mixed it to picture audio better. I also smoothed out a couple things.


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## dcoscina (Jul 22, 2021)

ghostine said:


> Here is mine. Hope to get some feedbacks, thank you!



I like the classical vibe you got with those half diminished chords. Also, I like how you caught the action. Nice job.


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## dcoscina (Jul 22, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Posted this in another thread, but wanted to share here as well. I had fun doing this one. Tried to be myself and blend my two loves of Hard Rock and Film Score... Hard Score.
> 
> ...



Nice work. I like the rock edginess to it but it still catches the action so the music feels tied dramatically to the scene.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 22, 2021)

All right -- here's mine! Earlier conversations notwithstanding, I had a lot of fun with this. I think many people went the high-minded Horner/Williams/classic route. Mine is, I would say, more in the vein of a cheap Eighties action show. I.e., what's closest to my heart. Hope you enjoy!


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## FlyingAndi (Jul 23, 2021)

For me the scene is inspiring, but what I find difficult is this: If I was the director I wouldn't put too much music into this scene. As a composer in a scoring contest I feel obliged to write much more music for this scene.


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## Symfoniq (Jul 23, 2021)

I wonder if John Williams was "inspired" before he put this scene to music:



A good film composer makes the film better. Sometimes, the music might even be the best part of the film (looking at you, John Debney/Cutthroat Island!)


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## jaketanner (Jul 23, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> For me the scene is inspiring, but what I find difficult is this: If I was the director I wouldn't put too much music into this scene. As a composer in a scoring contest I feel obliged to write much more music for this scene.


If you are referring to the Star Girl bus scene...the director DID want a LOT of music..it's wall to wall action music...watch the original clip. I do agree, that we want to write more to show off also...but if you personally feel that it needs less...then do that. Might be different enough to win.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 23, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> I ended up sticking with my initial concept in Studio one 5.3… changed a section to more of A heroic interlude (a la James Horner) and scores the second half more moody, 80s thing.. outro (Stargirl title card ad) features a quote of the theme I composed for the title character before embarking on this cue… just so I had some thematic foundation to draw upon.
> DC Stargirl Scoring Competition



I really like that change in the middle. It underscores the way the first half of the scene is a simple heroic narrative and the second half is a hero's failure to save. Nice work!


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## Wally Garten (Jul 23, 2021)

Certainly true of this:





Symfoniq said:


> I wonder if John Williams was "inspired" before he put this scene to music:
> 
> 
> 
> A good film composer makes the film better. Sometimes, the music might even be the best part of the film (looking at you, John Debney/Cutthroat Island!)


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## Wally Garten (Jul 23, 2021)

I originally posted mine in the other thread, but this is probably the more appropriate place. Anyway, I have always enjoyed a certain kind of driving-but-minimalist rock scoring, so this is my nod to that.



(EDIT: Whoops, wrong URL. Fixed now.)


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## fish_hoof (Jul 23, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> For me the scene is inspiring, but what I find difficult is this: If I was the director I wouldn't put too much music into this scene. As a composer in a scoring contest I feel obliged to write much more music for this scene.


I think that’s part of the challenge of a composer is knowing when to let something breath. I let the screaming kids in the bus have music because the main character is watching in suspense… then lets out a sigh of relief. That’s how I saw it… I think if you see a spot that doesn’t need music, then do it! It's important to trust your instincts.


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## dcoscina (Jul 23, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> I really like that change in the middle. It underscores the way the first half of the scene is a simple heroic narrative and the second half is a hero's failure to save. Nice work!


My mix is a bit excessive- never trust a composer to mix dialogue with music. Lol. But I wanted to keep this cue all of one piece rather than too disparate of a feel. The synths are consistent from the first half to the second. But I wanted a steady build almost beginning when the line comes across “this was a mistake”. Ultimately there is danger to Joey from the beginning of this scene, not just the literal threat of the bus falling over. He was ultimately doomed so I never wanted to heavy hand the heroic part because it was a bit of an illusion. My take on it anyhow…


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## jaketanner (Jul 23, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> I think if you see a spot that doesn’t need music, then do it! It's important to trust your instincts.


This is very true..however, in this case, we all know what the director already approved. So do you write to YOUR instincts, or write to what the director already approved, but in YOUR voice? This is the problem I am facing for these contests that are "rescores". Pinar further complicated my thinking by breaking down the hit points and direction...so is that a clue? LOL. I think she did say she wanted to see how we transition between moods...


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## AndyP (Jul 23, 2021)

Jo, my first attempt at a movie score. Started this morning and unfortunately have no time to continue. But it was fun and you grow with the task. 

I hope that one or the other likes it, criticism is always welcome.


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## Baronvonheadless (Jul 23, 2021)

Posted mine in the other threads but I suppose like Wally said, this is probably a more fitting place.

Curious if anyone has thoughts/constructive criticism on this?

I leaned heavily on sound design, minimalism, underscoring, textural emotive support and accentuating visuals with effects etc. rather than having full on music the whole time - Percussive elements to match the pace and tension, hopefully propelling it forward/giving pauses in the right places without awkwardly leaving silence - hopefully letting the dialogue breath without feeling empty...

I think my main goal was to have slight heroism in the little music I added, but more importantly with experimental sound design I wanted to showcase the STRESS of the action and counterpoint with RELIEF (when I added clarinet/light strings) and dive back into TENSION and STRESS in the finale build up/potential tragedy at the end.


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## AndyP (Jul 23, 2021)

My post is also in the Spitfire thread. But I'll leave it there now.

However, have forgotten to provide the video with a large L as learner. So be careful when crossing the road!


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## becolossal (Jul 23, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Posted mine in the other threads but I suppose like Wally said, this is probably a more fitting place.
> 
> Curious if anyone has thoughts/constructive criticism on this?
> 
> ...



I won't comment on the style, but I do think that you foreshadow the tragedy at the end rather than reacting to it. IMO, tension shouldn't start building until the cut to the truck on the bridge. The kids getting off the bus is the one spot you've got to breathe/release tension in the scene, but your cue is already alluding to what's coming, which lessens the impact.


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## Baronvonheadless (Jul 23, 2021)

becolossal said:


> I won't comment on the style, but I do think that you foreshadow the tragedy at the end rather than reacting to it. IMO, tension shouldn't start building until the cut to the truck on the bridge. The kids getting off the bus is the one spot you've got to breathe/release tension in the scene, but your cue is already alluding to what's coming, which lessens the impact.


 Thanks, I appreciate your reply. IMO tho I thought that's what I did? Kids getting off the bus accompanied by calming clarinet and descending strings as if a feather is falling to match him landing next to star girl. 

The dialogue that this was a mistake and we need to go, followed by 'we need to find icicle' implies the danger is not over and is sort of foreshadowing in itself, so I added a drum rhythm to start building movement, representing their need to act. 

& I started adding string tension as icicle blows his frost at the bridge as the kid is running into the truck pretty much where you said it should be. 

I wonder if I jumped the gun a bit? But the dialogue kind of pushes the cue IMO towards that direction of tension anyways. 

Appreciate you though, thanks for your input. That's what I was looking for!


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## becolossal (Jul 23, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Thanks, I appreciate your reply. IMO tho I thought that's what I did? Kids getting off the bus accompanied by calming clarinet and descending strings as if a feather is falling to match him landing next to star girl.
> 
> The dialogue that this was a mistake and we need to go, followed by 'we need to find icicle' implies the danger is not over and is sort of foreshadowing in itself, so I added a drum rhythm to start building movement, representing their need to act.
> 
> ...


I think the "danger" inherent in the "this was a mistake" line is Stripe(?) and Stargirl being discovered, not that Icicle is still lurking near the scene and that the kid is about to eat it. My subjective feeling is that the percussion while they are settling in off the bus never lets the first part of the scene resolve properly before the next round of tension comes in.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 23, 2021)

jaketanner said:


> This is very true..however, in this case, we all know what the director already approved. So do you write to YOUR instincts, or write to what the director already approved, but in YOUR voice? This is the problem I am facing for these contests that are "rescores". Pinar further complicated my thinking by breaking down the hit points and direction...so is that a clue? LOL. I think she did say she wanted to see how we transition between moods...


I think for this, I would write for YOUR instincts. I think it's great for Pinar to do a video that gives people direction in case they aren't sure where to begin. I did not watch her video and I think for a competition, it's very good to show what you can do without any direction. Kinda like a "get out there and show me what you can do".


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## sundrowned (Jul 23, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Posted mine in the other threads but I suppose like Wally said, this is probably a more fitting place.
> 
> Curious if anyone has thoughts/constructive criticism on this?
> 
> ...



I really like it. Especially the second half. 

I don't really have any criticism apart from personal observations. The early hit when Joey slides to the back of the bus is a slightly too avant-garde type sound for me. Or at least I might try have a bit more of a build up of sounds to it as the slide happens. Overall I might also try to bring some more of the elements of the second half into the first to tie the whole thing together. 
But that's all very subjective and maybe wouldn't work at all.

Overall I think it's brilliant though and an interesting take on it.


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## Baronvonheadless (Jul 23, 2021)

becolossal said:


> I think the "danger" inherent in the "this was a mistake" line is Stripe(?) and Stargirl being discovered, not that Icicle is still lurking near the scene and that the kid is about to eat it. My subjective feeling is that the percussion while they are settling in off the bus never lets the first part of the scene resolve properly before the next round of tension comes in.


Thank you, all good points to consider when scoring in the future!


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## Baronvonheadless (Jul 23, 2021)

sundrowned said:


> I really like it. Especially the second half.
> 
> I don't really have any criticism apart from personal observations. The early hit when Joey slides to the back of the bus is a slightly too avant-garde type sound for me. Or at least I might try have a bit more of a build up of sounds to it as the slide happens. Overall I might also try to bring some more of the elements of the second half into the first to tie the whole thing together.
> But that's all very subjective and maybe wouldn't work at all.
> ...


Shit, well thank you very much! Yeah it’s hard to say sometimes what may or may not work on paper until u try to apply it and see.
I def wanted it to be a bit left field and not predictable while still having some classical elements (French horns and clarinets) & I guess avant garde just pours out of me whether I try or not due to my past with psychedelic rock haha.

I think my favorite part that came out like I had in my head, is my use of felt instruments blisko when she raises her staff because it just felt like magical blinding light cutting thru the bus and I wanted to reflect that sonically and have it cut thru the mix.

I also, like some other ppl here, have never seen the show/scene and didn’t listen to pinar’s score until AFTER I was done and submitted mine. So I only had my interpretation influencing. & tried not to over think anything or get in the way of sound effects. I actually added some big hits on top of the explosions to further lend to intense sound design to make u feel like you’re there.

Thank you for your kind words! This is still all very new to me! 🤙🏼


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## Stardog24 (Jul 24, 2021)

So I've updated my work. The original piece was made in about 6 hours after work on a Tuesday, and after listening back a few days later I picked up on a few changes I wanted to make. I know this is pretty common knowledge, but here's a reminder to give yourself a break and come back to your work so you don't succumb to fatigue.

Please have another listen (or a first) and leave any constructive critique you have. And might I take this opportunity to say that I have been loving listening to all of your work. There's some really brilliant approaches and I'm bloody loving it. 



P.S. Sorry for the repost


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## pkoi (Jul 24, 2021)

Here's my entry. I decided to go for a fairly simple, rhythm driven, and fully electronic score. I usually use hardware synths in scores like this, but the synth material in this one is mainly from fabfilter one, which I purchased some time ago, what a great soft synth! The drums are samples from Roland TR-505 & 909.


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## dcoscina (Jul 24, 2021)

Stardog24 said:


> So I've updated my work. The original piece was made in about 6 hours after work on a Tuesday, and after listening back a few days later I picked up on a few changes I wanted to make. I know this is pretty common knowledge, but here's a reminder to give yourself a break and come back to your work so you don't succumb to fatigue.
> 
> Please have another listen (or a first) and leave any constructive critique you have. And might I take this opportunity to say that I have been loving listening to all of your work. There's some really brilliant approaches and I'm bloody loving it.
> 
> ...



Yeah I dig this. Dynamic, follows the action, but still melodic. Nice work.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 24, 2021)

A lot of great entries! Thank you all for sharing!


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## Jonathan Moray (Jul 25, 2021)

Here’s my entry (or it will be if I ever fill out the form):




I don’t think this score will win any prizes or anything. It’s very safe and doesn't do anything too outlandish to stick out. There's a lot of micro-cuts and a lot of hits I felt I wanted to make which was hard to balance, but I managed to get most of the ones I found important without having the score be too "jumpy".

The score is about a day's work spread out over a week. There are a few things I’m happy with in the score, but also quite a lot that I’m not completely happy with. If I have the time I might go back and revisit it to see if I can fix some of the things.

It’s been a good while since I did anything music related, and it shows. I’m feeling a bit rough around the edges - not that I was ever especially smooth. I had a bit more trouble getting started than I anticipated. But I gave myself some slack since it’s not the easiest being away for so long and then one day sitting down to bash out a 2-minute cue.

I guess it’s like riding a bike, except you also need to understand how to assemble the bike, and how to make the metal for the frame of the bike, and what is the best type of metal for this specific bike...


With that said, I would very much appreciate some feedback and don’t hold back.


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## Jonathan Moray (Jul 25, 2021)

Here’s my entry (or it will be if I ever fill out the form):




I don’t think this score will win any prizes or anything. It’s very safe and doesn't do anything too outlandish to stick out. There's a lot of micro-cuts and a lot of hits I felt I wanted to make which was hard to balance, but I managed to get most of the ones I found important without having the score be too "jumpy".

The score is about a day's work spread out over a week. There are a few things I’m happy with in the score, but also quite a lot that I’m not completely happy with. If I have the time I might go back and revisit it to see if I can fix some of the things.

It’s been a good while since I did anything music related, and it shows. I’m feeling a bit rough around the edges - not that I was ever especially smooth. I had a bit more trouble getting started than I anticipated. But I gave myself some slack since it’s not the easiest being away for so long and then one day sitting down to bash out a 2-minute cue.

I guess it’s like riding a bike, except you also need to understand how to assemble the bike, and how to make the metal for the frame of the bike, and what is the best type of metal for this specific bike...


With that said, I would very much appreciate some feedback and don’t hold back.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 25, 2021)

Jonathan Moray said:


> Here’s my entry (or it will be if I ever fill out the form):
> 
> 
> 
> ...



There are some beautiful spots in this my friend. The first 0:50 had my attention. This is my perspective about watching the back half. 

-The music around the 1:00 mark seems uplifting? Chaos just happened and they haven't found the bad guy. The look on her face about 1:03 is that of concern, but the music is happy. At least to my ears. What would it look like to change up the tone around when he says "this was a mistake"... then start that feeling of something isn't right. This isn't done. 
-You did some beautiful brass. At 1:42 SHOW OFF! It leaves me wanting to hear it on the exit but then it ends, and its silence... Show off a bit my friend.


----------



## Jonathan Moray (Jul 25, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> There are some beautiful spots in this my friend. The first 0:50 had my attention. This is my perspective about watching the back half.
> 
> -The music around the 1:00 mark seems uplifting? Chaos just happened and they haven't found the bad guy. The look on her face about 1:03 is that of concern, but the music is happy. At least to my ears. What would it look like to change up the tone around when he says "this was a mistake"... then start that feeling of something isn't right. This isn't done.
> -You did some beautiful brass. At 1:42 SHOW OFF! It leaves me wanting to hear it on the exit but then it ends, and its silence... Show off a bit my friend.


Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, you are right.

I tried a few different things at the 1:00 mark but nothing worked as well as I had hoped. At first, I had a rather dissonant Ebm(maj7) that resolved into a Bb but I didn't like the resolution because of what they are saying - the problem isn't really resolved and they still need to find him. Nor did I like when I extended the Ebm(maj7) because then it didn't flow very nicely into the next part, which is a part I do like because of the false sense of security. Sure maybe they haven't caught ice-face but at least they saved the day and everything is well for now... or is it?

The version I uploaded isn't that much different from the first one I made. I believe it's just an Ebm to a Bb instead, not as much tension and release as with the Ebm(maj7). I will see if I can figure something else out.

Throughout the latter part of the scene (everything after 0:40 and onwards), I have a very subtle tremolo in the strings that was supposed to act as the lingering tension while the chords above act as the resolution of the first part: saving the bus and the kids. The tremolo just acts as a subtle unease or foreshadowing.

Although, it might not even be audible anymore if you don't know it's there because I kept lowering it. And as you've proven, it's not enough to get the feeling across.

I haven't decided what I want to do for 1:42. I have a few sketches I did for the end but nothing concrete yet. It seems like a perfect place to show off but silence can often have the most impact on a scene; leaving the viewer to mull over what just happened in silence. The decision depends on if I want to score for the series/production or for the competition.

The idea is to let it sit for a day or two and get back to it next week with fresh ears.

Thanks again for the feedback!


----------



## dcoscina (Jul 25, 2021)

Revised mix and smoothed out a few things.


----------



## sundrowned (Jul 25, 2021)

Had a go. I'll probably tweak it a bit once my ears have forgotten it.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 25, 2021)

Jonathan Moray said:


> Thanks for the feedback!
> 
> Yes, you are right.
> 
> ...


You are absolutely welcome! Blessings on your writing and excited to see what you come up with.


----------



## Stardog24 (Jul 25, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> Revised mix and smoothed out a few things.



Just listened to both back to back. Some really nice changes. In particular for me, the trumpets on the bus catch really stood out more on this listen than the last. Feels more cohesive. Really well done!


----------



## FlyingAndi (Jul 26, 2021)

Stardog24 said:


> So I've updated my work. The original piece was made in about 6 hours after work on a Tuesday, and after listening back a few days later I picked up on a few changes I wanted to make. I know this is pretty common knowledge, but here's a reminder to give yourself a break and come back to your work so you don't succumb to fatigue.
> 
> Please have another listen (or a first) and leave any constructive critique you have. And might I take this opportunity to say that I have been loving listening to all of your work. There's some really brilliant approaches and I'm bloody loving it.
> 
> ...



Good one! I like how you reuse that theme on the Glockenspiel (toy piano?) when the cards start flying.
Is there some kind of soft synth lead at 0:31? If so, you should IMHO make it stand out a little bit more in the mix, otherwise it will hardly get noticed.



pkoi said:


> Here's my entry. I decided to go for a fairly simple, rhythm driven, and fully electronic score. I usually use hardware synths in scores like this, but the synth material in this one is mainly from fabfilter one, which I purchased some time ago, what a great soft synth! The drums are samples from Roland TR-505 & 909.



Wow, this one's quite different from all of the other entrys I've heard.
I love how the tension builds up until 0:36. (Most other entries have the relief or heroic moment earlier, already when she lifts the staff.)
Somewhere else I wrote that it's a problem for me with this scene that I feel obliged (because it's a competion) to put more music under the scene than I think is necessary. You found a good solution with the subtle pads when the people exit the bus.


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## Sunny Schramm (Jul 26, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Posted this in another thread, but wanted to share here as well. I had fun doing this one. Tried to be myself and blend my two loves of Hard Rock and Film Score... Hard Score.
> 
> ...



I really liked the silent bus part and the upcoming tension when mr. ice came in


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## jonathanwright (Jul 26, 2021)

Here's mine! I really couldn't decide whether to go electronic or orchestral, so after a bit of procrastination ended up using both.


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## pkoi (Jul 26, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> Wow, this one's quite different from all of the other entrys I've heard.
> I love how the tension builds up until 0:36. (Most other entries have the relief or heroic moment earlier, already when she lifts the staff.)
> Somewhere else I wrote that it's a problem for me with this scene that I feel obliged (because it's a competion) to put more music under the scene than I think is necessary. You found a good solution with the subtle pads when the people exit the bus.


Thanks for your feedback! As for that 0:36 moment, I was a bit hesitant whether to resolve the music when the man in the robot-suit saves the bus or when she raises her staff. I decided to resolve it only when the bus was solidly on the bridge, and I think it suits my track the best (longer time for build-up etc.). Perhaps in the context of the series, an earlier climax would have worked better (and a fully different style altogether). To be honest, I have no knowledge of this show so I'm not sure what her staff even does but I figured she somehow helps the robot guy to lift the bus.


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## Stardog24 (Jul 26, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> Good one! I like how you reuse that theme on the Glockenspiel (toy piano?) when the cards start flying.
> Is there some kind of soft synth lead at 0:31? If so, you should IMHO make it stand out a little bit more in the mix, otherwise it will hardly get noticed.
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah there is a synth lead sitting in amongst the orchestra at 0:31. I went back and forth on having it forward or back in the mix. For my ear at the time it sat better doubled with a french horn as a colour to brighten the timbre rather than as a dominating element, but you're probably not wrong that as the carrier of the theme it's losing some of it's impact. I'll definitely go back and have another listen. Thanks for offering up your thoughts. I really appreciate it.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 26, 2021)

Sunny Schramm said:


> I really liked the silent bus part and the upcoming tension when mr. ice came in


Thank you @Sunny Schramm. I know it may not be a popular choice, but I love that chaos before it... then let it breath and hold the tension (cause she's holding her breath watching all of this) then let it out and come back in. It's a nice dance I feel.


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## Sunny Schramm (Jul 26, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Thank you @Sunny Schramm. I know it may not be a popular choice, but I love that chaos before it... then let it breath and hold the tension (cause she's holding her breath watching all of this) then let it out and come back in. It's a nice dance I feel.


Thats why "A Quiet Place" was so good. The choice not to score a scene or a whole movie "can" be the highlight


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## fish_hoof (Jul 26, 2021)

Sunny Schramm said:


> Thats why "A Quiet Place" was so good. The choice not to score a scene or a whole movie "can" be the highlight


So true!


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## NateVH (Jul 26, 2021)

Here's my attempt. Any feedback is welcome!



EDIT: Fixed link


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jul 26, 2021)

Just finished my entry. It's a bit on the nose of the "Marvel-y" tone that I expect I'll get some flak for. But that's ok; I just went with my gut and had a lot of fun doing it. This also served as testing ground for some custom percussion samples that I made out of simple handclaps.


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## Stardog24 (Jul 26, 2021)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> Just finished my entry. It's a bit on the nose of the "Marvel-y" tone that I expect I'll get some flak for. But that's ok; I just went with my gut and had a lot of fun doing it. This also served as testing ground for some custom percussion samples that I made out of simple handclaps.



Made a great racket to my ears, and if you had fun making it then the operation was a success.

Well done and best of luck.


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## Loïc D (Jul 27, 2021)

NateVH said:


> Here's my attempt. Any feedback is welcome!
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Fixed link



Simple and efficient !


----------



## Fab (Jul 27, 2021)

pkoi said:


> Here's my entry. I decided to go for a fairly simple, rhythm driven, and fully electronic score. I usually use hardware synths in scores like this, but the synth material in this one is mainly from fabfilter one, which I purchased some time ago, what a great soft synth! The drums are samples from Roland TR-505 & 909.



Was not expecting that intro, cool!


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## dcoscina (Jul 27, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Thank you @dcoscina! I enjoyed yours as well. Brass was just lovely.


Thanks. It was a mix of EW OPUS 6 horns slurs for that opening section, Talos 12 horns for the post bus rescue resolution. Abbey Road One horns, trumpets, and bones for the triplet figure when the robot is flying to catch the bus. Plus AR1 strings doubling them during that part...


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## fish_hoof (Jul 27, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> Thanks. It was a mix of EW OPUS 6 horns slurs for that opening section, Talos 12 horns for the post bus rescue resolution. Abbey Road One horns, trumpets, and bones for the triplet figure when the robot is flying to catch the bus. Plus AR1 strings doubling them during that part...


Thank you for sharing!


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## NateVH (Jul 27, 2021)

I posted this on another thread but I’ve been listening to all these fantastic entries so here is my entry:




I’ve already found a few things I need to fix in the mix, which is admittedly my weakest area. But any feedback would be greatly appreciated!


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## NateVH (Jul 27, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Posted this in another thread, but wanted to share here as well. I had fun doing this one. Tried to be myself and blend my two loves of Hard Rock and Film Score... Hard Score.
> 
> ...



I love your approach! Are you using samples for the guitars or did you record them in?


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## FlyingAndi (Jul 27, 2021)

I've never done any film scoring before, so I though this might be a fun way to give it a try (and I did have fun so far).

I didn't watch the pinar video or any of the other entries before starting with mine, so my take on the tension in the scene with the approaching van is quite different. I scored it to my initial understanding of that scene, which was kind of a misunderstanding because I did't see the danger coming right away (but neither did Joey).

So, here is a first preview, any comments or criticism are welcome and helpfull:

*Edit: My final version is now here:*




__





STARGIRL - Scoring Competition Submission Thread


That's lovely dcoscina, I can easily imagine it as a soundtrack to any number of classic 80s or 90s "family classic with a sci-fi twist"-kinda movies, specifically Gremlins for some reason came to mind. I'm certainly a fan of that kind of film music. I ended up taking FlyingAndi's advice and...



vi-control.net





And I have a question: How do you master this mixed content? Do you only master the score and then mix it with the raw movie audio. Or do you mix both and then master?


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## fish_hoof (Jul 28, 2021)

Stardog24 said:


> ... I would also like to add that I too think @fish_hoof 's approach is the shit! Sounds excellent!


Thank you @Stardog24! Really means a lot.


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## fish_hoof (Jul 28, 2021)

NateVH said:


> I love your approach! Are you using samples for the guitars or did you record them in?


Thank you @NateVH, I recorded them. Anything that has to do with guitars I play them myself. I try to use different tunings as well.


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## juliandoe (Jul 28, 2021)

Stardog24 said:


> My entry is definitely in the FFFFF brass club.  I even made sure to fill my modwheel with NOS before I started.



very nice. I really like the brass. what have you used?


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## blaggins (Jul 28, 2021)

I've been working on mine quite a bit lately and I think it's getting close (well, close to the limits of my scoring ability in any case, and also my ability to discern issues and understand how to fix them...). I got it in my head early on that the robot guy flying in to save the day needed a kind of "cinematic heavy metal" theme, so I've attempted a kind of hybrid orchestral/rock score.

I did struggle quite a bit to find a drum sound the sat well and didn't detract from the overall vibe, and I finally settled on some artificial plastic-y sounding things from Damage 2.

I don't think it's quite ready to submit, but at this point I think I need to leave it alone for a day or two and come back to it with fresh ears. Pretty unsure how to make it better.

I'd be very happy to get any feedback if anyone is inclined to give me suggestions.


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## Stardog24 (Jul 28, 2021)

juliandoe said:


> very nice. I really like the brass. what have you used?


Cheers. With the exception of the string drone at the beginning, all orchestra sounds are from BBCSO Core.


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## Manaberry (Jul 29, 2021)

And voila, fanfare oriented. It was interesting to score.




And I've made a master with the music only for those who are tired of the video audio.




Fun's over, it's time to get back to the real stuff


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## Illico (Jul 29, 2021)

Well, after some days, now it's time to go out and show my work to the VI-Control Community.
I tried to stay in the tradition of Super Hero TV show, with my personal taste.
It was very funny to make the spotting session, to find good tempo, to build nice chords and rhythmic patterns that match the feeling of each parts. Many thanks to SpitfireAudio, Mad Ghost Productions and DC, and of course to Pinar Toprak composer. It was very exciting. I hope you'll enjoy my work. You're welcome to post your feedback. Good luck All. Also to those who are just starting out, you still have time!


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## blaggins (Jul 29, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> Ha, I had the same Idea "big robot - needs heavy metal". But still our scores are very different (a preview of mine is on page 7).
> 
> I think the clean chords work very well in this scene. And I like the moment when the choir comes in.
> There is some great guitar playing but in some parts it stole my attention from the scene. (Though this might be a guitar-player-bias, that my brain rather wants to focus on the guitars than on the scene that I have seen so often in the past days.)


Thanks for listening and the kind words. I actually don't think it's your guitar-player bias, I have the lead guitar a couple dB higher than everything else right just because when it sat a little quieter the whole thing seemed to lose that "bombastic" over-the-top riff thing. I see what you are saying about stealing the focus though. I'm considering backing it off until the end when the scene is over and it goes to the choir bit. As far as the playing, that wasn't me  I am a horrid guitar player, can barely eek out some power chords. My track only contains the Orange Tree Dracus. 

I had a listen to yours as well. I love that transition at the end of the bus scene into the quieter moment after. That's some really lovely ambient guitar work in there. It was actually only on my 2nd listen that I noticed you had some choir going under the robot-guitar part. You probably shouldn't take advice from me, since I have no idea what I'm doing, but I think the choir bits could stand out a bit more. I was also hoping for a reprisal of more guitar later in the scene and didn't get it, which could entirely be my own bias since I brought them back in myself?


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## lastburai (Jul 30, 2021)

Hi VI control, I'm grateful to be able to enter a competition like this, I kind of just finished.

Here is my entry, I played a guitar with my heavy lead type of distortion as the main melody for the heroes theme.


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## lastburai (Jul 30, 2021)

This is my Star Girl score for the DC/Spitfire 2021 competition
I kind of posted this already on another thread but here is my entry, I hope it is cool


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## Nico (Jul 30, 2021)

here is mine. I tried to work around the dialogues, and keep the music as fluid as possible. That was fun!


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## from_theashes (Jul 30, 2021)

Here is my entry:


I mostly used synths and synth-sounds for this cue… so far away from the original (which I watched later, when I was done with my entry). It’s not „theme-based“, but I tried to match the action, tension and emotion.
It was really fun to score and good luck to everyone participating!


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## blaggins (Jul 30, 2021)

That's lovely dcoscina, I can easily imagine it as a soundtrack to any number of classic 80s or 90s "family classic with a sci-fi twist"-kinda movies, specifically Gremlins for some reason came to mind. I'm certainly a fan of that kind of film music. 

I ended up taking FlyingAndi's advice and trying to meld the solo guitar more into the rest of the musical elements, brought the string up a bit, compressed it a tiny bit more because it seemed rather subdued compared to a lot of the other entries. I think I'm at the limit of my mixing chops at this point so I went ahead and submitted it, otherwise I'll just end up tinkering with it for the next two weeks without actually making it sound any better. Good luck to everyone!


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## FlyingAndi (Jul 30, 2021)

lastburai said:


> Here is my entry, I played a guitar with my heavy lead type of distortion as the main melody for the heroes theme


Actually your lead sound along with the orchestration reminds me of the Dutch band Kayak (in a good way).
If you don't know them check out their album "Merlin Bard of the unseen".


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## James Semple (Jul 31, 2021)

Here’s my take on the video

I won’t be actually entering as I’m a Spitfire beta tester but it was a lot of fun to work on.


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## triskadecaepyon (Jul 31, 2021)

After seeing all these great submissions I'm just hoping Christian doesn't use my version as a punching bag of what not to do!! (Still working on mine, might finish with only a few days to spare)


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## muddyblue (Jul 31, 2021)

So here is my attempt...


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## fish_hoof (Jul 31, 2021)

Love all the entries! Thank you all for sharing! Lots of great stuff!


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## AndyP (Jul 31, 2021)

Let me ask the competition pros a question.
Since my audio mix was quite quiet in the first version I have now made a new mix in Cubase 11 (finally video support) and will upload it to Youtube.
Unfortunately I have already sent the form with the first link. Can the new video now be resubmitted with the form? You can unfortunately not replace a video with the same link on Youtube?


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## dcoscina (Jul 31, 2021)

AndyP said:


> Let me ask the competition pros a question.
> Since my audio mix was quite quiet in the first version I have now made a new mix in Cubase 11 (finally video support) and will upload it to Youtube.
> Unfortunately I have already sent the form with the first link. Can the new video now be resubmitted with the form? You can unfortunately not replace a video with the same link on Youtube?


Yes you can replace the link up until the deadline


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## AndyP (Jul 31, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> Yes you can replace the link up until the deadline


Great, thank you!

So here is the new Version. I first wanted to make a classic Marvel track, but decided to make more of a hybrid track. Too bad I have Cubase 11 only since today, working with video is much easier than in version 10, especially I can now export video. In version 10 I couldn't do that and had to merge audio with video in the OpenShot video editor. But the audio track was clearly too quiet and it was difficult to make it louder to the original video sound. Cubase 11 is a real improvement, good that I still have the update with me.


----------



## Meta Sound Worx (Aug 1, 2021)

Here's my entry. I didn't participate last year. Thought I'd give it a go this time around. So much fun!
She'll judge on individuality, hitting cue points and emotion handling. So that's been exactly my approach. D'uh 

A blend of instruments to my personal liking, some subtle fx, some less subtle fx, hitting cue points that write the story as I interpret it and as for emotions I mainly worked with chord-modulations, dynamic changes and allowing every character his/her own instrument set or sound(bites). I am amazed how many entries this contest has! So much talent about the world :o


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## audio1 (Aug 1, 2021)

jaketanner said:


> I like this a lot...great job!


Same here. Very nice: https://vi-control.net/community/th...etition-submission-thread.112084/post-4873251


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## fish_hoof (Aug 1, 2021)

audio1 said:


> Same here. Very nice: https://vi-control.net/community/th...etition-submission-thread.112084/post-4873251


Thank you so much @audio1 !


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 1, 2021)

tpoots said:


> I had a listen to yours as well. I love that transition at the end of the bus scene into the quieter moment after. That's some really lovely ambient guitar work in there. It was actually only on my 2nd listen that I noticed you had some choir going under the robot-guitar part. You probably shouldn't take advice from me, since I have no idea what I'm doing, but I think the choir bits could stand out a bit more. I was also hoping for a reprisal of more guitar later in the scene and didn't get it, which could entirely be my own bias since I brought them back in myself?


Thank you for the feedback! I brought out the mellotron choir a bit more and added a Brian-May-Moment. I hope that's not too much over the top (but it's a superhero-score so I guess it can't be too much.)
So, I guess this is my final version (unless anybody has some more feedback which I would gladly appreciate):


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## toddkreuz (Aug 1, 2021)

So who's got the balls to do something different? LOL


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 1, 2021)

toddkreuz said:


> So who's got the balls to do something different? LOL


I'm still waiting for a British-Drama-Toolkit-only score.


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## fish_hoof (Aug 1, 2021)

toddkreuz said:


> So who's got the balls to do something different? LOL


I think you should!


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## dcoscina (Aug 1, 2021)

I'm waiting for the all Kazoo version. Or maybe Muppet version with banjo and singing Frog.


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 1, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> I'm waiting for the all Kazoo version. Or maybe Muppet version with banjo and singing Frog.


If Troels Folmann did a score using the only 8Dio Misfit series, it would probably be so awesome that he'd still win the contest.


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## lastburai (Aug 1, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> Actually your lead sound along with the orchestration reminds me of the Dutch band Kayak (in a good way).
> If you don't know them check out their album "Merlin Bard of the unseen".


FlyingAndi- I never heard of that band before but they are dang awesome! I checked some of the songs from that album BARD OF THE UNSEEN on Youtube some of the best stuff I have heard in a while. 

They should have scored the STAR GIRL show how epic would that style of music be with something like the Star Girl series?

It’s awesome you think it reminds you of them. Yeah there is some similarities haha. Their stuff is a million times better than anything I have ever done though.

Cheers for introducing me to Kayak.


----------



## Alex Fraser (Aug 1, 2021)

toddkreuz said:


> So who's got the balls to do something different? LOL





dcoscina said:


> If you play too much against type, it won't work with the scene. Being smart for the sake of novelty won't get you too far, either in the contest or if you fancy yourself as a career composer. This year's contest isn't like last year where the Westworld scene offered some off-the-wall scoring ideologies. This is a pretty straightforward action sequence where certain key elements need to be addressed.


The eventual winner will probably do something completely out of left field and the forum can argue about it for weeks. 😀

IMHO, the first half of the clip is pretty action heavy and with all the sfx going on etc, there’s not much room to play with the music. 

I think however, the second half of the clip is much more interesting and there’s more room to do “something different” there. There’s a shift in tone and that’s where I’ve been paying the most attention when listening to other entries. 

My initial take anyway. For another thread.


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## macavalon (Aug 1, 2021)

Hi All, let me know what you think of my submission  thanks in advance !


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## freecham (Aug 2, 2021)

I find this scene is finally oppressive so i tried to bring intensity and musical dramatization. Maybe too much "cliché" at the end.


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## juliandoe (Aug 2, 2021)

WOW guys your submissions are incredible. I will mainly use this opportunity to practice but, at the moment, I don't think I'm going to submit a score. On my youtube channel, I'm sharing videos about my "attempts" Today a score made only with Arturia's SEM


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## macavalon (Aug 2, 2021)

freecham said:


> I find this scene is finally oppressive so i tried to bring intensity and musical dramatization. Maybe too much "cliché" at the end.



Very John carpenter-esque


----------



## jasonplewis (Aug 2, 2021)

Hey all,

I've gotten such valuable insight from this forum and really trust the community here. New to sharing my work, and when I saw this competition it felt like the "softer way". I've loved hearing everyone's approach and it wasn't only a great learning experience for me, but it continues to be in analyzing everyone else's scores. Welcome and all feedback from whomever is willing to give it!




Appreciate you all,

Jason


----------



## macavalon (Aug 3, 2021)

jasonplewis said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I've gotten such valuable insight from this forum and really trust the community here. New to sharing my work, and when I saw this competition it felt like the "softer way". I've loved hearing everyone's approach and it wasn't only a great learning experience for me, but it continues to be in analyzing everyone else's scores. Welcome and all feedback from whomever is willing to give it!
> 
> ...



I liked the action, underscoring and the riser. I think everyone will have their own style on this. So the best i can suggest as an amateur is to listen to other entries. And decide yourself what you need to improve. Perhaps the dynamic range ? The beginning action scene maybe could build further ?


----------



## juliandoe (Aug 3, 2021)

Hi everyone, 
today is the second day of my composing for Stargirl practice. A new score from scratch. Any feedback will be highly appreciated. Thank you for listening.


----------



## Peter Satera (Aug 4, 2021)

I've enjoyed watching the entries here. This was fun to give it a shot. 




Isolated Score:


----------



## dcoscina (Aug 4, 2021)

Peter Satera said:


> I've enjoyed watching the entries here. This was fun to give it a shot.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I enjoyed this. The music is especially sensitive to what’s happening in the scene- I also liked how you played the tragic element in the second half, but still tastefully and not melodramatic. 👍


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## Peter Satera (Aug 4, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> I enjoyed this. The music is especially sensitive to what’s happening in the scene- I also liked how you played the tragic element in the second half, but still tastefully and not melodramatic. 👍


Thanks dcoscina! Your comments are really appreciated.


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## triskadecaepyon (Aug 4, 2021)

Hi all, this is the first time I'll be entering one of these competitions after getting into scoring this past year. Mostly Spitfire instruments and some synths. Doubt it will win given the sheer amount of incredible talent on this forum, but always a fun challenge either way!


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## fish_hoof (Aug 4, 2021)

Lots of great stuff coming in! Thank you all for sharing and especially for those that are sharing for the first time!


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## Stardog24 (Aug 5, 2021)

Peter Satera said:


> I've enjoyed watching the entries here. This was fun to give it a shot.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Brilliant work Peter. Particularly liked your string writing at the end!


----------



## lahatte (Aug 5, 2021)

Here is my submission. This is pretty much my first attempt at scoring an actual scene from something. Thanks for listening! ...


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## R Burki (Aug 5, 2021)

Here’s my submission for the infamous contest - would love to hear your feedback.

Best of luck to all the contestants!


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## João Pinto (Aug 5, 2021)

Oh I didn't realize there was a thread for this. Awesome! This was my first time scoring dawless, I used Dorico. Feedback would be appreciated! And good luck everyone!


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## Jazzciel (Aug 5, 2021)

Hey guys, 
Here's my submission. Would like to get some feedback! Thanks


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## Poirot45 (Aug 6, 2021)

Hi all,
Love hearing everyone's submissions! Would really appreciate any feedback )


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## Peter Satera (Aug 6, 2021)

Stardog24 said:


> Brilliant work Peter. Particularly liked your string writing at the end!


Thank you Stardog! ❤️


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## Ron Verboom (Aug 6, 2021)

Also had some fun with this one:


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## Ferenc Bátri (Aug 6, 2021)

Hi Guys, I also finished my version


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## Jofamusic (Aug 6, 2021)

Peter Satera said:


> Grazie dcoscina! I tuoi commenti sono davvero apprezzati.


Bavo Peter, mi è piaciuta la tua composizione. Per raggiungere questi risultati sonori devo lavorare molto. Complimenti.


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## Jofamusic (Aug 6, 2021)

Ferenc Bátri said:


> Ciao ragazzi, anche io ho finito la mia versione



Cmplimenti Ferenc, bel lavoro.


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## Ferenc Bátri (Aug 6, 2021)

Jofamusic said:


> Cmplimenti Ferenc, bel lavoro.


Grazie mille (I hope it is correct :D )


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 6, 2021)

João Pinto said:


> Oh I didn't realize there was a thread for this. Awesome! This was my first time scoring dawless, I used Dorico. Feedback would be appreciated! And good luck everyone!



That was pretty wild and quite a lot of changes. It felt a bit like walking through the MGM Studios Theme Park. The first half seems a bit over the top but that could be a good thing, so I wouldn't change it.
I really enjoyed listening to it and listened to it about 3 times (which is quite a lot given the number of scores in this thread).


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## Peter Satera (Aug 6, 2021)

Jofamusic said:


> Bavo Peter, mi è piaciuta la tua composizione. Per raggiungere questi risultati sonori devo lavorare molto. Complimenti.


Grazie!! I am glad you liked it. It is quite bold, but it was most enjoyable to score to and just wanted to have some fun with it. Thanks Jofamusic.

I need to catch up on the rest of the entries here. I get the feeling we're going to see a large amount of submissions again this year. What was it last year? 11,000?


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## LOU (Aug 6, 2021)

Your submission works really really well with this clip Peter Satera, congratulation. I hope you'll get something out of this.


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## fish_hoof (Aug 6, 2021)

Peter Satera said:


> Grazie!! I am glad you liked it. It is quite bold, but it was most enjoyable to score to and just wanted to have some fun with it. Thanks Jofamusic.
> 
> I need to catch up on the rest of the entries here. I get the feeling we're going to see a large amount of submissions again this year. What was it last year? 11,000?


Agreed! I wonder how many are going to roll in. I think it was like 11,000. I also enjoyed yours Peter! One of the only few I watched all the way through. Blessings!


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## Mike Fox (Aug 6, 2021)

Peter Satera said:


> I've enjoyed watching the entries here. This was fun to give it a shot.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This is superb. Well done!


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## Peter Satera (Aug 6, 2021)

Thank you so much LOU, Fish_hoof and Mike Fox! The competition is no doubt a tough one, The experience and skillset here from many users far surpass what I can do, I'm quite simplistic, just having the mentions here on VI to say it's received well brings out a massive grin! <3


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## Wazzock (Aug 6, 2021)

Loving watching some of the entries - some fabulous work!
Quick question about the end title / theme (basically the last 15 seconds of the clip) - I've seen this bit dealt with in 3 ways:
- create a short isolated musical motif for the titles (usually punchy brass stabs, big percussion hits etc.)
- continue whatever 'crash / Impact' sound you have going on through the end titles
- ignore the end titles and leave it without any sounds at all
I know that the "right" thing will be whatever the judges choose... I'm leaning towards the first option i.e. creating a new, stand-alone cue just for the titles. What does anyone else think?
Good luck in the competition!


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## fish_hoof (Aug 6, 2021)

Wazzock said:


> Loving watching some of the entries - some fabulous work!
> Quick question about the end title / theme (basically the last 15 seconds of the clip) - I've seen this bit dealt with in 3 ways:
> - create a short isolated musical motif for the titles (usually punchy brass stabs, big percussion hits etc.)
> - continue whatever 'crash / Impact' sound you have going on through the end titles
> ...


I don't think the judges care about the end title sequence. For me, I choose to use it as a "show off your muscles" type vibe and reprise any theme you did. I'm not a fan of nothing cause it just feels bare... and you may "Accidentally" distract them by not having anything. Just sweeten the deal and do something that is you and epic! Blessings.


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## dcoscina (Aug 6, 2021)

Ferenc Bátri said:


> Hi Guys, I also finished my version



Loved it! Such wonderful orchestral flourishes and shadings for each part of this scene.


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## steelej80 (Aug 7, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Agreed! I wonder how many are going to roll in. I think it was like 11,000. I also enjoyed yours Peter! One of the only few I watched all the way through. Blessings!


If you search for #mystargirlscore on YouTube it shows you how many have that hashtag, so far 1400 entries.


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## wayne_rowley (Aug 7, 2021)

Finally found some time to have a go at this competition. I hope you like it. Lots of great entries out there so far, so I've tried something a little different!:


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## chelsea2608 (Aug 7, 2021)

Here's my entry! Composed mainly with BBCSO.


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## João Pinto (Aug 7, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> That was pretty wild and quite a lot of changes. It felt a bit like walking through the MGM Studios Theme Park. The first half seems a bit over the top but that could be a good thing, so I wouldn't change it.
> I really enjoyed listening to it and listened to it about 3 times (which is quite a lot given the number of scores in this thread).


Thanks Andi! That's quite a compliment! It is indeed a bit wild ahah, it must be odd to listen to it for the first time


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## juliandoe (Aug 7, 2021)

Here's my third attempt to score the scene. I hope this practice will allow me to improve the quality of my work. It is definitely improving my speed, my efficiency, and my workflow. Any feedback will be highly appreciated.


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## fish_hoof (Aug 7, 2021)

juliandoe said:


> Here's my third attempt to score the scene. I hope this practice will allow me to improve the quality of my work. It is definitely improving my speed, my efficiency, and my workflow. Any feedback will be highly appreciated.



I am so glad this competition is improving your work flow! Music is sounding really nice. If I could give any advice, it would be to focus on key points in the film to accent. For example, it is a bed of music playing underneath a picture that has key moments that should be hit, but its not hitting. Not saying you have to do all of them, but some key moments could be : 0:08,0:12,0:15,0:22, 0:31 (ESPECIALLY when she raises her staff).

That is just the opening. Again, not saying you have to Mickey Mouse every single spot... but always ask yourself if there is a spot you could accent and build the music too, that helps tell the story or emotion that is going on. 

Blessings.


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## Peter Satera (Aug 7, 2021)

steelej80 said:


> If you search for #mystargirlscore on YouTube it shows you how many have that hashtag, so far 1400 entries.


It might be more, entries like mine aren't found in the search. I uploaded with the same name, then deleted the original, that was enough to kick it right off the search results. The isolated score is there though. 

Quite strange mind, might be a glitch.


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## Ferenc Bátri (Aug 7, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> Loved it! Such wonderful orchestral flourishes and shadings for each part of this scene.


Thank you so much


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## juliandoe (Aug 7, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> I am so glad this competition is improving your work flow! Music is sounding really nice. If I could give any advice, it would be to focus on key points in the film to accent. For example, it is a bed of music playing underneath a picture that has key moments that should be hit, but its not hitting. Not saying you have to do all of them, but some key moments could be : 0:08,0:12,0:15,0:22, 0:31 (ESPECIALLY when she raises her staff).
> 
> That is just the opening. Again, not saying you have to Mickey Mouse every single spot... but always ask yourself if there is a spot you could accent and build the music too, that helps tell the story or emotion that is going on.
> 
> Blessings.


Thank you so much! this is really helpful!


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## Stardog24 (Aug 7, 2021)

A combination of listening to everyone's brilliant work and some of the feedback I've been getting from the community has inspired me to go back and make a few more changes.

I didn't feel like I was leaving enough space for the sound design of the staff, so I've added in a high pass filter sweep to go with the sound design and delayed the downbeat to the second beat of the bar. I've also made the second half of the main theme a bit less bombastic as it was clashing a bit with the relief of Stargirl and the kids on the bus.

A huge thanks to everyone in this community that's given me such positive feedback. You're a pack of legends.


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## Daniel Go (Aug 8, 2021)

Here's my entry. I tried to approuch the scene going very dynamic to make the music sit well with the action: from big and bold (brass, drums...) to intimate and moody (solo strings), from heavenly (high and ascending intervals) to dark (low and descending). Probably too obvious. I don't know. I also added some sound design touches here and there.

Good luck to everyone participating!


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## LOU (Aug 8, 2021)

I managed to take the time to participate, started yesterday around 4.pm, ended around 4.am haha.
I found it quite difficult, not only because it's really out of my comfort zone but also because some parts of this clip require some neat mixing skills that I currently don't have.


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## rossoconnor4 (Aug 8, 2021)

Would love to get some feedback on this. Worked pretty hard at it!


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## Ilya Ivanov (Aug 8, 2021)

Hi everyone -- here's my submission to this year's scoring competition. I have had a chance to improve my mixing and mastering game since last year's competition. If you have a chance, I would highly appreciate feedback on orchestration, sound design, overall balance, etc.(it's only my second time scoring to picture).

I enjoyed checking out some of the other submissions and am amazed by the great job other composers did! A lot to learn from that alone.

Anyway, good luck to us all and I hope you enjoy my work!


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## Project Anvil (Aug 8, 2021)

juliandoe said:


> Here's my third attempt to score the scene. I hope this practice will allow me to improve the quality of my work. It is definitely improving my speed, my efficiency, and my workflow. Any feedback will be highly appreciated.



Please be aware you're disqualifying yourself by overlaying your DAW onto the clip. I asked SFA about whether it would be allowed to put the score side-by-side with the clip and it's not. You cannot modify the clip visually in any way.

See: https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/comment/4478#Comment_4478


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## jebulz (Aug 8, 2021)

Hello! This is my first attempt at scoring anything. I used to enter similar contests over at KVR. They are invaluable for pushing you out of your comfort zone and learning new things. Love all the entries so far! Good luck everyone!


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## dcoscina (Aug 8, 2021)

Ilya Ivanov said:


> Hi everyone -- here's my submission to this year's scoring competition. I have had a chance to improve my mixing and mastering game since last year's competition. If you have a chance, I would highly appreciate feedback on orchestration, sound design, overall balance, etc.(it's only my second time scoring to picture).
> 
> I enjoyed checking out some of the other submissions and am amazed by the great job other composers did! A lot to learn from that alone.
> 
> Anyway, good luck to us all and I hope you enjoy my work!



I dig this. The music steps over some of the dialogue but I like the scoring approach. Sounds a bit like Pacific Rim which is cool. nice work


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## dcoscina (Aug 8, 2021)

He's back and once again, I Love this .... so damned great! not sure if he's posted this already but worth singling out because it's just too good.


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## Ilya Ivanov (Aug 8, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> I dig this. The music steps over some of the dialogue but I like the scoring approach. Sounds a bit like Pacific Rim which is cool. nice





dcoscina said:


> I dig this. The music steps over some of the dialogue but I like the scoring approach. Sounds a bit like Pacific Rim which is cool. nice work


Thanks for the kind feedback! I'm glad you liked it. And spot on for comparing to Djawadi's style; I did use his work on the first Iron Man as a partial inspiration. And you're probably right about music overlapping with dialogue at times -- I could've been a bit more generous with volume dipping here and there.


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## S R Krishnan (Aug 9, 2021)

Here's my entry. Appreciate your feedback. Thanks.


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## OstrovskyiComposer (Aug 9, 2021)

Hi to everyone,
This is my first post to Vi-control community and i'd love to share my work with you.
It's great to see many interesting scores here and it's also very pleasing to notice a tendency to the revival of the academic orchestral writing, and re-thinking of the "old-school" approach.
Everyone, good luck with the project!


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## Greeno (Aug 9, 2021)

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking for over a year, here is my entry for this. I wanted to go for something a bit different so went with Choral sounds and evolving Woods and Brass. All the best, Rich.


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## Orphy (Aug 9, 2021)

This is my entry for the DC Stargirl Scoring Competition.


I've struggled a LOT with this scene... There are so many things happening in a very short amount of time, rapid changes, finding the right tempo, the music did not fit well so I needed to add a lot of transitions... I decided to quit this competition 2 or 3 times then continued working on it again the next day... This was quite a challenge, and I think I've learned a lot of valuable things during this journey!

I know it's not perfect and after the results of the Westworld competition (what I could not participate in at that time), I do not expect anything, as mine is an orchestral score and it's not the crazy-original kind of stuff the jury went for Westworld. I did the score for the purpose of practicing, learning, and not missing my chance of doing a little bit of superhero-movie scoring! 

Thank you for your time if you happen to listen to my entry! Please leave a comment on what worked or did not work for you, so we can all learn and improve!

Cheers,
Tamas


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## Ricgus3 (Aug 9, 2021)

Hey everyone! Here is my track! Wanted to go for a funky “James brown” groove together with retro sci-fi synth and electric guitar. Wanted to do something different and just have fun with it!


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## norberto (Aug 9, 2021)

Without much of an introduction or disclaimer 

Cheers & good luck everyone!


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## cozzabucks (Aug 9, 2021)

Eek - ok, here’s mine. I’m loving all your submissions - good luck all round!


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## visiblenoise (Aug 9, 2021)

Aaand here's mine...


Now that that's out of the way, time to check out some of your guys' entries and be humbled.


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## visiblenoise (Aug 9, 2021)

cozzabucks said:


> Eek - ok, here’s mine. I’m loving all your submissions - good luck all round!



Awesome composition! I was curious how the manic beginning would transition into the scene of the robot flying over the water and it delivered. The calmer middle portion didn't get me, but it's nicely bookended with an fitting tense part at the end. I like your composing/orchestrating.


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## visiblenoise (Aug 9, 2021)

norberto said:


> Without much of an introduction or disclaimer
> 
> Cheers & good luck everyone!



Good all around, but I thought the calm middle part and the transition to the Icicle guy was particularly well done. Interesting choice to keep things quiet at the end, didn't occur to me that that would work.


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## visiblenoise (Aug 9, 2021)

Ricgus3 said:


> Hey everyone! Here is my track! Wanted to go for a funky “James brown” groove together with retro sci-fi synth and electric guitar. Wanted to do something different and just have fun with it!



Oh man this was an awesome idea! I was smiling the whole way through. Fits surprisingly well at certain parts. Different indeed!


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## visiblenoise (Aug 9, 2021)

Orphy said:


> This is my entry for the DC Stargirl Scoring Competition.
> 
> 
> I've struggled a LOT with this scene... There are so many things happening in a very short amount of time, rapid changes, finding the right tempo, the music did not fit well so I needed to add a lot of transitions... I decided to quit this competition 2 or 3 times then continued working on it again the next day... This was quite a challenge, and I think I've learned a lot of valuable things during this journey!
> ...



Hope you care for some feedback from a bedroom hobbyist!

Good first part - sticks with a theme while still catching the changes. I didn't notice you having trouble with that there. I liked how you used a similar idea but made it more heroic sounding when the robot was flying. Once we're getting out of the bus though, it feels a lot like a song being played in the background and not really following the scene.

You certainly have some composing chops - I think the biggest thing you could work on is dynamics, both in scoring on a broad level (e.g. realizing it's okay to go "minimal" at points), as well as in fiddling with midi (the performances don't feel dynamic/lively).


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## Ricgus3 (Aug 9, 2021)

visiblenoise said:


> Oh man this was an awesome idea! I was smiling the whole way through. Fits surprisingly well at certain parts. Different indeed!


Thank you! Glad it made you smile


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## ctrumpet (Aug 9, 2021)

Here is my entry. Certainly not expecting to win anything but happy to practice on something.
 https://youtu.be/z2WJpCrEHxQ


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## Yogevs (Aug 10, 2021)

And here is mine


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## lastburai (Aug 10, 2021)

Hi Vi control and stargirl,

I posted my entry for the DC stargirl competition more than a week ago but someone mentioned that the piano part I composed at the end where Icicle appears was generic. I don’t know if that is correct but I approached that part as wanting minimal music so i used the piano very sparingly and a lot of SFX, though it don’t really sound like me.

This is my 1st version with the piano



I think we are allowed to change our entries up until the 12th of August this Thursday correct me if I am wrong.

So recently I changed the part when Icicle appears took out the piano cluster build up and added some Synth parts which is something more close to what I really would compose. To be clear the music at the start is exactly the same in V2, the changes start happening from the entrance with Icicle, i even kept some of the sound FX from V1 and also kept the dissonant crescendo leading up to the end. 

Not sure with overall level between the Dialog and SFX with my Soundtrack I can still change that though.

I personally now have changed the entry to this new Synth version which is way more action orientated but is not as suspenseful.

This is my 2nd version


It would be great if I could get some thoughts from others between the two entries I done. Which one does one like better? They both have different tones.

Between the two which would you put for the entry?

Thanks and any thoughts would be appreciated


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## ctrumpet (Aug 10, 2021)

visiblenoise said:


> Awesome composition! I was curious how the manic beginning would transition into the scene of the robot flying over the water and it delivered. The calmer middle portion didn't get me, but it's nicely bookended with an fitting tense part at the end. I like your composing/orchestrating.


wow. very nice. a great piece. I also felt the middle portion is not quite right. Iceman bit is not the right mood for me. But really a fantastic piece. Some truly uplifting parts in it.


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## ctrumpet (Aug 10, 2021)

lastburai said:


> Hi Vi control and stargirl,
> 
> I posted my entry for the DC stargirl competition more than a week ago but someone mentioned that the piano part I composed at the end where Icicle appears was generic. I don’t know if that is correct but I approached that part as wanting minimal music so i used the piano very sparingly and a lot of SFX, though it don’t really sound like me.
> 
> ...



Listening to the second version. Your piece and great moments and melodies and strong rhythmic feelings, but it does not quite fit some of the action, like when the robot lands, makes one wonder if he is the villain, and iceman part is too nice.


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## Stephan Schipper (Aug 10, 2021)

Here is mine with some guitars.


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## ctrumpet (Aug 10, 2021)

lastburai said:


> Hi Vi control and stargirl,
> 
> I posted my entry for the DC stargirl competition more than a week ago but someone mentioned that the piano part I composed at the end where Icicle appears was generic. I don’t know if that is correct but I approached that part as wanting minimal music so i used the piano very sparingly and a lot of SFX, though it don’t really sound like me.
> 
> ...



the 1st version feels more like people are on an adventure going somewhere with a great purpose, not a static location as this is.


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## ctrumpet (Aug 10, 2021)

Stephan Schipper said:


> Here is mine with some guitars.



Wonderful version. I would have liked to see the music stop right after they were rescued. Playing card at end is great.


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## Richard Wilkinson (Aug 10, 2021)

cozzabucks said:


> Eek - ok, here’s mine. I’m loving all your submissions - good luck all round!



This does a great job of hitting all the key beats. Nicely done.
I think some other entries could be _massively_ improved if the composers had started out by plotting the scene on paper, with the key emotional and dramatic beats mapped out. That way, you know in advance there's a very tight turnaround between opening (panic), freezy robot unfreezing (mild triumph) bus in peril, kid nearly smashing through window, heroic robot flying and then the bus almost plunging into the water, before being saved.

That's twenty-four seconds! With at least 6 major tone/narrative shifts. Average of four seconds per event - you can't just wallpaper that 24 seconds with exactly the same mood, or you'll totally flatten the drama and excitement here.

Some of them have decent enough music but there's no reaction at all to the shifts between peril/excitement/heroism/tension - this kind of music has to be *nimble*!

EDIT - I just searched for Pinar's version and found this - she hits every single beat I mentioned above.


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## LKHD (Aug 10, 2021)

[Puts his hat in the ring]


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## axb312 (Aug 10, 2021)

Here's mine - first attempt at scoring to picture - Feedback greatly appreciated - go easy on me...


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## electona (Aug 10, 2021)

Here is my contribution. In case you wonder, I was myself and didn't do anything "too" according to my view of music...

Because of the very present Foley (sound effects) I tried to integrate my score with that. I have a long-time (55+ years) interest in electronic music where every-day sounds can be part of the music. I used a pair of older East West libraries, Percussive Adventures 2 and Angels and Demons. I explain more here: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/stargirl-scoring-competition.112070/post-4887601.


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## cozzabucks (Aug 10, 2021)

Richard Wilkinson said:


> This does a great job of hitting all the key beats. Nicely done.
> I think some other entries could be _massively_ improved if the composers had started out by plotting the scene on paper, with the key emotional and dramatic beats mapped out. That way, you know in advance there's a very tight turnaround between opening (panic), freezy robot unfreezing (mild triumph) bus in peril, kid nearly smashing through window, heroic robot flying and then the bus almost plunging into the water, before being saved.
> 
> That's twenty-four seconds! With at least 6 major tone/narrative shifts. Average of four seconds per event - you can't just wallpaper that 24 seconds with exactly the same mood, or you'll totally flatten the drama and excitement here.
> ...



Thanks so much - much appreciated! It’s almost criminal how brilliantly Pindar Toprak hits everything so effortlessly, isn’t it! But I had a lot of fun trying! Thanks again for listening and the kind words!


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## fish_hoof (Aug 10, 2021)

cozzabucks said:


> Thanks so much - much appreciated! It’s almost criminal how brilliantly Pindar Toprak hits everything so effortlessly, isn’t it! But I had a lot of fun trying! Thanks again for listening and the kind words!


I almost wouldn’t say effortlessly. A lot of these people have worked decades to get to that point, and still continue to work hard.


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## cozzabucks (Aug 10, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> I almost wouldn’t say effortlessly. A lot of these people have worked decades to get to that point, and still continue to work hard.


Oh yes, I completely agree, what I meant was that she makes it *seem* effortless! It’s the analogy of the swan gracefully gliding on the water while underneath the feet are working crazy overtime!


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## toddkreuz (Aug 10, 2021)

lastburai said:


> Hi Vi control and stargirl,
> 
> I posted my entry for the DC stargirl competition more than a week ago but someone mentioned that the piano part I composed at the end where Icicle appears was generic. I don’t know if that is correct but I approached that part as wanting minimal music so i used the piano very sparingly and a lot of SFX, though it don’t really sound like me.
> 
> ...



You're stepping on dialogue and foley an awful lot. I think its smart to pull things down
when somebody is, for instance, speaking softly.


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## Andrew Malloy (Aug 10, 2021)

Hi, Here is my Submission.


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## augurymusic (Aug 10, 2021)

Decided to go sample-less this time (not sure if that is some kind of blasphemy around here... ) and just record myself a few times over to create a cello choir. Rather pleased with the result.

Trickiest bit was probably balancing the existing audio with the music. I've purposefully avoided looking at entries until I completed mine but keen to explore the diverse approaches people have for the scene!

I am so glad Spitfire have done another one of these as it just so much fun.


----------



## AkashicBird (Aug 10, 2021)

Not sure if I might ask a question regarding my composition here as it's not finished yet, but I'll try : I'm using BBCO, and I'm wondering if I should pan the instruments myself, or if they're pre-panned? I think they are but do you usually still adjust instruments even with this kind of library?
Also, what about EQing? I feel like such a library should be balanced, but I personnaly feel like some frequences/resonnances are a bit bothering to me in some instruments. Also like some group of instruments could benefit a general low and high pass.
Sorry, that's a lot of vague questions I guess haha...I'm a bit lost, finishing a track for the first time with the push of the contest/date.
And damn it's not as "easy" as I thought it woul be. They'res so many stuff happening in the clip, and the worst part for me if trying to get stuff to fit nicely around the dialogue and sounds...which I can't see to do correctly 

Oh well...see you soon with the render I guess.


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## augurymusic (Aug 10, 2021)

AkashicBird said:


> Not sure if I might ask a question regarding my composition here as it's not finished yet, but I'll try : I'm using BBCO, and I'm wondering if I should pan the instruments myself, or if they're pre-panned? I think they are but do you usually still adjust instruments even with this kind of library?
> Also, what about EQing? I feel like such a library should be balanced, but I personnaly feel like some frequences/resonnances are a bit bothering to me in some instruments. Also like some group of instruments could benefit a general low and high pass.
> Sorry, that's a lot of vague questions I guess haha...I'm a bit lost, finishing a track for the first time with the push of the contest/date.
> And damn it's not as "easy" as I thought it woul be. They'res so many stuff happening in the clip, and the worst part for me if trying to get stuff to fit nicely around the dialogue and sounds...which I can't see to do correctly
> ...


Most modern full-orchestra libraries are pre-panned but that doesn't mean you shouldn't change it. Really you should be massaging it to make the best use of the stereo field available. There is a lot of sound effects in the clip to consider and work around.

I agree that the most difficult part is making the music and sound FX/dialogue work harmoniously (pun absolutely intended). All I can suggest is ensuring you use your ears to find the best balance. Also would strongly suggest getting it sounding good, then putting it away for a while (probably an hour or two given the deadline) then listening again. Preferably try listening on different sources too (TV, headphones, terrible phone speaker etc.).


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## AkashicBird (Aug 10, 2021)

Thanks!

I'm not sure I'll have the time to actually mix and properly finish this, so here's mine :



As I'm saying on the video description, first time fighting my anxiety to finish and post something.
Not hoping for a pat on the head or anything, as I know the worth of this attempt at scoring (which is not even something I attempted until now, I mean I did but not matching it to an actual video), but I'm welcoming any constructive criticism so I can get better in the future. (even if I know it's hard to criticize a beginner and say anything besides "grind more".


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## juliandoe (Aug 11, 2021)

Project Anvil said:


> Please be aware you're disqualifying yourself by overlaying your DAW onto the clip. I asked SFA about whether it would be allowed to put the score side-by-side with the clip and it's not. You cannot modify the clip visually in any way.
> 
> See: https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/comment/4478#Comment_4478


yes, I've read the rules. This is only practicing to me. I don't think I have the experience, the skills, and the equipment to join the competition, or at least that satisfies me. 
as you can read in the description of the video I've clearly stated that "This is not my submission for the competition."


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Aug 11, 2021)

Hi all,
here is my submission. I hope you like it. Its my first score ever and I mainly used free and inexpensive stuff.



Thanks for watching,
SToH


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## lastburai (Aug 11, 2021)

Hi thanks for the feedback toddkreuz and ctrumpet I am trying to take that feedback on board....

*I kind of want feedback from 1.12s till the end as I am happy with my score before that time, please note that if giving any feedback thank you.*

So far there is not much time left for major changes but i have changed a few instruments starting from 1.12s till end from previous version.

I tried to add a more stronger snare and bas drum than previous version to make Icicle seem more menacing.

Everything kind of plays around E. The main melody is in the E Phrygian scale but as the scene progress I introduce a lot more dissonance notes that are out of that scale like around 1.29s there is a F# and a A# going against the scale in a synth that has low volume, after that it keeps on getting more dissonant, I am happy how that turned out.

Does the music have less impact with lower volume? the problem I find is if the score is loud, then one can't hear the background SFX/Foley so well. 

Is the Volume okay or should I lower it more regarding the section from 1.12s till end with the synth's?

Regarding the section at 1.12s till end which version does one prefer the one with piano version1





Or this new version with the synths





I personally like the synth version after adding all these new instruments but any more feedback would be appreciated.


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## fish_hoof (Aug 11, 2021)

Good morning all! (at least where I am),

Deadline is almost here. Thank you all for sharing your music. Wonderful stuff and I am blessed by all the great entries and discussion. 

Blessings all! Looking forward to the discussions on the other side about who wins. Hopefully it will continue to stay positive.


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## Leandro Gardini (Aug 11, 2021)

I can see the FX of all entries is fairly loud for a soundtrack competition. Is the balance of FX and music also being judged in this competition?


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## fish_hoof (Aug 11, 2021)

leogardini said:


> I can see the FX of all entries is fairly loud for a soundtrack competition. Is the balance of FX and music also being judged in this competition?


I think its your ability to work around it. They said you can bring the overall volume down a bit (what a bit means is anyones guess) if needed. My assumption is, thats how loud it is going to the mix stage... you're a composer. Write music with that in mind knowing they will probably choose SFX over your music.. just my thoughts. I could be wrong.


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## purplehamster (Aug 11, 2021)

I left the video audio as is and tried working around it. It was frustrating lol. Didn't have a lot of spare time to work on this but oh well time's up. At least now I get to watch some of your videos.


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## Living Fossil (Aug 11, 2021)

I think this specific scene is an excellent choice for a competition, so i couldn't resist to give it a shot...  

Some conceptual thoughts i had:
- Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E both have motives that are founded on the same (harmonic) constellation. However, Stargirl’s theme has kind of a triumphant superhero feel while S.T.R.I.P.E’s motive keeps a supportive - rather mechanical - way to evolve.

- After the bus is put back on the street, there is an interesting psychological situation going on. It has elements of relief; however, everybody is under shock; the whole thing feels surreal and Stargirl feels that it isn’t over yet.

- While Icicle can be seen only for a few seconds on the screen he has a huge impact on what is going on; he’s on the mind of Stargirl and his actions conclude the whole scene. Therefore i gave him more presence in the music, which also serves to connect different camera shots. His motive is based on the reversed (and processed) sound of breaking glass in combination with an eerie dissonant chord (based on flageolets, harps and bowed crotales)




I’ve put the audio only version on soundcloud. However, in the version used in the film there are some massive cuts in the low mids during the chaotic passages which i didn’t apply to the audio-only version:


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## Richard Wilkinson (Aug 11, 2021)

lastburai said:


> Hi thanks for the feedback toddkreuz and ctrumpet I am trying to take that feedback on board....
> 
> *I kind of want feedback from 1.12s till the end as I am happy with my score before that time, please note that if giving any feedback thank you.*
> 
> ...



This seems overly 'jolly' and triumphant at the start, which has the effect of making that peril seem much less dramatic - check my post about what the tonal shifts are (as pointed out by Pinar) and think about what's happening in the scene, and how music can best tell/augment/subvert/enhance that story.


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## visiblenoise (Aug 11, 2021)

Living Fossil said:


> I think this specific scene is an excellent choice for a competition, so i couldn't resist to give it a shot...
> 
> Some conceptual thoughts i had:
> - Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E both have motives that are founded on the same (harmonic) constellation. However, Stargirl’s theme has kind of a triumphant superhero feel while S.T.R.I.P.E’s motive keeps a supportive - rather mechanical - way to evolve.
> ...



Great take on the middle and ending parts! From my own attempt and in the ones I've heard, figuring out the tone and pace of the Icicle stuff seemed to be the most difficult. This one feels pretty right to me.


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## lastburai (Aug 11, 2021)

Richard Wilkinson thanks for your input, did you check my 1st version I done with the cluster piano build up at that section. What did you think of that version? I might possibly go back to that one.


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## lastburai (Aug 11, 2021)

I am going back to my original video with the piano cluster build up, wasted last few days on attempting something new with the synths did not really work with the cuts of the scene.

here is my entry now


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## Stephan Schipper (Aug 11, 2021)

ctrumpet said:


> Wonderful version. I would have liked to see the music stop right after they were rescued. Playing card at end is great.


Thank you for the kind words. For a long time I wasn't sure if it was good enough to submit. I haven't seen any other posts before making mine. Now I see that many participants have left the place blank, where the children get off the bus. You are right - Maybe it would have been better.


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## crd (Aug 11, 2021)

This was so much fun to do. I went a traditional orchestral plus route. I used Spitfire Symphony samples for the first half and then some granular patches I made from a clavichord and a friend's Oberheim two-voice.

Comments & criticism welcome.


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## Leandro Gardini (Aug 11, 2021)

My submission:


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## O'Rous (Aug 11, 2021)

Hi everyone, I am totally new to VI, here is my entry. It was fun scoring directly to picture, mostly I get to write a piece and then Director/Eitor decide where they want to put it in the movie.


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## alcorey (Aug 11, 2021)

Have recently moved to a new home and my studio has not been set up yet - well I did manage to get a bare bones setup - just enough to be able to complete an entry into this competition - mixing and monitoring on a 20 year old Bose CD changer, ha ha, it's a kick. It has been good fun and a meaty challenge because of the constant scene changes. Hope you can find a little enjoyment in a viewing!


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## José Herring (Aug 11, 2021)

Getsumen said:


> The scene seems oddly hard to score to. I feel like each section is just so short that you'll be transitioning a bit more often than usual
> 
> 
> Does anyone know what the original score was? Curious to see what it was.


For anybody having trouble the first thing you may consider is just trying to discover what the scene is actually about. Don't Micky mouse the action as the show is already so hokey as it is that following the action precisely will only bring more farce to the scene. 

The spine of the scene is that she is trying to save her friend who just recently discovered he has power from an evil villain who thinks he's doing the world a favor. (I may not have all that correct but that's the gist of it). The original composer nailed the scene so I wouldn't go looking for the video clips of the original score. I just happen to be a fan of her work and so I've seen this episode.

So with that in mind you get the gravity of the tension involved and you won't have to go back and forth, you can write over the scenes and then pick two or three moments where the intensity increases up until the boy finally meets his fate.


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## h.s.j.e (Aug 11, 2021)

This was an interesting experience. I'll be honest, I didn't do as much research or digging as I did last year, in part because my family was in the middle of moving hundreds of miles away and changing our lives completely.

I enjoyed it more, and like my results better than what I came up with last year. At the same time, just like last year's competition, it was a keen reminder of my limitations across all of the relevant skillsets. I messed and fussed and modified and in some regards gave up—and in the end, I think it's a representation of where I'm at—still not fully able to execute my vision, but more aware of why not. 

Tons of fun. Hope they keep doing this forever.


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## OstrovskyiComposer (Aug 11, 2021)

Hi to everyone,
I'd love to share my work with you. Everyone, good luck with the project!


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## MauroPantin (Aug 11, 2021)

I've been purposely avoiding this thread to limit my exposure to any kind of bias until this past weekend when I knew I would have some time. For a day and a half of work I think it's okay-ish. All written and performed within Staffpad, with some really fast (and probably not as great as it should be) mixing afterwards.

Anyway, here's mine:


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## NekujaK (Aug 11, 2021)

Just under the wire...


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## arznable (Aug 11, 2021)

It is a traditional thematic orchestral and choral approach for this score. Solo violin, female vocal, and children's choir are used in some delicate moments as well.

I tried to capture the finest details and change of moods with music, and to elevate and enhance the emotions within the scene. Themes and motifs are written for the characters which are then developed and variated for different situations in the scene.

Hope you guys enjoy. Comments and feedbacks are very welcome, thanks a lot.




Score only version here for those who are interested.


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## allen-garvey (Aug 11, 2021)

I had a lot of fun with this, I tried to challenge myself by doing as much original recordings as possible and tried to go in a different direction with instrument choices by not using (bowed) strings and brass.


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## Marsen (Aug 11, 2021)

alcorey said:


> Have recently moved to a new home and my studio has not been set up yet - well I did manage to get a bare bones setup - just enough to be able to complete an entry into this competition - mixing and monitoring on a 20 year old Bose CD changer, ha ha, it's a kick. It has been good fun and a meaty challenge because of the constant scene changes. Hope you can find a little enjoyment in a viewing!



Fu..kin amazing, I love it


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## kabinboy (Aug 11, 2021)

I tried to focus on smooth voice leading, and providing interesting chord changes. I gave the villain a special pallet of instruments too.  Thanks for checking it out!


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## lastburai (Aug 11, 2021)

My final entry, I completely re-orchestrated the last part from 1.12s till end. I kept the original piano idea but added a lot more to my original idea to make it sound more unique. Giving the scene a dramatic tension. The guitar at the end pierces through and the sound gives a flat-lining tone to the scene. 




Thanks for all the feedback.


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## kolea (Aug 11, 2021)

Here's my submission. Feedback welcome


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## Wally Garten (Aug 11, 2021)

Wazzock said:


> Loving watching some of the entries - some fabulous work!
> Quick question about the end title / theme (basically the last 15 seconds of the clip) - I've seen this bit dealt with in 3 ways:
> - create a short isolated musical motif for the titles (usually punchy brass stabs, big percussion hits etc.)
> - continue whatever 'crash / Impact' sound you have going on through the end titles
> ...


I did almost nothing — there’s one kick drum hit that spills over (intentionally). I imagined it as the end of the episode, with that kid being killed as a dramatic and heartbreaking moment. So then I thought, if I’m the director, what do I want during those credits? I’ve often liked it when really momentous TV episodes with a shocking ending go silent for the credits — especially if they’re known for their credits music. So that’s what I did. One last kick drum as we fade away, and then silence.

No idea if that will come across! 😆 But that was my thought process.


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## Wally Garten (Aug 11, 2021)

kolea said:


> Here's my submission. Feedback welcome



Hey, I liked that a lot, especially the first half!


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## audio1 (Aug 11, 2021)




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## Wally Garten (Aug 11, 2021)

audio1 said:


>



Genuinely different! I dig it.


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## arznable (Aug 11, 2021)

Wazzock said:


> Loving watching some of the entries - some fabulous work!
> Quick question about the end title / theme (basically the last 15 seconds of the clip) - I've seen this bit dealt with in 3 ways:
> - create a short isolated musical motif for the titles (usually punchy brass stabs, big percussion hits etc.)
> - continue whatever 'crash / Impact' sound you have going on through the end titles
> ...


I chose option one in my entry, i.e. fully develop and orchestrate the main theme that I wrote for the scene. Since the clip is so short, the theme for the characters cannot be fully developed during the clip. This end title is a very good opportunity to have fun and fully develop it.

I personally think leave it with absolute silence is not a good option. Unless you are out of time, I suggest you come up with something for the end title. I understand it won't be judged by the judges, but at least it will entertain your audience and fellow composers who listen to your score.


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## kabinboy (Aug 11, 2021)

audio1 said:


>



This rocks. I would watch the show just to hear this music


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## alcorey (Aug 11, 2021)

Marsen said:


> Fu..kin amazing, I love it


Cheers Marsen, thanks for the review - glad you liked it!
BTW, are you submitting an entry?


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## Wally Garten (Aug 11, 2021)

O'Rous said:


> Hi everyone, I am totally new to VI, here is my entry. It was fun scoring directly to picture, mostly I get to write a piece and then Director/Eitor decide where they want to put it in the movie.



Wow, so cool and different! I can't believe how many different ideas people brought to this thing. Listening to all of these is such a blast.


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## Wally Garten (Aug 11, 2021)

Here is my v.2 (and final). Composition is the same, just some EQ and compression and one or two timing tweaks. Here we go, gang -- over the waterfall!


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## alcorey (Aug 11, 2021)

Wouldn't it be super cool if the winner of this competition could have their submission brought to an actual recording session with Pinar and a full orchestra at AIR studios and get to see their creation born into reality right before their very own eyes!!!!


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## arznable (Aug 11, 2021)

alcorey said:


> Wouldn't it be super cool if the winner of this competition could have their submission brought to an actual recording session with Pinar and a full orchestra at AIR studios and get to see their creation born into reality right before their very own eyes!!!!


That would be really cool. But how about those who composed with synths only?


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## Dr.Quest (Aug 11, 2021)

Certainly some interesting entries by some talented people. I am surprised at the number of composers that chose to ignore the brief and not really hit the 2 major key points of action and drama though. Seems like that was pointed out in Pinar's video and the contest entry form as something to be paid attention to.


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## alcorey (Aug 11, 2021)

arznable said:


> That would be really cool. But how about those who composed with synths only?


Well, they'd have to get a little bit more creative to produce the best possible rendition of the composers intent. Many synth sounds are born from traditional musical instruments and what couldn't be reproduced faithfully from the orchestra could be produced from those synths - standing side by side with the orchestra (maybe,...hopefully improving upon the original score (positive outlook here!!!)
So, why not?


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## alcorey (Aug 11, 2021)

Dr.Quest said:


> Certainly some interesting entries by some talented people. I am surprised at the number of composers that chose to ignore the brief and not really hit the 2 major key points of action and drama though. Seems like that was pointed out in Pinar's video and the contest entry form as something to be paid attention to.


Not crystal clear (to me at least) what you mean by "not really hittting the 2 major key points of action and drama here" - can you try to be a little more specific for us dummies (me first)....maybe provide an example (without singling anybody out though.....or if I myself am guilty you may use my submission as an example)
Thanks Dr.


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## Illico (Aug 11, 2021)

Dr.Quest said:


> Certainly some interesting entries by some talented people. I am surprised at the number of composers that chose to ignore the brief and not really hit the 2 major key points of action and drama though. Seems like that was pointed out in Pinar's video and the contest entry form as something to be paid attention to.


I've the same opinion. I think that the jury has already defined key points that the contestant entry must answer. It could be fine that spitfire team explain some of their spreadsheet points.


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## Marsen (Aug 12, 2021)

alcorey said:


> Cheers Marsen, thanks for the review - glad you liked it!
> BTW, are you submitting an entry?


I try. 
I have a construction site with permanent sledge- and jackhammer next to me, so it may be a heavy metal theme.

But seriously, I will post it here, if I have any chance to finish it today, despite all the noise.


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## alcorey (Aug 12, 2021)

Marsen said:


> I try.
> I have a construction site with permanent sledge- and jackhammer next to me, so it may be a heavy metal theme.
> 
> But seriously, I will post it here, if I have any chance to finish it today, despite all the noise.


Similar situation here with me. I'm pushed into a small corner of a (temporary) laundry/tool room with just my computer and my keyboard and construction noise and mess all day for a while until we can finish our new home buildout.....very difficult to accomplish anything.
I really hope you can produce an entry before the competition ends


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## LOU (Aug 12, 2021)

Sample the construction noises around and build a cue using them:D


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## Richard Wilkinson (Aug 12, 2021)

alcorey said:


> Not crystal clear (to me at least) what you mean by "not really hittting the 2 major key points of action and drama here" - can you try to be a little more specific for us dummies (me first)....maybe provide an example (without singling anybody out though.....or if I myself am guilty you may use my submission as an example)
> Thanks Dr.


I did a post on this a couple of pages back. There are a LOT of tonal shifts in the first 12 seconds, and wallpapering over them with the same arrangement/key/tempo/harmony flattens the drama there and makes the scene work less well. This kind of show & scene is all about the ability to 1) Spot! and 2) Write nimble music that can twist and turn quickly to match a rapidly developing narrative.

I then checked Pinar's video, and she had also hit all of those shifts, and talks about how important they are to the ep/show.


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## Angora (Aug 12, 2021)

Hi everyone ! I was able to finish my entry before the deadline 

If you want to discover it :


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## Illico (Aug 12, 2021)

Angora said:


> Hi everyone ! I was able to finish my entry before the deadline
> 
> If you want to discover it :



Nice sounds and ambiances. But I think for the first minute the soundtrack don't match the action on screen, that could eventually match from the 1:15 to the end. It feels to me like melancholy.


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## lastburai (Aug 12, 2021)

My final entry version2

One thing I learnt from this project is that something like scoring for a TV show the composition process is really never finished when one thinks one is finished.

I had to fix some parts at the end I also lowered the velocity of my score against the Dialogue again and I subtly added some more instruments at 1.12s till end. 

Including some extra percussion, a synth bell as Icicle enters underneath the brass.
I also added a synth from my previous version that now adds an extra hi top layer to the strings and flutes playing in unison and I think that takes that scene to the next level.




Thanks for the feedback


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## Chris Richter (Aug 12, 2021)

Here's my entry. This was fun! Now I can't wait to finally watch all the other entries. It was hard to not take a peek at other compositions but I wanted to do this without the influence of other peoples ideas.

What really surprised me is how many people used official DC pictures as their thumbnail. As far as I can tell that violates the copyright. I am not a lawyer, though and might be mistaken.


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## Wedge (Aug 12, 2021)

I've heard so many amazing takes on this that I just want to say thank you everyone. I had a lot of fun making this. It's my second scoring attempt and it went a lot better than the first.


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## Gabriel2013 (Aug 12, 2021)

Here is mine.
I only had a couple of days for this, so it was all done in StaffPad to speed up the process.

Cheers
g


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## BMW_84 (Aug 12, 2021)

Wow! There are so many talented composers out there. I’ve been really impressed by the entries and plan on listening to a bit more. Best of luck and well wishes to those who gave it a shot.

Here is my score for the scene. I had a lot of fun making this. Thank you Spitfire for sponsoring these type of competitions. The opportunity to score to a high quality and challenging clip is worth it alone.


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## Dr.Quest (Aug 12, 2021)

alcorey said:


> Not crystal clear (to me at least) what you mean by "not really hittting the 2 major key points of action and drama here" - can you try to be a little more specific for us dummies (me first)....maybe provide an example (without singling anybody out though.....or if I myself am guilty you may use my submission as an example)
> Thanks Dr.


What I mean is some of the compositions walk over the scene instead of moving with the scene or helping the narrative. Using the same wall of music for the chaos in the first interior of the bus shot for the flying to the rescue shot is kind of a mistake. The first shot is terror and the flying is action. Heavy drums inside the bus continuing to the flying just don't work in my opinion but I've heard a few of those. And the place where it needs to breathe after the bus is put back on the bridge sometimes gets stepped on. To the point of sounding like someone is playing music in another room while you're watching TV.
But that being said - it's a learning experience and it's good to have something real world to try your hand at. That's how you learn.
On a side note, the villain Icicle is Russian, although you'd have to watch the first episode to discover that. I was hoping someone might have researched that and do a little nod to that background when we see him in all his villainess. That would have been a "cool" (ouch) touch.


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## SuperSamir (Aug 12, 2021)

Hi Everybody,

Here's my submission, hope you like it! Thanks so much for the opportunity and good luck to all.


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## MauroPantin (Aug 12, 2021)

I've gone back and listened to several of the cues here after posting mine. The talent displayed by this forum with these submissions is just astounding. So many approaches to the same scene, so many great takes on how to follow the action and support the story... Amazing!


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## Loïc D (Aug 12, 2021)

Here’s my entry.



Any feedback is welcome (I have doubts about the volume of the video).

I don’t expect anything, it was more a test drive of Infinite Brass for me. 

EDIT : new version with original FX/dialogs track unaffected


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## SuperSamir (Aug 12, 2021)

Going through some of the submissions here. Totally blown away by all the different interpretations.


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## Dr.Quest (Aug 12, 2021)

Here’s my entry.


Loïc D said:


> Any feedback is welcome (I have doubts about the volume of the video).
> 
> I don’t expect anything, it was more a test drive of Infinite Brass for me.



Top notch!


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## Yogevs (Aug 12, 2021)

Oh man - I need to resubmit my video :/

There's a 3 second part where the spoken text is a bit weak. I increased the video clip volume using automation instead of lowering the orchestra.... Turns out it goes against the rules.

Oh well I'll have to do it a bit later


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## MauroPantin (Aug 12, 2021)

Loïc D said:


> Here’s my entry.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Getting some Indy "Ark of the Covenant" vibes from that Staff moment. Fantastic stuff!


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## fish_hoof (Aug 12, 2021)

Lots of great entries all! Thank you for sharing!


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## pranic (Aug 12, 2021)

I took a stab at the project, and came up with this take on the scene. I set out to do a synth-heavy cue and then ended up letting the project take me more orchestral. I've really enjoyed listening to others' take on the scene, and wish all of you the best of luck!


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## harmaes (Aug 12, 2021)

Here's my score for the DC Stargirl competition. It's been quite a cool experience coming up with different ideas for the different moods/stages in this scene.




I tried something else using a 5/4 measure which started off with creating the guitar theme for S.T.R.I.P.E. This main theme is also repeated at the end of the video because it stands out the most for me.
The theme for Stargirl uses different chords and a brass theme focusing the beat on repeating every dotted quarter.
These chords are partly repeated after the rescue and moving chromatically downward to a darker version of the chords of the S.T.R.I.P.E. theme and transitioning into a chromatically upward going theme with an upward moving melody inspired by artists like Jóhann Jóhannsson.
The first panic part is an ostinato for strings and brass that is played over the same chords as the S.T.R.I.P.E. theme using a 2 against three rhythm.

I've used Spitfire Audio's BBCSO, Hammers, Contemporary Drama Toolkit, Albion Neo, Aperture Strings, Alternative Solo Strings, Originals Epic Strings, Serum, Neural DSP Parallax, Archetype Plini and Nolly.


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## Chris Richter (Aug 12, 2021)

Loïc D said:


> Here’s my entry.
> 
> Any feedback is welcome (I have doubts about the volume of the video).
> 
> I don’t expect anything, it was more a test drive of Infinite Brass for me.


That was cool! I especially liked the beginning. Perfect use for Infinite Brass. I also used it for the first time in my take at the scene but I think you got a way better sound than me.


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## brupibo (Aug 12, 2021)

This is my entry:



I also enjoyed to listen to other entries. It is nice to see how there is a lot of different ways to score a scene, and all seem fitting. Good luck (and good work) to all composers who entered the competition!!


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## Gabriel2013 (Aug 12, 2021)

Yogevs said:


> Oh man - I need to resubmit my video :/
> 
> There's a 3 second part where the spoken text is a bit weak. I increased the video clip volume using automation instead of lowering the orchestra.... Turns out it goes against the rules.
> 
> Oh well I'll have to do it a bit later


Same here, I didn't realize that increasing the video volume was against the rules.
I went back, leave the original clip untouched and put the Trackspacer Plug-in in the Orchestra.

Did some other minor adjustments and here is my final version.


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## DarinD (Aug 12, 2021)

Wow some pretty amazing submissions. Going to do it anyway, here goes, hope I'm using the correct function to add the video here (first time).


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## Yogevs (Aug 12, 2021)

Gabriel2013 said:


> Same here, I didn't realize that increasing the video volume was against the rules.
> I went back, leave the original clip untouched and put the Trackspacer Plug-in in the Orchestra.
> 
> Did some other minor adjustments and here is my final version.



I did something similar - instead of increasing the volume of the clip I decreased the volume of the orchestra on that part just a bit. To be honest it gave me some extra room to push the orchestra a little up for the rest of the clip (and I learned a couple of tricks) so all good I guess.


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## Yogevs (Aug 12, 2021)

Oh! And I need to remember to update my entry


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## Tonezou (Aug 12, 2021)

Hello guys! I hope you are all having fun in this competition! I surely did have lots of fun and this is what I made:



I really like what I did as my second film scoring ever and hopefully it doesn't have major issues. What do you think?

Good luck everyone!


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## Marsen (Aug 12, 2021)

Here is my entry for the Stargirl Scoring Competition.
Hope you enjoy.


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## jononotbono (Aug 12, 2021)

Wish I had time to enter. Been so busy. Hopefully next year.

This thread is so polite. Let’s see if the milk turns sour in a month 😂


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

Yogevs said:


> Oh man - I need to resubmit my video :/
> 
> There's a 3 second part where the spoken text is a bit weak. I increased the video clip volume using automation instead of lowering the orchestra.... Turns out it goes against the rules.
> 
> Oh well I'll have to do it a bit later


That's right. We cannot modify the clip or the audio "in any way". Otherwise, "Spitﬁre reserves the right to disqualify" those entrants. Actually, I saw some clips were extended by black screen being added at the end so that their end title music can be longer. I think this was quite a risky move.


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## Yogevs (Aug 12, 2021)

arznable said:


> That's right. We cannot modify the clip or the audio "in any way". Otherwise, "Spitﬁre reserves the right to disqualify" those entrants. Actually, I saw some clips were extended by black screen being added at the end so that their end title music can be longer. I think this was quite a risky move.


Yup... due to that I even decided to end the music before the end card ends + not upload the "and now only the music" in the same video. I'll upload it in a different video. The one I'm uploading is just the clip itself with my music.


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## Yogevs (Aug 12, 2021)

So here's my version of the score - after I had to re-upload it to make sure I'm not breaking any rules of modifying the clip's audio.

Unlike the Westworld competition where I spent like 2-3 weeks on, this I did in a few days.
Not my best work, but I'm pretty proud with the story I'm telling there.

Would love for some feedback


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Lots of great entries all! Thank you for sharing!


Thanks for creating this thread. BTW, there is a typo in your signature...


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## Elmakai (Aug 12, 2021)

This was my first attempt at scoring something. I used a little bit of synths to round out the sounds during the bus fall, and Icicle's section. Overall, it was a great learning experience for me.


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## Project Anvil (Aug 12, 2021)

Quite a lot of variety in terms of style which is nice. I've actually listened to a lot of the scores posted here but refrained from commenting so far until I had submitted my own entry, which ended up being a bit last minute, but anyway:



Beyond style, it's also fun to hear how other composers interpret the tempo of the scene. I think everyone can kind of agree that the 2nd half should be slower, but the differences in the 1st half are pretty big. I ended up with 160bpm which, from what I've heard, is a lot faster than most others 0.O

EDIT raw audio:


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## Tonezou (Aug 12, 2021)

arznable said:


> That's right. We cannot modify the clip or the audio "in any way". Otherwise, "Spitﬁre reserves the right to disqualify" those entrants. Actually, I saw some clips were extended by black screen being added at the end so that their end title music can be longer. I think this was quite a risky move.


Why is this a risky move? I did that, but I think that can simply be ignored by them while judging. I personally added just a small fading-out reverb on the final tone after the original clip ends - should I worry about it? It's not much going on there, it just makes it smoother.


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## Marsen (Aug 12, 2021)

And here the version without Fx+Dialog- just music. 
Full version post #279


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## limaj_daas (Aug 12, 2021)

Here's my entry for the competition. This was my first time scoring and I learnt a lot! Honestly, everyone's submissions thus far have been phenomenal and it was rather intimidating approaching this knowing just how great everyone's work was. Still, it's always good to learn!


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## brugazoni (Aug 12, 2021)

Hi everyone! I'd also like to leave a link to my contribution, this was made exclusively with free instruments and effects (apart from my DAW), all of them are described in the video description. Hope you like it, cheers!


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## fish_hoof (Aug 12, 2021)

arznable said:


> Thanks for creating this thread. BTW, there is a typo in your signature...


*Facepalm* Goodness.. thank you!


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## fakemaxwell (Aug 12, 2021)

One day, Spitfire is going to host a competition where they force me to not use guitars, even a little bit....

But it is not this day!




This was a tough clip, I kept trying to find breathing room but there's almost none available haha. Good luck to everyone.


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

Tonezou said:


> Why is this a risky move? I did that, but I think that can simply be ignored by them while judging. I personally added just a small fading-out reverb on the final tone after the original clip ends - should I worry about it? It's not much going on there, it just makes it smoother.


You should ask the Spitfire team. Only they have the right to disqualify any entrants. A rule is clearly breached in this case, but they may think it is minor and not exercise their right. Better to make sure with them IMHO.

https://www.spitfireaudio.com/stargirl/rules/


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## Loïc D (Aug 12, 2021)

I reposted my entry after discovering an issue with the FX track (compression applied).
Here's the new version with original track unaffected.



(I edited my first post too).

Deeply sorry for the double post.
Lots of super good entries here. Good luck to everyone !


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

Project Anvil said:


> I ended up with 160bpm which, from what I've heard, is a lot faster than most others 0.O


Mine varies throughout, and reaches 187 bpm in some parts of the action cue, ha ha...


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## Christoph Pawlowski (Aug 12, 2021)




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## Mr Sakitumi (Aug 12, 2021)

hi everyone, totally last minute...started last night and uploaded 23h58. 
good luck everyone!


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## Tonezou (Aug 12, 2021)

arznable said:


> You should ask the Spitfire team. Only they have the right to disqualify any entrants. A rule is clearly breached in this case, but they may think it is minor and not exercise their right. Better to make sure with them IMHO.
> 
> https://www.spitfireaudio.com/stargirl/rules/


Sorry I still don't understand why the rule is breached. Even if one puts a bit black screen before or after the clip this is not modifying the clip itself. Nevertheless, I better fix it just in case, hopefully there is enough time left.


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## Arviwan (Aug 12, 2021)

I was almost too late  

Any feedback welcome.
And i'm gonna listen to all yours


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## Christoph Pawlowski (Aug 12, 2021)

Mr Sakitumi said:


> hi everyone, totally last minute...started last night and uploaded 23h58.
> good luck everyone!



It says 23:59 BST. Even now there is still half an hour left


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## Hat_Tricky (Aug 12, 2021)

Anyone not gotten a google forms confirmation after entering via Spitfire's website? I still havn't gotten a confirmation email or google form...


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## Scamper (Aug 12, 2021)

Here's also my very last minute entry for the scoring competition.
Nothing special, but it was fun and nice for learning as my first foray into film scoring.



Being new to the film scoring, I was surprised how different this feels. I tried to go the full orchestral route with a somewhat cohesive and musical track. At this point, I'm not sure how that turned out, so I'd be happy to get feedback. Never tried this cinematic orchestral style before - maybe I went a little overboard. 😅
Is it too much? Does it mabye not fit the moments and vibes? Are the levels alright compared to the SFX track?

Music only:


Now, after a breather, I'm interested to check out all the other approaches and compositions.


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## nspaas (Aug 12, 2021)

What a fun and challenging contest! I've heard so many good entries with many varied styles and approaches to the same scene. Very cool!

Throwing my hat in the ring.



A big thank you to Spitfire, the amazing Pinar Toprak and DC for the opportunity.
Good luck to everyone!


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## Bisty (Aug 12, 2021)

Just submitted mines! I started on this yesterday morning so pretty rushed, but it was fun nonetheless!


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## visiblenoise (Aug 12, 2021)

Hat_Tricky said:


> Anyone not gotten a google forms confirmation after entering via Spitfire's website? I still havn't gotten a confirmation email or google form...


Google forms is usually pretty fast with the confirmation emails, and it wasn't any different for me this time... maybe try submitting again if you're sure you didn't get anything?


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## Robin Thompson (Aug 12, 2021)

arznable said:


> Mine varies throughout, and reaches 187 bpm in some parts of the action cue, ha ha...


182 here. I guess I was just really excited? Hehe

Oh, also, hi everyone! I'm new to the forum, and here is my entry. I look forward to joining the community.


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## Christoph Pawlowski (Aug 12, 2021)

Hands up if anyone else was distracted by the cgi at first


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

Hat_Tricky said:


> Anyone not gotten a google forms confirmation after entering via Spitfire's website? I still havn't gotten a confirmation email or google form...


I got mine within a minute after I submitted online. It is pretty fast.


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

Christoph Pawlowski said:


> It says 23:59 BST. Even now there is still half an hour left


I don't think he meant BST. It is 23:58 BST right now. Still have 2 mins to go.


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## Hat_Tricky (Aug 12, 2021)

Yeah I just resubmitted and this time I got a google form right away - you're both right.

Not really concerned with getting disqualified - but I guess I wanted to at least make sure some poor temp at Spitfire has to listen to my noise lmao!


Christoph Pawlowski said:


> arznable said:
> 
> 
> > I got mine within a minute after I submitted online. It is pretty fast.





visiblenoise said:


> Google forms is usually pretty fast with the confirmation emails, and it wasn't any different for me this time... maybe try submitting again if you're sure you didn't get anything?


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## Zedcars (Aug 12, 2021)

Submitted mine with 3 minutes left.

Best of luck everyone. 

Now the waiting begins...


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

Robin Thompson said:


> 182 here. I guess I was just really excited? Hehe
> 
> Oh, also, hi everyone! I'm new to the forum, and here is my entry. I look forward to joining the community.



Cool thumbnail!


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## Davidrivero (Aug 12, 2021)

My grain of sand. I have had a great time and also listening to many versions of the companions that I hallucinate.


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## Tonezou (Aug 12, 2021)

Damn, no more submissions... I hope black screens won't be a problem, because Ableton, again, made my life pretty harsh in the final hours/minutes... everything crashes, video is exported with freezes and glitches...couldn't make a quick fix lol. However, I had so much fun, so I'll just ignore the bad stuff. Good luck guys and lets hope this event happens each year!


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## Gabriel2013 (Aug 12, 2021)

Hat_Tricky said:


> Anyone not gotten a google forms confirmation after entering via Spitfire's website? I still havn't gotten a confirmation email or google form...


Bummer, just realize that I didn’t got the confirmation email and I have send it twice.

I hope it was accepted.


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## juliandoe (Aug 12, 2021)

Gabriel2013 said:


> Bummer, just realize that I didn’t got the confirmation email and I have send it twice.
> 
> I hope it was accepted.


I've received the confirmation immediately after clicking "submit"


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## Nigel Andreola (Aug 12, 2021)

Elmakai said:


> This was my first attempt at scoring something. I used a little bit of synths to round out the sounds during the bus fall, and Icicle's section. Overall, it was a great learning experience for me.



Nice! I like it. Your score fits the scene nicely.


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## juliandoe (Aug 12, 2021)

This is the "behind the scene" of my submission. hope you find it helpful. I've decided to go in another direction this time. I've seen so many of your videos and your compositions are awesome. So, my idea has been to create a score more like a 70s action tv show. Hope you like it. Any feedback is highly appreciated.


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## Gabriel2013 (Aug 12, 2021)

juliandoe said:


> I've received the confirmation immediately after clicking "submit"


Well, I should have check my email earlier but there you go for trusting technology.

Anyway good luck to everyone.

g


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## fish_hoof (Aug 12, 2021)

Gabriel2013 said:


> Bummer, just realize that I didn’t got the confirmation email and I have send it twice.
> 
> I hope it was accepted.


Check your junk mail.


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## Gabriel2013 (Aug 12, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Check your junk mail.


Thanks fish, you are right it was on my junk email.

Back in the game.........


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## fish_hoof (Aug 12, 2021)

Gabriel2013 said:


> Thanks fish, you are right it was on my junk email.
> 
> Back in the game.........


BAM!


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## Broth3rz (Aug 12, 2021)

That's my entry for the Stargirl contest. I'm going to remake it so much better now that I ran out of time.

Guess its my second song so far.. what you think? Read the description!

My favorite parts are 0:20-0:30 and 0:49, the transition. The strings I'm using are amazing also.

FEEDBACK PLEASE? 
THANKS!


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## Christoph Pawlowski (Aug 12, 2021)

Broth3rz said:


> That's my entry for the Stargirl contest. I'm going to remake it so much better now that I ran out of time.
> 
> Guess its my second song so far.. what you think? Read the description!
> 
> ...



You're a fan of tremolo, huh? It's pretty good for your second piece ever made (hope I got that right) I especially like your brass writing (what's that library?) However, a main theme is somehow missing and your track is going a bit everywhere but nowhere (seems like you focused too much on the actions of the clip) Also, the drums at the beginning are a little bit too smashed - no percussionist hits so hard all the time (use the various dynamic layers of your library - they are here for a reason ) Overall you kept a clean sound - keep up the good work

PS: What libs did you use for strings & brass?? they sound awesome!!


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## Broth3rz (Aug 12, 2021)

Christoph Pawlowski said:


> You're a fan of tremolo, huh? It's pretty good for your second piece ever made (hope I got that right) I especially like your brass writing (what's that library?) However, a main theme is somehow missing and your track is going a bit everywhere but nowhere (seems like you focused too much on the actions of the clip) Also, the drums at the beginning are a little bit too smashed - no percussionist hits so hard all the time (use the various dynamic layers of your library - they are here for a reason ) Overall you kept a clean sound - keep up the good work
> 
> PS: What libs did you use for strings & brass?? they sound awesome!!



I uploaded with only 8 minutes left so I was really rushing and didn't have time to do a ton of what I wanted. I'm going to remake it since I'm not on a time schedule.

I wasn't worried about a main theme for her since she didn't even do anything in the scene.

I know what your saying how I'm going everywhere but no where. I was more worried about making the track tailored instead of having a piece that just kept building with new instruments and such that was predictable and/or bland. Everyone seems to be doing this and their music doesn't fit the scene much. I may have tailored a little too much though..

Being in a rush and trying to get those 3 percussion hits to punch more then the others was hard. Even lowering the velocity made it all sound bad.

I use Spitfire everything.


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## Instrugramm (Aug 12, 2021)

I gave it a try although temporarily living in my girlfriend's parents' guest room with nothing but an M32 and HD600s while setting up a newly built pc was a bit challenging... (had to leave my home, water damaged everything and destroyed pretty much all of my homestudio and equipment.)

Ps. The score may be down a bit too much in volume as I handed it in at the very last minute so I ended up posting a music only version as well.


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## MJ8Music (Aug 12, 2021)

The deadline has passed to change anything, but I thought I would post my entry here anyway. I decided to bite the bullet yesterday and do it. Here it is.


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## arznable (Aug 12, 2021)

Broth3rz said:


> I wasn't worried about a main theme for her since she didn't even do anything in the scene.


I thought I saw Stargirl used her power and saved all the kids in the school bus in the scene...


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## Nigel Andreola (Aug 12, 2021)

Tonezou said:


> Damn, no more submissions... I hope black screens won't be a problem, because Ableton, again, made my life pretty harsh in the final hours/minutes... everything crashes, video is exported with freezes and glitches...couldn't make a quick fix lol. However, I had so much fun, so I'll just ignore the bad stuff. Good luck guys and lets hope this event happens each year!


Wow, sorry about that. I feel you. Best Service had a scoring competition this year that I didn't enter because my computer couldn't play the provided video correctly in Cubase. It would play at 2 frames per second and freeze. Thankfully the Stargirl video work OK for me.


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## Nigel Andreola (Aug 12, 2021)

juliandoe said:


> This is the "behind the scene" of my submission. hope you find it helpful. I've decided to go in another direction this time. I've seen so many of your videos and your compositions are awesome. So, my idea has been to create a score more like a 70s action tv show. Hope you like it. Any feedback is highly appreciated.



I'm getting T. J. Hooker vibes from your score! I like it.


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## Nigel Andreola (Aug 12, 2021)

This is my submission. I got 1970s rock and roll vibes when watching the unscored video and so went with that style for my score. During the end title I sing a little Stargirl theme song that wrote.


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## iaink (Aug 12, 2021)

Hi all,

Here is my submission. Good luck to everyone.



_


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## arznable (Aug 13, 2021)

Nigel Andreola said:


> During the end title I sing a little Stargirl theme song that wrote.


Ha ha, the Stargirl theme song at the end is so cool!


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 13, 2021)

pranic said:


> I took a stab at the project, and came up with this take on the scene. I set out to do a synth-heavy cue and then ended up letting the project take me more orchestral. I've really enjoyed listening to others' take on the scene, and wish all of you the best of luck!



I love that sound when the robot flies over the water.
Also you got tha feeling of suspense in the calm part with the build-up to the crash very well. I've liked many of the submissions, but this is one of my favorites so far.


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## pranic (Aug 13, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> I love that sound when the robot flies over the water.
> Also you got tha feeling of suspense in the calm part with the build-up to the crash very well. I've liked many of the submissions, but this is one of my favorites so far.


HI @FlyingAndi - Thank you so much for your kind words! I really appreciate that you took the time to comment on my submission! That's a combination of the Cherry Audio MemoryMode and Spitfire's BT Phobos with a little hit from @Lunacy Audio CUBE (which is one of my favourite additions to my virtual instruments in the past few months). It's actually the first patch I pulled onto my project and such a fun and inspiring instrument that I'm looking forward to doing a lot more with! I really hadn't planned to go full orchestral, and once the drums were laid down for the action segment, and having the intention to not use the strings, I 180'd and started building on them some some more. All-in, I think I had about 42 instruments on the project.


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## Project Anvil (Aug 13, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Here's also my very last minute entry for the scoring competition.
> Nothing special, but it was fun and nice for learning as my first foray into film scoring.
> 
> 
> ...



Really nicely done Scamper! It is cohesive, well programmed and fits nicely with the scene. If this truly is your first time scoring to picture you should be really proud of yourself!

Mix wise I can tell you from experience that the music would be put much lower, but I expect SA won't actually discount any submission for that, because pretty much everyone (myself included) is louder than how it would be mixed in reality. I still have a little trauma from the first time I scored to picture and discovered that the music was mixed way, _way_ lower than I thought it would be. At the time I thought it was a mistake but consecutive projects proved that this was just how things were mixed.

Talking just about the music, my feedback would be that you've slightly overwritten the scene. Whilst it does give the track more cohesion (or perhaps momentum is the better word) because the music just keeps going, it also means you're scoring moments in the scene that I personally feel don't need music. That's just a matter of taste though, but one example of this would be after the bus has been saved which to me always felt like a natural place for some rests.

Musically speaking I especially liked how you scored the part where Icicle is breathing frost though the percussion elements seem a little too leisurely for the car crash (I would've expected the tempo to have picked up).

All in all it's an impressive entry especially if this is your first time scoring to picture. Well done!


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## pranic (Aug 13, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Nothing special, but it was fun and nice for learning as my first foray into film scoring.




*@Scamper - You hit all the emotional moments in your score, and made a really nicely cohesive song in the process! Nicely done, especially if this is your first time scoring to picture! *

Really lovely transition from the epic bus rescuing to the flutes and woodwinds. It took me by surprise, but I went back a couple times and watched again to appreciate the the introduction of what sounds like a few cimbalom stabs when “We have to find Icicle”. 

Your score was unique and stood out to me of the many I’ve watched so far! I didn’t think there were any issues with the mix and heard all the dialog in your entry with ease.

Congrats and best of luck in the competition!


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 13, 2021)

arznable said:


> I thought I saw Stargirl used her power and saved all the kids in the school bus in the scene...


Then you oviously didn't watch the Fightin' Mooses entry.


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## marksni (Aug 13, 2021)

Hey Everyone! Just sharing my submission, this is such an inspiring community of talented composers! I'd really love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this! Mostly used Spitfire Libraries with some original synths


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Aug 13, 2021)

marksni said:


> Hey Everyone! Just sharing my submission, this is such an inspiring community of talented composers! I'd really love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this! Mostly used Spitfire Libraries with some original synths



This is not bad, Nicho, did you get it uploaded before the deadline?


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## Tonezou (Aug 13, 2021)

pranic said:


> I took a stab at the project, and came up with this take on the scene. I set out to do a synth-heavy cue and then ended up letting the project take me more orchestral. I've really enjoyed listening to others' take on the scene, and wish all of you the best of luck!



Nice scoring! I actually wanted to add such a clock sound in the beginning as well, lol. What library did you use for that specific clock sound? I couldn't find one yet.


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## Illico (Aug 13, 2021)

marksni said:


> Hey Everyone! Just sharing my submission, this is such an inspiring community of talented composers! I'd really love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this! Mostly used Spitfire Libraries with some original synths



Am I the only one that hear something like theme from Gustav Holst - Mars (0:10 and 4:20)? 
Nevertheless, @marksni it is a beautiful composition.


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## LOU (Aug 13, 2021)

SevenTearsOfHope said:


> This is not bad, Nicho, did you get it uploaded before the deadline?


I do hope so because this is winning material. Really nice job Marksni.


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## jaketanner (Aug 13, 2021)

marksni said:


> Hey Everyone! Just sharing my submission, this is such an inspiring community of talented composers! I'd really love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this! Mostly used Spitfire Libraries with some original synths



I like this as well. My only question would did you give away that the pickup was going to be dangerous or something bad was going to happen?...the firs time the pickup is shown, we still don't know that Icicle (I think that's his name), is going to do something bad, and the pickup could have very well just come along at the right time to stop and call for help. Otherwise, nice job.


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## Tonezou (Aug 13, 2021)

jaketanner said:


> I like this as well. My only question would did you give away that the pickup was going to be dangerous or something bad was going to happen?...the firs time the pickup is shown, we still don't know that Icicle (I think that's his name), is going to do something bad, and the pickup could have very well just come along at the right time to stop and call for help. Otherwise, nice job.


Personally, I too made that part slightly dangerous, because those frames were kinda "sneaky", as you can tell by the limited vision from the leaves, which probably is where Icicle is looking from. Maybe I've put too much thought on this and probably didn't have to give it away too, not quite sure yet.


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## Broth3rz (Aug 13, 2021)

Broth3rz said:


> That's my entry for the Stargirl contest. I'm going to remake it so much better now that I ran out of time.
> 
> Guess its my second song so far.. what you think? Read the description!
> 
> ...



I'm remaking mine and I will do a new better percussion, connect everything better so it doesn't seem as cut and dry on switching sections. I will be adding tons more textures, woodwinds, strings, etc. I will reduce the tremolo to 2 times instead of 5. I also didn't really have the time to do detailed automation or edit my ticks, so that will also be done with the new version. Then I hope I can actually mix and master it decently. If anyone wants to be updated on this LET ME KNOW.

I personally love mine as it is very unique and isn't as predictable as most Superhero TV shows are now. There are parts you really don't expect to jump in.


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## nspaas (Aug 13, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Here's also my very last minute entry for the scoring competition.
> Nothing special, but it was fun and nice for learning as my first foray into film scoring.
> 
> 
> ...



Some really nice moments in this. Good luck!


----------



## jaketanner (Aug 13, 2021)

I didn’t partake in this, but I still want to wish everyone the best of luck.


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## fakemaxwell (Aug 13, 2021)

Illico said:


> Am I the only one that hear something like theme from Gustav Holst - Mars (0:10 and 4:20)?


I'm...worried for the people that didn't hear it.


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## Nigel Andreola (Aug 13, 2021)

arznable said:


> Ha ha, the Stargirl theme song at the end is so cool!


Thank you! I feel shy about singing. I thought it would be a good thing to step out of my comfort zone and do it.


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## jzhwu (Aug 13, 2021)

Started composing around the time when last year's edition ran and made it my goal to enter this year's. First time scoring to picture and really enjoyed the process. Definitely looking to do more of this.


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## arznable (Aug 13, 2021)

Illico said:


> Am I the only one that hear something like theme from Gustav Holst - Mars (0:10 and 4:20)?


Mars motifs all over the entire score indeed, quite interesting.


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## Scamper (Aug 13, 2021)

Project Anvil said:


> Really nicely done Scamper! It is cohesive, well programmed and fits nicely with the scene. If this truly is your first time scoring to picture you should be really proud of yourself!


Thanks for the critique. I was kind of blind to that, but it's right and very much makes sense. After writing it, I feel it's hard to view the score in the scene as if you would watch it for the first time.

But I totally get how heartbreaking it must be to have your real score and all efforts turned down so much in the mix. Even from a consumer perspective I was a bit disappointed how quiet the music in the How To Train Your Dragon sequels were mixed, while I was looking forward to the soundtrack. It can also be hard to gauge the right volume after listening to everything reversed during composing - quiet sfx, loud music - and you don't want to lose that fullness.

I also really enjoyed your piece and the orchestration. It's refreshing to hear a more classical orchestral sound and the composition, that goes with it - it all feels connected. I'm also glad such scoring is still possible with modern pictures and it changes the feel of the show as well. Especially that sound and texture with the clarinet and horn. Much nostalgia.

I agree some breathing room without music would be good. Personally, your break after they leave the bus seems a bit long to me, but as you said it's probably a matter of taste and after working on it, I likely have a distorted view. One moment, that I felt could be a bit different were those few, quickly repeated string notes at the crash, but that's rather minor.

Very much enjoyed the score overall!



pranic said:


> Your score was unique and stood out to me of the many I’ve watched so far! I didn’t think there were any issues with the mix and heard all the dialog in your entry with ease.


Thank you and interesting to hear. I thought my score is just one more orchestral score while others seem to have much more uniqueness to them.

Talking about transitions, that's also what I liked most about your entry. After the bus scene, how the epic dissolves into this breathy and soft pad. Also loved the texture after that with the soft and moving strings. Gives the feeling of tension after the action without spoiling the danger of the car. Great entry!

Good luck to you as well - in any case, the fun and experience of the whole thing was worth it. :>


nspaas said:


> Some really nice moments in this. Good luck!


Same to you. I liked how you got into the action in the first 10 seconds - really set the tempo well. This electronica beat is also pretty unique, but still fits in. Good luck!


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## guilder (Aug 13, 2021)

Longtime lurker, first time poster and might as well enter the Thunderdome. I'm a hobbyist composer that works in another capacity in entertainment. Finally watching all of yours and there are so many amazing submissions and the variety is so fun to hear. Learned a lot from you all here, and I learned a lot from this competition (mostly that none of you are at risk of losing a composing gig to me haha). Just made the cutoff yesterday and here's my submission:


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## nspaas (Aug 13, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Same to you. I liked how you got into the action in the first 10 seconds - really set the tempo well. This electronica beat is also pretty unique, but still fits in. Good luck!


Thanks!


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## prasad_v (Aug 13, 2021)

Hello everyone! First time posting here  Just found out about this website and felt like a whole new world opened up :D
I participated in last year's competition and had lot of fun working on it right until the last day. Since then, I have been working on my notation and orchestration skills and for this year's clip, I composed almost entirely on Staffpad. Nothing too fancy or out of the box, just a traditional score that I was happy with. This year's clip was good because it had a good range of emotions to go through, so it was a good exercise of composing for various moods (Yes I read some posts that had a different point of view too about it requiring mickey mousing, but I love that as well  )
I'd love to hear your feedbacks on this one! Do you feel the score suits the scene well ? Is it enjoyable?


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## pranic (Aug 13, 2021)

Tonezou said:


> Nice scoring! I actually wanted to add such a clock sound in the beginning as well, lol. What library did you use for that specific clock sound? I couldn't find one yet.


Hi there! Thanks for the kind words! I used the 8dio Clocks library for that particular section. Available at https://8dio.com/instrument/clocks-instrument/. - It's surprisingly useful for sequencing clock ticks. I used it in a little mini-mock-up of the LOKI theme score recently, too.


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## Tonezou (Aug 13, 2021)

pranic said:


> Hi there! Thanks for the kind words! I used the 8dio Clocks library for that particular section. Available at https://8dio.com/instrument/clocks-instrument/. - It's surprisingly useful for sequencing clock ticks. I used it in a little mini-mock-up of the LOKI theme score recently, too.



Ah, I actually just used a NI RC-48 and it did great job for a clock ticking sound, check this out: 

I've spent the last 2 days finishing my scoring music, this is exactly what I wanted to do. It's not very different from what I submitted, just slightly improved and mastered.


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## prasad_v (Aug 13, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Here's also my very last minute entry for the scoring competition.
> Nothing special, but it was fun and nice for learning as my first foray into film scoring.
> 
> 
> ...



I like this very much! I took an approach similar to yours


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## pranic (Aug 13, 2021)

marksni said:


> Hey Everyone! Just sharing my submission, this is such an inspiring community of talented composers! I'd really love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this! Mostly used Spitfire Libraries with some original synths



Nicholas, I just had the opportunity to listen to your entry, and wanted to compliment you on the tension build up at the end of your cue. I really liked the drum groove you got going, and how you started it with the brass stab as the truck was revealed crossing the bridge (a subtle detail, but it helped move the story forward). Your transition from saving-the-bus to relief-of-getting-off-the-bus was nicely executed as well! Congrats on your effort, and all the best of luck in the competition.


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## pranic (Aug 13, 2021)

Yogevs said:


> Would love for some feedback



Ooh, love the way you ramped up the action with the ostinatos after the lukebot sheds the ice -- and the cymbal hit right after Joey hit the emergency exit door was a special moment for me while wathing your entry, @Yogevs. All in all, I thought you did do a great job of moving the story forward, and if I were being nitpicky, I wanted the strings to remain suspended and maybe delay the piano stab at the end just a little later. It felt like things ended just a bit too abruptly. Otherwise, I like your take on the scene! Congrats, and good luck in the competition!


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## pranic (Aug 13, 2021)

Project Anvil said:


>



Your Icicle reveal moment started out and I was thinking, "Oh, here's some magical!" - It had the magical vibe, but built up the tension in a really creative way. The high string runs you had as the original action got underway really added to the sense of motion/movement/excitement, and you may have captured the best "Joey hits the emergency exit door" moment to my eye/ears! I think your entry is the first where I've heard the "relief on the bridge" moment using low and quiet horns, and I think it works really well! Nicely scored! All the best of luck!


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## ookami (Aug 14, 2021)

Here comes my Entry to the Competition
I was very tempted to make the Music louder but I didn't want to choke the SFX and Dialogue,
I hope the Balance is ok 
Also I tried to span the bridge between the EpicActionPart & the DramaticEndScene in a way that is true to both Sides of this Clip. It was really important to me, catching the traumatizing Feelings of the CarCrashScene, so I used the Part after the Crash to open up a feeling of grief & mourning, I hope You Guys/Girls like it. I also invested a good amount of Energy for the LogoEndScene, were I scored my Take on a potential MainTheme of the Show : )


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## brunocoliveira (Aug 14, 2021)

How, some very solid entries in here!!!!

Here is my submission. I went to a very epic/hero style. 
The STR, WW and PERC are all BBCSO! Brass are Caspian and the 12 Horns Ens from CineBrass. EW Hollywood Choir.
There are some synthy stuff in underneath that are Serum, Massive and some Spitfire Labs. I also added some modern percussion from Spitfire Originals and Stormdrums!


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## pranic (Aug 14, 2021)

ookami said:


> Here comes my Entry to the Competition
> I was very tempted to make the Music louder but I didn't want to choke the SFX and Dialogue,
> I hope the Balance is ok
> Also I tried to span the bridge between the EpicActionPart & the DramaticEndScene in a way that is true to both Sides of this Clip. It was really important to me, catching the traumatizing Feelings of the CarCrashScene, so I used the Part after the Crash to open up a feeling of grief & mourning, I hope You Guys/Girls like it. I also invested a good amount of Energy for the LogoEndScene, were I scored my Take on a potential MainTheme of the Show : )



Hey there @ookami - Let me say that I loved the moment where you dropped all the instrumentation except for the drum sticks at, "The kid's looking right at me". That was a creative way to ensure the dialogue cut through the music! To my ears, the first "rescue the bus" section before that was a bit too loud in the score and I think I'd recommend dropping the volume a bit to allow more room for the fx (which is abnormally loud during that section). When Courtney says, "Not for long", the music comes back in and it sounds a little softer than when it cut out. Other than the volume, I think your work has a lot of enjoyable orchestration and thematic motifs that fit with the scene quite nicely.

I'm really enjoying hearing so many different variations on how people interpret two minutes of film. That's the most exciting part of this competition. There are so many entries, and everyone interpreted it so differently. Congrats on completing your score and best of luck in the competition! Thank you for sharing!


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## ookami (Aug 14, 2021)

pranic said:


> Hey there @ookami - Let me say that I loved the moment where you dropped all the instrumentation except for the drum sticks at, "The kid's looking right at me". That was a creative way to ensure the dialogue cut through the music! To my ears, the first "rescue the bus" section before that was a bit too loud in the score and I think I'd recommend dropping the volume a bit to allow more room for the fx (which is abnormally loud during that section). When Courtney says, "Not for long", the music comes back in and it sounds a little softer than when it cut out. Other than the volume, I think your work has a lot of enjoyable orchestration and thematic motifs that fit with the scene quite nicely.
> 
> I'm really enjoying hearing so many different variations on how people interpret two minutes of film. That's the most exciting part of this competition. There are so many entries, and everyone interpreted it so differently. Congrats on completing your score and best of luck in the competition! Thank you for sharing!


Thank You so much for Your Feedback!
Mine was also submitted 1 Hour before closing the Deadline, so unfortunately I am not
able to change anything now 

But again Thank You so much for Your kind Words!


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## pranic (Aug 14, 2021)

ookami said:


> Thank You so much for Your Feedback!
> Mine was also submitted 1 Hour before closing the Deadline, so unfortunately I am not
> able to change anything now
> 
> But again Thank You so much for Your kind Words!


Last year, I ended up in a similar situation. I was using the Orig!nals Cinematic Drums, and accidentially switched the high drums to low drums while I was tweaking a few things, didn't catch it until after the competition had closed. I went back afterwards and dropped in the fixed version to youtube, but it was a total bummer that it didn't match what I had been mixing and listening to for the previous few days. The mistake I made last year was to take something that I felt good about and change it on the morning of the competition and then ended up distracted by lots of meetings at work (because it was also mid-week). 

This year, I made a vow to complete the work 24 hours before the competition. I still went back and futzed with it in the overnight hours leading up to the 12th, and ended up making 7 different versions with slightly different mixes that I tested out on a few devices before finally submitting a few hours before the competition closed.

The tip I have for making sure to not do anything dangerous to your score would be to lock down the tracks in the last 24 hours, and explicitly unlock them to make changes.

You should be proud of your work! It shows that you put a great effort forth, and getting it submitted on time is a feat in and of itself! Everyone who participated in the contest faced a challenge and drew from their creativity to come up with unique and original works. If you think about it, there are currently 4100 videos showing up for the hashtag on Youtube this year. That's 136 hours of original content that was created from this contest, alone! An amazing feat! I both wish that I had enough personal time to be able to watch them all, but also might take a break for a day and watch something else, because I'm constantly quipping to my wife, "We have to find Icicle" and "The Bus!"


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## pranic (Aug 14, 2021)

harmaes said:


> Here's my score for the DC Stargirl competition. It's been quite a cool experience coming up with different ideas for the different moods/stages in this scene.
> 
> I've used Spitfire Audio's BBCSO, Hammers, Contemporary Drama Toolkit, Albion Neo, Aperture Strings, Alternative Solo Strings, Originals Epic Strings, Serum, Neural DSP Parallax, Archetype Plini and Nolly.



@harmaes - Harry, I really liked how you used the rhythm to to open up spacing for the dialogue. Lots of in-your-face action music and pretty unique (I haven't heard a lot of guitar used in the videos I've watched). Poor Joey keeps on falling victim to that car. In your cue, I totally got late 80s "Perfect Strangers" vibes as we saw Icicle blowing towards the bridge... The choice of instrumentation at that part of the score really was nostalgic. Good choice to use CDT on the bridge (I'm pretty sure that's what I'm hearing). I didn't even think to open CDT, but it's totally logical for something like this project! Congratulations and thank you for sharing with us! It's really enjoyable to discover other takes on the same scene!


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## harmaes (Aug 14, 2021)

pranic said:


> @harmaes - Harry, I really liked how you used the rhythm to to open up spacing for the dialogue. Lots of in-your-face action music and pretty unique (I haven't heard a lot of guitar used in the videos I've watched). Poor Joey keeps on falling victim to that car. In your cue, I totally got late 80s "Perfect Strangers" vibes as we saw Icicle blowing towards the bridge... The choice of instrumentation at that part of the score really was nostalgic. Good choice to use CDT on the bridge (I'm pretty sure that's what I'm hearing). I didn't even think to open CDT, but it's totally logical for something like this project! Congratulations and thank you for sharing with us! It's really enjoyable to discover other takes on the same scene!


Thanks for checking out my score and your kind feedback. Your initiative is a good way to provide more interaction between us getting more insight into the thought processes behind the scores!

I checked your score and I like the more minimal approach, also on the outro, it’s quite cool to see so many different interpretations. I wish you and all others the best of luck as well!

I’ve watched Perfect Strangers in my 20s but didn’t have that association in mind. 
The horns and strings chords are moving chromatically down from Fm to Dm to follow S.T.R.I.P.E. descending and then strings and guitars upwards again building a darker atmosphere/tension and not resolving to Cm. There’s CDT in there but more dominant are 3 guitar parts providing the icy part.


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## Peter Satera (Aug 14, 2021)

pranic said:


> ...because I'm constantly quipping to my wife, "We have to find Icicle" and "The Bus!"


That's brilliant! My wife is ready to claim what's on my life insurance if she hears "The Bus!!", one more time.


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## fish_hoof (Aug 14, 2021)

Peter Satera said:


> That's brilliant! My wife is ready to claim what's on my life insurance if she hears "The Bus!!", one more time.


My two boys literally said "Dad why do you keep listening to that over and over?!" Yes... it drove the family nuts.


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## Loïc D (Aug 14, 2021)

Peter Satera said:


> That's brilliant! My wife is ready to claim what's on my life insurance if she hears "The Bus!!", one more time.


Precisely why I use headphones.
Only me gets insane.


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## kwencel (Aug 14, 2021)

Some really outstanding entries out there! Good luck to everyone, I personally treated it as a challenge (have not yet scored to any picture besides last year's Westworld competition) and have enjoyed the process regardless of the verdict. Here is my entry:




I worked on the music-dialogue balance and the overall mix till the last minute and, unfortunately, after submitting the entry, I noticed I had left a bump in the volume of the strings ostinato which I was not able to correct due to the passed deadline. I hope it is not too disturbing and I have not completely ruined my entry because of that :/

I'd appreciate any feedback you might have. I have my own conclusions after watching other entries. I am curious about what you could add to that list.

The first thing I noticed is that my score is very busy compared to some other submissions. I had to use volume automation to make the dialogue and SFX more hearable. It was probably a much better idea to plan the score around the dialogue in the first place. I was probably too focused on hitting the key points of the scene that I forgot about the dialogue.

The second one is not a great orchestration, especially the first half, which consists almost purely of brass and lacks some low end. The second half is better at utilizing the frequency spectrum more evenly.

The third one, which is probably the hardest for me to overcome, is the approach to writing to picture. I noticed that my scores are a group of loosely connected music cues. The best entries have music that is "flowing" - feels like a single piece and not multiple ones with some transitions.

Libraries used:
Brass - JXL Brass overlayed with Caspian
Strings - Metropolis Ark 1, Albion I (Legacy), Albion II: Loegria, Tina Guo Vol. 1 Legato
Choir - Metropolis Ark 1
Percussion - Metropolis Ark 1, Albion II: Loegria
Clusters - CAGE Strings, CAGE Brass, Metropolis Ark 3


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 14, 2021)

ookami said:


> Here comes my Entry to the Competition
> I was very tempted to make the Music louder but I didn't want to choke the SFX and Dialogue,
> I hope the Balance is ok
> Also I tried to span the bridge between the EpicActionPart & the DramaticEndScene in a way that is true to both Sides of this Clip. It was really important to me, catching the traumatizing Feelings of the CarCrashScene, so I used the Part after the Crash to open up a feeling of grief & mourning, I hope You Guys/Girls like it. I also invested a good amount of Energy for the LogoEndScene, were I scored my Take on a potential MainTheme of the Show : )



I can't really point my finger on it but I'm getting a little ABBA vibe in the bus-robot part. I like it 😀


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## KMA (Aug 14, 2021)

Thanks so much to Spitfire, Pinar and the DC/CW/Warner studios for making this all possible.

I've really enjoyed listening to everyone's submissions. Here's mine:


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## Scamper (Aug 14, 2021)

kwencel said:


> I'd appreciate any feedback you might have. I have my own conclusions after watching other entries. I am curious about what you could add to that list.
> 
> The second one is not a great orchestration, especially the first half, which consists almost purely of brass and lacks some low end. The second half is better at utilizing the frequency spectrum more evenly.
> 
> The third one, which is probably the hardest for me to overcome, is the approach to writing to picture. I noticed that my scores are a group of loosely connected music cues. The best entries have music that is "flowing" - feels like a single piece and not multiple ones with some transitions.



First, I think your entry has lots of good stuff and is hitting the right moments. Great job!
I always like a good theme and like the one, you're playing with the piano.

Regarding your third point, I don't think it's as bad as you describe. Actually all the transition in the later drama part are really good and natural. Changes in music are alright, if the scene changes, I'd say and it doesn't feel off to me.
The only change that does feel disconnected to me is when you start the piano part, the transition from action to drama. The piano might be a bit loud as well, but that's rather a minor thing. I would think, if you just faded out the action elements a bit longer and introduced the piano section more carefully, with minor changes this would lead to a more natural transition.

About your second point. True, a brass section like in your action scene often invites a low end, but it doesn't have to do that. Good orchestration doesn't always need to fill or cover the frequencies fully or evenly. I think it's more about using the right orchestral colors at the right time. Sometimes, a brooding steady low note with basses and low woodwinds is enough. Sometimes, a glittering texture high in the strings and woodwinds is all it needs. Other times, you might want to go full out.
It can be hard to be efficient and effective with the orchestration and really have a good feel for the colors and possibilities of the orchestra and to use good voicings for all the sections. I'm always trying to improve on that as well, but in the end we can only practice and learn.

Still, great entry!


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## pranic (Aug 14, 2021)

KMA said:


> Thanks so much to Spitfire, Pinar and the DC/CW/Warner studios for making this all possible.
> 
> I've really enjoyed listening to everyone's submissions. Here's mine:



Hi Kevin,

Working backwards, I really liked your use of low brass to accentuate Joey's demise and the sombre use of piano to finish out your cue. At the beginning, when the lukebot sheds the ice, I really liked your use of bartok strings to establish a rhythm, though found myself wanting to hear those carry through with the lukebot flying across the water (just personal taste to keep the continuity to my ears). The tension building as everyone was on the bridge and waiting for the truck was both mysterious and semi-sinister, and I think you did a great job of hitting the critical emotive points. Also, your use of orchestral ear candy throughout the piece was really interesting. Congrats on your work, and all the best of luck!


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## KMA (Aug 14, 2021)

pranic said:


> Hi Kevin,
> 
> Working backwards, I really liked your use of low brass to accentuate Joey's demise and the sombre use of piano to finish out your cue. At the beginning, when the lukebot sheds the ice, I really liked your use of bartok strings to establish a rhythm, though found myself wanting to hear those carry through with the lukebot flying across the water (just personal taste to keep the continuity to my ears). The tension building as everyone was on the bridge and waiting for the truck was both mysterious and semi-sinister, and I think you did a great job of hitting the critical emotive points. Also, your use of orchestral ear candy throughout the piece was really interesting. Congrats on your work, and all the best of luck!


Thanks so much for your comments, @pranic. Much appreciated


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## juliandoe (Aug 15, 2021)

Nigel Andreola said:


> I'm getting T. J. Hooker vibes from your score! I like it.


Yes, you're absolutely right. TJ Hooker, Chips, Charlie's Angels, and Wonder Woman have been my references.


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## kwencel (Aug 15, 2021)

Scamper said:


> First, I think your entry has lots of good stuff and is hitting the right moments. Great job!
> I always like a good theme and like the one, you're playing with the piano.
> 
> Regarding your third point, I don't think it's as bad as you describe. Actually all the transition in the later drama part are really good and natural. Changes in music are alright, if the scene changes, I'd say and it doesn't feel off to me.
> ...


Thank you so much for the detailed feedback and the positive comments! I really appreciate that.


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## kwencel (Aug 15, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Here's also my very last minute entry for the scoring competition.
> Nothing special, but it was fun and nice for learning as my first foray into film scoring.
> 
> 
> ...



Man, your entry is really spectacular. Hard to believe it is your first time scoring to picture. Your score is very well orchestrated (and programmed!) and I really like its cohesiveness. It really feels like a single musical idea adapting to what is happening on the screen.

I also really like the hero theme you've created and what leads to it. The buildup from 0:02 to 0:17 is the real highlight of the score, in my opinion. The release moment and the tension building up to the car accident are also very good - the part from 1:00 to 1:12 reminds me a bit of The Witcher 3 soundtrack when it comes to the instrumentation and the harmonies used.

The only thing I would change is the moment when the card is floating after the car crash. It is too joyful for my taste considering what has just happened. However, I understand that you probably tried to prepare for the transition to the hero theme at the end credits.

Overall, it is one of the best, if not the best entry I have heard so far. I have listened to your SoundCloud instrumental few times and can't get enough of it. You really should be proud of it!

In the YouTube comments, you said you recently got more into orchestral music. I will have to closely watch for your next releases then since I really liked what you have produced here.

Would you mind sharing the libraries you used to create that score?


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## LOU (Aug 15, 2021)

Is it because I have listen to more entries than last year or is the quality of the submissions really much higher this time ?
It almost makes me feel bad for those who gonna listen to the 4k entries and manage to select the winners.


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## lastburai (Aug 15, 2021)

Hi Vi control community

After listening back to my entry I think I hit all the points I wanted and I am more or less happy with how it turned out but I thought I would post the changes from version 1 to the final version I entered. Just a note I uploaded the final version I entered without the dialogue and SFX and you can hear many more details in the instruments and instrumentation than the version with dialogue and SFX as I had to lower the score significantly so the dialogue could be heard.

For version1, I initially was just going to go with the piano cluster chord version (ver1) but right at the last second someone mentioned that the piano part in my first version sounds kind of generic. I decided soon after to make some changes to make it less generic at the last minute two or so days before the deadline. 

The score went through multiple changes. *All changes are regarding when Icicle enters at around 1.12s. * 

With that in mind I thought I would share the various versions so people can hear all the differences I went through. 

Version1 
My first version with the piano cluster build up. hearing this again I think the piano captures the coldness of Icicle pretty well.



Version2 
Synth version1 chip tune synths melody,
I wanted the synth version to be gritty but as some people mentioned, the melody did not capture the tension needed and the synth version does not really follow the cuts of the scene either so it was scraped.




Version3
Same melody as synth version1 but this uses more modern synths



Version4
Final version version entered, same piano idea from version 1 but with more instruments and a bigger arrangement


This version is the final version without any Dialogue of SFX




I would be grateful to know what others think regarding these different versions

One last thing the intro and ending title cards are allowed in the 2021 Stargirl scoring competition as I heard some people say we could get disqualified for having such things which is not true.


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## Toecutter (Aug 15, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Here's also my very last minute entry for the scoring competition.
> Nothing special, but it was fun and nice for learning as my first foray into film scoring.
> 
> 
> ...



That's solid Scamper, great themes, mockup, good levels (I can hear the music AND dialogue AND fx track, unlike many other entries that feel like one element is always overpowering the others) nice pacing, everything feels natural. Since you asked the only thing that threw me off a bit was when the ice dude shows up, I'd probably cut the "groove" and try different harmonies, something that evokes angst and hopelessness, impending doom XD


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## Scamper (Aug 15, 2021)

kwencel said:


> Man, your entry is really spectacular. It really feels like a single musical idea adapting to what is happening on the screen.
> 
> The only thing I would change is the moment when the card is floating after the car crash. It is too joyful for my taste considering what has just happened.
> 
> In the YouTube comments, you said you recently got more into orchestral music. I will have to closely watch for your next releases then since I really liked what you have produced here.


Many thanks for the feedback and that you liked it. It's helpful to have different opinions like your critique about the card scene.
About the cohesion of the track, I think it's because of the piano sketch, that I started with and put almost a third of the time into, working on the composition. Deriving the orchestration from that worked nicely, so I can only recommend it this way.

Oh yeah, now that you say it - that part is a bit like The Witcher 3. The dulcimer rhythm is probably doing a lot of that. :>

Sure, I can share the libraries. It's mostly:
Spitfire Symphonic Strings
Sample Modeling Trumpets
Infinite Brass (no trumpets)
Cinematic Studio Woodwinds
Spitfire Percussion + Harp
Strezov X3M Percussion Essentials

I used some Vista, CSS, Caspian for lazy divisi and layering, but that wouldn't really have been necessary. One or two synth basses and pads are also layered in a few times.
Embertone: Piano, Jubal Flute, Crystal Flute, Recorder (hidden in the end )
Spitfire: LABS Dulcimer
OT: Ark 2 and Inspire Percussion for a bit percussion layering




Toecutter said:


> That's solid Scamper [...] Since you asked the only thing that threw me off a bit was when the ice dude shows up, I'd probably cut the "groove" and try different harmonies, something that evokes angst and hopelessness, impending doom XD


Thanks a lot! Yeah, now I see that the ice guy section feels a bit off with that groove. It's probably because of the piano sketch, that didn't quite feel right in this part - didn't feel complete and a bit like treading water.


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## Toecutter (Aug 16, 2021)

Scamper said:


> Thanks a lot! Yeah, now I see that the ice guy section feels a bit off with that groove. It's probably because of the piano sketch, that didn't quite feel right in this part - didn't feel complete and a bit like treading water.


But considering this your effin first attempt at scoring to picture, you did a stellar job imo, I wouldn't bullshit you if I didn't like it. If I were channel surfing and stumbled across this scene with your music, I'd be instantly hooked. I watched the original scene and the pacing is all over the place (Pinar did a great job too but I prefer yours tbh XD) no wonder ppl are having a hard time making something out of this, the disconnection is almost palpable... but you nailed it, this comes very naturally to you! Until the ice dude, it's 10/10. Keep grinding, meet people, local directors, students, indie forums, offer to score home videos, whatever it takes, just gtfo of here and keep grinding  Don't let your inner voice go unheard!


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Aug 16, 2021)

Hey guys,

may I ask for your opinion to my score, in contrast to the more melodic and musical scores which are all absolutely amazing and outstanding.
Maybe I am wrong, but should a score consist rather more out of music in a common way, or more or less small melodies or themes which support the scene?
Stargirl was also my first score ever, so I am also here to learn and improve. 



Thank you so much for a small comparison,

SToH


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## LOU (Aug 16, 2021)

SevenTearsOfHope said:


> should a score consist rather more out of music in a common way, or more or less small melodies or themes which support the scene?


Whatever tells a story properly and fit the ton of the movie/scene is a good solution. I don't believe there is " hard stoned rules".


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## PJMorgan (Aug 16, 2021)

Here's my entry from a long time lurker part time contributor to the forum. Didn't get a chance to enter the last competition, so I didn't want to miss this one.


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## lukeanthony81 (Aug 16, 2021)

Here's mine! It's been fun going thru and listening to everyone's awesome ideas! I wish I had time to hear them all.


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## Scamper (Aug 16, 2021)

SevenTearsOfHope said:


> Maybe I am wrong, but should a score consist rather more out of music in a common way, or more or less small melodies or themes which support the scene?



I also don't think it has to be either way and as long as it serves the purpose of the scene, it's great.
Still, if I remember it right, John Powell said something like: if you are creating a score that fits the movie AND have the chance to also create a good piece of music while doing it, then why not do it. That's at least my goal, but it doesn't have to be.

Also, I enjoyed your score and it hits the vibe. Also quite funny, the rock music with the pickup truck. Almost would have liked to see this continue until after the crash. 😄


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Aug 16, 2021)

Scamper said:


> I also don't think it has to be either way and as long as it serves the purpose of the scene, it's great.
> Still, if I remember it right, John Powell said something like: if you are creating a score that fits the movie AND have the chance to also create a good piece of music while doing it, then why not do it. That's at least my goal, but it doesn't have to be.
> 
> Also, I enjoyed your score and it hits the vibe. Also quite funny, the rock music with the pickup truck. Almost would have liked to see this continue until after the crash. 😄


Thank you so much man.
I am so happy to see so many approaches, yours is absolutely amazing and outstanding. Love your way of composing and these different ideas in your score.
I think, the truck scene should have been a bit longer, so the effect with the rock music could have a bit more space, so its like 2 and half seconds, but I hope everyone still gets the idea behind it. Just read a book about film scoring, and this competition was a great way to train what I have learned so far. 
I started composing myself as an experiment on how far i can come with absolutely no knowledge of music, composing, instruments and so on. Still hyped on what is possible for me


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## pranic (Aug 17, 2021)

SevenTearsOfHope said:


> Maybe I am wrong, but should a score consist rather more out of music in a common way, or more or less small melodies or themes which support the scene?
> 
> Thank you so much for a small comparison,
> 
> SToH


Hi SToH. I don't think there are hard and fast rules on what you do or how you do it, other than to have an answer to why you're making the choices you do. Maybe it's just a gut instinct of what feels right, but it could also be a well thought-out and meticulously scored scene where you've planned every detail. Long story short.. I don't think there are hard and fast rules.

I've seen a number of entrants who had a consistent motif repeated throughout their score, while others had very different beginning/middle/end, and some had a lot of variation in each section of the clip.

In your video, I did like that you made room for the sfx of the car as it skidded into Joey. That's something that I belive many of us may have covered over with our score (I ended up having a crescendo of drum hits with a bit of a synth riser just before he was hit in my score - and maybe I'll get docked points for that. I don't know -- but it just felt right when I was working on my video). I think in your video, the last part of that scene had more impact (heh.. poor Joey).

When I was spotting, I had thought about putting in some banjo and guitar music during the reveal of the pickup truck, and I hear you also did similar treatment with some heavy rock. I like the treatment, but think it could have potentially worked a bit better if you used a filter to make it seem like it was coming out of the radio with a bit less fidelity (if you know what I mean -- not really an AM filter, but something adding a bit of radio distortion)

I loved the warmth of your brass while the staffo-of-blindness was raised in the air, too! All in all, I think you hit the beats and pulled together a great effort. The only thing I wasn't super excited about, was the additional brass fanfare when lukebot landed back next to stargirl. It almost seemed unnecessary -- but everyone had their own take on the scene, and I enjoyed watching yours. Congrats on your finished work, and best of luck in the competition! Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Bman70 (Aug 17, 2021)

ookami said:


> Here comes my Entry to the Competition
> I was very tempted to make the Music louder but I didn't want to choke the SFX and Dialogue,
> I hope the Balance is ok
> Also I tried to span the bridge between the EpicActionPart & the DramaticEndScene in a way that is true to both Sides of this Clip. It was really important to me, catching the traumatizing Feelings of the CarCrashScene, so I used the Part after the Crash to open up a feeling of grief & mourning, I hope You Guys/Girls like it. I also invested a good amount of Energy for the LogoEndScene, were I scored my Take on a potential MainTheme of the Show : )



Is that using Albion One?


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## Stephan Schipper (Aug 17, 2021)

O'Rous said:


> Hi everyone, I am totally new to VI, here is my entry. It was fun scoring directly to picture, mostly I get to write a piece and then Director/Eitor decide where they want to put it in the movie.



Good Job - For me you hit the cuepoints very well. I like your music in the credits as well.


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Aug 17, 2021)

Hey @pranic,

Thank you so much for your kind words. Really happy you liked and enjoyed my score. 

I also think, that there are no hard rules and you hit the nail, with what you are saying on personal choice. 

I watched your entry again, and I loved the shaker/clock until the bus is saved. It makes me feel like time is running out. Very good idea here. Also that you pick that up again in the end makes it to a very cohesive score.

Thanks again so much, and good luck to you too.


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## Jonny487 (Aug 17, 2021)

Hey guys I know you must be pretty tired of listening to all these entries but here's mine, hope you enjoy. Was really fun to do, and unexpectedly challenging, especially with the really fast cuts and edits.


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## Sean (Aug 17, 2021)

Hey guys, is the video without music still available for download somewhere? I know the competition is over but would like to try to use it at some point as an exercise.


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## Fever Phoenix (Aug 17, 2021)

Hey everyone,

I guess I am late to the party as I am currently travelling and working away from home on my mobile set up.

Nonetheless I've found time to submit an entry for the stargirl competition. I tried to stay away from listening to other entries before I submitted mine. Now I started to go through some entries and it is amazing how different the approaches can be.

I had a lot of fun implementing my voice in this one, as I rarely have the time and or patience to do so. It felt right this time 🤷‍♂️.

Hope you are having a good summer, wherever you are.


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## lfu (Aug 18, 2021)

Something a little different...


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## Mr Sakitumi (Aug 18, 2021)

At 3s the foley/sfx for the bus on the bridge sounds like skittles being knocked down at a bowling alley and I can’t unhear it listening through all the amazing entries 🎳 🚌


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## lfu (Aug 18, 2021)

Mr Sakitumi said:


> At 3s the foley/sfx for the bus on the bridge sounds like skittles being knocked down at a bowling alley and I can’t unhear it listening through all the amazing entries 🎳 🚌


I can't unhear it now either! It definitely does


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## pranic (Aug 18, 2021)

lfu said:


> Something a little different...



Oooh! Aaaah! That's definitely a more unique approach to scoring the scene with acapella! I read your description, and it's even more impressive that you managed to eke out such good sound quality while suffering from a cold, and using your apple headphones to record! Pretty unique indeed! It sounded really quite heavenly. Thanks for sharing and all the best in the competition, Liam!


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## pranic (Aug 18, 2021)

Mr Sakitumi said:


> At 3s the foley/sfx for the bus on the bridge sounds like skittles being knocked down at a bowling alley and I can’t unhear it listening through all the amazing entries 🎳 🚌


For me, the most memorable point is the yodeling as they're getting off the bus. It's totally there, and definitely can't unhear it.


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Aug 18, 2021)

Yeah as they get out of the bus, there is for sure some unwanted noise. First I thought it was a hanging note or a reverb issue, but it is in the original foley.
Btw. I still don't get why the tyres screech that much on ice...


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## Dr.Quest (Aug 18, 2021)

SevenTearsOfHope said:


> Yeah as they get out of the bus, there is for sure some unwanted noise. First I thought it was a hanging note or a reverb issue, but it is in the original foley.
> Btw. I still don't get why the tyres screech that much on ice...


Poor choice on the sound design. Maybe an editor or director call. As a sound designer myself there are great car skidding on ice choices that don’t sound like that. I believe story wise they wanted it to feel like the driver made an effort to stop. I don’t think it was necessary. Skid in ice sound would have been better.


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## lfu (Aug 18, 2021)

SevenTearsOfHope said:


> Btw. I still don't get why the tyres screech that much on ice...


Hahaha, I agree, if physics were realistic in this scene the light and heat energy from Stargirl's stick would simply burn everyone alive on THE BUS!


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## darkmagi250 (Aug 18, 2021)

I'm a bit late to to this thread, but here is my submission for the Stargirl competition.
I went for a vintage style action tv show style, with some modern elements spread throughout.


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## lfu (Aug 18, 2021)

darkmagi250 said:


> I'm a bit late to to this thread, but here is my submission for the Stargirl competition.
> I went for a vintage style action tv show style, with some modern elements spread throughout.



This put a huge smile on my face. LOVE IT!


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 18, 2021)

pranic said:


> Oooh! Aaaah! That's definitely a more unique approach to scoring the scene with acapella! I read your description, and it's even more impressive that you managed to eke out such good sound quality while suffering from a cold, and using your apple headphones to record! Pretty unique indeed! It sounded really quite heavenly. Thanks for sharing and all the best in the competition, Liam!


I didn't read the description at first and thought @lfu might be using Soundirons Questionably Barbershop library.
But it's a great idea and definately something different!


----------



## constrainedflow (Aug 18, 2021)

Hi everyone, below is my scoring attempt for the Stargirl competition:


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## Brainfed (Aug 18, 2021)

I'm pretty late to thread/party but here's my entry:



I decided not to use any orchestral stuff at all because I assumed a lot of talented people were going to do that way better than I could.


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## pranic (Aug 18, 2021)

lfu said:


> This put a huge smile on my face. LOVE IT!


@darkmagi250 - I wrote the same on your youtube comments... That muted brass on the bridge!!! Really creative take on the scene, and almost reminded me a little bit of CHiPs' TV theme when lukebot was flying over the water. Then a bit more of that 70s & early 80s vibe after the bus was saved (with the percussion groove). Nicely scored! Lots of great little flourishes! Thanks for sharing and best of luck in the competition!


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## alcorey (Aug 18, 2021)

So here you are, sitting at home, day is done, Tuesday 7 p.m., glass of wine (or whatever) in hand - (yes this is my time to relax...right??) and now a text comes in.... "video's up on DropBox...need mockup & score by 9 a.m. Thursday morning - we are recording @ 11:00 .... we know you can do it and it'll be great"
So ............. you have more wine (or whatever) ....and....you get it done!!!!!!
Now relate what you just did for your mockup - - - did you meet the deadline??? And did they LOVE it???? And did YOU enjoy it?? Would you like to be paid for that???

Just for Fun........ Good to be here with all of you shakers and movers!


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## Leslie Fuller (Aug 19, 2021)

Hi All, here’s my attempt at scoring for the Stargirl Competition:


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## Ceon (Aug 19, 2021)

Here is mine... 90% of the orchestral stuff is BBC Core... then I made a ton of sound design stuff, recorded some guitar(electric and nylon string) and a tiny bit of a harmonica in there somewhere...

I have been working professionally with music for a long long time, and done quite well with my pop/soul/neo-soul music through the years... last few years I have mostly been doing production music, including working on 3 albums with Two Steps From Hell, and had around 10.000 placements/uses on TV.

But I have NEVER actually done music to a scene like this before, I have always loved film music ever since I was a teenager, but I never moved into doing music to film myself... and doing the music to this scene was SOOO much fun. I thought it would be very difficult for me, but instead I just found it incredibly inspiring... I did most of the composition(piano-sketch) in about 2 hours... but then used a lot longer on the instrumentation and sound design and stuff like that. I know there are 4k+ entries(many of which are fantastic), so I know the chance of winning is microscopic... but I enjoyed this a lot and I learned a lot, so this already feels like a win for me. Makes me want to work with film music.


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## PJMorgan (Aug 19, 2021)

Brainfed said:


> I'm pretty late to thread/party but here's my entry:
> 
> 
> 
> I decided not to use any orchestral stuff at all because I assumed a lot of talented people were going to do that way better than I could.



Love this John Carpenterish score & like myself you seemed to go for an all-out Icicle themed dramatic piece for the ending scene. Love the 80's theme at the end too.


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## PJMorgan (Aug 19, 2021)

Ceon said:


> Here is mine... 90% of the orchestral stuff is BBC Core... then I made a ton of sound design stuff, recorded some guitar(electric and nylon string) and a tiny bit of a harmonica in there somewhere...
> 
> I have been working professionally with music for a long long time, and done quite well with my pop/soul/neo-soul music through the years... last few years I have mostly been doing production music, including working on 3 albums with Two Steps From Hell, and had around 10.000 placements/uses on TV.
> 
> But I have NEVER actually done music to a scene like this before, I have always loved film music ever since I was a teenager, but I never moved into doing music to film myself... and doing the music to this scene was SOOO much fun. I thought it would be very difficult for me, but instead I just found it incredibly inspiring... I did most of the composition(piano-sketch) in about 2 hours... but then used a lot longer on the instrumentation and sound design and stuff like that. I know there are 4k+ entries(many of which are fantastic), so I know the chance of winning is microscopic... but I enjoyed this a lot and I learned a lot, so this already feels like a win for me. Makes me want to work with film music.



Great job on this one, spot on timing & very well produced. I think this might be my overall favourite so far.


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## fish_hoof (Aug 19, 2021)

Hey all, so many great entries! Love it! 

Wanted to share my SCORE ONLY of my entry. Had a lot of positive comments on YouTube and wanted to share it with you. 



Original entry is here:



Would love to encourage others to share their score only as well!

Blessings all!


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## pranic (Aug 19, 2021)

Leslie Fuller said:


> Hi All, here’s my attempt at scoring for the Stargirl Competition:



Hi Leslie! Thanks for sharing your composition with us. Am I detecting a little bit of inspiration from "Tenet"? That synth pulse with the pitch bend was unique amongst many of the other rescores I've heard! Really nice touch on the saving of the bus as lukebot comes up and grabs the tail end of the bus and the pitch bend you used works really well there. Right after the bus was saved, I think the score audio was a hair too high when the woman on the bus said, "What happened", but overall, a unique take on the scene! All the best of luck in the competition!


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## Leslie Fuller (Aug 20, 2021)

pranic said:


> Hi Leslie! Thanks for sharing your composition with us. Am I detecting a little bit of inspiration from "Tenet"? That synth pulse with the pitch bend was unique amongst many of the other rescores I've heard! Really nice touch on the saving of the bus as lukebot comes up and grabs the tail end of the bus and the pitch bend you used works really well there. Right after the bus was saved, I think the score audio was a hair too high when the woman on the bus said, "What happened", but overall, a unique take on the scene! All the best of luck in the competition!


Hi Pranic, If it in any way was inspired by “Tenet”, that is purely accidental!  I used the Vital synth with the Half-Time Plugin and some pitch bend here and there to mark some points in the video.

I agree the audio was definitely not right in a few places & for the middle section. I was rushing to finish my submission and how it sounded on the laptop was not like the end result. The percussion in the middle was way lower, and some was lost entirely! 

I knew I couldn’t complete with other submissions “orchestrally”, so wanted a different feel. Thanks for the kind words!


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## Leslie Fuller (Aug 20, 2021)

pranic said:


> I took a stab at the project, and came up with this take on the scene. I set out to do a synth-heavy cue and then ended up letting the project take me more orchestral. I've really enjoyed listening to others' take on the scene, and wish all of you the best of luck!



Just played your submission back a couple of times, and especially loved the lukebot flying over the river part, plus the “choir” part at Stargirl’s Staff being raised! The ticking clock up to Joey and the Truck, was also nice.


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## ookami (Aug 20, 2021)

Bman70 said:


> Is that using Albion One?


I used EW OPUS for the Main Orchestration, and added EvoStrings and 8DIO AdagioStrings in the Back


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## rockrvilt (Aug 23, 2021)

Late to the party, but found this thread today 😅 Here's my contribution to the competition, felt that it got a 80s/90s orchestral adventure movie vibe when all was said and done 😋 Mainly using CSS, CSW, Infinite brass, CinePiano and CinePerc 😊


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## jeffreycl (Aug 23, 2021)

darkmagi250 said:


> I'm a bit late to to this thread, but here is my submission for the Stargirl competition.
> I went for a vintage style action tv show style, with some modern elements spread throughout.



I listened to this one and if I closed my eyes, it was like bring a kid all over again and watching some action TV show. It was great. I guess that also make me "vintage".


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## jeffreycl (Aug 23, 2021)

I might as well go out on a limb and post my entry. Had more fun doing this one than the Westworld (which I also enjoyed though). Albeit a hobby, it does provide a nice stress-relief (except for these doggone deadlines on the competitions ). Anyone has any nuggets of wisdom, I'm certainly open to hear them. Just like people try to improve their golf game even though they are not Tiger Woods, I try to improve even though I'm not Zimmer, Williams, Powell, Giacchino...Toprak, etc... (to name just a few of my favorites).


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## marksni (Aug 24, 2021)

So many AMAZING entries! Wow! Congrats everyone! Best of luck to you all!
I'd love to share mine: if you have any comments or feedback, I'd love to hear! Still learning how to do this


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## jay_connor_prods (Sep 3, 2021)

Been watching a lot of entries and have to say I'm impressed (not that my opinion has much weight), but either way I wanted to post and get some reactions. Hope you enjoy!


This is the music only version


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 12, 2021)

Has anyone else had YouTube dramatically reduce volume of uploaded video? I've tried getting LUFS adjusted by reducing overall volume and adding more compression and still can't get my uploaded video to sound any louder. I've heard quite a few scores that sound much louder than mine.


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## Illico (Sep 12, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> Has anyone else had YouTube dramatically reduce volume of uploaded video? I've tried getting LUFS adjusted by reducing overall volume and adding more compression and still can't get my uploaded video to sound any louder. I've heard quite a few scores that sound much louder than mine.



You have to check your wave file before uploading to Streaming platform like Youtube.

You can use Youlean Loudness plugin, -14LUFS Integrated and -1dB True Peak for Youtube.

You can also check with free online analyser Loudness Penalty that will explain how your original file will be affected by all platforms algorithms.


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 12, 2021)

Illico said:


> You have to check your wave file before uploading to Streaming platform like Youtube.
> 
> You can use Youlean Loudness plugin, -14LUFS Integrated and -1dB True Peak for Youtube.
> 
> You can also check with free online analyser Loudness Penalty that will explain how your original file will be affected by all platforms algorithms.


I am using Youlean Loudness plugin but was not aware of https://www.loudnesspenalty.com/ Thanks for that!


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## fish_hoof (Sep 14, 2021)

Hello everyone! 

Was curious to see if anyone received any comments from the Spitfire Team on their Youtube submissions.... Their FAQ says:

_How do I know whether my entry has been judged?

Once your entry has been viewed on YouTube a comment will be left by our team_

Just curious. 

Also, now that the deadline has long passed. Anyone have any thoughts on their score? What they liked? What they would change if they could? Would they have done anything different? 

Blessings!


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## shadowsoflight (Sep 14, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> Was curious to see if anyone received any comments from the Spitfire Team on their Youtube submissions.... Their FAQ says:
> 
> ...



Just checked the Spitfire forums - too many comments to make, and it's making the YouTube algorithm flag them as spam. So they are going to be emailing instead:









Stargirl Update: Has My Entry Been Judged Yet?


Update: We were originally going to comment on every participant's videos as a way of confirming their entry was judged.




community.spitfireaudio.com





Haven't been listening back to my score - I know I could pick it apart endlessly. I achieved my goal of my family and friends initially thinking it was an actual score, so I'm very happy with how it turned out... Even though I know there are much more outstanding attempts out there, not the least of which come from this community 😄


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## alcorey (Sep 14, 2021)

shadowsoflight said:


> Just checked the Spitfire forums - too many comments to make, and it's making the YouTube algorithm flag them as spam. So they are going to be emailing instead:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think everyone will very soon get one of these


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 14, 2021)

Ok I got that email but never got an individual comment on YouTube ^^ so I suppose I can assume mine was viewed?


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## alcorey (Sep 14, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Ok I got that email but never got an individual comment on YouTube ^^ so I suppose I can assume mine was viewed?


Yes, Shadowlight (just above) posted a link to the response from Spitfire that they were not able to comment on youtube channel


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

woohoo the email includes the free BBSCOD without having to write a f*--* life story


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Why didn’t they put that info in their fancy email they just sent out? Not everyone will see that SA forum post and wonder why they didn’t leave a comment as promised.

Anyway, I only entered for fun and to try my hand at it to see if I could do anything half decent. I feel like I achieved that and moved on.


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

*#MyStargirlScore was never listen to!*

It was stated once the score was listen to a comment would be left. I received my Google Form confirmation on the submission date Aug. 6, 2021. No comment was ever left to confirm that my score was actually listen to. 

*No email was ever received!* Just checked spam folder to verify it wasn't there either.


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## Dr.Quest (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> *#MyStargirlScore was never listen to!*
> 
> It was stated once the score was listen to a comment would be left. I received my Google Form confirmation on the submission date Aug. 6, 2021. No comment was ever left to confirm that my score was actually listen to. No email was ever received! Just checked spam folder to verify it wasn't there either.











Stargirl Update: Has My Entry Been Judged Yet?


Update: We were originally going to comment on every participant's videos as a way of confirming their entry was judged.




community.spitfireaudio.com


----------



## fish_hoof (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> *#MyStargirlScore was never listen to!*
> 
> It was stated once the score was listen to a comment would be left. I received my Google Form confirmation on the submission date Aug. 6, 2021. No comment was ever left to confirm that my score was actually listen to.
> 
> *No email was ever received!* Just checked spam folder to verify it wasn't there either.



I’m sure it was listened to. I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure but have to trust the process.


----------



## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

Dr.Quest said:


> Stargirl Update: Has My Entry Been Judged Yet?
> 
> 
> Update: We were originally going to comment on every participant's videos as a way of confirming their entry was judged.
> ...


What does this mean? I would only receive a email if my score was deemed worthy?


----------



## shadowsoflight (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> What does this mean? I would only receive a email if my score was deemed worthy?


You should have recieved an email if your submission was successfully recieved - there is no pre-filtering in this regard. I would suggest a couple of additional things to "troubleshoot":

- Check your original submission details on the Google Forms response (if you haven't already), to confirm the email address & test the YouTube link.
- Do a global search of your email to make sure it didn't get filtered into an unexpected spot. Depending on the service you use this sometimes trips me up. (E.G. Google has a promotions folder that I often forget about)


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Actually, even if they had left a comment it is still a matter of trust that they watched your whole video. So either way you have to trust that they did. I do, but I can understand the skepticism. However I fail to see what you’ll achieve claiming that the judges didn’t see it. We all sent them the direct link when we entered and a lot is at stake here in terms of good will and reputation for all parties involved. To me it would make sense that they were meticulous, thorough and honourable.


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Zedcars said:


> Actually, even if they had left a comment it is still a matter of trust that they watched your whole video.


They don't really need to for judging purposes.. I imagine they only watch each video until they feel they know it's out of the running. i.e. "it's not going to get any better." Or did they say somewhere they'll watch each one in entirety?


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Bman70 said:


> They don't really need to for judging purposes.. I imagine they only watch each video until they feel they know it's out of the running. i.e. "it's not going to get any better." Or did they say somewhere they'll watch each one in entirety?


That seems against the spirit of fair play. On a practical level perhaps you are right. After all, a poor 1st half will not be saved by a better 2nd half. I’m assuming they’d listen all the way though, but I don’t know. I’m just thinking about it from my own perspective of giving everyone a ‘fair crack of the whip’. But then maybe I’m naive and the shear number of entries meant they had to skip a few half way through? No idea tbh.


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

shadowsoflight said:


> You should have recieved an email if your submission was successfully recieved - there is no pre-filtering in this regard. I would suggest a couple of additional things to "troubleshoot":
> 
> - Check your original submission details on the Google Forms response (if you haven't already), to confirm the email address & test the YouTube link.
> - Do a global search of your email to make sure it didn't get filtered into an unexpected spot. Depending on the service you use this sometimes trips me up. (E.G. Google has a promotions folder that I often forget about)


Never received comment on video or any email! I've tripled checked spam too. I have my Google Form confirmation that I received Aug. 6, 2021 same day I uploaded my score and everything it correct. That's why I know my score was never listened to!


----------



## Wally Garten (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> Never received comment on video or any email! I've tripled checked spam too. I have my Google Form confirmation that I received Aug. 6, 2021 same day I uploaded my score and everything it correct. That's why I know my score was never listened to!


Perhaps the Google Forms email is the one they mean? That's the only one I received, too (until the one today). 

As for comments, as other have noted above, Spitfire stated in forum comments that they realized they were not going to be able to leave comments on the videos due to YouTube's spam policies. So I would not expect that.

But if your Google Forms info is correct, I would assume they listened to it. I don't see why they wouldn't.


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> Perhaps the Google Forms email is the one they mean? That's the only one I received, too (until the one today).
> 
> As for comments, as other have noted above, Spitfire stated in forum comments that they realized they were not going to be able to leave comments on the videos due to YouTube's spam policies. So I would not expect that.
> 
> But if your Google Forms info is correct, I would assume they listened to it. I don't see why they wouldn't.


No the Google form one was automated just to acknowledge entry. It doesn't mean it was qualified (which the second email does). AFAIK


----------



## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> Perhaps the Google Forms email is the one they mean? That's the only one I received, too (until the one today).
> 
> As for comments, as other have noted above, Spitfire stated in forum comments that they realized they were not going to be able to leave comments on the videos due to YouTube's spam policies. So I would not expect that.
> 
> But if your Google Forms info is correct, I would assume they listened to it. I don't see why they wouldn't.


Did you receive email confirmation that they listened to your score?


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Bman70 said:


> No the Google form one was automated just to acknowledge entry. It doesn't mean it was qualified (which the second email does). AFAIK


I only received a Google Forms email acknowledgment too. I have received no other email (apart from today’s marketing one) from SA about the contest.

Which second email are you referring to?


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Zedcars said:


> I only received a Google Forms email acknowledgment too. I have received no other email (apart from today’s marketing one) from SA about the contest.
> 
> Which second email are you referring to?


The one saying that Pinar picked a winner, and a code for the free BBCSO "as a thank you for entering?" I guess that could just be a marketing email, but it does acknowledge you entered a 2nd time.


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Zedcars said:


> I only received a Google Forms email acknowledgment too. I have received no other email (apart from today’s marketing one) from SA about the contest.
> 
> Which second email are you referring to?


I’ll answer my own question from the link above:

We will now email every successful entrant to the Stargirl Competition. This will confirm that your entry was submitted correctly and was judged by a member of the Spitfire Audio team. *Emails will be sent before the winner is announced.*


----------



## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Zedcars said:


> I’ll answer my own question from the link above:
> 
> We will now email every successful entrant to the Stargirl Competition. This will confirm that your entry was submitted correctly and was judged by a member of the Spitfire Audio team. *Emails will be sent before the winner is announced.*


Ah, pretty confusing overall! Oh well, it could be that the winner announcement isn't the listening confirmation. Shit! Lol. Regardless I only got the initial Google automated one then the winner announcement. (With free BBSCO Discover.)


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## Wally Garten (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> Did you receive email confirmation that they listened to your score?


It doesn't say it directly, but as @Bman70 says, they sent around an email today thanking people for entering and giving a small gift. Did you get that one?


Zedcars said:


> I’ll answer my own question from the link above:
> 
> We will now email every successful entrant to the Stargirl Competition. This will confirm that your entry was submitted correctly and was judged by a member of the Spitfire Audio team. *Emails will be sent before the winner is announced.*


I think today's email is the one they mean, though I suppose we could ask @Spitfire Team or @SpitfireSupport to weigh in.


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## Wally Garten (Sep 14, 2021)

Bman70 said:


> Ah, pretty confusing overall!


Agreed!


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Bman70 said:


> The one saying that Pinar picked a winner, and a code for the free BBCSO "as a thank you for entering?" I guess that could just be a marketing email, but it does acknowledge you entered a 2nd time.


Ah, OK. I actually didn’t read the bottom half of that email originally as I thought the poster marketing bit was the only bit of concern. Only just read that last bit. So looks like that is the one to confirm that your entry was watched/listened to and judged.


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Zedcars said:


> Ah, OK. I actually didn’t read the bottom half of that email originally as I thought the poster marketing bit was the only bit of concern. Only just read that last bit. So looks like that is the one to confirm that your entry was watched/listened to and judged.


Seems likely, as it also says "All the entries have now been viewed." Since _no one _has mentioned a personal listening acknowledgment, it does appear they went with a mass one.

On a nice note, they say about the BBCSOD code, "If you already have BBCSO Discover then feel free to pass this code onto a friend." So a good opportunity for someone who doesn't have it to get it instantly.


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Bman70 said:


> Ah, pretty confusing overall! Oh well, it could be that the winner announcement isn't the listening confirmation. Shit! Lol. Regardless I only got the initial Google automated one then the winner announcement. (With free BBSCO Discover.)


Yes, I really don’t think it’s be handled clearly at all. In fact, it’s a bit of a dog’s dinner.

A lot of competitions have this feeling like you’ve put a ton of work into your entry and then you just toss it into a big black hole never to hear anything further about it until the winner is announced. It must feel pretty gutty to get the feeling that they didn’t even listen. I guess that’s what they are trying to rectify with the statement and the emails but it’s still as clear as mud if you ask me.


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> It doesn't say it directly, but as @Bman70 says, they sent around an email today thanking people for entering and giving a small gift. Did you get that one?
> 
> I think today's email is the one they mean, though I suppose we could ask @Spitfire Team or @SpitfireSupport to weigh in.


Yes I received today's email stating "Judging has Finished". That's what triggered me. Knowing they have already picked a winner but never gave me the courtesy of actually listening to my work! No comment and no email saying we listened. I did receive an acknowledgment last year during the Westworld competition with a comment left on my score.


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## shadowsoflight (Sep 14, 2021)

One other thing to add: there actually were some qualifiers on whether your entry would be accepted: no copyright infringements (besides the clip we had permission to use, obviously) or alterations to the original clip audio/video. I would assume violation here would mean you are not included on the recent confirmation mass-email.



Louis Van Zandt said:


> Yes I received today's email stating "Judging has Finished". That's what triggered me. Knowing they have already picked a winner but never gave me the courtesy of actually listening to my work! No comment and no email saying we listened.



That is the confirmation email, looks like you're good!


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## Zedcars (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> Yes I received today's email stating "Judging has Finished". That's what triggered me. Knowing they have already picked a winner but never gave me the courtesy of actually listening to my work! No comment and no email saying we listened.


I still don’t quite follow you when you say “…I know my score was never listened to!”. Like you, I also received no YouTube comment from them (the reasons for that seem legit and understandable); I also received the Google Form email as you did, and then finally today’s email thanking me for entering (as you did). I’m assuming they listened to my entry because I trust them (perhaps naively). Why are you so sure they did not listen to your entry?


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

Zedcars said:


> I still don’t quite follow you when you say “…I know my score was never listened to!”. Like you, I also received no YouTube comment from them (the reasons for that seem legit and understandable); I also received the Google Form email as you did, and then finally today’s email thanking me for entering (as you did). I’m assuming they listened to my entry because I trust them (perhaps naively). Why are you so sure they did not listen to your entry?


Last year during the Westworld competition they left me a comment. This year nothing!


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 14, 2021)

Yeah, regarding not listening to the whole thing. From a practical standpoint it seems exhausting to listen to them all, the whole way through, but also if you’re running a contest - figure out a way to limit submissions if u can’t give all of them a fair shot imo because while the second half won’t save a bad first half, artistically you need time to build. You want to engage the listener with your unique voice early on but you still need time to build and the best parts of a score should be in the fucking climax not first half so it seems like a waste to not watch the whole thing?

What do I know?


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## Wally Garten (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> Last year during the Westworld competition they left me a comment. This year nothing!


Right, but... they've explained that they aren't commenting this year. And you did receive today's email. So... why do you think they didn't listen to your entry?


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## Nigel Andreola (Sep 14, 2021)

Has as anyone received an email confirming their entry was viewed and judged other than the one that announces a winner has been selected? If so, can you tell us what it says? If it came a wile ago, it's possible it went to my spam folder got auto deleted as I wouldn't have known to look there it till today.


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Yeah, regarding not listening to the whole thing. From a practical standpoint it seems exhausting to listen to them all, the whole way through, but also if you’re running a contest - figure out a way to limit submissions if u can’t give all of them a fair shot imo because while the second half won’t save a bad first half, artistically you need time to build. You want to engage the listener with your unique voice early on but you still need time to build and the best parts of a score should be in the fucking climax not first half so it seems like a waste to not watch the whole thing?
> 
> What do I know?


Nobody knows, we're all just speculating. But, to me it seems a fair shot if it's an equal shot to "get past" the critical soundtrack judges' experienced ears long enough that they don't shut it off gagging. Lol


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> Right, but... they've explained that they aren't commenting this year. And you did receive today's email. So... why do you think they didn't listen to your entry?


When did they say they aren't commenting?

This is what was originally said:
"How do I know whether my entry has been judged?
Once your entry has been viewed on YouTube a comment will be left by our team"

Then on Sept. 10, 2021 they gave this update:
"We will now email every successful entrant to the Stargirl Competition. This will confirm that your entry was submitted correctly and was judged by a member of the Spitfire Audio team. Emails will be sent before the winner is announced."

I never received an email confirming my entry was judged. 
The idea of assuming it was listened to without an explicit acknowledgment leaves everyone in the dark.


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## Wally Garten (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> When did they say they aren't commenting?


In the comment that people linked above:









Stargirl Update: Has My Entry Been Judged Yet?


Update: We were originally going to comment on every participant's videos as a way of confirming their entry was judged.




community.spitfireaudio.com





"We were originally going to comment on every participant's videos as a way of confirming their entry was judged. This was in response to feedback we received for the Westworld competition- where some entrants felt their videos were not watched.

"Whilst every successful entrant to the Westworld competition was judged, this gave us a way of confirming your entry was successfully submitted and reviewed.

"Unfortunately, the account we were using was quickly blocked for spam, so we were unable to use this method of verification. This is why a very small minority of early entries would have received a comment but the vast majority of later entries have not."


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## Wally Garten (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> The idea of assuming it was listened to without an explicit acknowledgment leaves everyone in the dark.


I agree it's confusing. But I wouldn't leap to the worst conclusion.


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> I agree it's confusing. But I wouldn't leap to the worst conclusion.


I sincerely hope you are right and my fears are unfounded.


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## Wally Garten (Sep 14, 2021)

Louis Van Zandt said:


> I sincerely hope you are right and my fears are unfounded.


Same, brother. Otherwise we may all be screwed!


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## Louis Van Zandt (Sep 14, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> Same, brother. Otherwise we may all be screwed!


That made me laugh! Thanks.


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## ism (Sep 14, 2021)

Just a heads up that last year there was all kind of tinfoil-hatted conspiracy theories around this that led to real, and harmful abusiveness towards certain members of this community. 

So by all means, lets clarify the process transparently, as there appears to be some legitimate confusion. 

But let’s do it respectfully, secure in the knowledge that youtube is the place in which to dehumanized and abuse other people with impunity, and vi-c is the place for mutual respect in the spirit of ‘musicians helping musicians’.


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## arznable (Sep 14, 2021)

Nigel Andreola said:


> Has as anyone received an email confirming their entry was viewed and judged other than the one that announces a winner has been selected? If so, can you tell us what it says? If it came a wile ago, it's possible it went to my spam folder got auto deleted as I wouldn't have known to look there it till today.


I am curious as well. However, it seems that everyone got the "Judging Has Finished" email today, but none received any email regarding one's work has been judged explicitly.


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## arznable (Sep 14, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Yeah, regarding not listening to the whole thing. From a practical standpoint it seems exhausting to listen to them all, the whole way through, but also if you’re running a contest - figure out a way to limit submissions if u can’t give all of them a fair shot imo because while the second half won’t save a bad first half, artistically you need time to build. You want to engage the listener with your unique voice early on but you still need time to build and the best parts of a score should be in the fucking climax not first half so it seems like a waste to not watch the whole thing?
> 
> What do I know?


I have quite a different point of view. I think the sole purpose of music in a movie is to enhance the scene with the vision that the director envisioned. Otherwise, no music is even better than music that distracts audience from the activity on screen.

Unlike a song, movie music does not build. If there is a fierce battle at the beginning of the scene, then the music jumps right in. If the music does not enhance the scene for the first half, even John Williams scores the second half, the music fails for the entire scene.

Rule #1 for scoring a motion picture is always picture first, music second. If at any point in the scene the music is not enhancing the scene or is not what the director wanted, the music score fails IMHO.


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 14, 2021)

arznable said:


> I have quite a different point of view. I think the sole purpose of music in a movie is to enhance the scene with the vision that the director envisioned. Otherwise, no music is even better than music that distracts audience from the activity on screen.
> 
> Unlike a song, movie music does not build. If there is a fierce battle at the beginning of the scene, then the music jumps right in. If the music does not enhance the scene for the first half, even John Williams scores the second half, the music fails for the entire scene.
> 
> Rule #1 for scoring a motion picture is always picture first, music second. If at any point in the scene the music is not enhancing the scene or is not what the director wanted, the music score fails IMHO.


Yes but the scene still has an order of events that unfold with different energy and its not on 100% intense the whole time. Even if its a lot in a short clip like this one, there is still some form of pacing. That's all I'm saying. However, it's a nice challenge because everyone interprets picture differently and will enhance it differently. Which is cool by me.

Personally tho, I thought a film like Tenet failed to hit as well as Nolan's other work because of 3 reasons: It's intense/fast cut the whole time, and the music is equally intense and oppressive the whole time. Everything is at 100% the whole time, so thus never really hitting hard. If there are no dynamics you're left with an overly compressed flat piece of work. Sonically and emotionally. 
3: it's tone deaf to the times hahaha. No-one can relate to characters like this at the moment, in my opinion. All too mega rich. (ripping on his suit not being crazy expensive, little things like that) I forget, the movie was very forgettable. Had some neat ideas but force fed with exposition and too busy all around for my taste.


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 14, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Yes but the scene still has an order of events that unfold with different energy and its not on 100% intense the whole time. Even if its a lot in a short clip like this one, there is still some form of pacing. That's all I'm saying. However, it's a nice challenge because everyone interprets picture differently and will enhance it differently. Which is cool by me.
> 
> Personally tho, I thought a film like Tenet failed to hit as well as Nolan's other work because of 3 reasons: It's intense/fast cut the whole time, and the music is equally intense and oppressive the whole time. Everything is at 100% the whole time, so thus never really hitting hard. If there are no dynamics you're left with an overly compressed flat piece of work. Sonically and emotionally.
> 3: it's tone deaf to the times hahaha. No-one can relate to characters like this at the moment, in my opinion. All too mega rich. (ripping on his suit not being crazy expensive, little things like that) I forget, the movie was very forgettable. Had some neat ideas but force fed with exposition and too busy all around for my taste.


Like it's weird I love Gorranson's score for Black Panther, and like his score for Mandalorian but for Tenet its just too much of his schtick of "This scene there's a truck chase, so I sampled a truck engine and looped it in the rhyhtm." "This scene has ducks in it so I sampled a duck quacking and looped it into staccato beats" etc


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

arznable said:


> Unlike a song, movie music does not build. If there is a fierce battle at the beginning of the scene, then the music jumps right in.


That was the approach I used, as a neophyte just asking myself what purpose was this soundtrack going to serve. It in no way had a way to ease in, when I watched it. She's jumping over a log after presumably a breathless dash; we're in the thickest part of the action. For her, at least. So my soundtrack opened with an "action strike." Robot boy has his action scene just after that, which I scored differently (impressionistic metal-ish distorted guitar and drums). But, I was just f-ing around since it was all new to me.


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## AndyP (Sep 15, 2021)

The mail from Spitfire came today. And I thought I had participated in the Spifftire contest.
Now I am confused which contest I actually won? I already bought 2000 TB of SSD to install the Spifftire libraries.


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## alcorey (Sep 15, 2021)

AndyP said:


> The mail from Spitfire came today. And I thought I had participated in the Spifftire contest.
> Now I am confused which contest I actually won? I already bought 2000 TB of SSD to install the Spifftire libraries.


Robot boy will deliver them to the winner 9/23/21 @ 1:00 P.M. PST...........keep your eye out


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## AndyP (Sep 15, 2021)

I would probably get the fright of my life.


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## alcorey (Sep 15, 2021)

AndyP said:


> I would probably get the fright of my life.


Or maybe the flight of your life


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## Wally Garten (Sep 16, 2021)

alcorey said:


> Or maybe the flight of your life


Wait... does this contest give the winner superpowers?


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Sep 16, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> Wait... does this contest give the winner superpowers?


and the winner has to wear the Stargirl costume the whole day....


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## alcorey (Sep 16, 2021)

SevenTearsOfHope said:


> and he has to wear the Stargirl costume the whole day....


It may be a "she"... you know


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## SevenTearsOfHope (Sep 16, 2021)

alcorey said:


> It may be a "she"... you know


true, i changed it^^


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## Ilya Ivanov (Sep 17, 2021)

The announcement is just six days away, but I feel good knowing that the competition is over. I was never holding my hopes high, thinking I could win the grand prize; instead, I've set a goal to produce something worthy of being listed among the top five contenders. Or perhaps I just wanted to hear what others think of my work. Anyway, I checked my submission for the first time in a few weeks, and I am genuinely proud of the result. I can tell that I have made sufficient progress since the last year's competition, and the recognition I got from family and friends is all the praise I needed. However, I still hope to get away with a copy of Albion Iceni, don't get me wrong on that.

Anyway, I just wanted to let that out of my chest. Every single one of us did the best job we could, and that's all that matters. I hope we all stay positive, creative, and (most importantly) kind to each other in these upcoming days. And to the lucky winners out there? You guys rock.


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## FlyingAndi (Sep 23, 2021)

One hour left to go.
My entry already has 33 views and 2 likes. So I'm eager to see who will be the four runners up...


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## jeffreycl (Sep 23, 2021)

FlyingAndi said:


> One hour left to go.
> My entry already has 33 views and 2 likes. So I'm eager to see who will be the four runners up...


Apparently you Andi. I got 68 views and 3 likes. Ain’t no stoppin’ this freight train! 😂


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## Nigel Andreola (Sep 23, 2021)

According to my YouTube channel analytics, 61.3% of my Stargirl video's views were from vi-control. Thank you for watching my entry!


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## fish_hoof (Sep 23, 2021)

Alright everyone! Thoughts? Reactions? What did you learn?


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## Hat_Tricky (Sep 23, 2021)

Wow, congrats to all the winners - they sounded incredible. This whole competition was awesome and I'm glad I could take part, I'm sure we all learned so much having 10 emotion swings within 2 minutes staring us in the face with a blank DAW template to start.

My biggest takeaway is TRANSITIONS ARE SO HARD TO DO in tight spaces, and also JUST STARTING is the hardest part. A bike is hardest to pedal from a standstill....or up a giant hill....lol!

I REALLY hope Spitfire does this every year, this kind of thing is they are doing for the community is part of the reason I'm so happy they are killin' it in the industry!! Like Paul said in the stream today, time is super valuable and for them to be able to not only give us these scenes to score, but have heavyweights like Pinar Toprak judge and be involved in the prizes is absolutely BONKERS. It almost felt illegal getting to work with the video from Westworld and Stargirl haha!

Anyways, would really appreciate some VI-control community feedback for my entry, I didn't post it back in August.


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## shadowsoflight (Sep 23, 2021)

fish_hoof said:


> Alright everyone! Thoughts? Reactions? What did you learn?



First of all, congrats to the winners! They were all top quality scores, and I'm betting they will put their prizes to good use 😄

Key takeaways for me are:
1. I believe I had a good sense of the overall flow of the scene. Overall, despite not winning (never expected to!) I feel very positive about this, and have something to build off of.
2. I need to work on the detail and complexity of my arrangements - pretty much at all levels. (Which is not surprising, I am definitely more of a big picture thinker.) The minimalist style I chose doesn't seem to be what the industry is looking for. I believe that this issue would immediately place all of the winning entries above mine, so my further points are shots in the dark.
3. I chose silence to bridge the two pieces of the scene, to enhance the brief sense of relief. This conflicts with the winner, but not sure whether it was a bad thing to try.
4. I didn't score the logo at the end. Still unsure if this mattered for judging, but on a personal level I would definitely do it next time. More fun that way!
5. I didn't have complete silence at the end; rather, I had a fluttering reverb tail on a piano. I think that was a good thing to try.
6. The build up to Joey getting hit was done in a more gradual, sound bed / textural type of way by Chris and many others. I chose a more punctuated approach with some spiccato matching the beat of camera changes. Again, not sure if this was "wrong" to do, or just different.

Lots to think about, as expected! Hopefully my self-reflections are on the right track. Still very thankful for this opportunity.


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## chrishurn (Sep 23, 2021)

Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


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## Nimrod7 (Sep 23, 2021)

Hey Chris huge congratulations! 

Was a fantastic entry, very very emotional!

Enjoy the session with Pinar! Squeeze every bit out of it, it's a unique opportunity!


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## Leslie Fuller (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Congratulations Chris! As I wrote on YouTube, I think you nailed the emotion of the scene perfectly!


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## Nimrod7 (Sep 23, 2021)

by the way, I hope you have plenty of SSD's lying around! :D


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## fish_hoof (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Congrats brother!


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## chrishurn (Sep 23, 2021)

Nimrod7 said:


> by the way, I hope you have plenty of SSD's lying around! :D


Ha! Time to get some new ones. I'm really excited about the mentoring session, but also the spitfire drive as there have been lots of sample libraries I've been so keen to grab but haven't yet.


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## dcoscina (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Well done Chris!


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## Hat_Tricky (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Congrats, Chris! You nailed it. All the right emotional beats, especially loved what you did with the really tricky last 30 seconds!

Enjoy those download times on all your new libraries LOL!!! RIP your data caps.


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## Alex Fraser (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Awesome Chris! 👏👏


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## brandowalk (Sep 23, 2021)

Very nicely done. Congrats Chris!


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## sourcefor (Sep 23, 2021)

Awesome job!


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## MusiquedeReve (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Hey Chris - congratulations - enjoy building that mountain of SSDs


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## Noeticus (Sep 23, 2021)

Congratulations Chris!


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 23, 2021)

Congratulations Chris Hurn! Very nicely done!


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## Daren Audio (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


@chrishurn 
Huge congrats on the win and the networking/mentoring session!


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## Mr Sakitumi (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Congrats! I loved your score, well deserved 🙌


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## re-peat (Sep 23, 2021)

Congratulations, Chris. Top job. 

I only watched/listened to a handful of entries and while some had pretty good music, with every one of them I thought “Jeez, that’s a badly edited scene”. Cuts lasting either too long or not long enough, you know. But yours didn’t give me that feeling at all: music and editing lock perfectly and your contribution lifts the whole thing to a level none of the other entries even hinted at. 
Really-really well done. You have 'it'.

_


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## Scamper (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Congrats, Chris! Your entry sounds fantastic and has lots of great moments, which fit the picture real well.

In the end, I just enjoyed taking part in the competition, to get experience with scoring and see how differently everybody tackled the scene. Great job everybody! Looking forward towards the next one.


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## Wally Garten (Sep 23, 2021)

re-peat said:


> Congratulations, Chris. Top job.
> 
> I only watched/listened to a handful of entries and while some had pretty good music, with every one of them I thought “Jeez, that’s a badly edited scene”. Cuts lasting either too long or not long enough, you know. But yours didn’t give me that feeling at all: music and editing lock perfectly and your contribution lifts the whole thing to a level none of the other entries even hinted at.
> Really-really well done. You have 'it'.
> ...


This is a great point, and I totally agree. Chris's music really makes the edits flow better than they do otherwise. Very nicely done.


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## AndyP (Sep 23, 2021)

Well done Chris. Congratulations on the win! I liked especially the first part, up to the quieter bridge scene very well!


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## steelej80 (Sep 23, 2021)

Hat_Tricky said:


> Enjoy those download times on all your new libraries LOL!!! RIP your data caps.


as the name suggests the “everything drive” is actually a hard drive with all the libraries on it 😁


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## dyvoid (Sep 23, 2021)

Congrats Chris! Amazing work and a well deserved win!


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## EuropaWill (Sep 23, 2021)

Congratulations to Chris Hurn, with 17 films, 46 commercials/trailers, and 8 games under his belt! And it would have been nice if they even viewed my submission but clearly they didn't. I wonder how many others had no comment from the spitfire team in their youtube comments section proving they didn't view theirs also? My submission if anyone's curious :D


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## chrishurn (Sep 23, 2021)

EuropaWill said:


> Congratulations to Chris Hurn, with 17 films, 46 commercials/trailers, and 8 games under his belt! And it would have been nice if they even viewed my submission but clearly they didn't. I wonder how many others had no comment from the spitfire team in their youtube comments section proving they didn't view theirs also? My submission if anyone's curious :D



I feel your frustration. To give a bit more context - those 17 films you are referring to are almost all student & no budget films... I've had a very difficult time finding decent film scoring gigs, (especially living in New Zealand, at least for now) and the trailer production music doesn't really help in that area! But I understand where you are coming from and perhaps it may be perceived as unfair to some.

For me, these competitions are about learning and that's why I entered - I have a lot to learn about scoring and this was great practice. Also my video was on something like 30 views before the win...it was definitely hidden deep in there with no comments before today!


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## confusedsheep (Sep 23, 2021)

on behalf for the union of music making sheep we congratulate the winner(s)! 



​


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## Marsen (Sep 23, 2021)

Congrats Chris, well deserved. 
Best score, I heard, and you made it. 
Pinar has chosen the right one.


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## Brainfed (Sep 23, 2021)

Congrats @chrishurn, you did an amazing job!

@EuropaWill Spitfire weren't able to comment on everyone's video so you should have gotten an email instead. I didn't get a comment on mine either but I have no reason to doubt their word that they watched it.


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## Dr.Quest (Sep 23, 2021)

EuropaWill said:


> Congratulations to Chris Hurn, with 17 films, 46 commercials/trailers, and 8 games under his belt! And it would have been nice if they even viewed my submission but clearly they didn't. I wonder how many others had no comment from the spitfire team in their youtube comments section proving they didn't view theirs also? My submission if anyone's curious :D



You clearly haven't read this... https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/919/stargirl-update-has-my-entry-been-judged-yet


_"Whilst every successful entrant to the Westworld competition was judged, this gave us a way of confirming your entry was successfully submitted and reviewed.

Unfortunately, the account we were using was quickly blocked for spam, so we were unable to use this method of verification. This is why a very small minority of early entries would have received a comment but the vast majority of later entries have not."_


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## RSK (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> I feel your frustration. To give a bit more context - those 17 films you are referring to are almost all student & no budget films... I've had a very difficult time finding decent film scoring gigs, (especially living in New Zealand, at least for now) and the trailer production music doesn't really help in that area! But I understand where you are coming from and perhaps it may be perceived as unfair to some.
> 
> For me, these competitions are about learning and that's why I entered - I have a lot to learn about scoring and this was great practice. Also my video was on something like 30 views before the win...it was definitely hidden deep in there with no comments before today!


You did an awesome job. Congrats!


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## EuropaWill (Sep 23, 2021)

Dr.Quest said:


> You clearly haven't read this... https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/919/stargirl-update-has-my-entry-been-judged-yet
> 
> 
> _"Whilst every successful entrant to the Westworld competition was judged, this gave us a way of confirming your entry was successfully submitted and reviewed.
> ...


@Dr.Quest Thanks for pointing that out, you're right, I didn't read that since I wasn't following that particular forum/thread, I referred to their original FAQ that was never updated to reflect this change.


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## FlyingAndi (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Also my video was on something like 30 views before the win...it was definitely hidden deep in there with no comments before today!


Ha! So my joke earlier today wasn't that far fetched (I had 33 views).
And it's nice to see that an underdog who didn't get that much attention from the YouTube community can win.
So congratulations! After rewatching your entry I agree that it has a special way of making the scene flow.

Do we have any of the runners-up up here?
That cards floating moment of the Arnold Bueno entry is pretty awesome as well.

I had lots of fun taking part in this competition and hearing all the different approaches. Looking forward to next year!


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## dyvoid (Sep 23, 2021)

Yes, the runner-ups definitely deserve praise as well! I really enjoyed Jez Davies' entry in particular. What makes that entry special is the choice of when to re-introduce tension to the scene. Most entries do it on the shot of the car. But Jez' entry does it way earlier, on the 'this was a mistake' line. I think that works way better for the scene. It makes the point that this is not a victory or moment of relief. And then this feeling gets confirmed and further strengthened as the car enters the picture. I think that's a great choice for this scene.


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## prasad_v (Sep 23, 2021)

Congratulations to all the winning entries !! :D
And to all those who didnt, keep going!!


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 23, 2021)

dyvoid said:


> Yes, the runner-ups definitely deserve praise as well! I really enjoyed Jez Davies' entry in particular. What makes that entry special is the choice of when to re-introduce tension to the scene. Most entries do it on the shot of the car. But Jez' entry does it way earlier, on the 'this was a mistake' line. I think that works way better for the scene. It makes the point that this is not a victory or moment of relief. And then this feeling gets confirmed and further strengthened as the car enters the picture. I think that's a great choice for this scene.


For sure, I agree with the tension and that’s when I introduced urgency back into mine. I actually got some flack from it from someone saying it was too foreshadowing but I respectively disagreed. Especially how she says we need to find icicle and had that look on her face. Seemed like rivalry momentum building up before danger’s location was revealed, although known.


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## Robin Thompson (Sep 23, 2021)

Baronvonheadless said:


> For sure, I agree with the tension and that’s when I introduced urgency back into mine. I actually got some flack from it from someone saying it was too foreshadowing but I respectively disagreed. Especially how she says we need to find icicle and had that look on her face. Seemed like rivalry momentum building up before danger’s location was revealed, although known.


Agreed as well. For anyone who looked into the context of the scene it should have been obvious that the moment is more conflicted. The bus got dragged into the middle of an ill-advised battle with Icicle, and afterwards Luke Wilson's character feels really guilty about putting them in danger like that. So that moment after the action cue isn't, "Yay! We saved the day!" - it's, "Whew, we just barely got away with that!" And then, in many of the strongest entries, the music comes in like Morgan Freeman to say, "They did not, in fact, get away with it." 😂


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## Robin Thompson (Sep 23, 2021)

Hat_Tricky said:


> Anyways, would really appreciate some VI-control community feedback for my entry, I didn't post it back in August.


Someone in the Stargirl thread in the Spitfire forums suggested figuring out a way to organize the entries so we can systematically give feedback to everyone, maybe through a give-a-review get-a-review system, and I'm totally on board with that. Probably too late for this year, but maybe we can get that in place for next year.


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## RedDot (Sep 23, 2021)

Brainfed said:


> Congrats @chrishurn, you did an amazing job!
> 
> @EuropaWill Spitfire weren't able to comment on everyone's video so you should have gotten an email instead. I didn't get a comment on mine either but I have no reason to doubt their word that they watched it.


Given the bit of controversy surrounding their (previous) Westworld scoring competition, I'm sure they did take extra care this time.

As a side note, I hope HBO and Spitfire Audio will do it again. HBO shows are much more fun to score than Marvel/DC ones.


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## Wally Garten (Sep 23, 2021)

Robin Thompson said:


> Agreed as well. For anyone who looked into the context of the scene it should have been obvious that the moment is more conflicted. The bus got dragged into the middle of an ill-advised battle with Icicle, and afterwards Luke Wilson's character feels really guilty about putting them in danger like that. So that moment after the action cue isn't, "Yay! We saved the day!" - it's, "Whew, we just barely got away with that!" And then, in many of the strongest entries, the music comes in like Morgan Freeman to say, "They did not, in fact, get away with it." 😂


Yeah. My method was to split the baby a bit -- I went for ominous soft chords on the "We've gotta get out of here" line, then a stronger bad-omens theme for when the truck shows up.


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## RedDot (Sep 23, 2021)

Robin Thompson said:


> Someone in the Stargirl thread in the Spitfire forums suggested figuring out a way to organize the entries so we can systematically give feedback to everyone, maybe through a give-a-review get-a-review system, and I'm totally on board with that. Probably too late for this year, but maybe we can get that in place for next year.


There are ~4200 videos tagged #MyStargirlScore on YouTube. It seems almost impossible to give any substantial feedback to everyone.


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## pranic (Sep 23, 2021)

Hey @Chris Hurst - I hope you're celebrating today, and well executed both technically and creatively! This competition was (and has been) quite fun for me, and I think @Spitfire Team did an amazing job this year at sharing the reasons *why* Chris' score caught their attention and ultimately went on to win. That was a nice touch to their announcement video today.

Congrats again, and big props to everyone who took the time to challenge themselves on this scene! Here's hoping you (and the runners-up) enjoy your Spitfire libraries, as I'm sure they'll really elevate your sound palette and your art. For the rest of us, we'll just likely keep our eyes out on the Deals Deals Deals channel!


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## Hat_Tricky (Sep 23, 2021)

steelej80 said:


> as the name suggests the “everything drive” is actually a hard drive with all the libraries on it 😁


AH I didn't know Spitfire was going to send it on drives to the winners - i just checked it out - WOW! I'm actually impressed, not only at them sending physical drives, but also that EVERYTHING fits on 2 SSDs? 

What are they, 4TBs each lol?


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## RSK (Sep 23, 2021)

RedDot said:


> There are ~4200 videos tagged #MyStargirlScore on YouTube. It seems almost impossible to give any substantial feedback to everyone.


Interesting; there were 11,000 entries for the Westworld competition.


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## jneebz (Sep 23, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Congrats!! Well done!


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## Illico (Sep 24, 2021)

Congratulations to Chris and all the finalists. I listened to a lot of entries but didn't have a chance to find yours. I only found Jeremy Davies', which I also "thumbsup" about a few weeks ago. 
It was very funny to participate. Thanks Spitfire Audio, Pinar, Mad Ghost and DC. Regards.


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## juliandoe (Sep 24, 2021)

This has been a great experience, and I've learned a lot. The winner and the runners-up are top-notch and I've listened to a lot of the entries and there are tons of good tracks! Congrats to the winners!


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## RedDot (Sep 24, 2021)

RSK said:


> Interesting; there were 11,000 entries for the Westworld competition.


Yeah, I noticed it too. It seems Spitfire Audio took a serious hit after the Westworld scoring competition, and all the salt surrounding it.


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## SupremeFist (Sep 24, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Tremendous work, man! When I first watched the clip I found it boring and semi-nonsensical. Watching it now with your music it's so much better and more fun and exciting. This is also the trick that last year's winner pulled. So job done I reckon. 🤘🏻


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## MaxOctane (Sep 24, 2021)

RedDot said:


> Yeah, I noticed it too. It seems Spitfire Audio took a serious hit after the Westworld scoring competition, and all the salt surrounding it.


Eh, don't read too much into it. It's not really unexpected that a huge number of people who decided to give it a go the first time around, just didn't have interest in trying again.


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## dcoscina (Sep 24, 2021)

Westworld was a good barometer and wake-up call. Even really GREAT composers lose gigs... or have their scores thrown out. Rejection is a part of life and even more so in the arts/media. My guess was the most vocal dissidents were hobbyists with grand illusions and a heightened sense of self-importance. Successful people in the industry have the mettle or stubbornness to keep going regardless of adversity.

Best just to focus on the next project.


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## mussnig (Sep 24, 2021)

RedDot said:


> We're talking about a ~60% nose dive... And given that there was indeed a great deal of controversy the last time, it is only natural to assume that the said controversy played a significant role.


I participated in the Westworld contest but not in this one. The reason is simple: this contest just came at a time of the year where I had already planned some trips and vacations and thus, I simply didn't find the time for it.

I never had the feeling that Spitfire treated the participants of the first contest unfairly or let alone that my experiences with the Westworld contest prevented me from participating in this one.


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## jononotbono (Sep 24, 2021)

mussnig said:


> I participated in the Westworld contest but not in this one. The reason is simple: this contest just came at a time of the year where I had already planned some trips and vacations and thus, I simply didn't find the time for it.
> 
> I never had the feeling that Spitfire treated the participants of the first contest unfairly or let alone that my experiences with the Westworld contest prevented me from participating in this one.


Yeah exactly. I didn’t enter this competition because I’ve just been working so much. Sucks because I was stoked to enter when it was announced but reality didn’t allow me to.

I haven’t heard anyone’s entries yet but I’m looking forward to checking out the winner’s later!


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## Anders Wall (Sep 25, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


Congratulations Chris!
Wishing you all the best in the comings days!
People tend to get jealous and sometimes write stuff they don't really mean.
Especially since this is art and a lot of emotions, time and work has been put into a completed sequence.

Stay sane 

/Anders


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## Jotto (Sep 25, 2021)

Congrats Chris! Do you care to tell us about which libraries you used?


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## StefVR (Sep 25, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.



Congratulations. In my opinion well deserved. I liked especially the nuanved interaction with the action on screen. Very nicely timed change in pace.


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## RedDot (Sep 25, 2021)

More than a couple of my comments on this thread were deleted for no good reason at all... They contained nothing unlawful, abusive or hateful toward any individual or group of individuals.

Not being a fash or an apparatchik myself, I find such discretionary and censorious deletion intolerable in every way.


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## Mike Greene (Sep 25, 2021)

RedDot said:


> More than a couple of my comments on this thread were deleted for no good reason at all...


They were deleted because they went on and on and on (I deleted 11 posts in total) about some grudge you have with how Spitfire conducted the Westworld competition. No one here wants this thread derailed for that.

If you want to post further on this topic, do so in the Drama Zone, not here.


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## EuropaWill (Sep 25, 2021)

This thread is dedicated to the Stargirl scoring competition submissions and topics related to it. Counterpoint should be allowed. For me personally, I was under the impression my submission was never judged since I went by what the official FAQ said and never followed other forums. I never had any allusions I would win and just wanted to test myself and improve my craft, but I did put effort into my submission and wanted it to at least be counted. Others have pointed out a post in a forum/thread I wasn't part of that suggested they were all viewed based on an email sent to all the entrants and that at least gives me some closure to that. Youtube analytics though showed not a single viewer from the UK so it's possible Youtube's analytics are faulty. I agree that when someone puts effort into something and has no objective reason to believe their work was acknowledged, it makes for less than a positive experience. I also do believe Chris's submission is fantastic and absolutely deserves to be judged as the best I've heard overall and he has a bright future ahead of him for sure.


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## KEM (Sep 25, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.



Make a breakdown video!!


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## chrishurn (Sep 25, 2021)

Jotto said:


> Congrats Chris! Do you care to tell us about which libraries you used?


Thanks! Sure. Strings: BBSCO, Ark1, a few EW patches and some textures like Threnody (super cool library -- one of my new favourites). Tina Guo solo cello. Brass: Hollywood Brass, Ark1 + Forza for the low brass. Winds: Hollywood winds (EW).

Pads/synths: A mixture of gravity, Slate&Ash, some glass sounds I found, and some stuff I made in serum. Piano: Westwood felt piano. Timp/perc - EW Hollywood percussion.


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## marclawsonmusic (Sep 25, 2021)

Just watched the winning video and it was just 'right'. We were dropped into the middle of an action scene and the music worked with that. The ominous synth at the end of the action hinted that something was still brewing. Then, the tender ending. Great job. Great scoring.


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## Leslie Fuller (Sep 26, 2021)

Having watched the “Winners Announcement” video a couple of times, I think Pinar saying between 7min 30 and 8min 30 of the video, that if “she was to hire anyone” and “just ask several people to score as a demo to work with her”, that @chrishurn would be the one, says an awful lot!


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## Illico (Sep 26, 2021)

Leslie Fuller said:


> Having watched the “Winners Announcement” video a couple of times, I think Pinar saying between 7min 30 and 8min 30 of the video, that if “she was to hire anyone” and “just ask several people to score as a demo to work with her”, that @chrishurn would be the one, says an awful lot!


For sure, Pinar will never hire someone who always complains.


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## macavalon (Sep 26, 2021)

chrishurn said:


> Wow, now this was a crazy surprise to wake up to just now. I am really stoked. Congrats to everyone who entered, I had a lot of fun listening to the entires on youtube once mine had been written -- some really cool music to a pretty tricky scene to score! Cheers all.


congratulations, definitely deserved the win !


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## Stardog24 (Sep 27, 2021)

First off, huge congratulations to Chris. Holy crap dude... What a score! I'm with everyone who would love a video where you break down your process. 

Second of all, I've seen a lot of people who have uploaded just the audio of their entries, and I've loved listening to them all, so I figured I'd be a sheep and join the herd and I suggest you all do the same. There's some really inspiring work out there.


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