Can beginners compose music for films? How can DAW software be used to create beautiful music? In the Film Scoring course offered by Tsinghua University's Art Education Center, Lecturer Cheng Yuan provides students with the opportunity to learn storytelling through music and to enjoy music creation through an immersive learning experience.
Enjoy and have fun with Film Scoring
Cheng’s idea to teach the Film Scoring course came from his experience teaching the preamble course - Film Music Appreciation. While teaching this general education class of 100 students, Cheng found that many students were interested in learning about film music and its creation. After soliciting opinions and careful preparation, Film Scoring was born in 2021.
Class during a session of the Film Scoring
Unlike his preamble Film Music Appreciation course, Film Scoring focuses on giving students practical creative experience at the practical level. Therefore, Cheng divides the course into two stages - foundational preparation and formal creation. During the first stage, students learn basic music theory, harmony, instrumentation and orchestration and software usage. Once they have mastered the foundational content, the course enters the formal creation stage. In order to bring students a better learning experience, the instructional format of the class is adjusted as the class progresses. In the "preliminary preparation" stage, since students need to learn about relevant music theories and software operations, the classroom location is chosen to be in the traditional layout of the classroom, which is convenient for the teacher to perform classroom demonstrations and help students solve various software installation technical problems. In the latter half of the course, the classroom is selected to be one that replicates the live feeling of "Dolby Atmos" film scorings, breaking the traditional classroom model and allowing students to gain a more immersive and authentic experience during the learning process.
A personalized learning experience
To ensure the overall progress of the class, Cheng believes it is necessary for every student to have ample space for growth. However, each student has a different starting point. In an effort to help all students progress through the course together, Cheng tailors a learning plan for each student. Those who have a good foundation in music, Cheng encourages them to experience different aspects of music creation more deeply: from simple software installation to more in-depth technical challenges, helping classmates solve operational technical problems, or applying to be a teaching assistant, and so on. For students who have basic skills, he motivates them and spends more time on one-to-one teaching to help the students understand the importance of "dare to try." Cheng often says, "Be brave enough to write the first musical note, it is the first step to starting a wonderful story. Completion is more important than perfection, and trying is the beginning of everything."
Cheng discusses with students in the classroom.
"Communication" is always a key word in film scoring. On one hand, it is the exchange between teachers and students; students should be brave enough to express their emotions and accurately articulate their various insights into creation through language. Cheng appreciates students who speak up during class, and encourages them to interrupt the class to express their own opinions. He also communicates with students as friends, believing that resonating with the teacher in the classroom sparks the best musical inspiration and creative impulse. On the other hand, communication is also the exchange between music and the soul; film music is an exchange through the language of music, originating from the emotional surge within. In the classroom, students listen to classic film music works and feel how the way music language communicates within the story, discovering the inner emotions expressed by the music.
Immersive learning, joyful creation
Students taking notes during class lecture.
Bringing a sense of happiness to students' lives is one of the main reasons for Cheng offering this course and his vision for their future. He hopes that every piece of music composed by the students will be a happy memory for them.
Chen Zhaosen from the School of Life Sciences has participated in the course for three years. "From learning music knowledge to assisting in the dissemination of knowledge, the form of playing music has changed, but the joy of playing music remains unchanged," he says. Wang Zeda from the Academy of Arts & Design reflects that he has not only gained a deeper understanding of music and a good relationship with the instructor, but also learned that creating music should be a joyful experience from the course.
Cheng and his students taking a group photo in the panoramic sound laboratory.
At the end of each semester, all members of the class take a group photo together. Although the class has come to an end, the students’ music journeys have just begun. Cheng hopes that each student will continue on their musical journey with a passion for music creation and create beautiful surprises with their talents.
Writer: Chen Xianying
Editors: Li Han, JP
Photographer: Yang Yanbin
Graphic designer: Li Na
