Hello FFR family. It's been a while since I last made a thread. I recently arrived back home from Italy. I studied Film Scoring alongside nine other students at the prestigious Fondazione Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena from June 1st - June 16th. This was the debut year of this program at this academy, but masterclasses have been given here decades ago by notable Italian film composers such as Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly; The Hateful Eight; The Mercenary), Nicola Piovani (La vita è bella) and Luis Bacalov (Il Postino, Django [1966]).
We were instructed by Film Scoring professors of the University of Southern California, received masterclasses by Marco Beltrami (The Hurt Locker, Ford v Ferrari, Logan, etc.), and our music editor/mixing instructor was also the music editor for The Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers; Return of the King). Our assignments were to take scenes from films of our choosing and basically re-score them. For the string quintet, we picked from whatever was given to us on a Google drive folder. For the orchestra piece, however, it was completely free choice.
Honestly, I never felt more alive especially on the last day of recording with the orchestra. Simply put:
It was the best day of my life. The classmates, mentors, faculty, the Italian people. Lovely. It felt like a second home to me and I did not want to leave.
Below are the links to the movie scenes with my original music. I chose a scene from Big Fish for string quintet plus a bell-like synth, and a scene from Kick-Ass for orchestra and synths.
Big Fish:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WvN...TiII-FUWK/view
Kick-Ass:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zlt...Xm5gbLTIm/view
You may find more pictures, clips and behind-the-scenes stuff on my IG @luisthecomposer for anyone interested.
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So this is it. This is where I formally announce complete retirement of rhythm gaming (...ok fine I'll make some exceptions to like playing a few songs off Guitar Hero III at a friend's house or ITG/DDR at an arcade or w/e).
Moving forward, especially after a literal life-changing experience in Italy, I need to go full throttle on this career path and to put all of my focus solely on film scoring and music/movies in general. I will continue putting myself and my works out there in hopes of reaching out to film directors both in Hollywood and internationally. No big deal if I don't end up working for Tarantino, Nolan, or any big-name directors. My dream is to continue composing music and to perhaps settle down in Italy when the time is right.
Once I feel comfortable enough with the DAW I end up sticking with, I'll be opening up to collaborations with other artists no matter the genre. It would be good practice for me before tackling on bigger projects.
Thank you for your time reading all this and checking out my music! P.S. Good luck to all of you participating in the FFR Tournament! Remember to hydrate and to take breaks between rhythm gaming sessions!
Arrivederci <3
-Luis; samurai