Hey all! I hope it’s going great in your neck of the woods this weekend!
I wanted to introduce myself and see if I can find here at Stage 32 what I can’t find much of on other social media platforms. Connection with storytellers who LOVE to talk about character and story and the way music relates to them.
If you couldn’t guess, I’m a composer for media. I’ll compose for anything related but I have to say my biggest passion is film. I connect with film so much because growing up I had a really tough time understanding relationships and emotional cues of other people around me. Often misinterpreting them and the world around me. But there was something in music that always hit me in VERY clear emotional ways. Stories in film captured my imagination and the music made clear what the characters were feeling, and what the story was telling me. Ever since music provides a context with which the world around me makes more sense.
It wasn’t until recently that I learned it’s because I’m neurodivergent (AuDHD). As I’ve learned and understood more about myself I’ve suddenly, even just in the past year, been capable of things I only dreamed of! I used to never be able to finish music I started. But in the last few years I’ve completed original music and scores for feature films and short films as well as my own personal projects! I’ve written in styles of music I never knew I had in me to write!
The thing that’s been the most fulfilling about this work, though has been connecting with passionate people telling stories, and who seem to enjoy as much as I do talking about how to support the story and characters through music. I love talking about intention, and developing arcs, themes and motifs that help build up the worlds created by passionate storytellers. I love using insights into characters lives to develop unique signature sonics for the score. And these kinds of relationships have led to me being invited back by the same people for their next films!
That’s what I’m hoping to find here. I’m finding there’s always a “next job”, but I find greater meaning and fulfillment in the work of the story, not just the next job. Truly collaborating with creative minds versus churning out cues with little thoughtfulness. And I love helping out and being cheerleader for others! I don’t see others who do what I do as enemy competition. You’re struggling through, or have struggled through, just like me so I’m excited when someone gets a win!
I know this is a long “howdy-do!”, but this is me and what it is I hope to gain by being here. Reaching out to new people is especially hard to do given my atypical nature. I tend not to have much to say unless directly related to music for storytelling. So if you made it this far with me…please reach out and say “hi”, and drop me a note with one of your favorite story & music pairings. And please, don’t be afraid to get nerdy about it!
Thanks!
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It's going great in my neck of the woods (North Carolina), Brian Gunter. Hope it’s going great in your neck of the woods too. Glad you've been able to finish your music!
"Connection with storytellers who LOVE to talk about character and story and the way music relates to them." You could check out the Screenwriting Lounge (www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting). There are some recent posts in that Lounge about what type of music writers listen to when writing.
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Hey Maurice Vaughan ! Thanks for the comment, and the tip on the screenwriting lounge!
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You're welcome, Brian Gunter. I'm a Lounge Moderator in the Screenwriting Lounge. We'd love to see you over there.
And if you have any questions about the Lounge or Stage 32, let me or the other Moderators know. We have badges on our profile pictures. Or you can email support@stage32.com.
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So nice to meet you, Brian Gunter!
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Hey I'm also AuDHD and make music (I just started in 2021 and I feel like I've made amazing progress!) I relate to what you said about music in movies clarifying how characters are feeling. I personally can't read people's emotions too well, but audio cues/music in movies really help. I've got an animated script called Beats Per Minute which is pretty much a big tribute to electronic music/the modern rave scene and everything from the characters to the environments will be influenced by the soundtrack.
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Hi Brian Gunter! Thanks for sharing and so glad to have you hear on Stage 32! This is definitely the place to be connecting with others of all different mediums :)
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Metztli Spector hey great to meet you! I appreciate you saying “hi”. Always happy to know someone else in the world who “gets it”. Music has always hit me hard, emotionally. So being able to bring it together, helped me immensely relating emotions to tones, like some people relate emotions with colors. So was music something you started focusing on during the COVID shenanigans, or just happened regardless of circumstance? Have anything I can check out? I love to experience who people are through their creative expressions.
See you around the lounges hopefully!
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Emily J thanks! It’s been a very positive experience so far this weekend. I’ve barely engaged in the other platforms…maybe that’s bad…hahahha!.
I’m actually at a mixer right now for local filmmakers…and I’m in AuDHD hell. It’s small, crowded, and crazy loud. Haven’t had a single conversation (totally on me, not anyone else here).
At least the beer is good.
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Hi Brian Gunter! What are some of your favorite film scores? A great score can and should become a character in and of itself if done right!
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Hey Nick Phillips! It’s so hard to single things out, but I opened that can of worms, didn’t I? Jk, I love it! The easy out is anything John Williams, his Wagnerian mastery of leitmotif is just uncanny. Any character for a film he’s scored is instantly conjured and sound of his work!
But I also like really creative sound design. Nothing ostentatious, but mindful and well considered. Like Marco Beltrami’s score for A Quiet Place. He detuned his own piano to produce that sound that is both lovely and tender and just borders on the serene, but with those few out of tune keys it never fully lets go of the tension.
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Hi, I'm Hobart Carraway - just call me Bart- I'm an Author and Screenwriter. Have also studied acting in past. Now taking my first stage 32 class about writing historical fiction. The lecture is fantastic. If you're new to stage 32, I highly recommend that you take advantage of the education offered.
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Haha, yeah you did kind of open it Brian Gunter! Great answers though!
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Hobart B Carraway Jr hi Bart! Thanks for reaching out! I’m definitely keeping my eyes on the educational stuff! For the moment I’m almost overwhelmed just by the warm reception and great conversations I’ve had already this weekend!
I know most screenwriting keeps clear of many (in any) mentions of specific music, but when you’re writing, do you hear music as if the scene were playing out in your head, or is the way you process your creative writing straight wordsmithery?
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Nick Phillips There really are so so many great examples. I really like Alan Silvestri’s very overal fantastical and lyrical style. Very big impact on me growing up (and now).
Talking character I absolutely love Stephen Sondheim’s style! I know musicals tend to be very literal with theme, but it’s a brave composer to swing hard back in the day on a protagonist that’s not really a protagonist, and just smash it out of the park! I can’t even really describe like Sweeney Todd as an anti-hero. But the way not only Sondheim’s themes but the orchestrations of Jonathan Tunick that really create levels of context within each character.
Tom Holkenborg’s sound design work is VERY character focused, and watching him work is very interesting and educational. His Mad Max: Fury Road really turned my head his way. A lot of the score is very literal but it’s also really fun and (IMO) impressive how it still successfully blurs the line between score and diegetic sound.