Composing

FREE Stage 32 Webcast Event – Wednesday, October 8th at 11am PT!!

Register by clicking the link below!

When you’re crafting an indie film, the music you choose isn’t just background—it’s storytelling. The right score sets the tone, builds emotional depth, and can make your film unforgettable. But too often, filmmakers bring composers in too late or struggle to align visions, leaving powerful opportunities on the table.

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our Stage 32 + Film-Raderie Webcast: Composer + Filmmaker Relationship: How to Make Your Indie Film Successful—a FREE live event designed to help you navigate this crucial collaboration.

This expert panel features:

Dara Taylor, celebrated composer (Marvel’s Ironheart, The Tender Bar)
Lagueria Davis, director of Black Barbie (acquired by Shondaland)
Phil Popham, veteran composer (Helix Collective)
Emilie Upczak, filmmaker and storyteller

Together, they’ll share real-world insights on:

Why early music integration shapes your film’s tone from day one
Practical strategies for aligning creative visions with composers
Case studies from projects like Ironheart and Black Barbie
How to overcome common challenges like budget and timing

This is your chance to learn how to use music as a storytelling superpower—and to build the creative partnerships that can elevate your indie film.

Click here to register, if you can't make it live you'll recieve the full recording on-demand: https://www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32-x-film-raderie-composer-filmmaker-collaboration-webcast

Let us know in the comments below- What’s a film where the music completely transformed the story for you?

Directors Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans and cast Arden Cho, Ji-young Yoo, May Hong, Ahn Hyo-seop unpack how the team fused K-pop songcraft, Korean mythology, and animation timing into one son...

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Netflix just dropped a great BTS featurette on the film’s music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTAKCFPYdOo

Directors Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans and cast Arden Cho, Ji-young Yoo, May Hong, Ahn Hyo-seop unpack how the team fused K-pop songcraft, Korean mythology, and animation timing into one sonic world.

Why this matters for composers and songwriters:

The soundtrack didn’t just support the movie; it became a standalone pop phenomenon:

• “Golden” (by the film’s fictional group HUNTR/X) held #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for weeks!

• “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” (by Saja Boys) also cracked the Top 10.

That kind of crossover raises juicy craft questions for anyone scoring, songwriting, or music-directing narrative projects where the songs are part of the story world and also need to perform IRL.

Craft angles worth dissecting:

• Worldbuilding through pop idioms: How the harmonic language, topline shapes, and production textures differentiate HUNTR/X vs. Saja Boys (group identity via sound).

• Diegetic vs. score integration: Seamless pivots between on-stage tracks, rehearsals, and underscore, shared motifs, tempo maps, and key relationships.

• Hook engineering: Melodic contour, bilingual lyric placement, call-and-response, and chantable post-choruses designed for virality.

• Choreo sync: Arranging for movement, count structures, downbeat “landings,” percussive fills for transitions, and stems that give editors latitude.

• Sound design as pop production: Foley/FX woven into drum programming (risers, whooshes, demon textures) that double as musical fills.

• Localization & mix strategy: Alternate language cuts, vocal stacking conventions, and mastering that translates across earbuds, theaters, and TikTok.

Drop your stems-vs-score tactics, favorite production hacks, or cue breakdowns below. If you’ve got a short clip or lead sheet showing how you’d approach a HUNTR/X-style chorus vs. a Saja Boys bridge, share it and we’ll all geek out together.

Ashley Renee Smith

Head of Community at Stage 32 ♦ Creative Executive, Producer, Author

FREE Stage 32 Webcast Event – Wednesday, October 8th!

Event starts
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27 people like this

Wyman Brent

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan 5
6 hours ago

I will most definitely be there. This songwriter will try to compose himself properly.

Maurice Vaughan 5

1
1 person likes this
- Wyman Brent
5 hours ago

Hi, Lagueria Davis. I'm looking forward to the panel!

Masha Kamerhorodska

1
1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan 5
5 hours ago

Hello, thank you for sharing the link

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Cyril Pineau

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2 people like this
- Rutger Oosterhoff 2
- Maurice Vaughan 5
1 day ago

Thanks guys ! Maurice Vaughan 5 : I think the little tool I've used is able to do that :) and that's a very good idea. I'll try to fast up videos on the last 20 seconds.

1
1 person likes this
- Cyril Pineau
1 day ago

You're welcome, Cyril Pineau. Thanks. Hope it helps!

2
2 people like this
- Maurice Vaughan 5
- Cyril Pineau
1 day ago

Cyril Pineau, most impressive. I am a songwriter with more than 400 songs written. I have recently started creating music videos and have also used footage from Pexels. I am brand new to the video mak...

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2
2 people like this
- Wyman Brent
- Maurice Vaughan 5
1 day ago

Thank you so much for your feedback Wyman, it's very important for me and appreciated. I used clipchamp, especially because It's very easy to use for total beginers like me :)

2
2 people like this
- Cyril Pineau
- Maurice Vaughan 5
1 day ago

Cyril Pineau, you are very welcome. I have not used clipchamp. However, I have found OpenShot to be pretty instinctive.

Mark Gosney

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3 people like this
3 days ago

I find it easier to write to picture. The visuals, the energy of the scene drive what I’m hearing in my mind as I watch the scene, which helps me musically. I do enjoy both though!

1
1 person likes this
- Cyril Pineau
3 days ago

Fantastic score, Cyril Pineau! I get script ideas, scene ideas, etc. from things I see.

Kat Spencer

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2 people like this
- Cyril Pineau
- Maurice Vaughan 5
3 days ago

Cyril Pineau Beautiful! Yes, it does happen to me. Life is my inspiration.

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3 people like this
6 days ago

Yeah, Dwayne Williams 2. Maybe a scene where a character is walking to downtown. I can see those songs having Horror versions. The slowed and chopped version of J. Cole’s “She Knows” feels kind of ins...

Hannah Woolmer

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2 people like this
- Dwayne Williams 2
- Maurice Vaughan 5
5 days ago

Dwayne Williams 2 I think this is such a powerful move and yes it works so well, I also love how they do this in Westworld. I think in order for it to work their needs to be a good working relationshi...

Dwayne Williams 2

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan 5
5 days ago

Great point, Hannah Woolmer. Do you think this could grow into studios having their own musicians or singers and also promoting their music through film?

Dwayne Williams 2 definitely, I think any song-writer would love to have their music used in this way (as long as they approved of the project)

Gary Edwards

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2 people like this
- Dwayne Williams 2
- Maurice Vaughan 5
4 days ago

I love to write ohorror music because of the expansive possibilities for different sounds. I usually compose in Finale and export the MIDI files to ProTools.

4
4 people like this
1 week ago

Starting by far! Once I get my writing groove or rhythm going I don’t usually have a problem finishing, but finding that musical idea that’s inspiring and sets all that in motion is what’s difficult for me and can be time consuming!

Mark Gosney Do you have a trick to get yourself going?

5
5 people like this
1 week ago

I just write lyrics. When I write a song I can immediately write a new one. The most I ever wrote in one day was 18. I was a busy guy.

3
3 people like this
5 days ago

I haven’t at this point figured out what triggers that other than a lot of hard work and trial and error! I don’t struggle to create good ideas but finding the correct musical idea that sets the scene...

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4 people like this
5 days ago

For me, finishing is much harder than starting. With orchestral compositions, I often begin with a part of the piece, sometimes just a hazy fragment, in my head, but endings are always tricky: should...

Libby Wright

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3 people like this
2 weeks ago

Great question. I'd have to say it would sound discordant with a really sweet and surprising ending.

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan 5
2 weeks ago

Libby Wright Nice!

The last unexpected twist in my life took place in April of this year. That is when one song I wrote titled What the Mack? unlocked my creativity. I discovered that I am on the extreme spectrum of cre...

Emmanuel Obiejemba

It would start off sad, melancholic. Maybe with just piano and some strings. Probably revolving around just two chords, to show how trapped and unfulfilled I was. Then gradually, the composition would...

Einaudi - Passagio

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3 people like this
1 week ago

Definitely synths and pads for me.

Leonardo Ramirez 2

Great video - typically synths overlayed with a simple/soft piano melody to build on. Regardless of how bombastic it may end up, I start with an ethereal atmospheric foundation.

2
2 people like this
- Leonardo Ramirez 2
- Maurice Vaughan 5
6 days ago

I forget sometimes that you're also a musician, Leonardo Ramirez 2.

Some day I'll have more time to dedicate to this Ashley Renee Smith. I'm currently saving up to upgrade my Mac to something that has both Pro Logic and Final Cut Pro....

FREE Stage 32 Webcast Event – Wednesday, October 8th at 11am PT!!

Register by clicking the link below!

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