The Stage 32 Videos: Orchestra

One of my favorite ways to grow as a film composer is by rescoring scenes from great films. This is my latest score-to-picture exercise based on a scene from The Revenant. The original music has been completely removed, allowing me to build a new musical narrative from the ground up. Rather than trying to imitate the original score, my goal was to explore a different emotional perspective while remaining faithful to the pacing, tension, and storytelling on screen. Every cue was written to support the performances and the cinematic language of the scene. Exercises like these are invaluable—they challenge timing, orchestration, dramatic instincts, and the ability to let the music serve the picture rather than compete with it. I'd genuinely love to hear your thoughts. Feedback from fellow filmmakers and composers is always appreciated. Original film footage belongs to the respective copyright holders and is used solely for portfolio and educational purposes.

This is a personal score-to-picture exercise based on a scene from Pixar's Up. The original music has been removed, and I composed and produced an entirely new orchestral score to explore how music can support character, emotion, and storytelling. This project was created as part of my ongoing development as a film composer and reflects my approach to writing music that serves the narrative while respecting the pacing and emotional arc of the scene. Original film footage belongs to Disney/Pixar and is used here solely for portfolio and educational purposes.

A piece I composed last year for a suspense and mystery short film.

Here, I sought to give the antagonist an epic introduction, using brass sections, string sections, epic choirs, and sound effects.

Film trailer for the feature film project Fragment: 1890. Music composed by Joanna Bates. Sound design by Sylvio Pretsch.

This is my entry for the Orchestral Tools scoring competition titled "The Composer's Journey." The music was created using the Berlin Free Orchestra library.

Demonstrating my skills: Composing to picture. This movie had a history of challenges to the composer...I see my roll as supporting the Director's vision. Using music accenting emotional expressions. Collaborating.

hi, I compleed this work (the other day), for my master of composition 3 years ago

I scored this scene from the about to be streaming Romcom "Lonesome." This is the pivotal scene where 2 lonely strangers who met and have been frolicking for a while at the beach get separated. They never exchanged contact info and she thinks he dumped out on her (pun intended!)

The ending to 'Like A Comet' - beautiful big choir backed by huge cinematic drums. The first half of the song is completely different - so sparse. Not many singer songwriters do this kind of thing

A Bond-esque song

Original score concept: I compose music to existing film scenes as part of my scoring reel — exploring tone, atmosphere, and narrative through sound. These are not official scores, but creative interpretations to showcase my approach to storytelling through music.