Articles
Notes on film scoring, orchestration, and much more.
Music of Oppenheimer – Ludwig Göransson
Sep 7, 2026
How Ludwig Göransson’s Oppenheimer score thinks in the first person — a hexatonic violin leitmotif, 21 tempo changes, and a three-movement portrait of scientific brilliance and dread.
12 Film Composers You Should Know (But Probably Don't) - Pt.1
Aug 25, 2026
Twelve gifted film composers whose scores shaped cinema (but are rather lesser-known) — from Carter Burwell and Nino Rota to Michael Giacchino and Nicola Piovani.
Exploring rhythm in John Williams’ music (pt.2 – Accent Displacement)
Aug 22, 2026
This article was originally written for our book Behind the Score, but we couldn’t include it in the print edition because of copyright restrictions. So we’re sharing it here as part of an ongoing series. In this installment, we look at how Williams uses accent displacement to shift the feel of a passage without actually changing the meter. It’s a simple trick, but it can turn an otherwise ordinary passage into something much more playful and alive. The Harry Potter score examples and mockups below were prepared by the Behind the Score team.
Exploring rhythm in John Williams’ music (pt.1 – Switching time signatures)
Aug 14, 2026
A short look at how John Williams switches time signatures — a simple-looking move that keeps his themes from settling into a predictable groove. This material was originally written for our book Behind the Score, but copyright constraints kept it out of the print edition, so we’re releasing it here as an ongoing series. Below: A/B mockups of Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and E.T., prepared by the Behind the Score team.
9 Years as a Video Game Composer: What I Learned
Aug 5, 2026
Jay Lee, co-author of Behind the Score, looks back on nine years as an in-house game composer and shares what the job is really like, from daily workflow to creative challenges.
Leitmotifs in Iconic Film Soundtracks
Aug 2, 2026
How leitmotifs shape film storytelling — from Wagner and Max Steiner to John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Asian cinema.
Motivic Development in Film Composition
Jul 21, 2026
How composers take a short musical motive and transform it across a film score — with examples from Psycho, Inception, The Lord of the Rings, and The Godfather.
Recommended Books for Film Composers (2026 Update)
Jun 23, 2026
A list of essential books for film and media composers (2026).
The Psychology of Harmonic Tension in Horror Scores
Jun 3, 2026
How diminished chords, tritones, and non-functional harmony create fear in Hereditary, The Witch, and Psycho — and why the brain reads those sounds as danger.
The Musical World of Studio Ghibli: Joe Hisaishi’s Musical Genius
Jun 3, 2025
Joe Hisaishi’s musical language across Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle — themes, orchestration, and the craft behind Studio Ghibli’s sound.