Film Scoring
Film Scoring
Learn the craft and business of creating original music for film, tv and more through hands-on practice.
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What you can learn.
Enroll in one of the top film scoring programs in the world.
The UCLA Extension Film Scoring Certificate program gives students the knowledge and skills needed to score cues for films, television shows and video games.
Learn the essential creative, business, and technical skills necessary for a successful film scoring career. Instruction emphasizes maximizing project budgets by composing music both electronically using MIDI and utilizing professional union musicians. By program end, participants will have composed and produced pieces suitable for their professional reels.
Duration: 1 year (Full-Time pace) to 3 years
Format: In-Person
Unit Requirement: 48
GPA Requirement: minimum 3.0 for certificate completion
This certificate is approved for international students to study full time in the U.S. on an F-1 visa.
International students must meet English language proficiency requirements for admission into the program.
While most certificate programs begin each quarter, some have limited intakes for students studying on F-1 visa. Find this program on the Browse Certificate Programs page to confirm entry quarters before applying.
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Cost and Fees
International Student Fees
Entry Quarter
- Domestic students may begin the program in any quarter, though it should be noted that Instrumentation and Introduction to Orchestration is only available in the fall quarter, and it is recommended in your first two quarters.
- International students (F-1 student visa) may begin the program in fall quarter only. Plan your studies.
Prerequisites
Students who wish to take courses in the Film Scoring certificate program should have a basic musical background and should possess the following skills before beginning any coursework:
- Ability to read music: musical staff and clefs; notes in both treble and bass clef; notes on the piano keyboard; accidentals; rhythmic values (i.e. whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, dotted values, etc.); and simple and compound meters.
- Music theory fundamentals: major scales; all forms of minor scales (i.e. natural, harmonic, melodic); major and minor key signatures; the circle of fifths; intervals and interval inversions; interval qualities (i.e. perfect, major, minor, diminished, augmented); chord qualities and inversion symbols; triads (major, minor, diminished, augmented); and seventh chords (i.e. dominant sevenths, half diminished, full diminished, etc.).
Film Scoring students must have access to a sequencing workstation in which audio can be recorded and synched to video (a sequencing workstation is software that combines audio and MIDI recording, editing, and a variety of other tools for working with music and sound on a computer).
Computer hardware and software is available at a discount for UCLA Extension certificate students at the UCLA Store. Speak to a program representative for more information.
Required Courses
Harmony Requirement
Software Requirement
Select 1 software course (4 units) from the list below. Students must be proficient in a digital audio workstation (DAW). If you are already proficient in a DAW such as Logic, Pro Tools, Digital Performer or Cubase, you may petition to waive this course requirement by emailing entertainmentstudies@uclaextension.edu.
Practical Requirement
Required Courses
Score like the Masters: Contemporary Techniques
Instrumentation and Introduction to Orchestration
Advanced Film Scoring Workshop
Elective Courses
Suggested Electives
Music Industry Internship
Gain firsthand experience in the music industry through an internship in your chosen field. Only candidates in certificate programs are eligible for internship credit.
An internship in the music industry can provide you with practical experience in a variety of job functions. Certificate students must complete a minimum of 12 units of program curriculum (3 courses) before completing the application for approval to enroll in an internship.
BMI /Jerry Goldsmith Film Scoring Scholarship
Named in honor of the late Oscar- and Emmy Award-winning film and television composer Jerry Goldsmith, the BMI/Jerry Goldsmith Film Scoring Scholarship is awarded annually to partially underwrite study in the UCLA Extension Film Scoring program.
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