Berlin International Film Scoring Competition - Register Now

FabioD said:

Hi Ferenc, great job, I like your entry!
I am not expert but I would be cautious as the rules state:

"5. Sharing the competition materials with third parties is strictly prohibited and it will lead to disqualification from the competition."

I think that posting it here is "sharing with third parties" and "materials" may also mean the submission material, in some way and I think it would be wise to remove it.
But, again, I am not claiming to be an expert on their rules and I do not belong in any way to the organization. It would just be a shame to loose the opportunity to compete or to have other participants raising the finger against it.
To add something, we've been given a unique code to be anonymous...

Great job in any case and congratulations also to the others!
Fabio

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I understand what you mean, but this rule only applies to the ZIP file of materials you get after you have paid for submission to the competition. That means, if I were to upload the raw movie clip and the sound effect files on a hosting website and then share the links with you - then this rule is broken.

As far as I know, people who participate in these Berlin competitions have always uploaded their work on Youtube (I can find lots just by searching on there) - this also includes the Sound Design competition.

Hi guys,
I just read through the thread. Lately I've been seeing a lot of posts warning about contests that ask for money. There may perhaps be black sheep there, but I also think that larger competitions like the BIFSC certainly have their expenses. You first have to organize a big event like this and the jurors won't do their work for free.
For me, the main thing is actually to have a nice and representative video for my demo reel afterwards. With that money I practically bought the license for rescoring.
At the moment I'm working on the CueTube Contest and am already looking for the next one. If you know something, I am grateful for every tip.
I also listened to your contributions to the BIFSC, very well done and really exciting how differently you approached the topic. I also found it quite challenging with all the scene changes and ethnic background.
Btw, I understood also that the prohibited sharing relates to to Zip file.
This is my version:

Hello Hello people!

Recently I've finished my submission! I've been writing music for quite a few years now, but never had the guts to actually enter and finish a composition for a competition. This was so much fun to do though! I won't lie and say that there was definitely some days where I was stressing about it haha.
Here's my entry, hope you people enjoy!

Have a lovely jovely day

Timothy Growth said:

Hello Hello people!

Recently I've finished my submission! I've been writing music for quite a few years now, but never had the guts to actually enter and finish a composition for a competition. This was so much fun to do though! I won't lie and say that there was definitely some days where I was stressing about it haha.
Here's my entry, hope you people enjoy!

Have a lovely jovely day

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Nice work and interesting that you used like me the flute for similar scenes. In my eyes it was the best solution to bring the ethnic and the classic instruments together without becoming too striking.

Ferenc Bátri said:

Hi, this is my entry:

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Wonderful.

Tilt & Flow said:

Wonderful.

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Thank you, I'm glad you like it

Hi everyone! Firstable I'd like to say that I'm amazed by the high quality of your submissions great job guys. It's beautiful to see how each composer finds a different way to score the same thing. Here is my submission Good luck everyone next week!!

The finalists have been announced! Congrats to all of you who made the cut. I didn’t, but I loved the challenge and learned a ton from it. Here is my entry:

Trail of Light | BIFSC 2024 | Cinematic re-score

A bit down as I really put my best foot forward on this one and put a lot of thought into it (which I'll explain in detail below)

So the best thing I can try to do is try to improve from here, because in my mind my score dared to be original- which I feel it was ... but maybe I need a dose of reality, so I invite open and honest critique of my score below, on any aspect in terms of the scoring, cue start / stop positions, orchestration, mixing, etc. You can be as nice or critical as you like; I can and want to handle it.

It was a lot of fun to work on though, alongside seeing so many vastly varied and creative approaches to the same source material.






Concerning the score: The composition introduces a primary theme at the onset, performed on the Ocarina. Given that the film is based on a Pawnee Native American legend, the choice of the Ocarina as the focal instrument felt particularly fitting. In my perception, the Ocarina can adeptly replicate bird songs and sounds—a significant aspect of the cultural traditions of many Native American tribes, which involved a deep connection with nature, including birds.

To capture this essence, I incorporated the hand pan and rainstick into the score. These instruments, in my opinion, convey an ancient atmosphere intertwined with nature. The composition also features Ocarina and Piccolo segments that aim to emulate the concept of bird communication. The introductory theme concludes with a quintal chord of stacked 5ths, a harmonic idea that reappears at what I considered key moments throughout the film.

Following the opening, the theme resurfaces, played by horns and bassoon, albeit in a variation. It again reemerges, this time performed by a solo flute and violins. The theme undergoes various modifications throughout the score. Additionally, there is a distinct "B theme" or thematic idea—a simple Octatonic scale employed during the "Bird climbing the mountain" scene and the "Creation of Sun" scene.

To enhance certain moments in the film labeled as "moments of creation," I integrated a few synths. These instances include scenes such as the pouring of gold liquid into the river, the "creation of the sun," and the transformation of wolves into stars. The synthesizer serves as an instrument that mirrors these moments in an odd juxtaposition of sorts alongside the acoustic orchestral and wind instruments.

Much of the score also incorporated the sound design elements themselves as part of the score. The tribal drum was synced to either begin or end cues, alongside other elements such as the cry of the hawk, etc.

I recorded a substantial amount of what I categorize as 'musical sound design'. This includes bowed Xylophone, bowed guitar, and bowed Zither.

I also sadly did not make it into the top 10! I am very proud with what I created, very happy with the end result. So I am very curious to the entries that did make it. I think it probably just wasn't original enough, I've played it save and probably didn't stand out among the many entries.

Let me know what you think:

David Lilly said:

It was a lot of fun to work on though, alongside seeing so many vastly varied and creative approaches to the same source material.

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Without reading your explanation I watched it, just like the jury will have done. I really like the original sounds you have used. It is a lot more experimental than mine. Love the Ocarina and the flute, but also the mix with synths later on.

If I can give any feedback, what stands out the most for me is that I'm missing a sort of flow, rhythm. The music is not really reacting to whats happening on screen, which is constantly moving from scene to scene. I'm also missing like a recognizable theme.

But overall, very good job! Let me know what you think of mine

ThomasNL said:

I also sadly did not make it into the top 10! I am very proud with what I created, very happy with the end result. So I am very curious to the entries that did make it. I think it probably just wasn't original enough, I've played it save and probably didn't stand out among the many entries.

Let me know what you think:





Without reading your explanation I watched it, just like the jury will have done. I really like the original sounds you have used. It is a lot more experimental than mine. Love the Ocarina and the flute, but also the mix with synths later on.

If I can give any feedback, what stands out the most for me is that I'm missing a sort of flow, rhythm. The music is not really reacting to whats happening on screen, which is constantly moving from scene to scene. I'm also missing like a recognizable theme.

But overall, very good job! Let me know what you think of mine

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Wow, that's really impressive Thomas, out of the ones I've heard, yours was my favorite. It hit all the right beats, timing wise, and had strong themess. The mixed sounded very professional, and had the right balance of epicness, mystery and action for my taste.

Woolrich said:

Wow, that's really impressive Thomas, out of the ones I've heard, yours was my favorite. It hit all the right beats, timing wise, and had strong themess. The mixed sounded very professional, and had the right balance of epicness, mystery and action for my taste.

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Thanks! That means a lot to me I spend ages getting the timing right, especially the wolf sequence, trying to fit the theme there. Had a lot of fun with this!

ThomasNL said:

I also sadly did not make it into the top 10! I am very proud with what I created, very happy with the end result. So I am very curious to the entries that did make it. I think it probably just wasn't original enough, I've played it save and probably didn't stand out among the many entries.

Let me know what you think:





Without reading your explanation I watched it, just like the jury will have done. I really like the original sounds you have used. It is a lot more experimental than mine. Love the Ocarina and the flute, but also the mix with synths later on.

If I can give any feedback, what stands out the most for me is that I'm missing a sort of flow, rhythm. The music is not really reacting to whats happening on screen, which is constantly moving from scene to scene. I'm also missing like a recognizable theme.

But overall, very good job! Let me know what you think of mine

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Hi Thomas;
Thanks so much for the feedback, it's very helpful.

I just finished watching and listening to your interpretation. You really should be proud of it, it's excellent. I think it's quite cohesive and has an overall sense of unity- I think your music ebbed and flowed with the picture exceptionally well, and it knew when to be forward and at the same time knew when to be more passive. In regards to what you mentioned on my score, I do agree that from a rhythmic sense your score does better work of maintaining a cohesive and "followable" arrangement rhythmically in the sense it is one unified passage for most the piece. I agree with your approach to favor a more subtle and calm ending, and the orchestration and writing sounds good to me.

If I had to find areas I personally would critique, it would only be that I feel when the hawk crests the mountain, the music really should make some attempt to reflect this in some capacity. To me, I disagree with Woolrich to some regard and feel the mix was a little saturated and was missing some low end; and I didn't quite pick up on what was meant to be the main theme. These aren't really glaring issues in my opinion, the fact of the matter is we don't really know what the judges are and aren't looking for, once the music reaches a certain level of professionalism (which I feel yours certainly did) it might just come down to personal tastes or other unknown but uncontrollable factors.

I also always advocate to the extent that real instruments are great when possible (though apparently that didn't help in my case), so I would subjectively say it might have been worth the effort to hire a live player for the lead woodwind instrument utilized (Might have been a Mossenho / Taka / Native American flute or something to that effect) For how small the part was it could have been done quickly and cheaply.

Nice work though, it really does stand out to me among many of the others I've watched.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to be among the top 10 finalists. This was also my first submission for a contest, which means there is much to improve.
What do you think?