A film's score is the film's tangible, emotional voice. It can add further complexity to a performance, drive an action scene, and tie together desperate visual elements.

My job a a composer is to work with the director to find the musical demands of a film and then bring together the forces necessarry to achieve those demands. Those forces could be anything from a solo guitarist to a full orchestra. It all depends on the demands of the film.

Sometimes that job entails writing every piece of music you hear in the film. Ssometimes I'm weaving my score in and out of the film's popular soundtrack. And sometimes I work directly with other artists to direct, record, and sculpt their own musical performances to fit the dramatic arc of the film.

In many cases the budget limits us to only one or two real musicians filling out the rest of the score with synthesized instruments. But as realistic as modern synths have become, they will never be able to provide the musical spontanaeity of live players. They are always worth the money.