Where To Get Videos Or Short Films To Practice As An Upcoming Film Composer? — A Comprehensive Resource
Finding video footage to work on & practice as a composer can be difficult, but here’s a list of links & resources where you can find short films or just cool videos to work on for your film scoring needs!
Film composing is an elegant mishmash & the intersection of the two of the biggest art forms that have captured the imagination of humanity over the past two decades & in the case of music, even before that. The interjunction of music & film is an intersection of two of the most expansive & heavyweight mediums of human expression; the expression of creativity & the way we tell stories.
Storytelling & art forms like music & film are at the core of what makes us human; something that needs to be explicitly understood by the “AI-is-here” bandwagon. Yes, AI is useful in a lot of ways, but it should only be heavily utilised to automate or assist in mundane activities — NOT art.
Until AI & robotics automate doing the dishes, laundry, taking out the trash, & cleaning my home, I’m not buying into this hype. But yes, to have AI chats like Chat-GPT & Gemini to answer & troubleshoot is great. It also helps a lot with code. Of course, people have their own diverse opinions. But I digress..
As an upcoming film composer, finding great resources to practice your craft & hone your skills at composing can be rather cumbersome. But fear not, this article is a complete resource with a plethora of links you find videos & short films or even full films to get started on your composing journey.
Read on…..
Just like you, I was at this stage two or three years ago. I decided to take the leap to begin scoring for film despite being only an intermediate piano player. But I wasn’t going to let that deter me.
After taking the decision & finishing Hans Zimmer’s Masterclass on composing, I went headlong & dove right into all things film scoring, but I didn’t know where to get videos and/or short films or clips in the public domain to practice from.
However, over the past few years, I’ve found some great resources. So without dabbling in the banality yet slight intrigue of my personal story, here are the resources!
Free Film Scoring Resources
To start off the list are the best free resources you’ll find for your film scoring practice needs.
A Database Of Hollywood Scenes Without Music For Film Scoring
First off, I’d like to present a database of Hollywood film scenes, which you can download from the link below.
The database has a ton a of actual scenes from Hollywood movies without their background scores or any music, but with the dialogue & fx/sound design.
You just have to complete the step to unlock the link!
I hope you find the entire database useful, it was uploaded by this guy who runs a composer’s group on Facebook.
Archive
The second is another massive database of many old films which is all available all in the public domain. This one is pretty cool because you can get full films as well.
It’s called The Internet Archive and it’s got everything that you could possibly need or think of that’s been documented in the past. That’s films, documentaries, & videos about space, science, spirituality, advertising, physics etc etc.
Hybrid Film Composing Resources
The following links comprise both free & paid resources for your composing practice & needs.
The Cue Tube
The Cue Tube is a great initiative by this guy named Brian Waters based in the UK. I’ve had the chance of interacting with him via email a couple of years ago when they were just starting out; a bit after they launched. They’ve got a diverse range of both free & paid short films & videos for you to score. They also have the CC licenses required so that you can upload the videos with your score onto YouTube & social media platforms.
They actually had a lot of freebees in the initial years when I became a member but they’ve now transitioned to charging for their videos. However, the good news is that they’re pretty affordable — the lowest cost for the basic package of each video at £5. This is for buying videos a-la-carte, or you can subscribe to them on a monthly basis.
They also run this competition called Score Relief which is a composing competition in which the proceeds go to charity.
Apart from that, they have a ton of useful content for composers. And to some extent can help you get gigs.
VI Control
VI Control is the most random thing out there when it comes to composer resources. It’s this strange forum, sort of like a stackoverflow kinda thing but essentially, it’s just a thread for composers where people keep posting links to both free & paid composer competitions.
I don’t remember how I stumbled upon it, but it’s really neat. People keep chipping in with posts about the latest free & paid competitions that they find online & it’s great to keep checking the forum out regularly to see if you can find something you like.
Competitions & Paid Film Composing Resources
The other more mainstream options are paid composer competitions. When I just started out a couple of years ago the fees were pretty low so I ended up taking part in a few paid competitions.
Most but not all competitions run yearly & out of the lot there’s one called The Montreal International Film Scoring competition which runs yearly, and they provide the short films for free upon registering. But to be judged you’ll have to pay the entry fee.
You can just Google “composer competitions” or “film composing competitions” & find all the paid ones; but some have pretty high entry fees.
However, I’d definitely suggest taking part in at least one or two paid competitions each year, because it’ll show you where you stand & your score will get reviewed by an expert panel. They also have slightly longer videos or short films to work on. Additionally, you’ll get some feedback about your scores(not always) & in general, it’s a great way to test yourself & your abilities & see how you compare to composers around the world.
You can find scores to a couple of competitions I did below.
Advice For Composers Just Starting Out
I took a bit of a break from composing over the past year i.e. the last 7–8 months of 2023 & the first three of 2024. That was mainly to focus on my music as a producer & working towards by debut singersongwriter EP.
But the key to growing as a composer is to keep at it. It’s a hard industry to get into. But don’t let your limitations or lack of opportunities discourage you from working & creating & honing your craft.
Most composers get their big break only after their 40s some only in their 50s; that’s with a few exceptions of course. Until then you’ll have to keep hustling & grinding it out, starting with short films with poor or at times no pay to slowly growing your portfolio & skills. Practice makes perfect & if you’re good enough you will get your break. But just keep at it.
In the video below, I shared my story, process, philosophy & practical advice for young & older budding composers in an interview with the composing platform Compozly & their podcast. I spoke to the platform’s founder Walt, & I think you could find my interview interesting especially if you’re just starting out & are looking to make a career as a film composer.
If you like this article, please consider subscribing to my Medium publication ‘The Film Corner Writer’.
For Producers Directors & Filmmakers
If you’re a producer, director or filmmaker you can find my demo reel from 2022 linked below. If you like my work, and would like to work with me, you can get in touch with me at: gauravk113@gmail.com or ghostintent1@gmail.com
Ideally CC both email addresses.
Here’s my latest piece after getting back to composing earlier this month…
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