Tunes in films?

[canadianlight]

Can anyone shed some light in how tune based (as opposed to say pure sound effects or atonal types) scores are composed in the film/game industry? One music historian told me that there are a bunch of stock formulas passed down from the late 19th/early 20th century theater composers that simply undergo a modification/adaptation and released. Also the conventions are very specific in which "tune families" is for which type of scene/mood. I guess this explains how music can be created from scratch in a few weeks, and why so many tunes share uncanny pitch/rhythm patterns used in movies/games from decades apart. You can literally transition smoothly from one tune to another, something impossible in say Bach because when the melodic developments are embellished/broke up into different voices, the contours don't necessarily flow into one another anymore.




Upon examination they share very similar pitch-class patterns and similar phrasing and rhythmic patterns as well.



Any insight is appreciated.

[Gamma-UT]

Oh noes. You've stumbled on the secrets of the film-music industry, a devilish cabal in which the chosen share a precious few copies of The Devilish Secrets of Film-Music Composition. I can part with a copy. For...One Million Dollars.

If you don't believe me, here's an excerpt:

"For love scenes, don't use diminished 7ths. Save those for scare chords. Instead, pop in an iv chord here or there."

[canadianlight]

I actually meant any insight that's actually worth reading.

[tapper mike]

Here is something worth reading but it's fairly short.

To evoke a sense of emotion in music play it with feeling.

[wrench45us]

[jancivil]

I would say that a music historian and a film composer have very different jobs and different concerns.

[Musicologo]

you should take a look at this:

http://pennycook.music.utexas.edu/688Fall11/index.html

get the book. And also read the notes from the professor and follow the links.
Good luck!!