Throughout June 2016 we were invited by Brighter Sound to facilitate a series of 4 workshops as part of Sing City; a weekly session open to young composers aged 13 - 18 held at Band on the Wall.

Our project aimed to encourage participants to consider and re-consider their expectations of how sound and film work together, and to develop confidence and experience with cross platform collaborations. Throughout the sessions we explored how music can change the way we view and interpret moving image, and how instruments can be used in unusual ways to create soundtracks. Initial discussions located live scoring within the wider context of audio/visual culture, and examined contemporary attitudes towards this field of work. We invited long time collaborator Benjamin Duvall from Liverpool based band Ex-Easter Island Head to lead a masterclass, lending an insight into his unique approach to producing sound from a guitar which encouraged participants to approach familiar instruments in unfamiliar ways. 

By the end of the sessions participants individually and collaboratively produced a series of short film scores that were performed live to a private audience. 

"During our workshop we wrote a score for a very dramatic and beautiful silent movie called 'Burn'. For my score we used a piano, guitar and a broken cello. All instruments were played to create a very hollow and subtle tone to the piece as we didn't want to overpower the film. Sounding almost like a sorrowful lullaby, it captured the depth and mysterious atmosphere that the film created. It was very fun to create and we loved what the power of music can do to a film."

- Elisa, workshop participant