My favorite film composers

Special Mention:
Robert Rodriguez - Whether it's with his band Chingon or by himself working out orchestral scores with his keyboard, his rebel approach to all aspects of the art of filmmaking are worth mentioning. He proved it doesn't need to be hard to be a filmmaker as well as a composer.

7. John Carpenter - I'm pretty sure all of his scores involved a synthesizer, that's what makes him cool.

6. Danny Elfman - The man has done so much it's hard to pick my favorites.

5. Ennio Morricone - It's actually impossible to not include Morricone from any list that has the word film composer in it.

4. James Newton Howard - His work with Hanz Zimmer on the Dark Knight is where most people will probably have heard his name, but Howard has many great scores under his belt. I personally liked his work in M. Night's movies.

3. Clint Mansell - For a composer with such a limited filmography Mansell has made some of the most memorable and emotional scores in the last few years. His Requiem for a Dream score is by far the highlight of his career with the infamous Lux Aeterna, which keeps turning up in trailers for movies of a far less calliber. He's got great talent and is becoming a household name in the world of film composing.

2. John Williams - The man has just scored so many damn films and his work includes some the most memorable compositions in cinema history... Jaws, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters, Star Wars, etc. Out of respect he deserves the number one spot, but I feel that's like giving Citizen Kane the number one spot on the best movie list... Lets let someone else have a turn.

1. Hans Zimmer - I find Zimmer to be one of the most overlooked composers out there... I just love his scores so much. He knows which notes to hit to trigger the right emotion. His Pirates of the Caribbean scores are probably the best examples of scores that simply made the movies, both films give me goosebumps everytime I hear them. His work with the Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, Sherlock Holmes, The Da Vinci Code and Modern Warfare 2 are other great works that really prove the man knows what he's doing.


Next time you're watching a film, make sure to check out who scored it!

And if you're looking for a score, make sure to contact me and we'll discuss it!

Welcome to Scores for the Rebel Filmmaker

After a long period of taking requests from indie filmmakers to make quality scores tailored for their films; I began to see that there just isn’t a place dedicated to connecting aspiring filmmakers with film composers.

There are a ton of musicians willing to have their work heard and we all know how important audio is to a movie.

This blog will offer many free scores and pieces that can be used within your non-commercial projects as well as giving the rebel filmmakers out there a chance to make requests for customized scores for low to no cost (depending on the project).

I'm also looking into selling premium content such as multi-track songs, compilation CDs and even soundtracks to films that I've scored. This is great for us to make some money to keep the project running, but also for the filmmakers because it’s free publicity!

Keep coming back for updates and check out the links for some free scores and some samples of premium content!

Cheers!
SJ McKay