Level 1: From Zero to Film Music Hero!

$499 (Australian Dollars)

Intensive, 12-week, online mentoring program. Weekly live sessions with award-winning Film Composer Amy Jørgensen. Everything you need to know to get started as a Film Composer.



Course curriculum

  • 1

    WEEK 1

    • INTRODUCTION TO FILM MUSIC

    • THE COMPONENTS OF BEING A SUCCESSFUL FILM COMPOSER

    • THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN FILM
  • 2

    WEEK 2

    • THE PRIORITY OF SOUND IN FILM

    • DIEGETIC VS NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC

    • MAPPING THE STRUCTURE OF A SCENE

    • THE POWER OF SILENCE, AND DECIDING WHERE TO ACTUALLY PLACE MUSIC

    • THE SPOTTING SESSION

    • COMPOSING AROUND DIALOGUE
  • 3

    WEEK 3

    • HIT POINTS

    • MANIPULATING THE 6 MUSICAL CONCEPTS

    • PUSHING VS FRAMING A SCENE

    • ENTRY AND EXIT OF YOUR MUSIC

    • MICKEY-MOUSING VS MUSICAL COUNTERPOINT
  • 4

    WEEK 4

    • THE SILENT ERA

    • THE GOLDEN AGE OF FILM SCORING

    • MAX STEINER: THE FATHER OF FILM MUSIC

    • FILM MUSIC BRANCHES OUT TO INCLUDE MORE POPULAR STYLES

    • JAZZ AND POPULAR MUSIC INFLUENCES ON FILM MUSIC

    • JAZZ, POP AND WESTERNS

    • DISSONANT SCORES

    • SYNTHS, THE SIMPSONS AND JOHN WILLIAMS

    • HYBRID SCORES

    • MODERN DAY FILM SCORING
  • 5

    WEEK 5

    • MUSICAL METAPHORS + DEVELOPING MUSICAL MIND MAPS

    • ANALYSING A FILM SEQUENCE

    • INTERPRETING A DIRECTOR'S BRIEF

    • WORKING WITH FILM COLLABORATORS AND YOUR ROLE ON THE POST-PRODUCTION TEAM
  • 6

    WEEK 6

    • IMPORTING AND SYNCHRONIZING VIDEO IN YOUR DIGITAL AUDIO WORK STATION

    • USING MARKERS TO STRUCTURE HIT POINTS

    • DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION BASICS
  • 7

    WEEK 7

    • WRITING MUSICAL "CELLS" AND LEITMOTIFS
  • 8

    WEEK 8

    • DEVELOPING "CELLS" AND LEITMOTIFS
  • 9

    WEEK 9

    • USING HARMONY TO CREATE EMOTION IN THE AUDIENCE
  • 10

    WEEK 10

    • WRITING MEMORABLE "HOLLYWOOD STYLE" MELODIES
  • 11

    WEEK 11

    • USING RHYTHM TO MANIPULATE A FILM'S PACE + MOMENTUM
  • 12

    WEEK 12

    • BOOT CAMP WRAP UP AND SUMMARY

Who Will Your Sessions Be With?

You'll be mentored for 12 weeks by Amy Jørgensen (previously Bastow), an award-winning Film Composer based in Melbourne (Australia). But as long as you have an internet connection, you can join the mentoring program from any location in the world. 

Amy has written music for dozens of well-known TV shows, including Home & Away; Children’s animations series Bluey and Hamish & Andy’s “True Story”. Amy has worked on projects with Channel 7, The Nine Network, The ABC, SBS, National Geographic, Netflix, 21st Century FOX, Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. Amy has even worked with Hollywood film-maker James Cameron (Director of Avatar and Titanic) on the music score for “Deepsea Challenge 3D”, which earned Amy an Australian Academy Award nomination.

Amy is also a classically trained pianist and has studied film music in New York City with The X-Files Composer, Mark Snow.




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Watch Intro Video

Scoring Example

Written By One of Amy's Students

What's Included?

  • A two-hour, live Zoom session with Amy each week (over the 12 weeks of the boot camp) - between 7:30 - 9:30pm Thursdays (Australia, Melbourne time)

  • During the weekly live Zoom sessions, Amy walks you through the 12-week curriculum she has designed from her own real-world experiences of working in the industry. These sessions will equip you with the necessary tools to get you started on your journey as a film composer

  • During the weekly live Zoom sessions, you receive feedback from Amy and your fellow students, on the music you write for all set tasks and film scenes

  • Small Zoom class sizes to ensure personalisation (maximum of 10 students per intake)

  • Lifetime access to all content (including any missed Zoom sessions)

  • Access to private group, where you can chat, discuss and share ideas/music with your fellow students during (and after) the boot camp

More Information

Who is this course for? 

This course is for beginner film composers, as well as more experienced composers looking to better understand the practical and musical approaches to film scoring.


What will I learn in this course?

You'll learn the basics of setting up your digital audio workstations; you'll learn some film music history; you'll learn all about the role of the film composer within the post-production team; you'll learn about spotting sessions and interpreting a Director's Brief; you'll learn about "hit-points" and structuring/synchronising your music to visual clues. All-in-all, you'll learn how to take a scene and create a well-crafted score. By the end of this course, you'll have your own portfolio of original works ready to show off to help you acquire real projects. 


Are there any pre-reqs?

The expectation is that you already know how to read music, and how to write music inside any Digital Audio Workstation. We use Logic Pro X for our demonstrations, but you are welcome to use any DAW in this course. We also require that you have some experience using virtual instruments inside your DAW. You'll also need access to Zoom.


What do I get if I enrol in this course?

You receive 2-hours with Amy (via Zoom) each week, over 12 weeks. You are mentored and pushed to achieve real results as you work through the industry-focused 12-week curriculum that Amy designed from her real-world experiences. 

In the first hour, you will receive feedback on music you have written in response to your film music weekly task. During the second hour, Amy will walk you through various aspects of film scoring (according to the weekly schedule) explaining important concepts, guiding you through how to write for specific film music scenarios, and equipping you with musical tools to spend the coming week composing to given film scenes. These sessions will be conducted with a maximum of 10 students, to ensure plenty of personalised time.

A minimum of 4 students is required for the program to run. A full refund will be given if you've enrolled and the course does not go ahead.

You'll also get unlimited, lifetime access to all the course content, so you can revisit the material time and time again, even after you have completed the boot camp.


How does the pricing work?

Enrolling costs AUD$499 for 12 weeks of intensive support, mentorship, content and weekly feedback from Amy, plus lifetime access to the specific course you're purchasing. 

You can pay in any currency.


Is there a money-back guarantee?

Yes. If the boot camp course isn't what you expected, we will give you a full refund (as long as you tell us before the start of the second week).

We're also happy to move you to a subsequent session, if you end up not having as much time as you expected. Amy runs this course every 3 months (Jan - March, April - June, July - Sept, Oct - Dec). Once again, let Amy know by the beginning of week 2 if you'd like to move to a later date. 


How long does this course last?

These mentorship programs are designed to be taken in 12 weeks. Amy will walk you (and your fellow cohort) through the 12-week curriculum. It's intensive and aimed at getting you up and running as a film composer, ASAP. You should set aside 2 hours each week for the Zoom session with Amy, plus between 2-5 hours each week for completing assigned tasks. 

The Zoom session is run between 7:30-9:30pm Australia (Melbourne) time, each Thursday for the 12 weeks. 

A recording of each Zoom session will be made available to you, if you happen to miss a session or two. 


Will there be future sessions of the course?

Yes! Amy runs this course every 3 months (Jan - March // April - June // July - Sept // Oct - Dec). Use the signup form at the bottom of this page if you'd like to be notified about future sessions.


Can I enrol now, for a Boot Camp that is run at a later date?

We only take enrolments for the next upcoming Boot Camp. If you'd like to be notified when future Boot Camps are available for enrolment, please join our mailing list.