The Final Score

Report on the Volkswagen Score Competition

Amid the smoke and imposing architecture of Oberschöneweide in former East Berlin, stands the Haus des Rundfunks der Ehemaligen DDR, a recording hall that has played host to some of the most celebrated composers of our time. Now, thanks to the Volkswagen Score Competition, three sound composers and designers from the Berlinale Talent Campus have a chance to work in the same building where Michael Nyman has recorded many of his scores. To reach this stage, participants were required to compose a score layout for three film clips. The finalists were then selected by David Holmes, composer for Out of Sight and Ocean’s Eleven.

Today, all three have the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg at their disposal. Finalist Kimmo Vänttinen sits among monitors, computers and a mixing desk the size of a small house, while giving the orchestra his instructions. Asking the conductor for more legato, the orchestra oblige, filling the entire place with music that will eventually accompany a clip of Run Lola Run.

"This is one of the most important parts of the business that they can’t teach in film school," says Scott Lawton, the orchestra’s conductor. "Here, the composers are experiencing real working conditions."

Maria Castro and Tom Third will have to wait until later in the afternoon to hear their work interpreted. As this years Talent Campus is designed to showcase how crucial composing and sound design are in filmmaking, perhaps the competition will prove that hearing is as significant as seeing – even in a primarily visual medium.

Laurence Boyce