The Evolving 'Temp Score' in Animation

Abstract

'Temp music' has long been used to assist in the making of Hollywood motion pictures. Animated feature films, in particular, often spend years in production, going through a protracted process of development, storyboarding, animation, lighting, shading, editing and revisions. Unlike live-action film, today's computer-animated film is also edited as it is being developed, written and conceived. Hence, the 'temp score' changes, evolves and is 'conformed' as sequences are further edited and altered following reviews, screenings, rewrites, picture changes and new animation. Over several years, the temp score evolves along with the film. The evolution of the temp score, while being a hidden, unglorified part of the filmmaking process, is ideally situated to impact upon debates concerning authorship, originality, auteur theory, collaborative processes and intertextuality. Drawing on the author's notes and discussions with filmmakers, this article provides a glimpse into the internal process of temp scoring in c...