One minute you’re composing music for library CDs, the next you’re writing the score for a global blockbuster film about the moon landings. Philip Sheppard explains his amazing journey, and why his Sibelius scores look so great that they now hang as art on fashion designers’ walls.

In The Shadow Of The Moon is a stunning, feature-length documentary about the Apollo moon landings. The film weaves together never-before-seen NASA footage with interviews from the last surviving astronauts, including famous names such as Buzz Aldrin. The relatively low-budget production has achieved the holy grail of both critical acclaim and huge international success. It’s also won coveted accolades such as the Audience Award at the influential Sundance Film Festival.

With the epic nature of the Apollo footage, the producers knew that music was always going to be a key ingredient of the movie. After seeing him credited on a music CD they liked, approached long-time Sibelius-user Philip Sheppard.

 “I had a call from the film’s producers” enthuses Philip, UK-based composer and professional cellist, “They had been using one of my library CDs to create a score for an early test screening of the film, and had actually done an amazing job of editing it for part of the movie! However, they wanted to talk to me about writing a proper score for the film. From that moment onwards, I was basically one of only five people directly putting the film together.”

“It was a wonderful process; elements of my score dictated many of the edit decisions, and I think giving music that importance really paid off”, says Philip. It certainly has. From the rousing launch sequences to the tranquility of the dark side of the moon, Philip’s score helps ignite the stunning NASA footage, and provides a coherent link between the many interviews with the surviving Apollo crew.

Engines? Check! – Ignition? Check! – Dynamic Parts? Check!

Philip has been using Sibelius to write music for over six years and admits to being a bit of a control freak when it comes to his scores. “I’ve always done all my own orchestration. I need to be a hundred percent happy with everything that gets played.”“Producing professional-looking scores is vitally important in this business. For one thing it gets a better performance from the players. I can do that with Sibelius  – on planes, on trains and in hotel rooms, all on my laptop. It’s a critical part of how I work.”

Philip uses Sibelius to create eight or nine iterations of any major score he’s working on – from a very rough sketch right through to parts that look as professional as printed sheet music. “Dynamic Parts is the real lifesaver.” He says. “Put it this way, before the feature I used to be up all night finishing parts, now I get to go to sleep!”

“But the best thing about Sibelius is just how beautiful you can get your scores looking. I’m at my happiest when I have handed over a bound, A3 book of a score to a conductor and it looks stunning.” In fact, Philip’s Sibelius scores look so good that some people consider them works of art!

“I wrote the score for an Alexander McQueen fashion show in Paris, and he loved the look of the score so much that he asked me for a copy so he could frame it for his living room wall! I think maybe Sibelius should be sold as an art program too!”

Launch into film music

When asked what advice he would give to young musicians hoping to break into the film and TV music industry, Philip says it’s all about asking questions. “Try to get into contact with people already writing and producing film scores, and just ask them how they do it. People in this industry love what they’re doing, and love talking about it too. It’s the best way to learn.”

He also says: “If you play, it helps.” Philip has come into contact with many leading lights in the film music business through his work as a freelance cellist. “I’ve played on scores for Hotel Rwanda and some of the Harry Potter films, which gave me access to composers like Patrick Doyle and Rupert Gregson-Williams.”

Next steps…

Scoring In The Shadow of The Moon has certainly given Philip’s career a boost, and he now has many new projects in the pipeline. “One very exciting project that I really hope will come to fruition is a live performance of my score to a screening of the film. I can’t tell you any more than that at this stage, other than it is planned to happen at a very well-known, major venue.”

I guess we’ll have to watch this space!

Visit Philip Sheppard's website »