Composer Douglas Romayne Stevens ("BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER," "ANGEL," "DAY BREAK," "THE SKULLS III," "INTERSTATE 60," "STEALING HARVARD") presents DIRECTING THE COMPOSER: A Workshop For Filmmakers at the 1st Annual 2007 Oxford International Film Festival (OIFF), on Saturday, April 7, 2007, 4:30pm, Screening Room D at the Marcum Center in Oxford, Ohio. Stevens is a special guest of the four-day competitive festival, running from April 5-8, 2007.

Says Stevens, "There have been many excellent seminars at film festivals with well-known composers talking about their work. These seminars are geared toward composers. What is unique about the OIFF workshop is that I will be talking mainly to independent filmmakers about the process of creating music for film." Stevens adds that while music and sound comprise one of three essential parts of film (story, visuals, sound/music), film schools offer little training in working with music and composers. In preparation for the workshop, Stevens interviewed filmmakers and mentor Christophe Beck, and consulted notes from studies with Richard Bellis and Elmer Bernstein. Stevens will focus on the function of music in film, how different approaches to scoring a scene impact the film\'s tone, the best uses of temp music, how to refine the score through revisions and, most importantly, how to communicate with a composer through use of dramatic terms.

DIRECTING THE COMPOSER: A Workshop For Filmmakers offers basic, dramatic tools to assist filmmakers in communicating their vision. Stevens will present examples from his work scoring independent films and Joss Whedon\'s popular shows.

The OIFF attracted more than 500 entries from filmmakers in over 40 countries and has selected 77 independent films to screen over the course of the festival, including over a dozen U.S., Ohio, and World Premieres. Among the highlights:

  • Ohio premiere of "FINDING KRAFTLAND" staring Agent Richard Kraft of Kraft/Engel Management, Danny Elfman, Trevor Rabin, John Ottman and Christophe Beck. The film\'s director Richard Kraft will attend the screenings.
  • U.S. premiere of "WRATH OF GODS" featuring Gerard Butler ("300," "PHANTOM OF THE OPERA") and Stellan Skarsgard ("PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN"). The film will premiere at the festival\'s opening-night gala. The film\'s director Jon Gustafsson will attend the screenings.
  • Ohio premiere of "MOJAVE PHONE BOOTH" starring Annabeth Gish, Steve Guttenberg, Christine Elise, Robert Romanus, Missi Pyle, and directed by John Putch.

For more details about the festival, visit http://www.oxfordfilms.com/oiff

About Composer Douglas Romayne Stevens

Douglas Romayne Stevens has been scoring professionally for 4 years, during that time he scored 8 seasons of television series, 6 features, documentaries and many excellent shorts by emerging filmmakers. Joss Whedon hired him to score "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" for Fox in 2002 after working with him on the series\' musical, "Once More, With Feeling." DRS went on to score seasons 4 and 5 of "ANGEL" for Fox, "MIRACLES" for Touchstone, three seasons of "DUCK DODGERS" for Warner Bros. Animation and "DAY BREAK" for Touchstone. His feature film work includes Universal\'s "THE SKULLS III" and "THE SKULLS II," Universal\'s "BIG FAT LIAR," Imagine\'s "STEALING HARVARD," USA Network\'s "WOLF GIRL," and Bob Gale\'s "INTERSTATE 60." Douglas Romayne Stevens is repped by Linda Kordek of The Agency Group/LA and managed by Karrie Vickery of Bleu Jean Management.

For additional information about the composer, visit http://douglasromaynestevens.com