James Peter Moffatt

Email: jamespetermoffatt@gmail.com 

Website: www.jamespetermoffatt.com

 

Previous Education

Distinction in MA Music for the Moving Image from Leeds Beckett University

1st Class BA (Hons) in Music Production & Performance from Leeds Beckett University

 

Biography

James Peter Moffatt is a Film Composer, Musician, Record Producer & Academic who has scored numerous award-winning international films, working alongside the likes of Academy-Award and BAFTA winning Ben Wilkins (Star Trek, Whiplash, The Sopranos), Ken Scott (Beatles, David Bowie) and Ray Russell (John Barry Seven, A Touch of Frost). His work has been featured in numerous press publications including Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Vice and The Hollywood Reporter. James is the recipient of AHRC funding to investigate ‘The Evolving Role of the Composer in the Contemporary Film-Music Industry through Case Study and Practice-Led Approaches’, in pursuit of a PhD.

 

Thesis Title

A Manifesto for Media Composers in the Post-Digital Context: Investigating the Evolving Role of the Composer in the Contemporary Film-Music Industry through Case Study and Practice-Led Approaches

 

Supervisors

Dr Robert Strachan PhD, MA, BA

Dr Paul Turowski BM, MM, PhD

 

Research Summary

The film and music industries are in a state of flux. Changes in methods of production and distribution – often associated with digitisation – necessitate the creation of new, nuanced models of film-compositional processes. These changes have radically impacted not only the aesthetics of film music and the working practices of industry professionals, but also the way in which work is delivered and consumed. Online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are now major competitors in the creation of what is now called ‘content’ (Borum, 2016; Henson, 2017; Wilkins, 2017).

 

This project undertakes the first critical examination of contemporary film music composition practices in the post-digital context. Through a combination of literature-based, case study and practice-led approaches, this project explores and analyses composers’ backgrounds, levels of involvement and working practices alongside considerations of the impact of technological developments on their work, to fully critique the composer’s role as tensions surrounding creative labour and the wider cultural industries unfold.

 

Research Interests

Film and Music Industries, Creative Labour and the Cultural Industries, Digitisation, Technological Democratisation vs Meritocracy, Practice-Led Research, Composition, Music Production.

 

Publications

‘Meeting the challenge of the industry ready agenda for the freelance film composer: a case study’ Technology and Transformations: Do we Need New Maps? Bucks New University / Leeds Beckett University. Oct 2016. Available at https://technologyandtransformations.wordpress.com/robert-davis-james-moffatt-leeds-beckett/.

Student profiles

See all profiles