If you could anything you wanted to for the rest of your life, what would it be?

This question haunts me. I’m sure it haunts MANY people. Who wants to do ONE thing for the rest of his or her life? But it’s a question that’s important to be able to answer. Why? Because the majority of Americans with some sort of education are facing this everyday of their adult lives. Many deny it, many defer it, many settle elsewhere. What’s the point?

I am in LA trying to start something big for my life. Trying to break into the industry. I have an internship with a music supervisor, whose only job is to find music for soundtracks of movies. It’s a glamorous job with so many fringe benefits. And you get to work with directors, actors, musicians, etc. on a daily basis. There’s a lot of technical work involved with music labels, publishers, copyright holders, money, lawyers, and so many other people. But overall, you’re eventually going to determine the songs which you hear for a particular movie, thus affecting the audience and viewers who also watch and hear the same. It will affect emotions, it will inspire, it will provoke, it will make you smile, it will make you angry. It’s a huge job with a huge responsibility. It’s a job that I could possibly see myself doing down the road.

But my true passion with movie soundtracks has always been with the instrumentals involved. I’m talking about the original soundtrack composed by one of hundreds and thousands of people. Music that you listen to and completely adds an atmosphere to a scene.

I’m talking about that scene where Darth Vader is introduced in Star Wars, walking to the beat of a brass ensemble march. I’m talking about the scene in Jurassic Park where Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler see dinosaurs walking the earth for the first time in their lives, the orchestra melodically defining the adrenaline rush felt by these characters. I’m talking about the scene where the kids discover the Pan is alive in Peter Banning, a soft, whistful melody which keeps you watching, almost choking you up with some tears (Hook). I could easily go on and on with examples but you get the picture.

I am not guaranteed any job by working this internship. It just doesn’t work that way with the industry. But, this is experience that will hopefully send me along to my next job or internship with the same or another company for a similar experience and job.

If I could do one thing for the rest of my life, and it had to be one thing, I’d want to work directly with composers as they compose and score music for soundtracks of films. Part music supervisor, part music editor. That would make me happy.