There are some frequent question that arise at conferences between scholars of film, television, and video game music: “I wonder where those scores are?” Or, “Where did you find that score?” Or maybe even, “I really want to work on a film, but I can’t find any archival material.” For many scholars, critical analysis of film and media music is stymied by a lack of manuscript and archival materials, and ear transcriptions can only achieve so much. And while numerous composers have deposited their papers at libraries and archives across the globe, the problem remains that finding them is sometimes reliant on stumbling upon a citation in a book or article or relying on word of mouth. Complicating matters further is that archivists and scholars are debating the construction of a robust archival record for the field right as we reach the point where most composers work in almost exclusively digital environments.
As a beginning to address this problem for researchers, I have begun a project called the Collections of Cinema and Media Music (or C2M2), which aims to be a database of locations for archival materials. I have spent the past few years designing a metadata schema, database structure, and working with a programmer to create a working site that, when finished, will people to crowdsource metadata for inclusion in the site. I am proposing a poster session in order to spark discussion about the project, locations of collections that can be included, and build awareness for it.
