Jason Sulit

Media

Soundtrack
After we had finish producing our rough cut of our opening sequence we
decided to make a rough soundtrack, we knew what the whole theme of
our opening will be however we still needed to research and make a
soundtrack which is relevant and fits our opening sequence. The
soundtrack can influence the whole scene, without the correct soundtrack
it can change the view point from the audience perspective and change
the whole atmosphere of the scene. As we watched our rough cut without
any music it seemed really plain and awkward therefore music is needed
to create tension and to entice the viewer.
We were inspired to make a soundtrack that was similar to SE7EN as the
music used in SE7EN is quite gritty and reflect that whole disturbing tone
of the film which is what we wanted to create with our opening sequence,
the SE7EN opening sequence is also very similar to ours as it is our
inspiration for our opening. With SE7EN the music creates the feel of
urgency and unease due to the use of disturbing sound effects such as
nails and the sound of screeching and because of the high pitched noise it
also makes the viewer nervous and tense. The use of the amplified sound
also creates a sudden rush of suspense at certain points of the sequence.
For our soundtrack we wanted it to sound eerie and disturbing similar to
SE7EN, we wanted something that sounds processed and electronic as
with this type of music we would be able to mess around with different
sound effects and overlay diegetic sounds of voices and movement
sounds. I wanted to create a distorting, weird mood that makes the viewer
feel confused about what they are viewing, and I also wanted the
soundtrack to have a sense of horror to it as it will set a fear for the
antagonist that they are viewing.
We decided to make the final version of the opening sequence before
making the soundtrack as we needed to know what effect the opening
sequence has to its viewer in order to produce our soundtrack. I came up
with two soundtrack the first one is an electronic processed music that I
originally wanted and the other one I decided to make a calming,
emotional piano instrumental, the reason I tried out a piano instrumental
was because it contrast the rough textured opening sequence hence
making the whole thing seem strange. We liked both soundtracks however
we decided to choose the electronic soundtrack over the piano
instrumental; the reason was because the piano instrumental made the
opening sequence seem more like a horror genre than a thriller and it
didnt seem to sync in with the pace of our opening sequence compared
to the electronic sound track.

Jason Sulit
Media

We did our editing in garage band

and we used the loop project to
produce our soundtrack. Using the
loop project was easy as we were
able to drag and drop tunes directly
from garage band and manipulate
them by changing the pitch, pace,
amplifying sounds, adding echoes,
etc. It was the perfect software as it
enabled us to produce a soundtrack that wanted and were able to have
control over the music and tailor it to suit our needs. We produced a
soundtrack that matches the mood of the scene and we were able to sync
the music with the sequence to make it tense at the right moment.
This is a print
screen which
shows the rough
soundtrack of
our piano
instrumental
that I produced.
The
instrumental is
very emotional
and portrays
vengeance and
grief which our
antagonist has a problem with, the music is contrast the rough textured
opening sequence and creates a sort of confusion making the audience

question what they are viewing.

Theses were all the tunes that I used to produce this soundtrack, the
piano tune was amplified, and the rest of the tunes were kept to a

Jason Sulit
Media

minimum volume. I used an electronic beat in order to create excitement

and I used a background noise and a synthesiser to create different
frequencies of sound in order to create a strange feel.
For the electronic soundtrack I produced, the tunes in three stages, in the
first stage the tune is kept to a minimum volume with a few diegetic
sounds to complement it, the music is simple and quite relaxed with only
a few overlaid tunes. At the second stage I added a tape rewinder FX and I
followed it on by making the tune more upbeat and higher in pitch
creating more tension. At the
third stage there is a distortion
in sound and the beat drops
becoming lower in pitch and
louder in volume, the
background noise creates
suspense indicating that
something will happen and the
tune changes as it increases to its loudest volume, once there the music
stops and an electronic screeching sound remains until it fades out. As
there are no more sounds or music the viewer will think the music is over
but in a few seconds of silent a loud explosion sound FX occurs shocking
the viewer.
These were the categories of tunes that were available in
the loop project. I mainly got the tunes from the dark,
processed, electronic, and FX categories. These
categories related to the kind of music that I wanted to
produce for my opening sequence. In the real instrument
and the master track setting I was able to manipulate
tunes by changing the pitch, increasing the noise gate,
adding echoes, etc. I did all the eerie sound effects and
distorted tunes by going into these settings. Down below
are the tunes that I used to produce my final soundtrack:
This is the
main beat
you will
hear in my soundtrack, the reason I chose this was
because it has a tense beat to it that synced with the
actions of the character in our opening sequence, the

beat is also dark and mysterious which represents our character.

Jason Sulit
Media

I started to play around and manipulate the tune by cutting parts out and
extending and dragging it to make it a one whole tune. I also changed the
pitch of the tune and cut out parts to distort the music.
I added an extra row of this beat and chose a part that I wanted repeating
then I extended it; I amplified the sound of this tune as it is significant to

the action of the character in our opening sequence.

These three tunes act like the background music, the Super Stranger
tune is used throughout the soundtrack, the Pulsing Sweep and
Concrete Jungle is only heard near towards the end of the soundtrack as
this tune completely distort the rhythm of the music, the reason this is
used is because we wanted to set a fearful sense towards the antagonist
character in our opening sequence.
I will now explain how we made our sound track and the decision, thought
and ideas of why we did it this way. In each stages of the music we
wanted the audience to feel a certain emotion and hint about the
antagonist on screen and also give description of what the film will be
about. With the music we created we wanted it to be in sync with the
characters motion, movement of the camera, and the pace of the editing.
The print screens below shows the entire sound track for our opening
sequence.

In this first print screen, it shows the first section of my soundtrack, as you
can there is a very few tunes that were used, the volume for each of these
tunes are kept to a minimum, I cut parts of the tunes that I thought did

Jason Sulit
Media

not sync in with our opening sequence. At the opening of the soundtrack I
added an explosive sound indicating that the soundtrack is about to start
as it did with SE7EN. At the bottom of the rows there are sound FX which
are there to distort the music as it did with the SE7EN soundtrack as it
similarly used distortions in sound such as the screeching. The first
section of the soundtrack is quiet and less distorted with a consistent beat
making it reclined, the reason I did this was to get the audience settled in
to the opening sequence and build tension later on in the scenes. Another
reason is because it syncs in with the movement and pace of the camera
and editing as the opening sequence is quite slow at the beginning.

Around one minute into the soundtrack the rhythm of the beat changes in
pitch, at this point in the opening sequence the pace of editing and
camera movement quickens hence the soundtrack become more upbeat
and starts to drop in pitch to sync with the scene on screen. In the second
row I added a tape rewinder FX which suggests a change in music, as you
can see the tunes start to become more overlapped. The reason we did
this was because it got to the point where we needed to entice the
audience after settling them in to what is on screen, therefore we needed
to build more tension by adding more tunes and deepening the sound of
the music.

Jason Sulit
Media

At this section of the soundtrack, the music began to get more complex,
at around one minute 30 seconds into the soundtrack I added an
electronic explosive sound which indicated that the beat is about to drop,
at this point the music becomes strange and eerie making it hard to listen
to. There are several overlapped tunes that create a loud bass, each cuts
that were in the tunes indicates a change in pace of editing and camera
movement on screen. The reason I did this was to gain climax to give the
audience a thrill and to also make the viewer uncomfortable in what they
are seeing and hearing.

In this section I wanted to create a suspenseful and creepy mood as this is

the point where the antagonist shows his mask, at around the end of the
soundtrack I removed the beat of the music and there is also a 15-20
second gap where you can only hear a strange electronic static sound. At
this point the camera pans to the right of the antagonists face and as the
sound fades out the soundtrack ends with an explosion and this is where
the title of the film will be shown in opening sequence. The reason I did

Jason Sulit
Media

this is because usually in thrillers the soundtrack at the end would have a
pause and then end with a loud noise to shock the viewer.
All in all I think the soundtrack that I produced fits in and syncs well with
our opening sequence, I would also say that the music fits in with our
psychological thriller genre as it is very suspenseful and confuses the
audience. The music is not horror like but it has a sense of creepiness to
an extent but is also very enticing and thrills the audience, the music is
also very effective as it contribute to the overall quality of the opening
sequence and makes the scenes more interesting to watch.