Movie Music Writeup !

For this project i was required to make a

piece of contrasting music which fitted to a
certain film sequence with differentiating
atmospheres to demonstrate certain musical
techniques such as leitmotifs which can be
extremely effective in this area of music. The
Sequence i picked was from an episode of
doctor called Blink. Doctor who is a well
known British science fiction series which
bases itself around weird and wonderful
aliens and scary creatures which fill the
fictional world. !

This was part of the reason that i picked this

sequence as in this episode it includes these
monsters which are based off of normal
statues which come to life but can only move
when not looked at. I thought this was a great
place to use the technique which i mentioned
earlier called leitmotifs. Due to the sudden
movements found in particular scenes, I'm
able to manipulate sounds to fit when the
Angel statues appear; thus making a leitmotif.
I also use a number of other techniques that
we were taught which compliment my chosen
scene. My chosen sequence is split up into 5
parts and i will explain all of my techniques
and choices i made when making the music
and sound effects. !

In Logic i used many plugins to manipulate

sounds to fit into the style of music that i
wanted this soundtrack to be in, so that it
would fit into the video as i wanted to. I used
effects such as delay, echo and reverb to
simulate big spaces to make it properly fit into
the video. Then i use plugins such as
distortion, overdrive, phase and phase
distortion to make parts of the track really
gritty and aggressive these plugins are
especially used when the angels are on screen as this adds a faker element to the video which in
turn makes the whole experience more scary. Also i used plugins such as tremolo and guitar amps
to really stylise this track and to add a little bit of my own spin on it as i didn't want to make it sound
like just any old soundtrack i wanted to sound unique and different and i believe that i
accomplished that. After completing this task i think i did a great job of making music to accompany
a video and i think that the music definitely adds to the video if i were to make any improvements
however i may maybe of mixed it slightly differently so that levels of all the instruments to speech
were somewhat more balanced. The current mixing is good but could be bettered in my opinion. !

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Part 1 -The Start (0:00-0:50)!

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Right from the start we see a man confronted by

an angel which is accompanied by intense and
dramatic music which contains impacts and hits.
The main parts of music contains strings such
as the violin, Synth pads, acoustic drums and
atmospheric deep sounds. All of these elements
help build the suspense and tension of the track
so when the angel gets closer the impacts of
when they appear seem much more effective
and dramatic. !

Also i used sound effects for certain parts of this

scene such as when the character sally is
forcefully trying to open the door i used banging
sounds to represent the loud hits on the door. I
also used some footstep sounds which were
used for the movement on the floorboards. I
wanted to give the soundtrack a futuristic and
science fiction feel so i used bit crusher as a
style choice and technique to acquire that space
like sound on some of the synths you can see in
the opening scene. This Accompanied with ring
shifter and tremolo meant that i was able to
experiment and create a piece that was also very mysterious. Relating back to the leitmotif every
time the angel is shown in this scene the impact and hits play making it even more scary when the
angel appears, creating a very dark and sudden leitmotif. !

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Part 2 -The Basement (0:51-1:50)!

This section of the sequence displays another technique i used. This technique is the change in
atmosphere, now that the suspense has now dropped and that they have found a way out the
music dies down and becomes almost dark and distant due to the dark underground basement that
the characters now find themselves in. !

This change in atmosphere really adds a dynamic and temperament to the track as it does from
very hard hitting and intense to very soft, dark and calm. However as this scene plays on, the
music does not stay as the light flickers and the angels begin to move the previous music kicks
back in with the new addition of distorted impact drums rising up into the next section of the song.
The instruments with the Bit-crusher effect also are added and the music begins to build into
something more intense.!

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Part 3 -The Close Call (1:51-2:15)!
You can really tell the difference
between this part and the previous,
its almost like a juxtaposition due to
the calm nature of the music before
hand compared to the harsh and
intense music of this scene. The
Leitmotif seen previously in the last
two stages has also increased in
intensity using effects such as
distortion to keep the impact hits as
a leitmotif but to variate them from
before to show how many different
monsters there are and how much
the threat has increased. Also this
use of distortion i feel fits in with the
darkness and lack of a light source
in this scene; This loss of vision
makes the distortion and the music
almost look psychedelic. !

Part 4 -Safety
(2:16-2:40) !
Part 4 is where the music dies
down and becomes more chilled

and relax and you almost get a false sense

of security by the music as you think that
all the danger has disappeared due to this
change in dynamic. This change in music
also gives the Tardis itss own leitmotif as
the safe house in the episode. !

There is a chord progression playing on a

piano which the velocity is low to help
create that calm vibe that this scene gives
off. Also there is an arpeggiated piano in a
higher octave which is following the main
piano still with that theme of low velocities.
I definitely like the changes in music
between this scene and the next as it
shows variation in the soundtrack and
really makes it feel like the music is
following what is happening in the video.
However saying this there are enough
similarities in the whole piece to keep
running leitmotifs and themes such as the
angels. The reverb which is especially
used in this scene also gives the feel of
how large the Tardis is and i tried to create
the atmosphere through the music by
attempting to replicate a big space. !

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Part 5 - Last Stand (2:16-End) !
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The Last part of the soundtrack features the and sudden return of the dramatic music from before;
including the heavy drums and percussion as well as the synths with bit crusher and the violins. I
thought that this sudden change in music from peaceful and relaxing to loud and chaotic would suit
the video brilliantly due to the unexpected
danger of the Angels attacking. !

The musical elements of this soundtrack stays

the same until the very end of the video were it
then continues into another calm and chilled
section but only this time with a violin to
indicate that they have defeated the angels
and that there will be no more danger. This
chilled music makes for a great ending to the
video and demonstrates how music can
influence video through techniques and
changes such as leitmotifs.