By Martika Dupigny-Williams

Importance of Music Selection

When creating a film it is highly important to take audio selection into consideration.
This is because each audio clip is detrimental to how it will affect the viewer/listener.
My production group and I chose to make a drama film therefore in preparation of
this I watched a lot of short films such as Love of Mine, as well as feature length
films such as Cyberbully and The Chatroom. In doing so I was able to pick out key
components I could demonstrate when editing audio into our film.

Major vs Minor Key:

A scale is comprised of a root note followed by the 2 nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and the
octave. E.g. if a song was in the key of C the notes would be C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.
Each note within a scale corresponds to its number.
The difference between chords within the major and minor key is the third interval. If
you take out the third note of a major chord you will get a minor one; this one note
makes a noticeable difference. Major chords sound brighter and connote happiness
whereas minor chords sound dull and dreary connoting sadness.
Taking this information into consideration I will make sure not to choose a backing
track from genres such as pop and funk music. Music from genres such as these two
examples are normally upbeat which would create the wrong type of atmosphere for
our drama film.

Staccato vs Legato:
Notation is also another key factor to take into consideration when selecting music
for out film. Staccato notes are short and sharp and can be syncopated, e.g. in
reggae style music the guitar part is normally played in a syncopated rhythm. On the
other hand legato notes ring out making a piece sound smooth and melodic. E.g.
within some sub genres of rock music as well as styles such as soul and gospel. In
researching into short and feature length drama films the soundtracks they use are
typically melodic and within the minor key.
Taking these two key factors into consideration I will able to confidently select audio
tracks to convey the right mood to our selected target audience, as well as
compliment the visuals surrounding the main protagonist of the film.