Compose music for film

Usually the music played throughout a film or television programme is called a "score". When composing the music it all starts out with a main melody so that the writer of the music can get a shape and feel to it. They then start to incorporate more instruments to build an overall product. When creating a piece yourself, you need to make sure that it relates to the concept of the film so that you can successfully grasp the attention of an audience, also by making it simple but not too repetitive so the audience doesn't become bored.

James Horner

James Horner is the creator of the titanic song 'I will go on' The molody starts off very simply but slowly worked on to give an emotional impact. The tune started with a simple piano sequence and then incorporated an orchestra which gives the audience an even more emotional feel. This is because the visuals of watching Jack and Rose, although their time spent together has been shown as romantic, by the music played the audience can tell something is going to go wrong.

Hanz Zimmer

Hans Zimmer wanted to make something 'truly provocative and something people could truly hate.' He wanted to make something close to the edge and close to being to much to shock the listeners. He wanted something which contained extraordinary tension 'like razor blades or string' without making it sound to different to the rest of the music and noises of complete insanity.
He had done hundreds of experiments to get this pure, insane noise which goes so well with the joker such as razorblades on piano wire and pencils tapping walls and floors.
Christopher Nolan would go to the edge then Hans Zimmer would push him further which is why the soundtrack to the Dark Knight is so effective and shocking.
Zimmer moved away from the stereotypical 'bad guy' and wanted a sound of pure anarchy and fearlessness.


Immerse yourself
Watch the film repeatedly. With sound and without sound. Each time you watch it you will notice something different and get more and more ideas for you music. Doing this will also give you an idea of timing for you music, the speed in the music, and when it should change to show a atmosphere. For example, A montage clip of something strange cutting to something exciting.
 Even watching other movie clips with a similar atmosphere and emotion as your scene can give you an idea of what instruments and tempo to use. However, it may become to similar and not original.
Be original
Trying to make a creative piece of music within the constraints given by the director can be a difficult thing. Having to tone down something that is complicated and you're proud of may be a frustrating thing to do but keeping in touch with the director and asking his\her opinion could save you a lot of frustration removing elements you're happy with.
Make sure you have the correct gear.
You could have lots of great idea's and music but if your music isn't to a good recording standard getting a chance will be so much harder. Generally you'd need higher end software which allows for MIDI ( A technical standard which allows a wide variety of instruments 'Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
Stick to the feeling of the film
Make sure you really understand the emotion the director is trying to get across and be prepared to change your music to vary to different emotions as the scenes change. If its a montage, many emotions are shown in a short time so changing it even slightly is a must. You may have to watch the scenes repeatedly to know when to change the sounds as emotion in movies are key.

Screen shot of Meta data

In order to be able to find the files I have to work with in premier, I have labelled each clip and pasted them in a file called "Final project" By doing this my work is easy to find and in order to be able to work with.

Screen shot of after effects

This is a screen shot on the effect 'walking through wall' i was working on. Before i shot the main scene i practiced it using after effects. I did this by filming someone walking into a wall, then the actor removing themselves from the shot to then film the empty wall. I then put this footage into after effects and cut the part where he is about to walk into a wall and then the empty wall. This then shows someone walking to a wall and disappearing. To make it more realistic, i put a mask around the beginning of the character and move the mask a tiny bit each frame to show him slowly almost sliding into the wall. To make it even more believable i keyframed his opacity so each frame where hes getting closer to the wall i dropped his opacity by about 20 percent so he's disappearing into the wall. Personally I prefer this effect to the final scene because it looks alot more believable because of the natrual light used from outside and the angle is alot easier to work on rather than side on.

Research into recording ambient sounds and dialogue

What is ambient sound?

Ambient sound is anything within an action shot that the actors within the piece will be able to hear. They are background sounds which are present in a scene or location. For example:
  : The sound of birds tweeting, the church bells, the train. These all work well together to effectively glue the emotional scene together, if there was a dark scary scene maybe a colder tone would be added by using a quiet location with small amounts of ambient sound to be used.

How do I record ambient sound?

To record ambient sound all you need is a clear microphone which will record the sound clearly. You do not have to hold a mic up when filming a scene you can just record the element you would like separately. Usually when recording outside a foam shield acts as a wind guard around the microphone so you can pick up background noises without any interruptions from the wind or any other background noises not intended for the scene.




Why do we need ambient sound?

We need ambient sound so that you give the audience a realistic idea of the film that they're watching so that it becomes more believable no matter what the situation is. Adding ambient sounds is very important to a scene. When selecting the environment, it can add a lot more to the scene so that it effectively 'glues' the piece together creating an overall outcome of having a realistic and believable environment.




What is dialogue?

Dialogue is a scripted piece in which the actors perform using speech while being filmed by a cameraman. Dialogue can be used for many different things, such as narration, a conversation, or to give a vibe of the genre used etc. Dialogue is one of the most important pieces to a movie to show the audience a good idea of what is going on within a scene. It also adds comedy, horror or drama which affects the viewer emotionally. Just by the actors using the script and chosen genre they can make any words given fit the scene. For example; this scene shows a clear comedic element by the words chosen and how the actors say them.











Why do we need dialogue?

Foley Sound Research

A Foley Artist works alongside the visual film, ad or video game, adding sound effects to make the film come to life. A Foley artist will use a range of props and accessories to create a 'layering ' of sounds which will then be used to compliment the dialogue.

Foley Artists are necessary to the film making industry as the priority on a film shoot is dialogue. It is then necessary to create the illusion of incidental sound and to add drama to the audio. Foley artists describe their work as 'a marriage of picture and sound' and a craft which puts detail into a film using their 'performance'. There are some items which feature within a film, for example, horses which cannot be brought into a studio so the Foley Artist will have to use her or his imagination to re-create the sound the horse would make. (see illustration below*)

The Foley artist creates the sound using a layering technique. For instance all footsteps relating to the characters are laid down, followed by background footsteps. This is followed by anything that is moving on the screen which in turn gets a sound. This is called the 'Prop Pass'.
In order to be a Foley Artist is is necessary to posses a creative mind and highly developed sense of timing.

The advantage of using real objects as opposed to digital sound is that the audience would recognise the authenticity of a sound they can relate to, which makes experiencing the sound more real for the viewer, for instance Ben Burtt, who created sound for the Star Wars films tells the story of stumbling across the perfect sound effect for a laser gun. While out with his family he accidentally touched the wire on a radio mast. This produced the perfect noise .
Also on the Star Wars film the 'Imperial Walker' sound effect was created by cutting large panels of sheet metal.
* For the 'Game of Thrones' a mic was buried within a basin of earth and another used above the earth while actual horses hooves , hand-held by the artist were used to beat the surface.

Final Video

Legal issues

-Publishing rights
The first is the copyright in the underlying composition and includes the lyrics and melody of a song.These rights are controlled by music publishers.

-Master recording rights
The second copyright is the recording of the song. This is a separate work of creative expression, and so has its own copyright. These rights are traditionally controlled by the record label.

Here shows that the piece of music which is included within my short film is lisenced by the creator of each element within the song via a text to allow me to use his music. (Gary Hellman- Leave tonight) 

Creative commons

The creative commons was founded in 2001 with the support of the Centre for the public domain. Creative commons are a non-profit organisation that allows people to share creative work through free legal tools. They are based in Mountain View, California. The organisation has released several copyright licences free to the public. This allows the creators communicate the rights in which they deserve to be able to share their work to the world.

Purpose of music in film

Mr Nobody- Choice scene

Purpose

Music plays an important part in the film industry to bring an extra element of drama to a scene so that the audience have an emotional effect depending on the mood on the particular music/scene given. In concert music the music itself shows an emotion impact on an audience. Although music alone can cause such a dramatic impact, adding this to film exaggerates the idea of a dramatic effect on the audience and emphasises meaning to the specific scene being watched.

Elements

The music within this clip contains just a piano playing, this makes the music very independent with very few high pitched and low chords which makes it simple. The music is slow and dramatic, which almost doesn't fit the scene but because it doesn't fit the scene, elements are picked out by the audience so that emotionally, it works well but visually it does not. The motion of the picture also slows to fit the music almost as if the film has slowed down for the music so rather than the music being in the background, the music is why the scene is so much of an impact.

Meaning

The music within this scene is so peaceful and simple which almost relates to the title of the film 'Mr Nobody' It shows such drama just by one piece of piano which clearly shows a true understanding of a choice being made but also when making a choice, the average being calms themselves and this piece of music contributes to this. The music also graduates from quiet at the beginning and as soon as the mother is seen to shout, a high pitched note on the piano is played which exaggerates the scene so the audience then know that se is screaming, this emotionally impacts the audience so they can relate to this.

Project 1-Screen shot of extra backing track

Project 1-Production meeting

Today we had a production meeting about the things that now need to be completed from where we are at in the project. All we need to do is film the rest of the footage in order to edit and complete the whole project. Unfortunately the teacher that we need to film is not available until wednesday so we will need to make sure that all the footage has been filmed on wednesday.

Project 1-Rough Cut self evaluation

The footage that i have filmed and edited reaching an overall rough cut to the beginning of my super hero movie (The Elite Existence) as a whole, shows some creative skills which i have learnt through the project successfully. I personally like the contrast between each clip of the character 'felix' walking down a corridor with his back to the camera and each special effect that i have created. The contrast shows 'felix' walking down a corridor to then fading into the next clip. I also think that the voice over is very explanatory and impacting which works well with the backing track that sits underneath the footage.

 Purely because of the voice over which is in time with the sequence i think that it makes narrative sense and gives justice towards the opening. I also think that the special effects work well with the sequence because its in time with the music and voice over. I did have a problem with the 'walking through wall' effect because the empty corridor image was at a slight angle in comparison to the live action shot. I tried my best to edit this to make the shot look successful by re-sizing the image. I think that it has worked quite well and is almost un-noticeable as an end product.

 The other two special effects - 'Speed running' and 'Spinning into ground' were very successful. With the shot where a boy is running fast down a corridor, i sped this up in premier rather than putting it into after effects because i believe that not much was needed for the shot (speed up and colour correction) With the other special effect, i did put this into after effects, sped up the point where the boy started spinning, put a mask of smoke over the top and dropped to opacity when hes about to disappear. Overall i think this worked successfully and is effective and believable.

I think as a finished opening scene it is entertaining to watch because of each element working with each other (music, audio dialogue, colour correction, fading in and out of shots and the quality of each shot) The only thing i need to change or adjust is the colour correction in some shots. Personally i like the mix of different shades but according to the peer feedback, the colour correction i have completed isn't understood or clear to why its slightly different tones. As and opening scene i personally am very pleased with my work.

Project 1-Rough cut peer feedback

Stephen-

Does it make narrative sense?
- Yes, although much doesn't happen the voice over shows clearly whats going on.

Do the special effects fit well with the sequence? Can it be improved?
-The walking into wall shot works really well with how the shot fades in and out. Also the last effects works well with having the same colour shot as the jumper.

Is the dialogue engaging?
- Yes and it goes with the music and shots well, especially when the voice over says ' I am felix"

What do the sound FX, ambient sounds and music add?
- The music adds tension and sits with the way the shots cut and footsteps in shot 2.

Is it entertaining?
- Yes it works as a really good intro

What would you do to improve the sequence?
- A couple of shots look a different colour to others, could be colour corrected.


Rory-

Does it make narrative sense?
- Yes, its very easy to follow and makes sense

Do the special effects fit well with the sequence? How could they be improved?
- Yes they fit in well and they look very well done.

Is the dialogue engaging?
-Yes, it's intriguing and interesting to listen too.

What do the sound FX, ambient sounds and music add?
- The music adds great tone to the sequence and gives a good pace to the rest of the scene.

Is it entertaining?
-It is very entertaining

What would you do to improve the sequence?
-Colour correct.

Project 1-rough cut

Project 1-Time table for actors- Prof Albetross

Project 1-Change of Schedule (costume shots)

Project 1-Health and Safety

Project 1-Problems and Resolutions

1-
The acting cast, not sure if it will work out that well or mess around
-make sure you're strict and don't hire people you know will mess around
2-
The casting of the Professor
-make sure you have an understudy if that person is not available for the part
3-
The amount of shots we have in comparison to the amount of scenes we have is greater
- split the shots into 3 scenes
4-
Making someone walk through a wall whiles editing
- Can be shown how to do on youtube
5-
Personally will not be able to shoot a scene well
-Work with other members of the group to achieve this
6-
The management of time throughout filming, editing and audio
- make a time table- refer to schedule
7-
About the group working together and being punctual for the due date
- work together
8-
That my editing skills are not amazing and hard to achieve
- work together but do individual work

Project 1-Casting notes

Felix Collins - Edwyn John

Brief description of Felix Collins- Looking for a teenager between the age od 16-18 that is fairly quiet but confident, about 6 foot and a deep voice. Brunette.

The reason why i think Edwyn would be good for the part is because he matches the description quite well for the part and he also has a deep voice which can come across fairly mysterious.

Professor Albitum- Annushka Sims

Brief description of Proffessor Albutum- Looking for a tall female, 5.8-9, shows fashion sense 18-20 years of age, comes across quite confident, elegance and looks after themselves. Blonde/Brunette.

The reason why Annushka because she has blonde hair, comes across fairly confident and can easily be made to look elegant with the costume desires. Also she is 16 years of age but looks fairly old for her age.

Professor Albetross- possible- Tim Whittika

Brief description of Professor Albetross- Fairly old 50 onwards, grey hair/bald, grey beard. Confident, stern looking and can put on a deep voice.

Tim could play this part fairly well because he fits the description and has a deep voice, although he may be quite small we can alter this obstical when filming.

Extras- Have to look like they are within a college environment. Ages 16-18, confident.

Amy Brown- Corridor spinner
Luke Bennette- Corridor walker
Reece Georgiades - Corridor walker
Casper Brazier - Corridor runner
Ben Harrison- Corridor walking through walls

These people would be good for the extras because they fit the description, their confident and patient.

Project 1-Production meeting Casting

Production meeting

We decided to put casting and discrete roles together as we will need to find people to do roles as well as discrete roles.
We are still in the process of finding people to play in our movie introduction, we do not have a clue in who we want to get to play although we have a vague idea of the personalities we need for our characters. We will need a Sly professor someone who you can see has a separate personality which we can tell that there is other side to his character. For Felix we need someone who seems innocent although is ambitious and can achieve a friendly personality easily. For Dr. Albitum we need a friendly woman who also seems a bit weird and has more to her than what she appears to be as the college has a different side to what is actually is we need to achieve this through the characters personalities.
For our discrete roles we need just random students/teachers just to fill the shots and in our second scene we will not need any extra roles as it'll be in the principals office and no outside.

Project 1-Production meeting location

Locations
The first shot is a long shot of the college so the location is in the car park. The second location is in C Block corridor. Most of the scene is in C Block corridor. The Third location will be in a classroom which is meant to be an office so we thought we may have to bring props for it.
We thought the locations were quite minimal but i think it will be okay if our shots vary a lot.

Project 1-Production meeting Schedule

Project 1-Breakdown sheet 3/3

Project 1-Break down sheet 2/3

Project 1-Break down sheet 1/3