Final film finished! 28th Mar

Readers,

Throughout this week I have continued to compose my music for my 2 minute opening. To compose my music I used different loops on Garageband. As I am an A level music student I decided to take these loops and slightly change them to fit with the genre of film e.g. making some of the loops minor key or increasing the volume of the music to create suspense. I edited this in Garageband and then exported the score. I then imported the score into Audacity where I divided the score into six main sections of music. Nice music-driving down the drive, E, MD and MP meeting-this is when Emily and her mother meet the head of 6th form and are taken inside, background music-for Emily while she is at school to create suspicion that something is wrong with her, stalker music-this is his motif (small phrase of music) which introduces the audience to him while he is skulking in the bushes and around the school, orchestral strings-different background music while the stalker is not on screen and finally Big E!-this is for the ending of my film opening to create an enigma, to leave the watchers wanting more.

The night before I had downloaded the graphic of 20th century fox to be placed at the start of my film to comply with the conventions of the film industry.

All of the music worked perfectly with the film except the stalking scene. The timings of the suspense accents were at the wrong time to the film and there were too many of them so this made the film look poor and not professional. I decided to recompose this section to make sure it fit perfectly with the film. When I was finished I exported this and imported into my film which I have edited on Final Cut Express. I imported all my music into their specific places of my film and edited them. After this I edited the volume levels of the music and film so that the music faded out or came in at the right points without over riding the dialogue/ambient sounds.

When I was happy with the final product I exported the film into a Quicktime movie ready to be uploaded onto my blog.

Please COMMENT and leave me constructive feedback!! Thank you!

Music for my 2 minute opening film 21st Mar

Readers,

Last week I started looking at music for my opening 2 minute film. I saw how much music contributes to the film and how the viewers emotions can be effected by the music used. I looked at my chosen genre (Horror/Thriller) and saw that the music must fit with the genre you are filming for and not suddenly change to something that doesn't fit.

I have started to compose my music today using Garageband. I have watched my film without any music and then have added in music that is appropriate to the scenes being shown.

Here are my music ideas being put into place while having the film played alongside. To create the motif music for my stalker I will be using dissonance. This is when two or more notes clash together to make an uncomfortable sound. This is usually used in films when something bad/scary is coming to build up the tension of the scene. I will be using Augmented 4ths e.g. C and F sharp. I will use this motif when the stalker is on the screen, and when he walks/runs away I will resolve the augmented 4th so that the music has a sense of relief that the danger has gone. I was influenced by Jaws' music when the shark is coming for the next victim. The use of a minor 2nd (E and F) portrays the terror that this shark can inflict on other humans. I wanted to take this very simple idea but develop and change it into my own work for my movie.

I will be handing in my final film with the music on this coming friday, it will be then put up on to my blog for you to watch and comment.  

Please COMMENT!! Thank you!!

Fitting together the titling and film 11th Mar

Readers,

On Friday 7th March I finished making and editing my titles to fit into my 2 minute film opening.

I started my titling with translucent backgrounds in photoshop and white writing but when I started adding the titles into my film they couldn't be seen any more. I then tried black titling but this also disappeared. As most Horror genre films keep to 3 different coloured titles I was very limited so had to settle with red titling for my movie. 

I have added all my titling from my film at certain points and having changed and settled on a different colour was happy with the end result. 

Music and sound 2nd Mar

Readers,

Today I am looking at music for my 2 minutes opening of my film. I am looking at 3 different films and how the sense of terror is relayed to us through the music.

Jaws- This film is well known for it's horrifying scenes and dramatic music.
Jaws was released in 1975. The synopsis of the story, is that there is a huge shark that is hell bent on killing people in the sea while other unsuspecting people sunbath and relax. The main theme tune that the film uses over and over again is the minor 2nd two note motif. This is played by the tuba and uses the notes E and F. The audience is always alerted to the presence of the shark just before the attack happens. The music starts off the single 2 note motif then crescendos and adds other instruments playing this same melody line while underneath the timpani adds dramatic drama.

Jaws theme tune- http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4

Silence of the Lambs (SOTL)- The synopsis of the film is about this young FBI agent Clarice Starling who is assigned to help find a missing woman and to save her from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice tries to understanding their twisted minds by talking to another psychopath Hannibal Lecter. The FBI believes that Lecter has the answers to their questions and can help locate the killer. Clarice must first gain Lecter's confidence before the inmate will give away any information.
SOTL was released in 1991. The escape scene I have been watching has two different types of music used in it. At the start the inmate is listening to a piano concerto on the radio. This is a relaxing calm melody which puts us on edge waiting to see what is about to happen. When the Lecter attracts the unsuspecting policemen the music suddenly changes to a full orchestra playing a minor dramatic feeling melody. When the murders have been committed the dramatic music changes back to the concerto. This sudden radical change in music is very unsettling for the audience and shows the horror and thriller factor.

Escape scene- http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s3nIw30hn4U

Nightmare in Elm street (NIES)- Was first released in 1984 but the film was remade and released in 2010. The synopsis of the film is that a man with a crawled glove called Feddy Krueger. Is killing teenagers in their dreams while they sleep. The connection between all the teenagers is that they all went to the same pre-school and were sexually abused by the gardener there (Fred Krueger). The remaining children find out what really happened to Freddy and the reasons why he is seeking revenge.
Before every killing in NIES there is a scary nursery rhyme that is sung. This tells the audience that a murder is about to happen.

Nursery rhyme- http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HqzE1_b0eVs

Music changes the way in which we look at a film. In a rom-com genre film that has laughter and joy, a major tonality is used, while in a horror/thriller genre a minor tonality is used to make the audience nervous and unsettled. These 3 films use music to their advantage to make the desired emotion felt by the watchers.


These graphics are from the same company but the editing team has changed the original music to make the tonality minor, this reflects the film the audience are about to watch.


20 century Fox original graphic- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXWFYPk11GM
20 century Fox scary movie graphic- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMZb4nPMunI

Please COMMENT!!!!! Thank you!