Category: Tutorials

After meeting with my group I found out that they want both diagetic and non diagetic pieces for their film. The non diagetic pieces will be used as atmosphere and to build suspense while the diagetic pieces will be used in the film to relax the character. The diagetic piece they want to be in a style of somewhere between 50’s and 70’s which is a huge time frame but they’ve yet to narrow down what they want. For the drone pieces I discussed with David about how I would like to incorporate elements of the narrative and the characters thoughts, almost blurring the lines between score and first person sound. I also talked about the possibility of including a reoccurring melody to signify a happiness, David suggested I watch some films John Williams scored to get an idea of what, how, where and why a leit motif is used. David also gave me a Radio 4 segment by Debbie Wiseman talking about music in film and how it’s used to listen to in addition to recommending I watch the BBC4 series Sound of Cinema. For next week I’ll have a clear list of what my client wants from me in my pieces.

We talked about the film I will be making music for in semester 1. After meeting with the group I have found that they want drone and ambient pieces for their film. They have also mentioned that they would like to use a song by The Ink Spots but as getting the rights to use the track might be difficult I suggested instead I would make a piece for the film in a similar style. As they were still quite vague with what it is they want David suggested I find out what sort of sound track they want, a hyper real soundtrack Ken Loach style of if they want a more traditional score for their film. To get an idea of what Ken Loach’s films sound like I’m going to have a watch of I, Daniel Blake and also for my ideas for ambient and drone pieces I’ll look at work by Clint Mansell, Trent Reznor and Mica Levi.

Today we met and discussed how to move forward with my semester 1 audio project. My group has decided that they would prefer to make their documentary a year long project meaning I need to find a new group. I am currently talking to one about making some music for their film however I’m not sure as of yet what exactly they require so that’s what I have to do next. David also suggested I check out Hearing Film by Anahid Kassabian as when it comes to making music for film I have no idea what I’m doing, I’ve always just watched the film or read the script and played what feels and looks right. It’d be very helpful to have a theoretical understanding of what it is I am actually doing.

Met with David this morning to discuss my projects. I already have a few groups lined up that want me to work with them in various roles. David suggested that I find out exactly what the groups are expecting of me and to get written evidence of this. I specifically want to work on my post production so David recommended I create a portfolio of post production work rather than one single project where I do all of the sound work on each film. This will look a lot better on my website as I can have dedicated examples of my location work, music and post production.