Movies: to Score or not to Score?

The simple fact that films typically have a musical score always seems to slip right by me when I'm actually making any kind of short film or TV show myself. It's just not something that I would typically think about. Good audio? Sure. Sound effects? Yeah, why not. But never a score. This lead me to thinking, hey, who says that films need to have any kind of music or instrumentality at all? That, in turn, lead me to google, which lead me to some interesting websites, which lead me here, to this blog post.

As behind-the-scenes as they typically are, we all know the names of a few movie composers: Hans Zimmer (please click that link for your own sake), Danny Elfman, and of course, the legendary John Williams. Their scores don't just add noise to all of their respective films: they add feeling, and set a tone for any given scene or even the movie as a whole  If you need an example for a really amazing score that is spot on in terms of creating an entire atmosphere for a film, look no further Howard Shore and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It doesn't just add tension or give scenes a certain flavor: it's music that like, I could actually see hobbits playing out on their front porches. Or whatever hobbit holes have instead of porches. Dirt clods? I don't know. 

 But what I'm curious about is if some films rely too heavily on composers and a musical score in order to fix what would otherwise be a weak script. Recently, there was a video going around the internet called "Star Wars without Williams." While it was meant to be funny, it also pointed out something pretty important: this throne room scene is super awkward without music. What was once a jovial and triumphant scene is now just echoey and weird. Don't get me wrong, I like Star Wars as much as the next guy or gal, but Audio (and script) - wise, Lucas kind of dropped the ball here. 

On the opposite side of things, however, is it possible to have a good film without any scoring at all? Sure. Just check out No Country for Old Men, The Birds, and 90% of Castaway. The key to scoring films, as I'm slowly but surely finding out, is to balance a good script with subtle yet powerful music. Emphasize certain emotions or themes that you want to have emphasized, while at the same time making sure that your film could still be successful without the music shoving those emotions down your throat. If you're looking for some more interesting info on how composers mess with our emotions, you check out a BBC article on that very topic right here.

Semester Reflection

Last blog post of the semester! It has been fun. I want to give a shout out to Samantha, Dave, and Maddie. We managed to work on all three projects together. Great group. I'm going to miss you guys and Maddie, congratulations on graduating. Good luck with everything!

This semester has confirmed my love of editing. I definitely feel that it is something I am good at and a skill that I want to continue to learn about and perfect. I especially like editing audio. I realize I love making music and sound effects fit visuals. Working on Rat Bastard and having to find the best music to fit the mood of the film was both challenging and exciting for me. I had a similar experience in Fiction Field I. For our final project in that class, we had our music composed by a student in Whalen. The day before it was due, we mixed the audio with the video. It. Was. Awful. The music didn't match up at all, and it sounded like elevator music. This was a silent film. We needed playful, upbeat, music that helped tell the story. So that night, before it was due, I downloaded three royalty free songs that I sliced together to make the soundtrack for the film. I didn't tell my professor that I mixed the audio, he still thought it was composed by a Whalen student, and he loved it! I ended up telling him that I had done it, and he was impressed. It is something I like doing. To me it is like figuring out a math problem. It takes time and concentration to fit every piece together, but when it comes together it is so rewarding. Here is a link to my film from last semester.


Silent Love


Have a great vacation and spring semester!!!

Sound Foley With Foods

We already watched a video about professional sound foley. But, I came across a video that had a short 3 minute segment about sound foley for a quick fight scene by hooking the microphone up to your laptop and running it right through Final Cut Pro. Above the roomtone, they recreated the sounds of the door opening, footsteps, punches and shaking hands. The punches were done by hitting celery on top of a pillow and the rest just mimicked the actual actions.

The segment is from 4:25-7:45 (ignore the rest of the video, it's a little strange)

On the opposite end, here is a quick video about the sound foley for a dinosaur hatching during Jurassic Park. While these two productions are on opposite ends of the spectrum, they both use simple, every day foods to create sounds that have nothing to do with each other. But, the sounds end up fitting the scene perfectly.

This last video shows, again, how many different kinds of produce and other foods you can utilize to make sounds to fit a scene (starting around 40 seconds).

For other ideas for sound effects, there is a whole list of resources here.

Sound in Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead is a zombie movie parody starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. While the entire movie is definitely worth watching, a main staple of the film is the sound effects. Using intense and defined sound, that is typically found in action movies, for everyday activities heightens the humor of the scene. His mundane life comes with a soundtrack, muting outside noises, the viewer focuses on the loud stumbling on a curb, or listens as opening a soda can becomes an epic action. But all this is even before the dead come back to life, the climax of the movie. These dramatic sounds accompany his actions from the very beginning. Sounds like these direct the viewer to a genre or reference they are about to experience.

The movie also strongly brings music into play. Aside from using music from other classic zombie movies, director Edgar Wright incorporates it right into the action. In this scene, they are fighting off zombie in a pub, and become rhythmically intertwined with the music playing the background, fighting off zombies to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now.

Production wise, the sound is very clear. The ambient sound such as subtle music and constant zombie groans seem natural when paired with the main dialogue.