Music For The Moving Image -Critical Evaluation - MD5317
I decided to choose the video restrict, this is due to me having a personal experience with this subject due to a friend from home trying to commit suicide. As having such an experience like this, it was nice to get my emotions out musically about how I was feeling from an outsiders perspective.
I started to develop restrict musically by actually having it in a major key, I thought about having an enjoyable piece of throughout, while visually the video is quite disturbing. The music I create normally is pop, I decided to add a pop like taste to the piece, adding drums, guitar and bass. I thought about creating a happier piece over such a dark video, this was due to me thinking in depth about my friend's feelings. I wanted to get a message across that she may be panicking on the outside but inside her head, she is trying to think happy thoughts, this also made me think about the concept of mental health and how this affects people in many different ways. I thought this was not the right path to take with the video I had chosen so I decided to change my genre completely.
I decided that even though I thought this concept would of worked, I wanted to create something which I am unfamiliar with, for example creating a piece in a minor key, is quite out of my comfort zone. I wanted to really develop my skills and make something which was a piece both visually and musically pleasing. I am playing simple notes on a ‘02.2s Large Choir Hall Piano,’ throughout the film which I think works well musically.
While completing the composition for the piece I still felt like it was quite empty, although I thought having simple notes throughout would be all I needed. I decided to add in audio sounds from ‘freesound.org,’ the sound which I added in can be seen in the screenshot below. I decided to add in a police siren to the beginning and the end of the video as I thought in doing this the viewer would have a flashback to the begging of the video, this adds an element of repetition, which I thought went nicely. I have really tried to enhance what the viewer will be seeing not only visually but what they hear musically. I also added in sounds for the objects she's using, water running from the tap and also breathing where and when I thought was appropriate.
Things which inspired me to create the piece I did was seeing my friend overdose on the TV show, 999 whats your emergency, what also inspired my piano choice and notes was the John Lewis 2012 advert. (Both linked below)
While adding the audio sounds, I feel this finished off the piece, in a simple yet effective way to make the video dramatic, which was my overall goal.
Observe
I wanted to take a different approach to my ‘observe’ video, I wanted to show how different types of music work together with the film. As you can see my video is quite ‘trippy’ (screenshot below) and unusual, I took this concept from The Beatles as when they went through their, Sgt Pepper (Lucy in the sky with diamonds)/Magical Mystery tour phase. I found the video to represent this in a way, due to The Beatles having such an extreme way of promoting their music, I find this video to represent the madness and colours which The Beatles were trying to portray.
I wanted to take this concept but also add an element of 21st-century life into it, for example, the video which I have chosen is different and unusual, due to its nature. I really enjoyed creating the music for this video because I had such a clear vision in my mind about what I wanted to create. I wanted the noises to be loud and out there, something where the audience which is viewing wouldn't necessarily hear/see in day to day life. The video also reminded me of a VR arcade ride, where I always find the music to be quite odd and has an element of surprise.
As you can see from the screenshot, I used quite odd sounds, many different synthesisers, I decided to use peculiar sounding synthesisers due to the video being very random and weird. I used simple notes which sounded great due to synthesisers which I had chosen, changing the sound when the time was appropriate, I sound working with such odd instruments, worked in my favour.
Restrict Conclusion -
I really enjoyed creating the music for both videos, I found myself worrying due to restrict being seven minutes long, I was worried that I would run out of ideas and that the music which I was creating would sound boring and repetitive. While creating the music for this video I actually found myself thinking about what I wanted to hear next, something which ever never found myself doing before. I thought my time management for both films was good, I had time to start restrict and change what I was going to do half way through, ending up with something I was pleased with.
Observe Conclusion -
I decided to choose a film which was out of my comfort zone, I really enjoy viewing films like these and also enjoy the psychedelic side of films and the music which accompanies it. I enjoyed working with new instruments, for example, the synthesisers which I decided to use, as this was something completely new to me. I thought my time management for this film was okay, I am overall happy with the music I have created for this film. I find the music goes well. The concept observes I found quite challenging as you are able to observe anything, I wanted to choose something which wasn't in day to day life, something where I am able to broaden my musical ability.
Overall I enjoyed creating music for both films, this module has shown me just how important sound is to film and how much we take it for granted.
References -
Restrict
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/999-whats-your-emergency/on-demand/66291-014 - 999 Whats your emergency -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAI61T_PPTs - John Lewis Advert 2012
Observe
References - https://vimeo.com/107213875 - Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds
