The History/Elements of Film Scores

The History of Music in Films:

Before the 30's all film productions were silent. As the years progressed music was then added to films to make them more interesting and to heighten the experience for the audience who were engaging within the media product.

During the 50's when Jazz music was introduced the music score that was placed in films had changed. Because of this it was less expensive for musicians as an entire orchestra was no longer needed. This continued through to the 60's.
Current score writers such as John Williams still use these techniques.

Within the 80's and 90's it became possible for the first time for a single composer to produce an entire scored piece of music because they used a synthesizer to produce the many sounds of the instruments.

With todays technology, we are able to create film scores that contribute to the movies plot to enhance the film and make it more engaging. Additionally, the film scores that are added to different media products convey different emotions for the audience and enhance the genre, e.g, satirical, horror or fantasy.

 

Elements of Film Score:

TEMP TRACKS
A temp track is a film score which already exists and is used during film production during editing it acts as guidance for the mood or atmosphere.
Film score composers are sometimes asked to imitate a specific composer or style in their temp track. Some directors prefer temp scores so much that they decided to use the temp score instead and reject the original score written by the film composers.
STRUCTURE
Films have different themes depending on the type of character they are, the event or even the story line. Therefore the way the music is played varies, for example, scattered amongst identical music.


SCORE MUSIC
A majority of films have around 40 to 120 minutes of music in their production. However, some films have little or no music within their film, or others may have music running throughout.

Paranormal Activity Film Score Analysis

The film score I chose to do was 'Paranormal Activity'. This is because it relates to the genre of my chosen production which is horror.
This non-diegetic sound is heard by the audience members, it represents a paranormal activity which is about to happen.
For viewers who have watched the Paranormal Activity series, they will recognise this non-diegetic noise and they will have an idea that something scary is about to occur.

Many other films, especially paranormal horror films use sounds like this to create tension for their audience members but to also signify that something is about to happen.

We will attempt to create an opening score for our production to represent the presence of our antagonist. By doing this it heightens the fear for the audience and puts them in the place of the character.

First Draft of our Main Task:

Equipment used for Filming

Filming So Far

This is our opening sequence so far. We had to do some re-filming on the 'club scene' and the 'hospital scene'. This is because prior filming sections we realised were not good enough, for example this is our club scene. We realised that it was a bit flat and didn't conform to this idea of a hyped and enjoyable scene that we wanted. In addition one of our actresses who played the main role had to be re-casted (you can tell from the two 'medical scenes' that the actresses change) to me because she wasn't always available to film and because we have deadlines there wasn't really much time to wait, so because of this we obviously had to re-film because we didn't want any continuity errors.

Costumes for the Opening Sequence

This is Lauren's costume. We wanted her to be dressed in clothing that would make her look like a young teenage girl going out to a party. Crop tops, air max trainers and leather jackets are very typical for people of her age group. Her props include her iPhone and keys, 

My costume, just like Lauren we wanted to be dressed in clothing that makes it look like we are going to a party. I am mainly in all black to highlight that I am a negative character who cannot be trusted.

This costume is Amber's, she is the antagonist. The dress resembles a scary dolls dress which will make her look creepy to the audience and perhaps make them feel uneasy on the arrival of her presence. Amber also has fake blood on her to emphasise that she is the antagonist and to make her look more evil and appear scary to the audience. Lastly, Amber will also be shown holding an axe which will show to her audience that she is to be feared and she intends on inflicting harm.

Costume Ideas

Costume ideas from Monique Jackson

Opening Sequence Title Ideas

Opening sequence from Monique Jackson

Script

Film Name - Traget Audience Survey

Once we had decided the genre and the the plot of our opening sequence, we decided to come up with a suitable title,We did find it hard to come up with a name because we wanted our title to correspond to the action within the camera . The two names that we preferred the most are displayed below. We asked people aged 15 and above their preferred name as this is our targeted audience, and from my research it is shown that people aged 15-24 engage in horror films the most. We asked both male and female, each of ethnic diversity, as our target audience is to both genders and a varied ethnic background. We got them to write their name on a sticky label and place the label on the name which they like best. As you can see the title 'They See You' was the most popular receiving 7/11 votes

Theories of Narrative

There are two Narrative in which I have researched. I wish to use these theories to create an interesting narrative film.

TZVETAN TODOROV'S THEORY - he observed that most story lines followed the same pattern and these are the 5 steps:

• EQUILIBRIUM - This is the part of the film where everything is in order and harmony
• DISRUPTION - During this part the order and harmony become disrupted by a problem
• REALISATION - The characters begin to suspect that there is a problem; something is wrong
• RESTORED ORDER - The characters attempt to conjure up a solution to the problem
• NEW EQUILIBRIUM - This is the final part of the story where order is restored and evil is prevailed

This theory states that the narrative of films run in the same repetitive pattern of harmony, disruption resulting back to harmony. This theory is correct for most films and therefore, my film will follow this theory.
In my piece we are going to make sure that we have a peaceful equilibrium which will then lead into darkness that will portray a sense of foreboding.

VLADIMIR PROPPS THEORY - he observed fantasy films and developed a character theory, this was that all characters follow the same pattern:

                                                 THE SEVEN SPHERES OF ACTION!

• THE VILLAIN - struggles against the hero
• THE HERO - usually seeks something and ends up saving the day
• THE DONOR - prepares the hero, gives them something which can help them in the narrative
• THE DISPATCHER - gives the hero the information so they can begin their quest
• THE HELPER - helps the hero on their quest
• THE FALSE HERO - seems as though they are good but really they are bad
• THE PRINCESS - gets saved by the hero and ends up marrying them

This theory states that the characters play an important role within the narrative to help move the plot along. In our sequence we are introduced to 4 characters but we only vocally hear from 3. From the protagonists role within the sequence it is evident that something with that character just isn't right because of her mannerisms.

Special Effects

In our final piece, we wanted to make sure that we had a clear definition between the different characters. From our extensive research about horror films there is always some sort of a gory visual. As a result of this, we decided to add fake blood and cuts to our paranormal antagonist. This is because it enhances the fact that what is being seen is a horror opening sequence, in addition as a whole it makes the sequence look better and it actually visually makes it look as though a lot of time and effort was conjured up into making this sequence.

The Main Task - Newspaper

Location Planning

For our opening sequence we decided to film outside Lauren's house, this was because she lives opposite a mini wood which is easy access for us. This worked to our advantage because it meant that we would be able to film myself and Lauren walking from her house into the woods and not have to travel a major distance to get there. 

Luckily, the wood was very desolate and had an eerie tension about it which meant that we were able to, effectively conform to the conventions of the horror genre.

Progress Check

This is a video that two of my group members made explaining the plot and what we have achieved so far. I sadly wasn't in this video because I had an English Literature course that I had to attend to for the entire day.

Casting /The cast list

For our piece we wanted to ensure that the correct people were playing the right characters, because there is no point in having a really good actor to play a role, but they don't suit it. Because our piece is a 'horror' we made sure that we had the stereotypical characters, for example, the 'dumb blonde' who always gets killed first, for this role we casted our very own 'Lauren Hewitt' (not that she is dumb). Secondly, we wanted to make sure that we got the role of the antagonists right. They were to portray gang affiliated members. The memebers that we did chose are not part of a gang but they best portray members of a gang, for this Amber asked her friends to play these roles. Lastly, we chose Cem to play the role of the police officer, this is because he has a cockney accent, just like a stereotypical police officer.

An insight to the task

Lighting Research

I have decided to research different types of lighting that people use when filming so that when my time comes and I have to explain reasons as to why I chose a certain lighting I will have the knowledge for that.

Orphan - Opening Sequence Analysis

The ORPHAN (2009) RELEASE DATE: 7th August 2009
(UK) PRODUCTION COMPAINES: Dark Castle Entertainment, Appian Way, Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures
BOX OFFICE: Opening Weekend: $12,871,483 (USA) (24 July 2009) Gross: $41,573,740 (USA) (2 October 2009)


The opening sequence is around a two minutes long. The opening credits consist of all the named people who helped create the film, from the production companies to the director of the entire film. In the opening credits, there is a moving animation of animated blood that trickles down the screen as the credits are shown. Something in which I found stood out for me was that the credits were the same colour as the animated blood and as the blood trickled down the screen the blood absorbed the credit. I found this a really effective original idea.
The use of blood and the prop of a knife connotes that there is going to be multiple deaths and that the film is centred around being gory. In addition, the use of the chain swinging, which is framed in a low angle suggests that either someone is being locked up or because there is more than one chain, another interpretation is that a group of people are being held captive. Within this opening sequence, everything appears to be black and white accept for the bloody credits, the blood and at the ending a house which is shown previously as black and white, where at the ending it is viewed in colour. The transformation of the home being viewed in colour at the end of the sequence implies that this is the setting for the story.
Everything that is displayed in the opening credits portrays negative connotations so the fact that the house was displayed as black and white suggests that quite dark things are going to occur within that house. This is additionally reinforced by the blood which is seen trickling down wooden steps which look as though they are from the inside of a home. Furthermore, within the sequence it appears that we get a back story of the story line. We are shown images of what appears to be the main character, we are shown a motif in the sequence of a girl/woman staring into a mirror and vigorously scraping off her make-up. The non-diegetic soundtrack used throughout the formulates a high and 'twangy' piece. The music enhances the sinister mood of the opening. The sequence uses a lot of different shots. These shots give a sense of journey. For example, we are take down the steps of a house, to a woman giving birth, then she is transported through what looks like a hospital. This makes the audience feel involved because they are being taken on this journey. It's as if they are involved in the characters past life and perhaps they have more knowledge about this particular character than the others perhaps do, dramatic irony. The use of the low key lighting throughout, highlights that this is a horror film, the lighting gives this sequence a gothic and eerie feel. As a result of this, for my opening sequence, we shall use low key lighting so that we are able to achieve the same response tt this opening sequence gave me.