Animated Narratives Week 11: Soundtracks and Visual Symmetry

This work explores the use of soundtrack in film and how the malleable act of songwriting can be used to complement and enhance narrative, pacing and genre. Since our genre is horror and our themes of ethereal stillness (as discussed in previous weeks) are at the forefront. Naturally this would dictate my approach to creating the music.

Songwriting has always been a somewhat visual process for me, though this might seem strange - music being a medium composed strictly of the audio variety, the influence for the notes / key and overall production are often influenced by visual pictures in my mind. This is even common when hearing and listening to affecting music, For example The Tourist by Radiohead has always filled my head with irrepressible images of stone cobbled european streets in the middle of the night or I see a Darkness by Bonnie Prince Billy and it’s unsettling visuals of ablack and white forest littered with sparse arrangements of makeshift light bulbs and minimal signs of human struggle.

This process works both ways, with the visuals, animatic etc clear both in my mind and on paper / screen. I am inspired by visual motifs to produce music which both compliments but also gets to the core or “heart” of that human response (In this essence, the translation that I’m hoping to achieve to the audience.

The essence of this film is cold stillness - a tinkering, yet somber worry in the back of your mind - in this case caused by something spectre like and unknown. 

This work is similar and greatly inspired by Akira Yamoka and his work on the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack In which a feeling of desolate hopelessness and anxiety is achieved through ghostly synthesizers,delayed piano, minimal percussion and high pitch bells. These instruments and methods are extremely conducive to creating the atmosphere I wish to explore in my animatic, and so I often looked to Akira’s work in terms of production and technique to create music of stillness and cold.

Downloads:

Download File: monophobia-girl-under-glass.mp3