Clip 1 and 2 - Making the Difference

This is a quick post to write about the changes between my first video and second video clip while it is still fresh in my head.

As previously stated, all my practical work on this project has been composed using Logic Pro. Once I had composed my five cues for clip 1 it was time to start thinking about how these can be integrated in an opposing manner for clip 2.

I had previously decided that there was not to be a completely different score made for clip 2 as this could play a part in how the audience perceives the image through different genre types. I also felt that genre and musical style may play too big a part on how people would feel ie. writing the second piece with a more swing feel to it is distinctly different than the original tense, dissonance and fragile style meaning people may look differently at the piece as a whole.

Instead I decided to use the same musical works from clip 1 and use them in reverse order in clip 2, re-orchestrating parts to fit with the original sensibilities and timings of the first pieces of music. The reason I didn't leave them exactly the same but in reverse was that the music didn't flow in the same way. The music was written for a certain purpose, copy and pasting them in reverse order meant they lost the direction in which the music flowed and ultimately made less sense when paired with the visual.

Each cue had minor changes to make the flow of the piece correct. I had kept a cue sheet from clip one so I knew where each piece of music was to start and end and where andy other relevant hit points should lie. I didn't stick strictly to the same hit points as in the first cue. This is for a couple of reasons. The first being that again these points were selected for music moving in a certain direction. The first clip is made for the viewer to believe that the character is losing his mind, that he is chaotic and crazy. The hitpoints helped to reflect that and created visual/musical cues to allow for music to add to the visual chaos. The second clip is made for us to believe that the character isn't crazy and that he is vulnerable meaning that these same hitpoints do not need the same impact on the viewer as they do not mean the same thing.

The Changes:

Cue 1.
Cue one erases the end melodic phrase. Instead of ending on the completely chromatic version on the original melody, we end of the harsh piano chords and underlying bass drone. The chromatic melody was written originally as an ending and final piece, as this music has now become the opening piece, there is no need for a final melody and the bass drone acts as a what's next to come signifier.

Cue 2.
Cue 2 remains the same as it did as Cue 4 in clip 1. The only difference here being that the length of the last pedal notes are shortened to fit in with the time of the original cue.

Cue 3.
Technically cue 3 should be the same between both cues as it is in the middle of both cues but again I did not feel that this created the right mood for the piece as in clip 1 we are to be building tension where as clip 2 we are to reduce tension. Viola and Cello tremolo fade in to begin this cue followed by the entrance of the viola pedal note before the full melody kicks in. The tense last chords of this cue are scraped and instead are replaced with the original home chord.

Cue 4.
Once again the Cello and Viola fade in to begin this section (this time the pedal note as opposed to the tremolo). The ending to this cue is different. We end once again on the opening home chord but this time leave it a bar before entering with the original stripped back melody played on only the high piano to create a sense of delicacy. The last pedal note played on the cello is changed here to a low B, again to allow for a cadence ending on the home not as opposed to raising the tension between musical intervals.

Cue 5.
The end of cue 5 is extended with the viola and cello drone fading out over a longer time to leave the last stripped back melody to be played on the piano on its own. This whole cue lacks the same volume within the string section as the original cue did as the piano is to be the predominant instrument in this section to allow us to identify with the fragile nature of the melody.