Soundtrack

For the music side of our opening sequence to a film, Alex and I looked at many sites for copyright free music but settled with a few tracks from AKM. AKM are a copyright free/royalty free music company who have many different CDs with the copyright free music on which, after you have purchased, are able to use without infringing any copyright issues.
As Alex had many different AKM music CDs which are all based on different themes, (eg.Weird and Wonderful, Opening/End credits, Distant Moods, etc...) we looked at a variety of different tracks for our opening sequence. As we needed music for two different scenes (the first scene in which a body is seen on the floor and the second where the person is getting ready for a job interview) we needed two very different types of music pieces.

For our cold open (the first scene) we needed music that held tension and seemed mysterious to an audience. Because the body is slowly revealed, the mystery has to be implied before the body is fully revealed so using a soundtrack ensures the audience to feel tension. We had already used the AKM CD titled 'Suspense and Drama' for our preliminary, so we already knew what type of tracks would be on the CD.












The second scene in our opening sequence is a contrast to the first scene because the character who is seen on the floor, is alive and getting ready for a job interview. We wanted the music to contrast the suspense, mysterious and tension that the cold opening scene featured so we wanted something with a little more beat and more of a happier mood to it. But we didn't want anything too happy as this would not match the character's feelings as they are preparing for an interview. Something simple, calm but upbeat that a regular person would listen to as they get ready. For this, we looked at songs from the AKM CD 'Alternative Rock'

Cold Opening

Apparition by mediauniqueandfreak
This track felt too much like a Sci-Fi and not so much a crime/thriller even though it seems mysterious. After a while it sounds like it could fit a horror film (0.25 secs) which does not fit the mood we wanted to capture in our cold opening.

Ghost Story by mediauniqueandfreak
Like the title suggests, this track resembles that of a ghost. It sounds like an old piece of music which could be connected to an old house where a ghost lives. The music sounds very sad and even though is quite cold, it would not fit our piece of music as we don't want the audience to feel sad necessarily - we want them to feel confused and bewildered by the body on the floor.

20 The Counts Castle by mediauniqueandfreak
This piece of music sounds similar to the 'Ghost Story'  because it sounds very sad but quite draining. We need more mystery instead of sad and this track doesn't confuse the audience.

The Haunting by mediauniqueandfreak
This track begins to sound mysterious and cold but it also sounds like it's targeted at a younger audience. That sounds hard to describe but it sounds gentle and not a hard, cold piece of music. It begins to sound like it could fit the sci-fi genre which is the opposite of what we are looking for.

The Plot Thickens by mediauniqueandfreak
This track begins quieter than the main piece of music - a sort of crescendo into a song. It also captures all the moods Alex and I are looking for in our Cold Opening, sad, mysterious and chilling. The whole track is quite smooth and quite so it will not take over a scene as the main point of our cold opening is the narrators voice over the visuals.


In the end, we both decided 'The Plot Thickens' would best suit our cold opening as it does not take over the scene but it adds mystery for the audience because of the story. It's quite subtle, but towards where our 'title' will appear, it shots up a bit to create a sudden jolt in emotions for audiences.

Titles

Look Inside by mediauniqueandfreak
This track begins calm, beat and matches the mood we want for our title sequence perfectly! After about 0.45 seconds the song becomes a bit dreary as the music sounds the same for the rest of the track but the beginning matches the atmosphere we wanted to create.

Purple Tap by mediauniqueandfreak
This track is very happy, very upbeat and fits the rock and roll type of song we wanted. You can imagine somebody getting ready to a track like this especially as it fits the characteristics we wanted with our character. But it is too much of a difference from the first scene and doesn't fit the thriller/crime genre we are looking for.

Rush Hour by mediauniqueandfreak
Even though this song uses lots of drums and beats and is heavy on rock, it kind of resembles a sad mood. It changes between two pieces of music, the drum part and a quieter more natural sound. Because of this, it certainly doesn't fit our piece of film.

Disco Harmonix by mediauniqueandfreak
This piece of music is definitely not what we want for our film as, like the title explains, it's disco. It doesn't fit in with the setting, story or the character at all even though it's upbeat and fun.

Look Down by mediauniqueandfreak
This song is one that personally, I liked listening to but it definitely doesn't fit with what we want for our title scene. It's very loud, overpowering and very beaty

After looking at each of these tracks from the AKM CD 'Alternative Rock', Alex and I both decided that we liked how 'Look Inside' fitted in in time with our cuts in our second scene. The track seems calm and relaxed but at one point begins to bring in more instruments which creates a more fun but still chilled mood-which is what we wanted. It also reflects the characteristics of the male as he is quite calm, relaxed and he goes with the flow of things. This characteristic is part of the plot as the character doesn't know how he later gets into the situation which causes him to be either dead or seriously injured. We felt it also reflects the audience who would be interested in this type of film because they are laid back but upbeat and fun to get on with.