My project was to re-score a variety of different film scenes with a focus on making synergetic partnerships with music and sound design.

 

The traditional definitions of “composer”, “sound designer “or “sound editor” do not need to be (and are no longer) as rigid as they once were, and the distinctions will blur even more with the continued progression of the audio arts. the definition of a composer has expanded and includes less traditional examples of what a musical composition is (Farley, 2013)

 

In my project I wanted to experiment blurring the border between music and sound design to create a synergetic score that use aspects of both music and sound design in the soundtrack.

The Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design discusses the concept of trans-diegetic audio, where sounds heard in one scene are then heard as part of the extra-diegetic soundtrack later (Greene and Kulezic-Wilson, 2016). I wanted to use this system throughout my rescores. To achieve this, I used sounds in or related to the sonic environment as their own sample instruments. One way that this is possible is through granular synthesis

In the film “Blade Runner 2049” Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch used extensive granular synthesis to enhance acoustic sounds and make bespoke stylistic instruments that complement the on-screen footage.   Wallfisch says. “When you’re creating, you play a chord, and then these machines make extraordinary, strange, replicant-style advancement of something acoustic.” (Lobenfeld, 2017)

In my project I took this precedent and expanded on it. Rather than using acoustic instruments as a base for the subsequent granular synthesis, I used sound design. I extracted audio from sound design elements in world, and then ran these samples through plugins such as Valhalla-Foreververb(“Valhalla DSP” n.d.), pedal boards and a variety of effects to shape and mould the sounds into playable, musical embellishments.

I chose to re-score film scenes from varying genres and categories to demonstrate my versatility as a composer. These are the horrifying Opening scene from "Dunkirk", the tense and twitchy Eagle Pass Hotel scene from "No country for old men", the haunting sunken place scene m Get Out, The Birth of the universe scene from "The tree of life", a quirky comedic animation called "Las Caminandes" and the romantic, dreamy meeting scene for Hazel and Augustus in "The Fault in Our Stars".

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Lobenfeld, C., 2017. Blade Runner 2049: How Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch followed up the most influential sci-fi score of all time [WWW Document]. Fact Magazine. URL https://www.factmag.com/2017/10/20/hans-zimmer-wallfisch-blade-runner-2049-interview/ (accessed 4.12.22).

Farley, S., 2013. Sound Design and Music: Diluting the Distinctions, Strengthening the Art Form. URL https://designingsound.org/2013/03/13/sound-design-and-music-diluting-the-distinctions-strengthening-the-art-form/ (accessed 4.11.22).

Greene, L., Kulezic-Wilson, D., 2016. The Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media: Integrated Soundtracks. Springer. P. 126

Valhalla DSP | Reverb & Delay Plugins [WWW Document], n.d. . Valhalla DSP. URL https://valhalladsp.com/ (accessed 4.12.22).