Composing for film

5 point guide of how to compose music for a film

• Watch the film without sound because this will allow to notice more detail and other things and if it's very still or very fast. As well your brain won't be distracted by the sound when watching so it helps you be able to focus on the images.
• Select the instruments, you need to do this because instruments are often chosen depending on the atmosphere and you could end up be using instruments you've never used before.
• Make sure you understand the 'beat', you need to do this so you can stick to the rhythm of the editing as it may be fast or slow and it varies throughout the video so you need to be able to adapt it.
• Stick to the feeling of the film, when making music for a film, its all about emotion. You need to be able to understand this in the film so you can give off the right feeling to the audience. 
• Experiment with music, it's important to do this so that you can get a feel for less obvious music choices. This allows you to have a wider variety of choices to work with.

Describe how Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan worked together to create the music for Dark Knight?

Hans and Christopher spoke about it very early on, Christopher would send Hans stills and shots of clowns to help inspire each other with ideas. 

What was the process that Hans Zimmer used to come up with the music?

He was after stuff that built a lot of tension. He tried to make it as minimal as possible but still say exactly what he wanted. So you could hear something really small but you'd identify easily it's the joker lurking somewhere. He also recorded lots of extraordinary sounds to potentially use. 

What was Hans Zimmer's intention when making this soundtrack? 

His intentions were too not make a summer blockbuster, he wanted something truly provocative and people could really hate because it was uncomfortable to listen too.

What qualities did Hans Zimmer want the music to have?

He wanted it to be very minimal yet effective, as well as be able to build extraordinary amounts of tension. Also having the feeling of a punk influence absorbing in the character.

How do you feel about the final score and explain why you feel it works/doesn't work?

I feel that it works well overall because it's very minimal but still works as it does build tension in the sense of a mysterious way and helping you sense danger as well.

Research into Recording Foley Sound and Sound Effects

Foley is the process of putting everyday sound effects to film, TV, adverts and video games which are added in post-production to enhance the quality. They put in the physical sounds such as kisses, skin touches, handling of guns etc. Movies often feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable without these sounds.
Quite often the actors will have a microphone under their collar on the costume and when filming, their priority is to record the dialogue. For example, a plane may fly over head in a period drama, which then makes the sound useless meaning you'll have to re voice everything from the actors as well as create a soundscape for the voice to sit on. So it makes it easier to put a recording of a plane over the top of the pre recorded dialogue.

The order in which foley artists create sound is they start off by doing the footsteps of the main character and the lead actors and then the background footsteps and then they go through the 'prop pass' which is where they provide a sound for anything moving on screen

The key skills and qualities foley artists need are creativity, good imagination and good timing as well as the ability to think outside the box because these types of artists have the ability to come up with unusual ideas to create the specific noise. Another skill they could do with is being computer wise because they need to be able to use a variety of different types of equipment.

The advantages of using real objects when creating sound FX rather than using digital production or sound libraries is that real objects show a bit more realism and bring it to life more. This is because they have more depth meaning you can hear every fine detail better because of the microphone quality.

In the star wars clip, he began to hit a guy wire from a radio tower, and it bumped and made a 'twanging' sound, this is where the laser gun became about.

Research into Recording Ambient sounds and Dialogue

1) Recording Ambient Sounds
Ambient sounds is the sounds of a given location or space in the environment. The sounds can include things such as wildlife, wind, rain, distant traffic etc.
For example, in the film 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' when they had a forest scene they'd take a microphone to a location (jungle, ocean) which would give them good quality sounds and would record them themselves, he used libraries as well but his helped supplement and this meant they didn't have to completely rely on sound libraries. This helped them give a better atmosphere and show claustrophobia. It also allowed them to build up the 'world of the sound' very early on in the process so they didn't have to wait till the end and start over as such. Recording the ambient sounds also allows for tiny details to be heard. In the arena scenes it helped allow them to intensify things and they wanted to make it really dense, really busy and add a claustrophobia to you could get a feel of being with the characters. It helped it become unique to its location.  The benefit of using microphones on location instead of library is that it allows you to not have to do what is called 'looping' which is where characters rerecord their dialogue which is then looped on top of the footage. While recording sounds of location, they would use 2 sets of different microphones and separate them about 70 feet apart, this allowed to get sounds with different qualities as they both picked up different sounds. It also gave them a wider range of sounds to use. Hard cuts aren't often advised for sound mixing, for example in Hunger Games if a shot is done in the arena and then after that, is shot in the capital an ambient sound, such as wildlife, is slowly added which helps interact the audience instead of using a hard cut. The software used for Hunger Games: Catching fire is Dolby.

2) Recording Dialogue 

Recording dialogue is much more difficult to be done rather than ambient sounds. This is because of reasons such as ambient noises interfering with the recording, which can effect the quality of the dialogue. As well, sometimes if the camera is a fair distance from the characters speaking, and you had no form of microphone, then often the problem can be that the voices are found very quiet on the footage. This can be over come by potentially using microphones or looping which is where actors re-record their lines in sync while watching their original performances in looped playback, this helps match the wording and lip movement. Ambient noise is important when filming a conversation scene because it helps create an atmosphere, avoids silence in the background and possibly echoing. It can also help the audience understand the situation, depending on what is happening, for example if a tense sound was used, this would allow the audience to know something was going to potentially happen. When they were filming the Hunger Games: Catching Fire, for the jungle locations, when filming they always had a constant presence of canopy leaf movement as useful as this is for the ambient noise, it could have effected recording dialogue.

Use of Music - Legal considerations

1) Right of Use

• What is the difference between publishing rights and recording rights?

Publishing licence is from the people who own the copyright to the piece of music and Recording license is from the people who performed the version of music you want to use.

• How would you go about clearing a piece of music for use in your film?

If it has been published then you have to contact the publisher to investigate who owns the rights to the music. The singer/songwriters aren't always in control of the music as it is often owned by big publishing/recording companies.

• Can you use music in your sequence if the composer has died?

Only if the composer has been dead for over 70 years because the copyright will have expired which means there is no need to seek clearance for the composition however you will need to obtain clearance from the right holder in the recording.

• What is incidental music?

Incidental music is the background music in a film. But if the background music is clear and intentionally used in a scene in a film it will not be incidental.

2) Creative commons

• What is creative commons?

Creative commons is a non-profit organization  which is devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. They have released several copy right licenses known as 'Creative commons licenses' which are free to the public. The licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve and which ones they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators.

• Why does it exist?

So that you can use the work without having to seek out the individual creator or licensor and ask for permission.

• Explain the 6 different types of license (include the logos if possible)

Attribution - This allows others to distribute, remix and tweak your work, even commercially but they must credit you for the original creation.



Attribution- ShareAlike - This license is often compared to 'copyleft' free. It allows others to remix and tweak your work even for commercial purposes but they must credit you and license their new creation under the identical terms.


Attribution- NoDerivs - This allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial but it must be passed along unchanged and in whole with credit to you.


Attribution- NonCommercial - This lets you remix and tweak your work but non-commercially and thought their new works must be also acknowledge you and be non-commercial they don't have to license their derivative works on the same terms.


Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike - This lets others remix and tweak your work non commercially but they must credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.


Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs - This license is the most restrictive of all 6 as it only allows others to download your work and share them with others as longs they credit you and they can't change them in any way or even use them commercially.

3) Your choice of music

https://soundcloud.com/stream (Sad Piano Instrumental and Happy Piano Instrumental)


Sad Piano Instrumental
a)  The reason i chose this music was because the character was going through a dark time because he was at a school where he was getting bullied. It was very deep to fit with the situation.


Happy Piano Instrumental
a) I chose this music because the film was being to lighten up as the character had joined a new school where he fitted in, and had to be upbeat.


Sad Piano Instrumental
b) 

Happy Piano Instrumental
b)  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/music-rights

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons

Screenshot and explanation of after effects

Heating Pot Noodle Effect

To start off with I clicked 'Layer' then went on solid and chose a orange/red colour. I then masked around Maia's hand and that then went orange. I masked the outline to follow her hand when underneath the pot noodle, to then make it more realistic I reduced the opacity quite low and as her hand got closer to the pot noodle i gradually increased it more. I then feathered it to make it look less jaggered.

After I had masked the hand orange i then had to make a smoke effect coming out the pot noodle to show it was heating. I did this by downloading a smoke effect and placing it when i wanted. I then had to position it with key frames to follow the pot noodle. I also changed the opacity gradually so it gradually came in realistically.


Teleportation Effect

To start off with I uploaded my originally footage I wanted to use, then as well a image of the background with no character in it, this was so i could place it after the character had jumped to show he'd disappeared. I then downloaded some free smoke footage off a website which was linked of a youtube video. I uploaded them into my after effects and dragged it into my timeline i was working in. I right clicked on the footage and clicked 'time' then 'time stretch' and changed the stretch factor to 45%.

I then shifted the channels by clicking 'effect', 'channel' then 'shift channels' and i then changed alpha to lightness. Then i removed colour matting  and then brought on a tint which i changed to a cold blue so that my effect was a more realistic colour. I then changed the transfer mode to screen and added an 'expression' to the rotation. I duplicated the smoke footage loads of times and then moved them around to cover the image how i wanted.

Invisibility Effect

To create this effect I uploaded my footage and dragged it into the timeline, i cropped it down to where the actor walks in which was then being used as a clean plate. I brought the file in again and moved the clean plate over underneath the second footage. I then split the layer of that footage.

I began to use to pen tool and penned around the character who i wanted to be invisible.

This gave me a mask which i key framed to follow the characters movement to ensure it stayed invisible, i repeatedly fast forwarded frames and kept changing the key frames to fit round the actor.

As the actor got closer to the characters i reduced the invisibility effect to gradually get rid of it.

Sound Sourcing Sheet

Sound Timeline

Use of music in film

Use of music in film

• Creates an atmosphere
• Creates mood
• Triggers emotional cues
• Emphasise actions
• Heps narrative flow
• Hints to the emotional state of character
• Establishes location, culture, time (motifs)

Terminology

• Diegetic/Non Diegetic
• Sound Effects
• Amplified sound
• Ambient sound
• Character Themes
• Aural  Motifs
• Sound Bridges
• Contrapuntal Sound
• Major and Minor keys/chords
• Cacophony and discordance
• Sound Scape
• Sound Narrative
• Sonic Wallpaper

Music Analysis

• Purpose
• Elements (tempo, genre, tone, volume, instrumentation)
• Meaning

Submarine 

http://lrmt.posthaven.com/p1-music-analysis-submarine-clip-01

Purpose

• Creates sonic wallpaper/background for montage and flashbacks
• Helps narrative flow
• Gives clues about character (Oliver Tate)

Element

Instrumentation

• Flute at start
• Strings

Tone

• Neutral
• Floats between two
• "Thinking" music
• Romantic, Busy, Dreamy

Tempo

• Brisk walking pace
• Andante

Genre

• Classical

Meaning

• Sequence is Oliver's thought process (subjective)
• Music is sincere and considered describing comical memories (poo incident)
• The music has a 'busy' quality to it. Never resting into a set melody, this reflects Oliver's thought process as he jumps from thought to thought
• Musical has a classic timeless quality giving little indication of location or time. Which suggests timelessness in terms of film themes.

Final Sequence

Screenshot of metadata

Production Meeting

Date: 31st January 2014
Time: 9:15am
Present: Katie, Maia, Callum and Georgie

During this meeting we discussed what shots we are going to re filming and when we will be filming them. We have decided to re film scene 2 on monday (3rd Feb) first lesson (9am - 10.30am). Instead of filming all the walking parts (bullies carrying Reece) we have decided to cut them down and do the whole scene in just 2 short shots. Walking round the corner of the wall then fading into Reece being pushed over continuing with him being punched.

On monday (3rd Feb) last lesson (2.40pm - 4.10pm) we have decided to re film scene 5 and if we haven't got enough time we will film scene 5 on tuesday (4th Feb). I few complete filming scene 5 on monday last lesson we will then film scene 6 on tuesday (4th Feb), which will be filmed in the refectory. We will all sit around the table and put the camera between two of us to film the other two which will be a mid shot.

On wednesday (5th Feb), we will be recording the audio, this will include any dialogue and any sound effects needed.

Finally on thursday (6th Feb) onwards we plan to start editing our new shots into our sequence using Premiere Pro and then After effects for the visual effects.

Production Meeting

Date: 30th January 2014
Time: 3:45pm
Present: Katie, Maia and Callum

• We took into account our rough cut feedback and that its hard to establish the change in schools, so we're going to add in a scene of a pan of the new school before Reece walks in and meets Lauren, Rizzo and Kieran.
• Some of the scenes didn't know out as good as we hoped so we'll go out and reshoot a couple (e.g. when Kiera appears)
• Add more sound effects to make the sequence more engaging and realistic
• Add more interesting transitions between shots
• Finish our special effect editing 

Appraising the Rough Cut

Audio

Strengths:

• Dialogue works well and is very engaging

Weaknesses:

• I currently have no sound effects
• There is no background music yet

Improvements:

I shall include sound effects and music and cut out bad sounds

Special Effects

Strengths:

• I have 3 special effects
• One is teleportation which my feedback shows people found effective, showing good quality
• Another is invisibility which looks really good as well as good quality
• The invisibility fits in well because i'm creeping up on friends who are talking about me
• The teleportation effect looks good because he's going to the toilet to cry as he's been bullied

Weaknesses:

• A visual effect is a fireball which is a bit unrealistic at the moment especially since the quality of the fire ball is good and the film quality is poor

Improvements:

I plan to improve the Fireball effect because of the poor film quality as well as I look at the camera so I will re film it

Sequence

Strengths:

• The sequence appears to make sense to people who have given feedback
• It is very entertaining
• Flows well
• Set dressing is all good 

Weaknesses:

• Poor acting
• Editing is quite jumpy from different shots

Improvements:

Re film parts that are bad to avoid it being jumpy.
One part that could do with improvements is when Callum's character moves school, people often get confused, so we have decided to show him walking into the front of the school and showing a sign with the school name to avoid confusion.

Rough Cut Feedback

Production Title: Students VS Zombies
Feedback from: Christen S

Does it make narrative sense: Yes

Do the special effects fit well with the sequence? 

How could they be improved?: Yes - teleport to toilet

Is the dialogue engaging?: Yes

What do the sound FX, ambient sounds

and music add?: Background noise could be added when they walk outside when it's quiet

Is it entertaining?: Very!

What would you do to improve the sequence?:  When they kick Callum, you could see sam was kicking the ground.

Feedback from: Alexander Purvis

Does it make narrative sense: Yes, its about a boy who gets bullied then moves school where people have magic/super powers.

Do the special effects fit well with the sequence? 
How could they be improved?: Yes, I like the teleport one the best, and I also like how katie turns up in the scene but didn't see 3 specific effects.

Is the dialogue engaging?: It's alright but i think that the tone of voice is to mono toned and should have something to it.

What do the sound FX, ambient sounds
and music add?: I couldn't hear any added sound effects, music or ambient sound, but think that you could add some to the kicking to make it sound like guys kicking the ground.

Is it entertaining?: I think it has a good story line and is very entertaining

What would you do to improve the sequence?: I would dub the dialogue and add some people talking in the background when inside to make it sound better.

Rough Cut 2

Rough Cut

Production Meeting 23/01/14

Problems and Solutions with project

P
- Not much thought towards visual effects so they've all come confusing
S
- Re-planned scene 5 and re film it today and tomorrow

P
- Too much eye contact on camera when unnecessary
S
- Re film, get character to have a eye point so not looking directly at camera

P
- Shot angles, often breaking the filming rules
S
- Re plan the angles, re film with new angles

Matte Paintings Comparison

Definition from Hand book 

Matte painting was also used instead of  'building a set or carting in a mountain range, the needed elements were painted on the glass on location' (accidentally cropped out of picture)

Definition from Wikipedia








Looking at these definitions, you can see that the hand book gives a more defined definition, where wikipedia it has been put more simpler and doesn't go into so much detail as such.

The similarities between both definitions are that they both describe how they are used to create/replace a background for the appropriate scene. It tells us that its used instead of 'building a set or carting in a mountain range' and it is a 'painted representation of a landscape, set or distant location' which are created by being 'painted on the glass at location'.

The differences between the definitions are that the handbook is more detailed in the sense that when it talks about how it's done, it says 'a sheet of glass is placed between the camera and scene filmed' as well as saying 'the section of the filmed image thats blocked out or matted out' where as wikipedia simply says 'allows filmmakers to create the illusion' not so much telling you whats being done to create the effect and it doesn't give you too much of an explanation.

Health And Safety

- Don't go on the roof
- Climbing on things
- No skateboarding on things
- Take care filming on stairs (use filming sign)
- No liquids on floors (especially corridors)
- Take care outside with weather conditions
- Be aware of other people
- Risk assessment

Contingency Plan

Problems and solutions (P:S)

Nuisances - 

P: Remembering the script
S: Spend time revising, at home, in free lessons, in-between shots

P: Arguing about how we look in the videos
S: Just get on with it and agree not to argue about it

P: Recording the sound effects
S: Record them to get them done and out of the way quickly as possible

P: People messing around
S: Tell them to grow up and take it seriously

Minor Problems - 

P: Callum going to France on the 12th of January
S: Work hard to complete work before he goes and use extra time in free lessons if needed

P: Finding the right music for the background
S: Spend free time researching

P: Someone we need might not be here for the lesson we need them (e.g. extras are ill)
S: Find a replacement quickly

P: After effects editing
S: Watch tutorial videos to help

P: Premiere Pro editing
S: Watch tutorial videos to help

P: Lighting
S: Try to get as much natural lighting in the shots as possible

P: Making sure actors from the other group are available when we need to shoot with them
S: Inform them on the dates of when we want to film them in advance

P: Effects not looking realistic
S: Keep working and re-doing them and watch tutorials

P: Photoshop editing
S: Watch tutorials

P: Locations are too busy to shoot in
S: Find similar locations

P: Bad acting
S: Practise and be enthusiastic

Major Problems -

P: The Weather
S: Find an alternative location where there is shelter or film another day

P: Lose footage
S: Re-film ASAP in free time

P: People not being here (main characters)
S: Film when they come back and film/edit something else meanwhile

P: Commitment
S: Threaten to kick them out, warn them et

P: Finding costumes
S: Discuss about where to look in free time and borrow clothes from each other

P: People being ill
S: Ask if they'll just in just for filming

P: Getting the sound effects
S: Use a microphone to record the effects

P: How to get the kitchen scene done
S: Ask politely about using the staff room

P: Not filming all of the shots and completing the task to the deadline
S: Make media the priority of all lessons and film in free time etc

Costumes for characters (Students VS Zombies)

 Name of Actor: Katie Turner
 Name of Character: Keira
 Height: 5"1
 Eye Colour: Green/Blue
 Hair Colour: Ginger
 Accent: British
 Style: Chav (White cap, white top, grey tracky bottoms, white supra hi-tops)

 Name of Actor: Maia Creed
 Name of Character: Lauren
 Height: 5"1
 Eye Colour: Green
 Hair Colour: Brunette
 Accent: British
 Style: Indie (Denim jacket, flowery top, leggins, converse, fringe bag)

 Name of Actor: Georgie Horne
 Name of Character: Rizzo
 Height: 5"3
 Eye Colour: Blue
 Hair Colour: Brunette
 Accent: British
 Style: Fashionable (leggins, white vest top, blue cami top, brown boots, leather jacket)

 Name of Actor: Callum Molyneux
 Name of Character: Reece
 Height: 6"
 Eye Colour: Green/Blue
 Hair Colour: Light Brown
 Accent: British
 Style: Nerd (white/blue trainers, long blue socks, 3/4 length tracksuit bottoms, nike hoody, white beanie)

Health and Safety

Casting Notes

Casting Notes for Students VS Zombies

Characters we are looking for:

Kiera - For this character we are looking for a chav styled person who will wear tracksuits and hats.
            We have chose myself (Katie) for this role as she can be made up to the character by wardrobe.
             (Ginger, 5"1, british)

Lauren - This character is to be a hippy styled person with quite wacky clothes.
                Maia has been chosen as most suitable for this role.
                (Brunette, 5"1, british)

Rizzo - Rizzo is to be a fashionable character of the group.
             We will use Georgie as the role of this character.
             (Brunette, 5"3, british)

Reece - This character is to be a nerd wearing glasses and unfashionable clothing.
             We have chosen Callum to be this character.
             (Light brown, 6", british)

Henry - This character is a tall bully who looks quite intimidating.
             Matt would be suitable for this role because of his height as he towers over us which can helps
             create the type of person we need.
             A possible alternative could be Charlie.

Peter - This character is another bully who is friends with Henry, he isn't going to be as tall because
             Henry needs to be seen as the most dominant one.
             Alex would be suitable because he can look intimidating.

Paul - This is another one of Henry's backup friends who again, isn't to be as tall but to look
            intimidating.
           Sam would be suitable for this because he fits the needs of the character.

Zombie #1 - The zombie will mainly be made up by wardrobe.
                     Anyone could be suitable for this role. We will use Georgie.

Zombie #2 - The zombie will mainly be made up by wardrobe.
                     Anyone could be suitable for this role. We will use Callum.

Zombie #3 - The zombie will mainly be made up by wardrobe.
                     Anyone could be suitable for this role. We will use Maia.

Zombie #4 - The zombie will mainly be made up by wardrobe.
                     Anyone could be suitable for this role. We will use Katie.

Production Meeting

Meeting started at 11.15. People present myself, Maia, Callum and Georgie. We discussed several things during this process. This meeting was to organise a schedule for filming and different parts  of the film we're creating and to try and fit in everything we need to work on up until the deadlines we have been given.

Deadline dates:

13th January 2014 - The day we get the camera and start to film
29th January 2014 - The rough copy of the film deadline
30th January 2014 - Feedback and working on what needs to be improved
14th February 2014 - Final piece deadline

We have worked out a schedule that enables us to complete all the work need to be done up to this point.

We have discussed the fact that we need to book retain times with the characters in the script that are not part of the group, so it fits around there schedule.

The first few days of the first week we have decided to work on the special effects, the filming and the computer special effects. This is due to the fact that we all need as much time as possible to get the special effects perfect and because there the main part of the piece, they need to be as good as they can be. The VFX will take the most time.

In the group we need to still decide the final costumes needed in the piece. But because theres not enough time to get the costumes organised in lesson time we will get together out of the lesson in a free time and plan the costumes for the piece.

The audio we have decided to do near the end. So we can incorporate the other special effect sounds. With some of the shots the audio will be in the shots.

Because we have 56 shots we need to work fast, organised and we all have to focus. This is because if we don't the rough copy will not be completed to then be analysed and we won't know what to improve on to make the work better.