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Experimenting Report

The document discusses three experiments transforming the theme from La La Land into different genres of music. Experiment 1 transforms it into a horror theme, Experiment 2 into a war theme, and Experiment 3 into a futuristic theme. For each experiment, influences from other movie scores are discussed and elements from the original theme are adapted.

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64 views4 pages

Experimenting Report

The document discusses three experiments transforming the theme from La La Land into different genres of music. Experiment 1 transforms it into a horror theme, Experiment 2 into a war theme, and Experiment 3 into a futuristic theme. For each experiment, influences from other movie scores are discussed and elements from the original theme are adapted.

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Experimenting with Music

Experimenting as a Creator
Rationale: As a cinema fanatic, I have always been intrigued by the use of music in
movies. Specifically, how different musical techniques can inspire different
atmospheres, which is then utilized by film composers in their advantage. I wanted to
challenge myself and take a movie theme from one genre of film and transform it into
different movie genres, therefore lies into AOI 3. I chose the La La Land movie theme:
“Mia and Sebastian’s Theme” as I adored the melody the first time I listened to it in
cinemas. The artists I researched were from a personal context. In terms of
experimentation, I transformed “Mia and Sebastian Theme” into a Horror Movie, War
Movie and Futuristic Movie. In all three experimenting, as I became more comfortable
with GarageBand, I began utilising more texture, harmonic complexity, and sound
effects.

Figure1: Syncopated Semitones in Jaws

Experiment 1: Horror Movie


For my first experiment, the main melody in my composition is a transformation and
variation of the main “Mia and Sebastian Theme” melody. This melody is played in a
music box-like sound, taken inspiration on “The Exorcist” music box-like
instrumentation and “Paranormal activity” main theme. In addition, according to Neil
Lerner, using a music box in horror themes is “particularly effective in child-related
horror” (1). The echoing sirens were inspired by “Siren Head” sound effects and other
sound effects are inspired by the sound effects used in “Alien” theme. The use of
syncopated semitones in the piano are inspired by the semitones used in “Jaws”. (give
score examples). This is used to create a tense and unpredictable feeling to the piece.
The descending piano section mirrors the descending melody in “Mia and Sebastian’s”
Theme (score example). The background whistling sound effect adds further tension to
the scene; inspired by the whistling sound in “Paranormal activity”. The introduction of
strings in forte at the end of the piece to add texture to the main melody, inspired by the
use of strings in other horror themes such as “The Grudge” and “Silence of the Lambs”.
A clear change I had to make for my horror theme was to change it to a minor key. In
addition, I utilise diminished chords to add tension.

Figure1: Syncopated Semitones in Jaws

Figure 2: Desceding piano mirrors the Descending melody of La La Land


Figure 3: Use of diminished chords

Experiment 2: War Movie


For my second experiment, the instrumentation used for my piece are inspired by and
Gilead James statements on how “slow mornful and traditional orchestration” creates a
“palpable sense of despair and hopelessness”, idyllic for a War Theme (2). Notably, the
use of slow brass instrumentation is inspired by Captain America’s Theme. The first
melody played by the trumpets is slightly inspired by the initial melody in Mia and
Sebastian Theme (Exemplar). The harmonic chord progression in the first part is
inspired by the harmonic chord progression of “Now we are free”. While the first half is
in a major key, inspired by “Now we are free” and Captain Americas Theme to evoke a
feeling of hope and duty completed, the second half is in a minor key, inspired by Fury’s
theme “Norman” and “A final Sacrifice” (although not a movie theme, this piece can be
categorised in this genre) to evoke create a sombre tone. The melody played by the
piano is heavily inspired by the melody in “A final sacrifice”. The descending melody is
taken from the descending melody in Mia and Sebastians Theme, which ended up fitting
well with the purposeful sombre tone. The final harmonic chord progression is taken
from Mia and Sebastians Theme to evoke a hopeful feel to the end of the piece.

Fig 1: first melody inspired by melody of La La Land

Fig 2: My harmonic chord progression vs Now we are free harmonic chord progression

Fig3: Melody played by piano vs “A final Sacrficie”

Fig 4: Descending melody similar to the one in La La Land

Fig 5: Final Chord Progression of Mia and Sebastian theme vs mine

Experiment 3: Futuristic Movie


For my third experiment, I felt familiar enough with using GarageBand and with the
manipulation of sound effects I decided to transform Mia and Sebastians Theme into a
Futuristic movie. Thus, I changed the instrumentation, texture and harmony and opted
to use synthesisers and electronic sound effects to capture the essence of this type of
film. For this piece, I was heavily inspirated by “End of the Line” score for
“Tron/Legacy”. The constant beat used for my composition is inspired by the constant
and repeated beat in “End of the Line” to add a robot feel to the piece. The syncopated
melody taken from the main melody in Mia and Sebastian Theme is syncopated;
inspired by the syncopated main melody in “End of the Line” (Exemplar score). The
deliberate use of repetition in my melody; also prominent in the melody of “End of the
Line” amplifies the robotic nature of this film genre. The descending guitar solo is
heavily inspired by the descending melody in Mia and Sebastian Theme while also
adding uniqueness to my piece (Exemplar Score). Before the piece transposes from C
sharp minor to F minor (which adds originality to my piece), the synth plays a low
register cadence similar to the descending Mia and Sebastian Melody (Exemplar). The
syncopated second melody is heavily inspired by Mia’s and Sebastians Melody. I
purposefully manipulated the audio in the transposed section to give it a distorted-like
feel, which captures the essence of this type of film.

Fig 1: Syncopated melody similar to End of the Line

Fig 2: Descending piano similar to Mia and Sebastian

Fig 3: Low register cadence similar to Mia and Sebastian Melody

(In terms of harmony, the Mia and Sebastian Theme uses the following chord sequence:
A7, Bm, E sustained 4th, A major.)

Experimenting as Performer
Rationale: For this component, I will be transforming “For love one Dies” by Ennio
Morricone into three different types of social dances. Hence, lies into AOI 3. For my
first experiment, I will transform “For Love one Dies” into a Paso Doble piece in the
piano. For my second experiment, I will transform it into Waltz while the third one will
be Tango; each one increasing in complexity. Although the original piece is played for
an orchestra, I will be taking various elements of that piece as inspiration and
transforming them into piano.

Bibliography:
1) https://www.google.es/books/edition/Music_in_the_Horror_Film/
7VyOAgAAQBAJ?
hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=use+of+music+boxes+in+horror+music&pg=PA46&printse
c=frontcover
2) https://www.google.es/books/edition/
Introduction_to_All_Quiet_on_the_Western/j0_AEAAAQBAJ?
hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=use+of+brass+in+war+movie+themes&pg=PA60&printsec
=frontcover
3) Jaws Theme: https://musescore.com/user/29710079/scores/6013596

Inspirations for my piece:


Alien main theme: the alien like noises in the piece
Halloween Theme: the interval notes 1 degree
The exorcist theme: the interval notes 1 degree, repetition of that, bell-like sound
Paranormal activity: music box like sound, air
The Grudge Theme: use of violin + Silence of the lambs

Experiment 2:

Inspiration:
Inception dream with a dream: inspire harmony
Humo Ahora: money heist: repeated crescendo, epic, victorious score at minute 5
Norman de Fury: violins, decaying melancholic to reflect war
The Beetfield fury: short violins

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