Thursday, 6 December 2012

Soundtrack

http://ghosts.nin.com/main/faq
Originally, we were going to use music from Mogwai, a Post Rock band who have an ominous, ambiguous sound which is full of texture.  We tried to get around this problem by using another, lesser known Post Rock band, but again, copyright issues relating to Creative Commons Licences stopped us from using them. 

Due to the fact that these first choices for our soundtrack were copyrighted, we decided to use a track  by Nine Inch Nails from either  the album 'Ghosts I-V,' or 'The Slip', as they are both  free to use under Creative Commons, as they are being used in a non-profitable production.
http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup
As there is no dialogue during the interior bathroom shots, the music will play a prominent role, with very often little other than the sound a running water or traffic to compete with. However, this will change during the interrogation scenes, where we are likely to only use diegetic background noise with the dialogue between the three characters.

Due to the fact that our first choices for our soundtrack of were copyrighted, we decided to use a track  by Nine Inch Nails from either the album 'Ghosts I-V,' or 'The Slip', as they are both free to use under Creative Commons, as they are being used in a non profitable production. Nine Inch Nails' industrial sound is perfect for the ominous, disconcerting nature of Thrillers.

As there is no dialogue during the flashback shots or the interior bathroom shots, the music will play a prominent role, with very often little other than the sound a running water or traffic to compete with. However, this will change during the interrogation scenes, where we are likely to only use diegetic background noise with the dialogue between the three characters.

The piece we used for the bathroom scene (01 Ghosts I from the Ghosts I-V album) is sparse due to the individual piano playing dissonant chords. We thought this fit the main character's (Max) personality as he is vulnerable and trying to rid himself of his previous life, and start anew. Additionally, the track could be said to evoke a 'classical' style of music, similar to some of Chopin's pieces on the piano. Seeing as classical music is more upmarket, and stereotypically it's listeners are more 'intelligent', it punctuates the persona we try to create of Max's character being successful in his work.

The tracks we ended up using for the interrogation scene were 'The Four of Us Are Dying' and 'Corona Radiata' which are both from The Slip. The former worked well for the action part of the interrogation as it has a sinister, sneaky sort of sound; emphasising the fact that Adam sneaks up on Kieran with a knife. The music is also more foregrounded in the sound mix to give build tension and atmosphere. 

The latter on the other hand is much more suited for dialogue driven scenes, as it is atmospheric and does not rely on riffs or ostinatos. It is backgrounded in the mix to connote an uncertainty in the atmosphere of the opening. The track relies mainly on pedal notes and so it is very slow, which works much better on the first part of the interrogation as the action following it is much more fast paced.