Tarantino Film Score
Composed by: Dashel Walsh
Embedded Files
For the second deliverable in my Linear-Narrative Project, I will be scoring a short 5 minute visual scene from the movie 'Inglorious Bastards' by Quentin Tarantino.
The scene I will be using is 'The Tavern' scene, which in the original film has no presence of music.
This will help me truly develop a palette of sound that can display my interpretation of the mood of this scene in particular.
Tarantino's decision of purposely not having any musical composition in this section gives all of the intensity to the scene - so my goal is to add onto what is happening visually without taking away from the art of the scene itself.
Film Score
Process
In the initial beginning of my workflow for this project - the first objective was to import the MP4 render of the film scene and drag it into my DAW (Ableton).
my next mission was to comb through the scene in a linear fashion and mark with location markers anywhere I thought the sequence had importance - For example;
Markers where set in places where either intensity would build, moments of resolution or just general cues I could use to guide my composition process.
This lays out an initial blueprint to work from and pre-visualises the overall score arrangement.
Now it was time to find the correct palette of sounds.
Coming into this project with the chosen material - I had a general sense of the timbre I was looking to capture.
With the original scene in the film purposely possessing no musical score to add to the atmosphere of intensity, I didn't want to add anything sonically that would take the attention away from what was happening visually.
Therefore, I decided I would go with a more traditional style of instrumentation in terms of film scoring.
My first thought was 'String section'.
With a vast majority of film scores of all genres including the use of strings, I reached for my BBC Symphony Orchestra Instrument and selected a violin ensemble to kick of this composition.
While composing for screen, I tend to work in a different workflow than my usual style of music.
In more of a linear fashion, I work from the start of the timeline and freestyle/play what inspires my mind whilst paying attention to the visual in order to capture the feel and timing of the scene.
There is an interesting freedom with working this way - for when you get towards the middle to end of the composition, it's possibilities or outcomes can completely change from the initial overall idea the composer begins with.
While composing for screen, I tend to work in a different workflow than my usual style of music.
In more of a linear fashion, I work from the start of the timeline and freestyle/play what inspires my mind whilst paying attention to the visual in order to capture the feel and timing of the scene.
There is an interesting freedom with working this way - for when you get towards the middle to end of the composition, it's possibilities or outcomes can completely change from the initial overall idea the composer begins with.
As the intensity rises in the scene -
I made use of some bass strings and staccato Cellos in order to add more depth and weight to match what was happening visually.
In a rising fashion, adding harmonic seconds notes - this gives off a dissonant feel to add to the rising tension of the scene.
Further adding to this dissonant and unsettling sound, I layered in a 'Bumble Bee Trumpet' sound from Spitfire Audio's 'LABS' instrument.
This sound has an unstable tremolo which is differentiated with each singular horn in it's complete section, giving of an unsettling vibe and timbre to the instrument which I thought would be a perfect layer to support the bass cellos and low-end string sections in the more intense scene in the passage.
|As a build of tension and resolve, I made use of a sub-level boom and reverse boom.
This was used in defining moments or moments of realisation that the actors had cued in the scene its self.
This use of sound; where you play one sustained note, duplicating that track and then reversing that exact note - matching it in sequence as a riser is quite effective in using what you've already got instead of adding more.
This critical thinking came to use, as I didn't want to add too much to this composition and take away from the original attention or intensity of the scene.
These decisions where easily made considering I am already a fan of Tarantino's work and I am quite aware of the unconventional approaches he takes both visually and sonically.
Reflection
This Project was an interesting challenge.
With experiencing more and more film scoring techniques during this trimester, I have found an interest in this line of work in the industry.
Exceeding my expectations with every score - I am learning quickly techniques and ideas that will assist my own compositions in the future and look to possibly do more scoring as freelance work for small film companies.
Contact Details
Name: Dashel Walsh (Dash)
Skillsets: Music Production, Songwriting, Linear & Non Linear Compositions, Record Engineering, Mix Engineering
Email: dashtracks00@gmail.com
Social Media: https://linktr.ee/Dashtracks
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