Over the last six weeks I have been working on writing and producing my own original score for the Last Of Us.I believe that a successful FMP project would look like it has a good even balance between primary and secondary research and it all be linked back the the project. Making sure that you have a good quality final product up the standard you are happy with and proud of. A really good way i have measured my work is by the evaluations which summaries what I have done every week so i know i am working at the right standard so making sure that the evaluations don't lack any detail.
The result of my FMP is my score for the intro of the tv adaptation of 'The Last Of Us' as well as a cover of 'Take On Me' which was played by a character in the game and tv show and this was all presented and performed in a final performance. I feel my project is similar to Gustavo Santaolla in the way that the score has a lot of strings and very catchy picking pattern; I took a lot of inspiration of Gustavo. My final performance is like and inspired by a performance from a orchestra is playing the music to 'How To Train A Dragon' with scenes from the film playing in the back ground and when you compare that to mine I have a still image from the tv show behind me while playing my cover of 'Take On Me'.
Some key decisions I made while doing my project was that I was going to make a score instead of a song with lyrics I came to this decision due the fact i and struggled with lyrics and that I had gotten so much inspiration from research I had done to do just instruments and capturing a scene through just instruments not words. If someone said that it was the wrong decision I would say that in the time I had to do my FMP and how much I struggled with getting going in this project with trying to do lyrics once I had decided that I wasn't going to have any my project really started to flow and the video game really matches the acoustic feel and I believe the vocals would have distracted you from the game.
My planning every week was followed very strictly i had done plans every week of this project to make sure I kept on track and always had aims on what needed to be done every week and if it wasn't done I would move it to the next week and make sure it was done then. Some of my strengths in my planning where that i was able to set myself a good amount of stuff to do in the week however one of my weaknesses is that i really strictly stuck to my plan and that caused me sometimes fall behind in the schedule because i was to busy focusing on what I planned and not really experimenting as much. If I were do this again i would make sure that i went into a lot more detail on why I am doing certain things each week and as well as making sure to not be afraid to go of the plan at some points.
In this project I had faced a few problems thought the weeks. One problem that came up when doing the production side of things was that my guitar wasn't recoding properly into logic at all we couldn't get a signal to come through into logic we had checked everything in till we tried a different guitar with my wire it worked and then me my lectures Judith and Matt checked the battery in my acoustic guitar and found out that had died so to solve this problem i had gone to the closes shop to get the right battery so I can then start layering the guitars as soon as I put the battery in. I have presented this by explaining what happened next to the photo of the guitar tracks and how we got signal to go through on to logic and the setting of logic we used. I could have prevented this if I was more prepared and checked the gear that I was going to be using for that recording session, if I were to do this again id make sure to check all the gear that I'll be using before starting the session.
The best features of my project have to be my guitar tracks and my performance of 'Take On Me'. The reason my guitar tracks are one of my best features is because it added so much depth and feeling into my score and I feel like it really captured the environment in the video. I achieved this by really analysing the video and focusing on the environment around it and using the speed and rhythm of the guitar to capture that feeling, that is something I'm really proud of that i did in the project. I am also very proud of my performance and how I set up for my performance of 'Take On Me' because of how much control i had over how I wanted the stage to look and how I knew what I waned and my overall performance I am very proud of how i seemed so much more confident on stage unlike in previous performances. I achieved this by getting there early before everyone else (the audience) got there and set up the stage and made sure everything was right and that I was 100% ready to perform to best standard.
Some of the flaws that my FMP are that I haven't got a lot of primary research. The reasons for this is due to the fact that I struggled with getting any ideas for primary research. I have presented this flaw in my evaluations through the weeks if i were to do this again I would make sure i have a good understanding a good set of ideas of what primary research i can do so i have more of a plan. Another flaw of my FMP is that I don't have a lot of collaboration I only collaborated with one person so if I were to do this again I would work with more people and just have more collaboration I my project. I have presented this also in my evaluation.
In my FMP I did a lot of research. I did primary research some examples of primary research I did was that I made a form to get some information on what people thought of my proposal all they had to do was answer some questions about my FMP. I applied the knowledge i had learned from my form to help shape my project as a whole. I also analysed a concert fro my primary research to learn how to perform and different ways to set up a stage for certain types concerts, I learnt a lot about stage presents and how to perform with confidence as well as how to recover from mistakes. I could apply this knowledge to any future project that involved performing in any way. In my FMP I also did a lot of secondary research. Some examples of this are the research that I did into the original composer for 'The Last Of Us' Gustavo Santaolla, I learnt so much from researching him and the way he approaches a project and what type of instruments that he used this research gave me so much inspiration for my own project. I can apply this knowledge in any future project as it helped me write music/score. So in my FMP I did two main types of research which were primary and secondary which both helped with gaining as much knowledge as possible for my project.
Throughout my FMP I have developed so many different skills over the 6 weeks. One of the skills that I have improved a lot over the course of six weeks is my production skills not jus on logic but with recording instruments as well, this was one of my weakness at the beginning of the project and one of the reasons why I did this project was to improve it, this skill can support any career I go into if it involves music for example video game composing. Another skill that i have developed over the six weeks of FMP is my composition skill so writing my own score I and never done anything like this and when I had tried in the past I and really struggled so through doing this project I have not been afraid to ask for a little helping hand to get it going so it was really nice to be working on one of my weaknesses as a musician. Song writing skills can be really helpful fro any work in the industry.
In my FMP I had only collaborated with a few people some of the pros to collaborating with other people was getting another persons opinion and help with the project for example when I collaborated with Judith my lecturer when playing piano to get the bass chords where piano isn't my strong point getting help someone who specialises with that was really beneficial to my project overall. Some cons when it comes to collaborating is miscommunication so when working with someone else you have got make sure you are on the same page so it doesn't get to confusing and everyone knows what is going on when it comes to the project. Over all I gained a lot from collaborating with other with Charlie I not only worked with him to figure out the guitar parts for my track I also learnt so much by working with him like different types of picking patterns and different chord shapes on guitar so it not just helped my project it also developed my guitar skills and knowledge as a whole.
When looking back on my proposal and my presentation i had made a few changes throughout the six weeks of FMP I had changed the type of music i was going to make from a song to a score without lyrics. I have also achieved my project aim for my FMP which was to have my own music behind a scene from the 'The Last Of Us' and have performed with the scene or part of the game/tv show behind me, and I was also able to record it all myself on logic which was one of my main aims from the project. I also changed it a bit when it came to the performance in my proposal I was saying how I wanted to perform my own composition with the scene behind me but when I thought about my vocals I also wanted to show that as well so thats why I decided to do a cover of 'Take on me' instead so I can show of my vocal skills as well as my guitar. So in conclusion I have successfully reached all my aims of this project even with a few changes of my original plan.
My FMP was successful in many ways for example artistically due to the fact I had the opportunity to use my own ideas and gather my own inspiration to create something from scratch that being a score for 'The Last Of Us'. I have also had a lot opportunity to grow as a musical by being able to develop my guitar skills as well as my production skills all things that I am really interested in. I believe that my project is successful due to the fact i was able to achieve everything I set out to do with a few changes and was able to improve so many different skills for example my production, performance and my writing skills also my guitar skills. Some things that didn't go so well was that I feel if I had more time I would have been able to do more on my composition for example add some of the drum sounds that I had been experimenting with in week 2/3 and i would have more time to maybe add a extra chord into the bridge of the score to just add more depth. So in conclusion my project is a success however there is still some things that could have been improved if I had more time so and things that I might do differently if I were to do this again.
When it comes to the final outcomes of my FMP project I would rate it a 8/10 due to the fact that there is always room for improvement not just in the composition but also the performance and the cover of 'Take On Me'. One of the only things that I am really proud of with this project is the performance and how well it went I didn't mess up any of the lyrics or the guitar parts, I also was a lot more confident when performing compared to previous gigs I have done. If I were to do this again I would work on speaking in front of people when it came to explaining my project i struggled with confidence. With my composition I am really proud of how I was able to use Logic and have a final product. After my final performance once I got my feedback there where some things I could have done better one of those are that I maybe should have added another chord into bridge to make sure it doesn't get boring so if had some extra time I would have made sure my composition was the best it can be. So in conclusion I am really happy the outcome of my FMP project I am really happy with how much I was able to do in the time I was given.
I think the point of doing an independent free choice project was that it gave us as students the chance to manage their own project and do what they want to do, this also gives them the chance to work on things they want to work and do something that they are really interested in. This just gives students all the freedom and see how they can manage there time and making sure they can set themselves achievable goals also have to make sure that they get everything that they need to complete the FMP successfully . I would undertake a project like this in the future due to the fact that i feel like I have learnt so much and it has shown me that I can mange my own project to a good standard. One reason I maybe wouldn't do something like this again would be I do like a little guidance in my projects. But overall I would do this again however I would work with someone else on my project so I'm not doing it so much by myself. In conclusion i have really enjoyed this project and I am really proud of how much I have achieved within these last 6 weeks of FMP. I am really happy with the outcome of my project and i feel like I have reached all the objectives I had made myself at the beginning of my project.