Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).  Music composed by Frank Skinner. 

This is the first of six new animations for the final project.  

Technical

I used Procreate for the individual illustrations. After Effects for the motion graphics in the background.  And Premiere Pro for the video and sound editing.

The Film

Larry Talbot aka The Wolf Man, tries to warn porters Abbott and Costello that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein's tagline is "It's a grand new idea for FUN!" It was the first time Universal Pictures had paired the comedy duo with their terrifying trio, The Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.), Dracula (Bela Lugosi), and the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange).  

The Music

The music was composed by Frank Skinner.  Skinner's score gives the film the grand orchestra arrangement that audiences had come to expect from Universal monster movies such as The Wolfman (1941) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) but with playful musical elements found in the comedies of the 30s and 40s.

The Animation Concept

This film incorporated a fun hand-drawn animated opening.  I wanted to include the elements in this 1940s animation with the score to introduce this frighteningly fun film. I used a greyscale color palette since this is a black and white classic. The elements and titles are hand-drawn.

Formal

This first animation follows the format/workflow of the previous six animations I created last semester. Each animation will be 15-30 seconds in length.  I will combine this and the remaining animations to create the opening for the future doc on horror film scores entitled, Killer Beats: Sinister Cinema Scores.  The individual animations will also serve as the intros for each film.

Feedback

I incorporated feedback on elements such as format, text/titles used, and consistency in the style of animation. Thank you for your input for this project.

The Thing (1982).  Music composed by Ennio Morricone & John Carpenter

This is the second of six new animations for the final project.  

Technical

I used Procreate for the individual illustrations. After Effects for the motion graphics in the background.  And Premiere Pro for the video and sound editing.

The Film

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) is a remake of The Thing From Another World (1951). 

The Music

John Carpenter is as famous for composing his own film scores as he is for directing the films themselves. However, for this production, Universal Pictures and Carpenter enlisted Ennio Morricone, most famous for scoring Sergio Leone's western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.  Carpenter said Morricone's inital score for The Thing was "too flourishy and ornate" and suggested he "use less notes."  Morricone did.  The end result is the Main Title theme used in this animation. When Morricone past away in 2020 at the age of 91, Carpenter paid tribute to Morricone saying that "He was like an X-ray composer. He brought out the theme of the movie that hadn't been thought of before. He added something to it, that I didn’t realize, didn’t ask for. He brought it: this deep, tragic sense that this is the end of things, of everything. Oh my god, it really worked. I was delighted with it.”

The Animation Concept

The Thing takes place in the frigid temperatures of Antarctica.  I used a blue background to give it a cooler temp.The alien in The Thing is a shapeshifter capable of mimicking any living creature, human or animal. It's ability to be any one of characters, including one of the dogs, is terrifying.  For this animation, I wanted to show a few of the more unusal forms that "the thing" takes throughout the film.  From dog to a human-head-with-spider-legs, to a single drop of blood in a petri dish (arguably one of the greatest jump scares in horror film history) The Thing's makeup and visual effects are unforgettable. The elements and titles are hand-drawn.

Formal

This second animation follows the format/workflow of the previous six animations I created last semester. Each animation will be 15-30 seconds in length.  I will combine this and the remaining animations to create the opening for the future doc on horror film scores entitled, Killer Beats: Sinister Cinema Scores.  The individual animations will also serve as the intros for each film.

Feedback

I incorporated feedback on elements such as format, text/titles used, and consistency in the style of animation. Thank you for your input for this project.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).  Music composed by Charles Bernstein

This is the third of six new animations for the final project.  

Technical

I used Procreate for the individual illustrations. After Effects for the motion graphics in the background.  And Premiere Pro for the video and sound editing.

The Film

Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.

The Music

The music in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street's evokes a heavy electronic synth sound that dominated scores in the 80's. Composer Charles Bernstein said "I had to come up with a vocabulary of sounds that scare and synthesizers were really good at coming up with scary sounds." Bernstein explains that the "jump rope" chant was the idea of the film's writer/director, Wes CravenThe girls were doing the jump rope and chanting. It was actually written in the script: ‘1, 2, Freddy’s coming for you, 3, 4, better lock your door,’ etc. My task was then to write the music under that chant.”

The Animation Concept

The "jump rope song" in A Nightmare on Elm Street is an iconic part of the film.  The jump rope girls animation style emulates a vintage holiday light display where only one part of the display moves (the girl's arms and the rope) while the rest of the display remains static.  

Nightmare explores terror found in the safety of the suburbs.  The house silhouette represents stillness at night while the film's characters sleep peacefully in their homes. But when the animated lighted windows and red door "awake" the characters in the film have entered the nightmare.  That's where they are visited by the film's razor-gloved villain, Freddy Krueger.

Formal

This third animation follows the format/workflow of the previous six animations I created last semester. Each animation will be 15-30 seconds in length.  I will combine this and the remaining animations to create the opening for the future doc on horror film scores entitled, Killer Beats: Sinister Cinema Scores.  The individual animations will also serve as the intros for each film.

Feedback

I incorporated feedback on elements such as format, text/titles used, and consistency in the style of animation. Thank you for your input for this project.

Dracula (1931).  Music composed by Phillip Glass and the Kronos Quartet

This is the third of six new animations for the final project.  

Technical

I used Procreate for the individual illustrations. After Effects for the motion graphics in the background.  And Premiere Pro for the video and sound editing.

The Film

Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.

The Music

The original 1931 theatrical release of Universal Pictures's Dracula was in the early days of sound. It was only 6 years after Universal's silent movie debut with The Phantom of the Opera (1925).  Universal was behind on sound technology compared to other movie studios. With the exception of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake"  used for for Dracula's (and The Mummy's) opening credits, the film never received a full score. Dracula's soundtrack is mostly sound effects with limited music.

In the late 1990's Universal Pictures approached composer/conductor Phillip Glass (Candyman, 1992) and gave him the option to score his choice of Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) or Dracula (1931) for their Legacy Monsters DVD collection.  Glass chose Dracula. The twenty-six track score was performed by the celebrated Kronos Quartet including cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, violist Hank Dutt, violinists David Harrington and John Sherba.

The Animation Concept

Universal's Dracula is as immortal as the Count.  The film version is based on Hamilton Dean's  stage play adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. The film is  a gothic, romantic tale of the "undead". 

For the animation, I wanted to incorporate the iconic elements from this classic film.  Some of these include  the technologies used in the film.  The arrival of the mysterious coachman who brings Renfield to Castle Dracula; the doomed voyage of the Demeter, the ship that brings Dracula from Transylvania to London where he wreaks havoc; the tools that Professor Van Helsing, the film's protagonist, uses to slay vampires; and of course the Count and his vampire brides in white. I choose a black and white color palette to represent the tone of this classic masterpiece.

Formal

This forth animation follows the format/workflow of the previous six animations I created last semester. Each animation will be 15-30 seconds in length.  I will combine this and the remaining animations to create the opening for the future doc on horror film scores entitled, Killer Beats: Sinister Cinema Scores.  The individual animations will also serve as the intros for each film.

Feedback

I incorporated feedback on elements such as format, text/titles used, and consistency in the style of animation. Thank you for your input for this project.

Beetlejuice (1988).  Music composed by Danny Elfman

This is the fifth of six new animations for the final project.  

Technical

I used Procreate for the individual illustrations. After Effects for the motion graphics in the background.  And Premiere Pro for the video and sound editing.

The Film

The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.

The Music

The music for this film was composed by Danny Elfman.  Danny Elfman has been a long time collaborator with film director Tim Burton.

The Animation Concept

Formal

This fifth animation follows the format/workflow of the previous six animations I created last semester. Each animation will be 15-30 seconds in length.  I will combine this and the remaining animations to create the opening for the future doc on horror film scores entitled, Killer Beats: Sinister Cinema Scores.  The individual animations will also serve as the intros for each film.

Feedback

I incorporated feedback on elements such as format, text/titles used, and consistency in the style of animation. Thank you for your input for this project.

Killer Beats Intro.  Music composed by Disasterpeace for the film score to It Follows

This is the sixth of six new animations for the final project.  

Technical

I used Procreate for the individual illustrations. After Effects for the motion graphics in the background.  And Premiere Pro for the video and sound editing.

The Film

This is the 30-second animated opener for the future Killer Beats: Sinister Cinema Scores documentary.

The Music

The music for this intro is composed by Disasterpeace.  It was created for the film It Follows  (2014).

The Animation Concept

Formal

This sixth animation follows the format/workflow of the previous new five animations I created this semester along and the previous six animations I created last semester. Each animation will be 15-30 seconds in length.  This sixth animation will also serve as the overall 30-second opener for the future documentary: Killer Beats: Sinister Cinema Scores.  The other eleven animations will serve as the intros for the individual films.  I have combined the intro and the previous eleven film animations into the draft of the final project.

Feedback

I incorporated feedback on elements such as format, text/titles used, and consistency in the style of animation. Thank you for your input for this project.