Dr. Sound

A Different Approach to Consequences 

During 2003, I made a short film Consequences that was used for entry in the Camcorder Magazine competition. I used music, from two different composers to compare and contrast the different feel, and how it can affect the thought of the viewer.  I have also asked both composers to distinguish their thoughts and ideas on making the music of Consequences.

Ashleigh Ivil

On being asked to put a score to Consequences, I went through a tried and tested method of mine for coming up with the goods. Firstly, I asked myself: 'What are the characters in this film feeling?' There is the obvious excitement of being asked back by this girl; the feeling that they have had an amazing night of passion and then the utter horror of the male character finding out he may have contracted the HIV virus. It is not too hard to imagine how one might feel in all of these situations. Then, I set about creating as tense a mood as possible. One really important thing to do before scoring is to find the 'hit points' for the music. Though the original film did not have SMPTE timecode I got around this by burning in my own. This enabled me to locate and note down (to the last frame) exactly where different sounds/music cues should begin and end. The actual composition part of my work is extremely hard to explain. I kind of have to get inside the heads and hearts of the character's and transfer their feelings into music. At the end of the day music adds what is not already visible, or audible in the film. It adds emotion. It allows you to experience what the characters might be feeling.  

Watch Consequences from Ashleigh Ivil's Point of View Download it Now Size 3.14 MB WMV

 I. Anthony

When attempting to write music based on motion picture, I first cleared my mind of any ‘current musical influences and tried to focus solely on the events that took place within the film. I decided to base the music around the feelings of the male actor in the film. He has awoken to find a mysterious note by his bedside after taking a lady back to his home for an intimate encounter. The somewhat eerie feeling and dreamy scenario is reflected in the choice of sounds I used to project this audio score. I used a metallic percussive sound as the main instrument and applied enough reverb to separate the audio gaps between the notes, leaving a continuous wash of a dreamy soundscape. With this in place, I added subtle pads and ethnic sounds which were not dominant. The end result is a sleepy lullaby with hints of uncertainty.

Watch Consequences from I Anthony Point of View Download it now Size 5.77 MB MPEG1

Leave your own views on the Forum, about he different versions of Consequences.