One aspect of our trailer that we are particularly proud of is our use of music. The music was composed by James Richardson especially for our film, and we worked closely with him to create just the sound that we wanted. The cello in the soundtrack that takes the melody for much of the duration of the track was played by myself and layered on top of the other layers of music. We feel that the music complimented the film very well, as it evoked by the emotional and physical intensity of the film. There are four main sections to the music - the quiet opening, the intense build up, the mini climax, the large climax, and the calm ending.
The quiet opening sets the scene and establishes the film. It works well with the soothing landscape shots and the silhouettes. This part is played by solo piano and reflects the feelings of loneliness that Lucas Thorne feels at the beginning of the trailer. There is a feeling of calm and equilibrium, which puts the audience into a false sense of security. It works well with the narration over the top - the soothing music mingles with the soft poetry to create a truly epic, yet low key opening. It is very clear from the music that it is the equilibrium and the world is how it's been for a while. However at the same time the narration hints at a darker side to the opening, foreshadowing the horrors that are to come. Some of the visuals also show this, such as the silhouetted shot of someone holding a gun and the shot of Lucas Thorne holding a gun.
The next section of the music builds up to the middle part of the trailer. There is combination of sounds mixed together to create a sort of horror slide that built up the intensity of the scene. This sudden change in tone in the music indicated clearly that something has changed and gone wrong. The audience can clearly see that this section is the breaking of the equilibrium (as noted by Todorov), as the music is harsh and grating. The sudden change also reflects the sudden change in the style of the visuals - from long still landscape shots to uncomfortable jump cuts and Dutch tilts. The sound of the slide was created mostly using a violin, but the piano also supported it. We feel that this was a very successful part of our trailer, as the music and visuals worked in tandem to create the feeling that something has gone wrong.
The following section begins the main part of the trailer, and establishes the rough outline of the plot. The music in this part is mainly led by the cello; with three cello parts intermingling to create a contrapuntal texture. This is reflective of the intermingling plot lines, where there are several characters all with their separate storylines. This climaxes 1:14, where the storylines of the hero and the villain finally collide, and to match this all the cello parts finally come together and play the same chord rather than their separate parts. This part was also successful, as it didn't build up too much, and left room for the music to build more in the next section.
The penultimate section has the most epic music. It uses the full orchestra (albeit synthesised) to emphasise to the audience that it is coming towards the climax of the trailer. There is less dialogue in this part, as the action just speaks for itself. There is the villain's dialogue at the beginning of the section to establish his character, but after this the only dialogue occurs in one-liners or, at the end, one-worders. The music really drives this final section of the trailer, and it is largely due to the music that this section is so intense and epic.
The final section reestablishes the calm and soothing theme heard at the beginning. This hints at a reinstatement of the equilibrium, but contrasts with the visuals which seems to imply that all hope is lost. This contrast creates an enigma, and leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen - whether the hero will be successful or not. The music is key in this section, as it establishes just the mood that we want to evoke at the end of the trailer, and leaves the audience intrigued to find out more about the film.
In conclusion I think that our use of music and sound was very successful in supporting the visuals of the trailer, and it was one of the key features of the trailer that made it successful. Without the music, the trailer would have lacked pace and emotion, leaving it just a random selection of action shots. If we were to do it again, it would be nice to get a full orchestra instead of synthesised instruments, but this was impractical for us and it sounded amazing nonetheless. James Richardson's royalty free music site can be found at the link below:
http://kingjamesroyaltyfreemusic.blogspot.co.uk
