Dan Grigsby - BA Animation 2009/2010

…music can do much more than echo the action on the screen. It can evoke hidden lives, unknown destinies, unseen histories, forgotten voices.

Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise.

I wanted to devote some time on my blog to the subject of music, as it will play such an integral role in driving the story of SPLAY.

The team first discussed the style of music during the first term, as we were working on the animatic for the pitch. I knew that Phil had wanted each character to have their own accompanying instrument, such as the plucking of violin strings for the Boids. But when it came to thinking of an instrument to represent Splay, it had to be a piano. Piano tunes can be very melancholic and it would be fitting for a lonely, melancholic character.

For the animatic, I used a selection from Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 - which worked surprisingly well: (5:55). There are other sections of the piece where the piano is quite comical in tone, and would be ideal for the sections where Splay follows Squ and the Boids up to the house.



Claude Debussy's Clair De Lune was also an inspiration.



We had wanted to have an orchestral sound track, which would be bold and theatrical, and set to the visuals, such as in Disney's Fantasia (1940):



However when we had a story discussion with Tom Hooper, he argued that this would not reflect the harsh, industrial feel of the world and instead it would soften the image. He advised that we should not remain in a comfort zone and experiment with using sharp, mechanical, inorganic sounds, rather than it being directly musical - the sounds would be the music in effect. It was an interesting concept and one that we warmed to.



The advert shown in the video above is taking Tom's suggestion quite literally, however the piece of music is still orchestral based.

The composer Michael Giacchino achieved some of the sounds for his scores on the TV series Lost by using unusual instruments, such as striking suspended pieces of a plane's fuselage. He also combined these eerie array of sounds with orchestral music, adding increasing menace and suspense to the visuals.



Roque Baños used a theremin in his score for The Machinist (2004). This electronic instrument has a somewhat bizarre and unearthly sound to it:



The electronic band Depeche Mode sampled household items in their song Blasphemous Rumours (1984) such as hitting suitcases with metal poles and throwing saucepans down a flight of stairs. I think this proves that music can be created in any way, however destructive the process!



And I've put this in for the hell of it:



These are but a few sources of inspiration for me, but of course we would like something original to be made for the film. Paul Avon is a close friend of mine and he will be composing the music. I have had several discussions with him regarding SPLAY. He uses a variety of creative audio software and will be implementing a software plug-in called 'Dark Skies' which is specifically for creating cinematic ambiences, soundscapes and effects. Here are a few demos from the creator's website:

http://www.zero-g.co.uk/media/mp3/5/e/DS_Ambience_Example5.mp3

http://www.zero-g.co.uk/media/mp3/p/q/Dark_Skies_Demo_ShockHorror.mp3

http://www.zero-g.co.uk/media/mp3/5/r/Dark_Skies_Demo_Stingers.mp3

Some of these sounds are quite extreme, and probably more suited for the science fiction genre, however it has potential. The 'colossal warehouse' that Phil describes is very much what Paul is aiming for and so too is that industrial, mechanical edge. I will update the progress of the music in the up and coming weeks.