Oblivion Trailer

Changing the ambiance

Made by Brian Walsh

Taking a newly formatted trailer that I edited, and adding music and original sounds to create suspense, thrill, and wonder.

Created: December 5th, 2014

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Initial Product:

As can be seen in the trailer, we begin with rather picaresque derelict building. While beautiful, there is still fear in these images, so I propose the beginning to be a slow buildup of suspense, climaxing at the point when we see our protagonist on the motorcycle.

From here, I plan to alternation to connect the lines of dialogue with score. After his dialogue is complete, I will make a buildup with the synthesizer, and it will culminate in fierce action, with an upbeat score. I plan for this to suddenly stop, as he falls from the roof of the library. Then once the twist appears at the end, I plan a strong note from all the instruments used.

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(Above: Initial Trailer to be Edited)

The final trailer can be found below,

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Curatorial Statement:

I created backing for this trailer because, though I did not see the film, I thought that its trailers were too revealing. I believe instead that trailers, especially of the sci-fi thriller genre, should focus on the suspense, action, and future visions of earth, as opposed to revealing too much of what is intended to be an engrossing process. This allowed me to forgo much of the dialogue that clogged the original trailers.

Process:

There was, despite my goals for the project, dialogue that still was required to fit my constraints of a true movie trailer. This presented a very difficult goal, as I had to connect these lines with each other through my own composition. I found that the retrosynth was very useful in creating sounds for a futuristic setting, and actually played with the landscape, and the monotony of the main character's tasks.

Also, blending my own music and not making it seem out of place was a very major barrier to face. I had to toy with velocity and multiple track volumes to keep the parts of the film and the trailer soundtrack consistent. 

A specific composer that I used as an example was Hans Zimmer. He uses many percussion instruments in his tracks to display suspense or intensity. I applied this percussion in a way that Mauricio suggested, creating synchronicity with the changing frames, and establishing a mood with the visuals.

He also sticks to simple chord traversals, just varying the way they are played in each piece. I did this with my trailer, even applying symmetry towards the end. I used the same crescendo to build into our hero getting chained to the chair as I did to our introduction to the new landscape of earth.

Critique:

The part I would be most critical about now would be the sound effects I used for the aerial vehicle crash, for they greatly vary in sound and amplification when compared to the percussive track I used for the action.

I am rather pleased with the piece, though I wish I would have more time to compose and refine. I had multiple drafts of longer videos that were just not possible to compose for given my time constraints. A past version of myself would have viewed this piece critically, much as I am now. I would have given constructive feedback on what I thought it should sound like, but I would not have an idea of how to approach fixing the issues. Now I do have the know-how of how to fix sound issues.

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Taking a newly formatted trailer that I edited, and adding music and original sounds to create suspense, thrill, and wonder.