The Amazing Spiderman 2

As requested in the prompt for the project, I never listened to the sound for the original trailer. Only after I finished the assignment did I think to listen to the original. Interestingly enough, the concepts behind my piece and the official piece are actually remarkably similar. In my proposal, I stated that I wanted a low, pulsing sound at the beginning that crescendos until Spiderman hits the villain with a manhole cover. Then the piece would continue at a quick pace until the very end. The piece behind the official trailer was laid out in the same way: the melodies and rhythms were different (and the sound designers also had to lower the volume to accentuate the dialogue) but the climax and the method of driving the piece were eerily similar.

I wanted the song to be at 70 bpm so that it could match the pace of the action in the second half of the trailer, yet I still wanted the introduction and ending to feel slow. To achieve the effect that the sound was becoming more urgent towards the beginning of the piece, I left the resonance and the overdrive at their lowest settings for the first few notes. As the sound progressed, I added resonance and overdrive every eight beats until both were at their maximum setting. This sound was almost like a low-pitched alarm blaring.   I modified the reverb of the stringed instruments, which were the underlying continuous sound in the second half of the trailer. I also slightly modified the guitar that played the main melody. 

I recognize that the sound of the melody is quite harsh—but this was because I was dealing with two extremes. It seemed that the melody could blend in with the rest of the instruments, which essentially contributed to the piece seeming muddy (as the listener was not sure which part to listen to), or the melody could be overpowering. I went with the latter option after I couldn’t manage to find an adequate middle ground. As the trombones are added in later, the melody becomes less harsh and more pleasant to the ear. 

PROPOSAL (Week of December 1st)

I'll probably end up using the trailer for the Amazing Spider Man 2 for this project-- beginning at 1:24. I decided to ignore the beginning parts because it hinges on Peter Parker leading a double-life, so the trailer understandably switches back and forth between moods often. Instead, I want to focus on the introduction of the villains and the action of the movie, located in the back half of the trailer.

I would compose the piece in a minor key, which would increase the suspense. When the villains are shown, I'd use some sort of low, slow pulsing sound-- like a tuba that would play for two beats then pause, and play again then pause. A snare drum would enter softly then crescendo while accelerating. This would continue until the right before first small climax, where spiderman is flying in slow motion through the air at 1:38. As he appears, the accelerando and crescendo would stop and there would be a brief moment of silence. When he speeds up and hits and hits the bad guy, the music would resume where it left off-- keeping a constant quick tempo using the same tuba notes as before. I'd also most likely use staccato trumpet and flute notes. As the action in the second half of this trailer continues, I'd add harmonies and layers until 2:20 where it would stop suddenly and play the same tuba notes as at the beginning of the trailer.