The Amazing Spiderman 2

Great ideas, Kristen! They are well thought-out, and having this backbone structure will make the composition coherent. Brings some sonic ideas to class, a concept playlist is always good, and we will begin laying it out tomorrow.

As I told you in class, you should now mark all the exact timings, parts, things to synchronize with music, in Logic as I explained to you and as it is explained here below. As a general idea I recommend to compose something simple at the beginning (just the main instrument melody, the leitmotifs, and drums and so on), and then think what you would expect to listen apart from that, as background: a bass line? Some string chords? Other melody (countermelody) to accompany nicely the main one in a different instrument? You decide. Listen to music similar to the style you want to use (NOT THE ORIGINAL ONE!) and listen to its instrumentation and rest of characteristics to create your own piece with your own decisions, with your own taste. I your case you can double the tuba line with low strings (double basses and cellos) making the same melody with them as the tuba to give more power to that line. Remember that a nice reverb usually will be needed to give ambience, but use it with care so that it does not blur the overall sound (set the wet/dry parameter not too wet).

Here some general ideas to help you build the music: Think of the functions of the music for audiovisuals that we studied at class and also the composition concepts. Start with analyzing the video more precisely and setting its parts and the mood and characteristics of the music for each part. Plan your instruments. Remember that to make a crescendo you can add instruments apart to make them play louder and vice-versa with decrescendo. Select a good tempo that goes well with the images (beat per minute), though you might change it in some section if you think it is going to fit better. To open the video in Logic: File-Movie-Open Movie. Then mark the sections of it in the next way: Logic Pro-Preferences-Advanced Tools and activate all except for Control Surfaces and Surround (and score if you are not going to use it). Then Track-Show Global Tracks and in the Arrangement Track you can establish the sections, for example:
- Introduction: objectives (mood to set, things to remark with music...), Function/s of the music in this section (set the mood, present the main character (you can create a leitmotif for it), place the viewer in the physical place where the action is (country, region, etc.), underline the time the action takes place...), Composition concepts to get the objectives and music functions: crescendo to begin, tempo that fits, kind of music to set the mood, instrumentation that fits with the place and time,...
- And something similar to the other sections.
Also in the markers track you can put markers to synchronize important moments in the scene to synchronize with the music, example: evil monster appears suddenly (remark with its leitmotif or with some low tones, or drums, etc)
The process should be that: set the objectives, set the music function/s, set the composition concepts to get them, compose the music starting from something simple, just the melodies, leitmotifs, etc. and then "decorate" it with the rest of elements and instrumentation you think that fits (it might be string/brass chords, bass line, drums, other melodies with other instruments...)

You thought out your sounds very thoroughly, and I think you have a great direction going with this piece. You understand the flow of action and suspense well, and I think you're doing a good job of planning for it. I can't wait to hear the final piece!

This seems like its going to be really cool and really high action the entire time, and you seem to have plenty of ideas on how to capture that. I really like that you're trying to go for a full circle ending, that'll be really cool if it works.

You have a lot of good ideas and much of it planned out. A couple suggestions that might be interesting, if you have time: 1) maybe a low thrum to echo the footsteps of the mecha, and 2) slow down the tempo during the slow-motion action scenes? Other than that, I like your instrumental and volume choices. Can't wait to hear it!

I think you have a lot of great ideas. I particularly like the moment of abrupt silence when Spiderman is falling in slow motion, that is going to sound very intense! I do have one suggestion for you, although I'm not sure if you have the time to do it. I noticed a couple quick scenes in the trailer with glass shattering. For those, you could use a high pitched instrument (like a violin) to make a slightly discordant and jarring sound. That would help create the effect of glass shattering loudly.

I really liked the introduction-- the low pulsing sound worked just like you said, and the build-up was nicely executed. The gong sound was a little unexpected, but I think it worked! I thought the timbre of the main melody was really interesting and gave the trailer a very techy feel, which certainly matches all the electricity in the video. It was also pretty cool to hear it mixed with trombones, which have a more traditional feel. Overall, I think you managed to capture the tone of the trailer quite well. Good job!

I really liked that you structured your piece such that the beginning low sounds are mimicked at the end to give a sense of closure, it really help stabilize the whole piece. I also liked the electronic aspect that you added as you moved forward in the piece, it helps set an eerie mood. I agree with Ariel that a higher pitched sound might have been good to break up a very low-note heavy melody, but you captured the mood you set out to achieve nicely. Great Job! Also, why is there so much black video at the end? My first suggestion for further editing would be to cut that out.

Thanks for both of your suggestions. I only had time to fix the one about the black video at the end, though, but I agree that adding higher pitches would've been nice so long as they weren't overpowering.

Wow Kristen, this was great! The trombones really did the trick, and I loved the brief silence while Spiderman is falling. I think you built up a lot of suspense, which is awesome, but I don't think it really hit a climax anywhere. Adding higher pitches somewhere during the intense sections might have helped with that.