Game of Thrones Trailer

First Thoughts

I will be using the Season 2 "Shadow" Tease for Game of Thrones. 

I plan on having a very long crescendo in the opening while the action in the video is low. I will most likely start with background strings playing a simple theme (I may introduce the leitmotif briefly). At 0:35, the action clearly picks up, so I plan on suddenly introducing an epic theme (probably the leitmotif). It will also be louder and faster than the buildup beforehand. I would also like to synchronize percussion hits with the words that appear at 0:31, 0:40, and 0:46. Because of the dark quality of the video, I plan on composing my themes in a minor key. 

Here the edited version with my own audio (link here):

Process

Iteration

I took some of the feedback and revised my original ideas. Instead of creating a leitmotif corresponding to a specific character, I created a simple 5 note theme that appears reoccurs three times throughout the clip. My feedback also reinforced the idea that my music should be in a minor key. Finally, I received a comment from Ivan saying that the moving lips might look wrong without the dialogue, so I decided to edit in the dialogue I could find. 

Technical Issues

I found that editing in dialogue proved to be the hardest, especially since there were so many places in which I needed synchronize it with the video correctly. I did include fade ins and fade outs to prevent clicks. However, one issue I wasn't able to resolve was the audio quality of the various dialogue clips. Since I found them from varied sources, some were rendered differently, and as a result, might have had different quality or background sounds.

Composition Theory

For the beginnings of my phrases, I tended to start with either a crescendo (the very beginning), or upwards motion (after 0:35 when the more exciting phrase comes). I also ended my phrases with downward motion. I also varied the articulation/length of notes especially in the second half. I also understand that Game of Thrones takes place in a medieval type of setting, so I wanted to stay away from electronic sounds.

Research

Most trailers I have seen before accompany sudden flashing words with a big percussion hit, so I tried to create that sense. Also, many fantasy style trailers tend to have "epic" sounding music, especially during action scenes, so I composed my melodies with long sweeping strings. While I would have also included other epic brass instruments (especially french horn!), I found that the brass and woodwind synthesized sounds on logic really don't sound great.

Critical Reflection

I think my composition could benefit from a deeper, more full, orchestration at around 0:35 and 0:40. However, as I said earlier, I felt somewhat restricted to using only string sounds due to the poor quality of the woodwind and brass sounds. I also think that the ending could have flowed a little smoother, but it was slightly awkward trying to fit just the right amount of music before the clip ended. 

Note:

I received the video clip from the free Shadow Trailer podcast on youtube, and I received the dialogue clips through converting youtube clips to mp3. I also received a fire crackling sound and a cinematic boom sound from freesound.org.

You may download my files here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pvcc7aaef1apn8u/AAB47PLD6AAUzzvuwECTHcOta?dl=0