SHORT FILM EVALUATION
All in all I think this is quite a good first attempt at making a film score. It fits with the film and I think the elevator and outside scenes fit the film near perfect and as a whole is very atmospheric. It is only a minute long, which is much shorter than a feature film. There is also no mixing done to this track, so the levels can sound up and down at times and I could’ve got a nicer sound. I also could’ve expanded upon it and added other instruments like bass or drums to fill out the mix. If I were to do this again, I would pick a longer film so I have to create more music and it be a better experience.
PLAY EVALUATION
The final performance sadly isn’t much different from the dress rehearsal, as they were on the same day. As it was my second go at it I did improve. I unfortunately messed up a couple times, they weren’t too noticeable but were quite unprofessional. I did a good job with changing the effects, as it did sound interesting and I got a couple different sounds out of one melody. The two different drum beats did sound quite strange in practice, however it did make the performance a bit more interesting. To make this performance more engaging, I should’ve created more than just one piece of music to play along with it. I could’ve created a couple leitmotifs for different scenes and characters. Only having one melody made it feel drained, and by the end of the play, the audience has heard enough of it. I should’ve liaised more with the L5s, and then I would’ve been able to learn more details about the play when making the music. I would’ve known what each scene is about and who is in it, then be able to make more leitmotifs. I think this was a good attempt at making music for a play and playing it live, I think I did a lot with what I had and made the most out of a short bit of music. However, I should’ve made more music to go along with it.
PROJECT EVALUATION
In the end, this project was semi-successful. Once again an area to improve is my research. I did do some useful research about film composition and music theory, however, there was more that should’ve been done. I could’ve researched in a different way by analysing some film compositions to get more of an idea of what they entail and what they sound like, the same applies for theater music, I should’ve researched theater music as I didn’t delve into it too much in my research, I could’ve even specifically targeted murder mystery shows. Applying my research is something that I struggle with, as a lot of my research I usually don’t apply when doing my project. I can fix this by researching more specifically into what I’m doing instead of it being vague, and when making my project I need to turn to my research more and use it. I also need to research as I’m doing my project instead of just doing it before. The film I made music to was very short, for a better project it would’ve been better if there was more content. There was also no brief or anyone to liaise with about this film as it is a pre-existing film. It would’ve been better if there was someone to communicate with about the music as I could’ve made a better piece of music as I would have a good idea of how the filmmakers wanted the music to sound. It would also have been more professional and industry standard, as there is a lot of liaising between the composer and filmmakers when composing for film. I could’ve also liaised with the L5 performing arts students more. I did talk with them, as we talked about which variation of the track they prefer. However, it should’ve been constant communication throughout the production of the show. This would’ve lead to better and more music being made as I would’ve been closer to the making of the play. This is my fault, and if I was to do something like this again I would need to be a better communicator. I should’ve made more music for the play, even though I got a lot out of what I had, and my piece did fit the play and was atmospheric. Even though the work I did was good, there wasn’t that much of it. My portfolio could’ve been a lot bigger, that is something to work on. I don’t think I will be making theater music again, even though I enjoyed it and did a satisfactory job at it, I am not the biggest fan of the theater and I don’t have the passion for it, therefore, it’s not something I see myself doing again. On the other hand, I did enjoy making film music and I would quite like to do it again, I like films much more than the theater. However, I don’t know how I would attempt it next as I would need to compose some more scores before I am ready to do it professionally and to industry standard. All in all, I did enjoy this project and think I did a satisfactory job. However, there is a lot of room for improvement in my work in general especially with the amount of work in my portfolio.