Godzilla: The trailer starts with a plethora of non-diegetic sounds such as a low bass drum that instantly catches your attention and sets the mood for the trailer, which is quite dark. Then it instantly ascends into some very low woodwind instruments which sound quite frightening, which then confirms the first low bass drum that this trailer is going to be some sort of thriller. There are slight pauses with no music where there is a voice over of the main character talking about a so-called 'natural disaster'. Within each pause there are other sounds like people screaming, helicopters rotary blades going around, buildings crashing, etc. The screams and crashing buildings definitely set the dramatic tone, but the voice over keeps the tone building up because of how he gets more and more frustrated as hes speaking about what the government is hiding from them. Eventually all you hear is the sound of the helicopters which slowly gets louder, as does the woodwind instruments that build up as well which is an indication that something big is about to happen. When the sound cuts out, it's then replaced with an eery build up of wave sounds which then takes over entirely and is accompanied by the screams of civilians. It starts to give the trailer a realistic feel because during the scene where the waves wash over a number of people and a car, for a split second there are the same sounds of waves and people screaming but they are muffled as if the person watching is underwater. There are a few sync points in the trailer, like when they find some sort of nuclear bomb and wipe a white sludge off of it, at that exact time there is a short but chilling sweep. Throughout the trailer there are countless build ups, then it's brought back down again just to keep the audience on their toes about when the big 'drop' is going to happen. There is a spine-chilling sound of a monster throughout which makes the audience want to see the creature now that they've heard it. After a roll of waves build again and rush towards the audience, a ghostly sounding male choir rises and continues throughout the trailer getting louder then softer along with the woodwind instruments. The sound is slowly getting thicker by building all of these non-diegetic sounds for emphasis or dramatic effect on top of each other. By this point there have been so many build ups only to have them fade down again, the audience is caught off guard and is likely to forget about when the big drop is, which is why it was the perfect time to put it in. There is silence and gun flares fired and as you hear them fade into the air yet again the low woodwind instruments start and that's when you hear the scream of the monster and all that comes with it, like a low humming static that continues until the end of the trailer to keep it thick, loud, and unnerving the rest of the way through until it cuts out with the distorted sound of what the audience can only imagine to be the monster. Because the trailers' emphasis points were so up and down continuously, its what the audience hopes the movie will reflect - many dramatic moments that just keep rising until the last scene that ends with an explosion of chaos.
Man of Steel: With the use of strings, choirs and an overall orchestral sound throughout most of the trailer it gives me quite a feel-good, indie vibe about the movie, but then towards the end there is this burst of FX where there is a person flying through the clouds and creating these huge bursts of wind and then this loud booming sound to end it all off. I like the fact that the FX are so precise in this trailer, I can distinctly hear the cape wipping against the wind and because the sound of the wind whistling past your ears it definitely creates a very realistic feeling which is always difficult when trying to advertise a movie about unrealistic things such as superheros, monsters, etc.
Channel 4 Ident: This short advert creates music out of the surrounding sounds of the scenario, it starts off with the chime of what could be confused with a screw hitting against a scrap of metal, then it is creatively turned into a musical element. The same occurs when the crane drops the metal scraps into a pile and that starts off a drum beat which then corrolates with the beep of the truck which becomes part of the sound. It is very much like 'Stomp' where many different items are used to create a different sound and when put together cleverly, it creates music.
Inception: Orchestral instruments to give it a dramatic feel from the very start, very similar to the start of the Godzilla trailer. The music builds up throughout as the scenes add up and become more intense involving explosions, etc. Half way through the music completely cuts out with a single line '..I have to steal it' instead of music or FX, which dramaticises the line and adds another dramatic build. There is a slight element of 'Mickey Mousing' within the trailer when the large vehicle tears through the road and pushes aside multiple cars with force, and at these points you can hear a drum which is being played in unison with the collision.
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Alien: Begins with the sound of wind or open space, which corresponds with the first scene which is just the view of moving through space, which portrays emptiness. A number of different FX used at the beginning, then some subtle afro-cuban sounding percussion. The percussion sounds and feels a lot like a heartbeat slowly getting louder and faster, which builds up a lot of tension. There are some supernatural sounding FX which set the tone for the sci-fi movie. There is more use of FX than there is music which gives the trailer more of a 'real' feeling about it. All of the sounds are very muffled which make you feel like you're trapped within something when you're listening to it, and the sound's of manic screams, human and inhuman, definitely are the main focus throughout the trailer. There is a loud crash and scream at the end then suddenly all sound cuts out perfectly matching the next frame which has the words 'In space no one can hear you scream' across the screen.
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Cloverfield: Starts off with diegetic sounds, a woman whispering which I think sets a quite eery tone to begin with, but then the scene starts and it is a very different scenario to what someone might have assumed to begin with, so that settles the audience again only to have the tension risen again instantly during a party scene when an inhuman sounding groan is heard amongst all the diegetic sounds. The movie has been filmed in such a way that makes it seem like a recording on someones phone, so minimal music was used to create tension because the tension was the fact that in video camera form it seems very real. Its only at the end when they put in a few static sounds and a cut out to match the fact that its been portrayed to be recorded with a camera, but just the right amount of FX to make you feel very eery afterwards.
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The Incredibles: The start of the trailer is very upbeat and cheerful which instantly portrays a family friendly film. Because the incredibles is an animated film, there are an outstanding amount of ambient sounds, such as slamming a car door and the glass breaking, because the movie must be made as real as possible. The music is just as upbeat and cheerful most of the way through and the voiceover describing normal family activities makes it slightly comical because the scenes are a family of superheros clearly having issues dealing with normal lives. Quickly the mood picks up to follow the storyline and let the audience know that there is a climax within the story. Also at times where it fits with the scene, the music is cut out to focus solely on a comical line or scene.
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The Internship: Begins instantly with a well known song that most people like (Thrift shop - Macklemore) which instantly pulls an audience in and gets them excited about the movie, because the next best thing to a great movie is a great movie soundtrack. Every time a key scene or line occurs the music is cut out for half a second and brought back swiftly just to emphasise to the audience that it is a key line/scene that they should pay attention to if they want to know what the movie is about. The difference with this trailer is that the music within it is layed out in 5 very clear sections to show the key storylines within the movie. As most movie trailers do, they have a big finish to leave an impression depending on the genre for the audience. This movie trailer finishes with a major guitar chord strum very powerfully, which is common among comedy trailers. It is almost like an indication to watch this movie because its powerful just like our trailer and just like our music and FX.
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Cathedral City: This advert has a very wholesome feel about it. It slowly builds throughout the advert I presume because there should be the same wholesome feel the entire way through, but it shouldn't bore the audience watching it. Like in movie trailers, there needs to be some sort of climax within adverts as well whether using FX or composed music. The music seems to level with each scene and the voiceover in a different way, such as getting softer during the scene with the man on the football pitch and the voice that says "out on the pitch its cold and its lonely". Certain musical styles fit better with certain scenes, which is why I think the music follows the scenes more than it is its own piece.
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Guinness 'Surfer': This advert is very tension based and builds more and more texture throughout with the same heavy bass being a main factor. When the ambient sounds are introduced its of men laughing and waves crashing and at certain points they are cut out for a few seconds which I think is trying to create the idea of sound under water, for example in the scenes whenever the waves crash its like you have followed the waves into the water and are now hearing the quiet muffled sounds from above. This makes me think that the creators of the advert wanted you to feel like you were there. Then there is complete silence which might confuse the audience slightly, but then the voiceover cuts in with 'Here's to waiting' which I think explains the long pause in itself.
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Our project is to create a musical soundtrack with non-musical sonic elements for an advert. The advert we're doing is the Reebok advert 'Live with fire. Below is the original advert:
The way we started off this project was by doing our own Spotting sessions for the advert. Below are pictures of a rough unfinished version of my spotting session then the completed one in a word document: