What sonic elements belong to the film score, and what belongs to sound design? In the conventional movie-making process, it’s rather a question of dividing responsibilities. However, it can also be a creative choice. Nowadays, more and more films follow this approach. In this article, we take a look at outstanding movie examples, such as “Arrival”, “Dune”, and “Chernobyl”, take a deep dive into their rare score workflows, and explore the poetic topic of blurring the lines between music and sound design. A custom-composed film score is an immensely powerful tool. Not only does it create a particular atmosphere for your visual world, but it also affects storytelling and alters how we perceive a given scene. For that, of course, it has to be executed mindfully. As the sound guru Mark Edward Lewis says in his MZed course “Cinema Sound”: The hard part of film music composing is to be able to get the essence of the emotion of your scene into the music, so that the audience can feel it. Still of Mark Edward Lewis in “Cinema Sound” (MZed course). Image source: MZed That means, that sometimes composers have to leave the conventional path and start inventing new tools and non-existing sounds. This is where the borders begin to blur. Pushing the boundaries of music and sound design The question of how to approach your film’s music and sound design often comes already at the project’s very start. How should your created world feel sonically? Do you have references,...
Published By: CineD - Friday, 10 May, 2024