Click Click Boom

So I could work on something other than a spreadsheet I set out doing a mini soundscape for Unmerciful.

This started with me and Mirella heading into the studio to do some recordings of the cards, plus the recordings of the door, leaves and general movement. The rest of the sounds used within the piece are sources online due to the fact that until very recently (like last 7 days recently) we didn't have a sound recordist and due to other commitments I wasn't able to go out and record foley myself.

Me in the studio. 

From here I spent a few days in Protools getting the general layout (mostly the flashbacks as, for now at least, I don't have a lot of sounds for the office). I played around with the atmospheres I could create using different card noises, joined with the glitch effects that the cards in the film triggers.

I tried to keep the guns to a minimum aka when they are actually stated in the script. As I have said previously I don't want this film to sound like just another war film because it isn't. This film is about the aftermath of war, war is the cause of the story not the story it's self. So you have children laughter, crunching leaves, enhanced everyday sounds such as writing, doors and clocks. 

I also added a music track behind it. Testament of Youth is a huge inspiration for this film and has orchestral music behind it, not all the time but enough to make an impact. I originally ruled out composing music for films this year because last year it didn't go so well. However when listening to the piece without music it felt hollow, like something was missing but I knew just adding more sounds wouldn't make it better. So I started messing around on the piano whilst the track was playing.

I originally had this piece spanning around 3 octaves but it was drawing the attention away from the sounds which isn't what I was going for. So I took some advice from James (from last years project) when he was telling me about an animation student who had composed an entire track from 2 notes. Simplified it. Then it just seemed to fit. Now I won't be composing anything for the actual film but I won't rule out searching for some music to enhance the sounds around it - war zones might not have music but offices/houses do.