1408 - Air Duct Video Clip (Practice)

A small scene from the film '1408' was used to practice composition techniques as well as to provide a means to practice linking themes to images.

The film requires a tense atmosphere throughout which is brought about utilising several techniques.

Build up to chase sequence. 

1. The Piece is in the key of F minor
2. The piece draws upon both Harmonic minor and Melodic minor throughout sections of its structure. 
3. The build up to the chase sequence is Modal (modal based) utilising the mode of C Phrygian Dominant derived from the Melodic minor scale.
4. The Build up to the chase is minimalistic in its approach, utilising sustained notes throughout, whilst subtly using obscure musical instruments which almost take the form of sound effects (e.g. reversed piano and reverb saturated percussive wooden blocks). 
5. The emphasis is on the minor second interval present in the Phrygian dominant mode. The Mode creates an almost mysterious quality when played as a scale run. This scale run is present in the mother and baby scene and is very subtly played on the piano to produce this desired effect. 
6. The sound of the reversed piano is very unusual and provides tension throughout the sections where the character looks down the various pathways in the air duct. This also added to the visuals of the panning camera as the swelling sound emphasised this movement.

Chase Sequence.

1. The powerful almost percussive sound of the piano chord accompanied by the concert bass drum provides a drastic change in dynamics and timbre which is intended to make the listener jump and feel threatened.
2. The trilling violins which blend into the decay of the impact, crescendo and build up in layers in order to keep the suspense and tension building after the initial impact has been heard.
3. Violins play a repeated melodic pattern throughout the first part of the chase sequence with the main focus and emotional drive being provided by the drum patterns. 
4. The second chase theme initially syncs up with the movements of the 'enemy' character which is slightly off beat. The rhythm slowly moves back into time allowing for further layers to build on top of the rhythmic motif more easily. By synchronising the movement to the character it allows for a more tense visual as the character randomly jumps on screen. This can also potentially produce a jump scare effect.  
5. The ending of the theme is synchronised when the main character falls out of the air duct and smashes the table below. The intent is to cut out the music and allow for dialogue and sound effects to take over as the main focus, this will resolve the tension and make it feel as if the threat is no longer present. 

Example Violin melodic pattern .

The dialogue and sound effects present in the clip are used as place holder to allow for a better representation of the slower less dramatic sections of the video. During the conversation between the two men in the park a slight hint of the original soundtracks music can be heard, this can potentially be removed by utilising various filters, enhancers and noise reducer plug-ins, however this is a work in progress and the dialogue and sound effects from the original piece have remained unedited. They have been taken from the centre channel of the 5.1 surround mix found on the DVD, this allows for a more clear representation of the vocals and some sound effects without music, however on occasion music may bleed into the centre channel. The main purpose of the video is to practice synchronising musical compositions and motifs to the visuals, the video is a work in progress and certain aspects would need tweaking.  

Ideas for future.

1. The final chase theme would need to utilise more instrumentations in order to make the lengthy scene build more tension and to highlight when the audience should feel nervous e.g. when the 'enemy' character tries to grab at the main characters legs.
2. All dialogue and sound effects would need to be present throughout the clip and would need to be edited and processed in order to remove unwanted noises and musical notes which should not be present in the alternate version. 
3. The music would need to be worked on in relation to dialogue and sound effects to provide a greater balance of dynamics which will emphasis specific points of the score and to pull focus towards dialogue as opposed to the underlying ambient layers present throughout the first part of the video.