Evan Kelly Final Project Topics in Digital Sound 2015-2016
Nosferatu Film Score Project
Description: Evan Kelly Topics in Digital Sound Final Project Description Format: Film Score Description: I intend to write and record an original score for an abridged version of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu. I will be stripping the audio from the original film and cutting it down to around 15-20 minutes of what I believe are the most pivotal scenes and will record an original score for said sections. I will then layer these recordings onto the cut video and save it as either a .mov or .mp4. Skills I Already Have: I already know how to fully use windows movie maker for the purposes that I have. I also have some ideas about different music selections/instruments and effects I wish to use. Finally I have a strong working knowledge of garage band which I will use to record all the pieces and save them as .mp3 files. Skills I Will Need to Acquire: I will need to figure out how to put a version of the film into movie maker and how to strip the audio from it. As these are both relatively simple, I believe that I can find out how to do them with basic web searches. Product Format: The final product will be some sort of video file, either a .mov or .mp4, which I will submit to myWPI.
Timeline: Scene Main Instrument Music Opening London Scene Flute The Civilized World Village Scene/Werewolf Bells The Carpathian Mountains Carriage Organ Orlok’s Theme Dinner/Book Strings The Plague of Nosferatu Ship Sequence Strings Waves of Death Orlok’s Death/Ending Organ Ellen’s Sacrifice/Orlok’s Theme
Soundtrack: The Civilized World In this piece I used mainly a flute and tried to use it to at first convey a sense of civilization and Western culture with this instrument choice, which is juxtaposed in the next scene occurring in the Far East. I also used the high and low pitched notes along with the piano loop to foreshadow a sense of dread when the vampire was referred to, hinting at what was to come. The Carpathian Mountains The main feeling that I hoped to convey with this piece was a sense of mystery and alienation by using rather strange sounds and drum loops in order to make the listener feel as though they were being isolated from what was familiar to them as Harker was at this point in the story. Similar to the last piece, I tried to surround Dracula with an aura of dread whenever the townsfolk spoke to him. Orlok’s Theme In both sections where this piece is heard, Dracula (Orlok) was either being introduced in the case of the carriage or was being at last defeated in the last scene. In both of these scenes I hoped to use the music to demonstrate to the audience that Dracula was a formidable and terrifying opponent. The first time this song is heard it is cut short leading to a sense of incompletion. This is then resolved and finished at the end of the film when the ending of the song is heard as Dracula dies and the world is free of his influence. The Plague of Nosferactu The scene that this song is playing during is ultimately the time where Harker discovers for himself the supernatural nature of Dracula by finding him in his coffin which he begins to suspect after the incident where he cut himself at dinner and learned more of from the book in his room that he read. The ancient nature of Dracula along with the fear of Harker, where the two things I hoped to convey in this slow yet intense strings piece accompanied by piano loops. Waves of Death I believed that the scene on the ship was the most intense scene of the film, therefore I tried to use this piece to convey this feeling. I believe that the sounds of the storm added to the dark nature and reflected the storm that was coming to the west from the lands of Transylvania. This song also reflected the sense of hopelessness and dread likely experienced by the sailors who were unfortunate enough to run afoul of Dracula.
Video: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/108400402/Final%20Project.zip