Soundtrack Research

We have listened to various different soundtracks to help inspire us for the creation of our own original soundtrack for our two minute opening. When creating features of the actual film we made various references to Christmas lights in the streets it reminded us of a song we have once listened to in the past and helped to build up a vision of how it must feel to be alone in the festive period. The first song we listened to was 'Christmas Lights' by Coldplay which was released in 2010. Judging by the lyrics they hint that the theme of this song is a relationship which has broken down very near to Christmas. The song narrator emphasises his loneliness through the use of imagery and symbols; making many references to Christmas lights. This is similar to our idea in our film as we are going to use the Christmas lights as our symbol of our main characters hope to find her parents. However we are not going to use diegetic music. This is because we are using a monologue so therefore diegetic music will clash with our monologue. However in this song we love the constant tune of the piano which is featured on its own at the start of the song. On its own it symbolizes loss which is a feeling our main character has experienced for the course of her life; she is not complete without her parents. We can relate many features of this song to our main character however there are a few differences; the song narrator has lost someone they love whereas our main character is on a journey to find her parents. We will probably decide to combine the tune of the piano with either a violin or a guitar. When this particular song gets into the chorus it sounds more upbeat; this type of song would be ideal for a trailer to show her finding her parents however we need to emphasise her sadness; so this song is not what we want. However many of the features of the song have however inspired us.

The next song we listened to was found on YouTube, we searched various soundtracks. We simply searched 'Piano music instrumentals' to find this soundtrack made up of two and a half hours of music. The first track on this soundtrack is a simple yet effective tune using a piano. As soon as we heard this song we absolutely loved it however we could not identify what all of the instruments were that we're included in this piece however we can identify that the piano was combined with a guitar. Within the first minute this song it really helped to inspire us on what sort of music to use for our film opening. To us the opening of the song really gives us the images of a person on their own watching people go by as just the piano is played at the start of the song. This gives us a vision of emptiness which would be able to help us give the audience an insight into the characters feelings. Ideally we really want to try and make the audience able to relate to a time when they have felt this way, so therefore it is vital to compose a piece that will do just that.

The final song we listened to was found on the same soundtrack. The song we found starts at 1:56:37. We decided that this tune was almost perfect for our film opening, it has so many different instruments used in it however it is not over powering; it is simple. It gives a bit of an urban vibe as acoustic instruments used give an empty feel and some other instruments used make a sound similar to wind. This will really go well with the surroundings as our main character is on her own in the streets, it is a cold winter night so wind will most likely feature. Later in this song more of a beat features which would go perfectly with the part in our film when the main character finally decides to find her parents, through this beat it will give be audience the idea that the main character is actually getting somewhere. Therefore both this track and the above track have really helped to inspire us with what type of music we will include in our opening.