blog 2. music & mood

Believe it or not, we're already about a third of the way through this project...which means I really need to buckle down. I began my learning experience this week by watching some introductory tutorials on YouTube, but I quickly realized this was kind of a waste of time. They were extremely bland and static, and most of them were telling me things I could pretty much figure out on my own. I realized I didn't really need a tutorial-based video; I could just as well learn by actually doing. Upon this revelation, I decided to skip this step and just begin with the subject I had planned: music.

In any film, various scores of music stimulate the subconscious to instigate different emotions. For example, thriller and horror and films will often employ dissonant screeching sounds we unconsciously associate with animals in distress. A study conducted in 2010 by the University of California found that humans are more sensitive to nonlinear sounds, a characteristic exploited by film composers to unsettle the audience. In the 1960 film Psycho, the overextended use of brass and string instruments was designed to imitate noises of panic in nature.

Infrasound, sound waves that have a frequency below the human detection range, is also shown to be able induce high levels of fear and anxiety. This tactic was revealed to be used in the 2007 film, Paranormal Activity, where audience members reported "dizzying fear levels despite a lack of action onscreen." Given my planned final project of editing a normal video into a horror-type, there will be a big focus on the changes in dynamic and tempo.

To get a little practice in, I shot two versions of an aesthetics video. Both versions use the same clips, but the first utilizes a less upbeat soundtrack with a slower tempo.
** For better quality, I recommend not watching these videos on fullscreen.

Music & Mood v1

This song is a cover of Hozier's "Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene" by the band Seafret. It's written in the key of F# minor, which helps to create a darker, sadder sound as opposed to the brighter and cheerier sound of major chords. This particular cover also strips down most of the original instrumentals to the minimalist guitar score, making it a little more mellow.

Music & Mood v2

This second song is Semisonic's "Closing Time," written in the key of G major. It's upbeat and plays at a faster tempo, both of which contribute to establish a more lighthearted mood than the first. Even though the two videos are technically the same, the music can convey an entirely different feel.

This week was certainly a nice throwback to my piano and music theory days! My mini-projects actually turned out better than I expected, which I find to be really motivating especially given how  I'm feeling a little apprehensive overall about my final project. In any case, stay tuned for next week's subject!


Citations

Inspiration: Aesthetic: A Chain Video

Research:

Stewart, Helen. “How Do Film-Makers Manipulate Our Emotions with Music?” BBC Arts & Culture, BBC, 13 Sept. 2013. www.bbc.co.uk/arts/0/24083243.