Posted by David Lilly on January 24, 2025 at 9:29am
After reading Dave Dexter’s latest comments in the other thread, I realized I haven’t shared much of my work lately.The main reason is that I’ve been in a period of intense study and haven’t written much beyond a few 'academic exercises.' I did complete one experimental piece for piano and violin, which is set to be recorded next month, but most of my time over the past year and a half has been spent studying theory and orchestration full-time in a private setting. It’s been a big commitment, but it’s part of my goal to develop as much as I can as a composer. This is also, in some ways, me addressing a lingering regret after dropping out of a music program seven or eight years ago.That said, I’ve recently been able to channel my focus into a proper composition. I dedicated extra time to creating a mock-up and fine-tuning the orchestration since this piece was made for a competitive film scoring project. I’d always welcome feedback—both on how well it supports the film for this year’s competition (or where it misses) and on the mock-up and orchestration itself. For those interested in the libraries or my process, I included all the details in the video description.Hope everyone’s doing well out there!
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As music I think it's very good, excellent in places (and where it needs to be) - completely appropriate to the visual tone and perfectly filmic. The judicious use of live-recorded parts elevates it further. I could nitpick a couple of moments in the mockup/recording itself, where I wasn't certain if particular dissonances were deliberate or a consequence of brute-forcing the libraries to your will (I have various moments in my mockups where I simply couldn't get the samples to do what's necessary.)
As an example of scoring... certainly a good example of how score can dictate the mood. My own instinct from the film, which admittedly may be wrong, is that the appearance of the black balls indicates the first instance of corruption in the world; so your triumphant composing at that point is a little jarring to me, and it's only at 2:02 that you begin to reflect the film's tone. Of course that could have been deliberate subversion on your part; I just see the black balls in the lush landscape, multiplying like bacteria and consuming, and wonder why you gave them such hopeful music. After that point, and prior, your score admirably follows and emphasises the narrative.
That being said, I also like the personality such music gives the entities, even if I have decided they don't deserve it. The main thing is that the music itself is damn good, and I can't comment with any authority on the story of the film anyway.
David Lilly > Dave DexterJanuary 26, 2025 at 10:31am
Hey Dave, thanks for taking the time to check this out and share your thoughts. You bring up a point I struggle with in competitions- the challenge of interpreting emotional beats without a director. In the (few) scoring gigs I’ve done, there’s always been someone guiding that trajectory, but competitions like this leave us fully on our own to figure out not just the music, but the story's emotional arc too, making us far more than just composers in a sense.
I actually wrestled with how open-ended some of the scenes were, and I think your instinct highlights how differently this can be approached. I’d imagine if you scored it with that intent, your music would convey that view effectively. One of the comments I received mentioned that the biggest crescendo felt late (around 3:43). For me, though, that moment fit because I saw it as the story’s realization—the destruction of the planet and the 'fall of the last flower' building to that point. But other entries seemed to treat it differently, with some composers leaving that part silent or tapering off earlier. It’s interesting because I feel like so many different approaches can work if the music is convincing.
In my mind, the earlier moments reflected the 'dawning of humanity,' where humans are essentially harmless and able to coexist with the world. It seemed beautiful and tranquil before things unraveled (The colors in the film and more green in scenes just made me feel this way), obviously a clear parallel to our existence. The 'electrified' moments felt like humanity crossing a line, a shift from harmony to destruction, but it’s so open-ended that no instinct feels 'wrong.'
Thanks again for the kind words and for sharing your perspective
I agree in general with Dave and would add that from around 3'45" to 4' after which it suddenly becomes appropriately darker, the music seems too cheerful for what the film is narrating. Having said that, this is musically a lot more interesting and better written than the score provided by the Filmakademie Baden-Wüttemberg just up the road from me and the ending is particularly atmospheric. .As in general my interest in film music is virtually zero, I won't pretend I'd listen to this as abstract music but for what it's trying to do, it does seem -- with the odd proviso mentioned -- to succeed pretty well. When will you know if it's won?
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As music I think it's very good, excellent in places (and where it needs to be) - completely appropriate to the visual tone and perfectly filmic. The judicious use of live-recorded parts elevates it further. I could nitpick a couple of moments in the mockup/recording itself, where I wasn't certain if particular dissonances were deliberate or a consequence of brute-forcing the libraries to your will (I have various moments in my mockups where I simply couldn't get the samples to do what's necessary.)
As an example of scoring... certainly a good example of how score can dictate the mood. My own instinct from the film, which admittedly may be wrong, is that the appearance of the black balls indicates the first instance of corruption in the world; so your triumphant composing at that point is a little jarring to me, and it's only at 2:02 that you begin to reflect the film's tone. Of course that could have been deliberate subversion on your part; I just see the black balls in the lush landscape, multiplying like bacteria and consuming, and wonder why you gave them such hopeful music. After that point, and prior, your score admirably follows and emphasises the narrative.
That being said, I also like the personality such music gives the entities, even if I have decided they don't deserve it. The main thing is that the music itself is damn good, and I can't comment with any authority on the story of the film anyway.
Hey Dave, thanks for taking the time to check this out and share your thoughts. You bring up a point I struggle with in competitions- the challenge of interpreting emotional beats without a director. In the (few) scoring gigs I’ve done, there’s always been someone guiding that trajectory, but competitions like this leave us fully on our own to figure out not just the music, but the story's emotional arc too, making us far more than just composers in a sense.
I actually wrestled with how open-ended some of the scenes were, and I think your instinct highlights how differently this can be approached. I’d imagine if you scored it with that intent, your music would convey that view effectively. One of the comments I received mentioned that the biggest crescendo felt late (around 3:43). For me, though, that moment fit because I saw it as the story’s realization—the destruction of the planet and the 'fall of the last flower' building to that point. But other entries seemed to treat it differently, with some composers leaving that part silent or tapering off earlier. It’s interesting because I feel like so many different approaches can work if the music is convincing.
In my mind, the earlier moments reflected the 'dawning of humanity,' where humans are essentially harmless and able to coexist with the world. It seemed beautiful and tranquil before things unraveled (The colors in the film and more green in scenes just made me feel this way), obviously a clear parallel to our existence. The 'electrified' moments felt like humanity crossing a line, a shift from harmony to destruction, but it’s so open-ended that no instinct feels 'wrong.'
Thanks again for the kind words and for sharing your perspective
I agree in general with Dave and would add that from around 3'45" to 4' after which it suddenly becomes appropriately darker, the music seems too cheerful for what the film is narrating. Having said that, this is musically a lot more interesting and better written than the score provided by the Filmakademie Baden-Wüttemberg just up the road from me and the ending is particularly atmospheric. .As in general my interest in film music is virtually zero, I won't pretend I'd listen to this as abstract music but for what it's trying to do, it does seem -- with the odd proviso mentioned -- to succeed pretty well. When will you know if it's won?