Trailer - Music and Mood

The music in my trailer is something I spent a lot of time choosing, I originally wanted to splice 2 tracks together but despite experimenting with various audio transitions, the change was too obvious and really distracted the viewer from the trailer. Finally, I chose 'Heart of Courage' by composer Thomas J. Bergersen as it provided a subdued start before reaching a crescendo before trailing off at the end. Very little was done to the track apart from cutting the section I needed, increasing the base and altering the volume. At 00:14:04 the character attacks a bandit as drum hit in the soundtrack, I increased the bass at this point as a way of emphasizing the impact of the sword. As the title, date and developer logo fade out at the end of the trailer, the soundtrack gradually fades out due to the use of pen anchor points placed at 100% and 0%.

A knife 'stabbing' sound is also played at each clip played during the war trail scene. I felt that without these sounds these small clips seemed to carry no effect. For each of the clips I reduced the volume by 12.7db as any more and it was not audible and any louder and it took precedence over the soundtrack, I also increased the bass by 24 db on each clip to create a deeper 'thud' alongside the shrill knife sound. Lastly I slowed the clips down so they match the action on screen, this also increased the bass sound thus giving the actions on screen more impact.

The music was the first thing I decided on as it gave me a guide as to where I should place clips. Until 00:21:19 the music is very subdued, whilst onwards from this point the intensity increases and sounds epic until 00:52:17 where the intensity dials down into a single thud before slowly fading out. I saw these as marker points with the beginning being where I could place darker clips with scenes of evil and death, then at the crescendo having all clips being of glorious landscapes, particularly calming water. These scenes would continue until the thud at the end, and while the music fades out I could display my title, date and developer logo. I believe I stuck to these guidelines very well.