D. Creating the Score: Part II
Part II: Science Fiction
Contents
1. Introduction
During the previous supplementary exploration and discussion, there were a number of educated results that gave birth to new ideas concerning the continuation of the research and shaping of this next chapter’s perspective. As a result, this segment will concentrate on the practical experimentation and construction of new scores particularly in view of the alien species and its musical representation in conjunction with the corresponding visual.
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Out of all the previous films that have been visited in the previous supplementary research chapter, there were four that drew immediate attention concerning the research’s initial ethnic perspective. For clarification purposes, the word ‘immediate’ here refers to two basic facets.
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At first, this corresponds to the screen’s visual character which is either fairly direct in terms of geographic location or implies Eastern locational physiognomies. Secondly, the interaction that the visuals have with the music and its lack of Eastern ethnic character, especially when put into the equation the first point of scenes’ geolocational scenic environments, either realistic or imaginative.
As a result, these four films that were chosen for the above reasons are the following:
Scoring films
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Stargate (1994 - Original Score by David Arnold)
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The Fifth Element (1997 - Original Score by Éric Serra)
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Alien vs. Predator (2004 - Original Score by Harald Kloser)
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John Carter (2012 - Original Score by Michael Giacchino)
At this point, it is of great importance to mention that an additional key reason for this films’ choice was because they provide a connecting bridge between the science fiction genre and the previous silent era’s Intolerance project. The two main aspects of this connection, as they have individually discussed previously, are the films’ Eastern scenic similarities and the ancient time period that all these films are referring to, or inspired from.
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These two features also increase the sense of validity given the fact that the visual would probably correspond more appropriately to ethnic oriented music composition. This might have a more comprehensive and satisfactory result when comparing to the first part of the science fiction scoring approach which was focusing more on discovering the potential use of ethnic elements in two films containing less strong Eastern related images (The Phantom Planet and Voyage to Prehistoric Planet).
2. Films' scoring procedure / Realisation
1. Stargate (1994)
Below is a graphic chart presenting the categorized instruments used for Stargate (1994) scoring:
This is the scored video segment that will be discussed further on:
Stargate (Score by E.Chouvardas)
Stargate film has been found drawing direct visual comparisons with Eastern, maybe to a certain degree ancient, cultures in the greater area of Egypt as this is something that has been pointed out in the previous discussion considering the film. It was thought to be a very good example indeed of how science fiction and Eastern cultures can be combined in film music since its plot is based around the theory of extraterrestrial civilization, pyramids, and the more generic subject of human origin and creation of the world.
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Scoring this video segment has tried to address these issues and follow the visuals with a music composition that is using both the classical orchestra and ethnic instruments, leaning more towards the second. The classical orchestra has been used mainly for its rich and supportive musical weight giving a more dramatic dimension to the score and emphasizing in parts of the scene where it was thought to be appropriate to use it in such a way. It is an effort to balance these two musical worlds in a way that it may not be so one-sided or even experimental as this may have resulted in a more hybrid, sound-designed score that would not have a clear audiovisual relationship, bearing also in mind the demonstration purposes of the Middle Eastern music implementation angle.
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Nevertheless, there are a small number of synthetic sounds inside the score that play a supportive role. Therefore in this particular situation sound design has been used with the intention of emphasizing and increasing the sense of mystery. This is obvious from the very beginning of the clip, starting at around 00:04”, where an extra layer of a synthetic ethereal pad has been added together with the high violins consistent con sordino and the expressive bass strings’ short portamento notes.
As the composition evolves this has been strengthened by adding an extra layer of violin tremolos commencing at 00:12”. This gives an extra increase in tension and enlarges the background support for the front staged qanun and harp’s development.
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Ethnic instruments become intentionally apparent with the starting conversation between a soft hammered santur and a nylon string, fingernail performing, qanun. The role between them changes in 00:18” where the santur trills support the qanun and harp’s descending progression in F# major Hijazskar mode. Below is the extracted score demonstrating the previous points discussed:
Audio Clip
In view of the rhythmic material, ethnic percussions have been scored in a slow Sufi tempo mode variation in order to accompany the rising grandeur scene of the alien leader’s entrance. The slow pace correspond accordingly to the slow characters’ movement walking down the stairs. Commencing at around 00:32" it was thought again that the initial angle should be kept, meaning that the central role should be given to an ethnic-oriented structure and secondary/supportive role to the classic orchestra and/or sound designed instruments.
The instruments used here are the bendir, tombeks, kup udu, darbuka and def.
Audio Clip
At the same a time a new motif begins to develop in an F# minor Locrian mode by the santur, duduk and violins. The motif has an intentionally strong rhythmic character which makes it blend agreeably with the percussion. It completes with the santur perfoming in an A major Hijaz and Lydian mode combination. It is worth pointing out that the duduk was used throughout the score, mostly performing in single notes, providing a foundation for the qanun and harp motifs to develop.
The change from F# minor Locrian to A major Hijaz/Lydian signifies the human bomb exposure as it describes the soldier’s hostile intention as well as the surprise demonstrated by the scientist’s acting expression.
Audio Clip
Lydian
The qanun and harp meet again in a joined performance motif commencing at "01:23". This cue has been composed in order to correspond to the visual tension build-up as this is the point where the armored/masked soldiers reveal their human-formed faces, gradually leading to the apocalypse of their highest in hierarchy leader.
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This cue has been composed in order to describe this visual contradiction. It is an attempt to musically express human characters’ confusion which occurs as the unknown alien soldiers reveal gradually. The classic harp and qanun continue to develop the motif based on a playful combination of Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian and Hijaskar modes as the classic orchestra’s string ensemble and female choir moves in parallel without having an obvious Eastern colour, as this role has been completely assigned to the qanun and harp. The use of the female choir (01:23") signifies the beginning of the rising crescendo end cue. It is also used as a tool for increasing the sense of mystery which gradually, from pianissimo to forte, resolves to the scenes’ grand finale.
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The end result expresses the attempt for a dual development approach, articulating both worlds with different musical contexts; ethnic instruments, with constant scales’ changes increasing the mysterious atmosphere, connect to the human-form aliens while the classic orchestra reflects on the captive humans. Below are the extracted scores and audio clips of this section:
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Aeolian/Dorian/Frygian
The same principle continues further on as this video segment reaches the end. The final crescendo, both visually and musically, has been scored with the orchestral brass holding the weight of the scene’s importance (alien leader exposure) together with the santur tremolo and ethnic percussion hits used for raising the dramatic level.
Audio Clip
2. The Fifth Element (1997)
The Fifth Element was a challenging opportunity to score for a film that already has a quite divergent and multicoloured music character. The main angle here was to retain this vivid aspect but using it inside a created Eastern character score. This had been achieved principally by the introduction of dissonant elements that circle around the main harmonic motif written for the violins, qanun, ney and didgeridoo.
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Apart from the mysterious atmosphere, combination of score themes with divergent peripheral motifs served the visual contradiction between the peculiar, almost cartoonish alien robots, humans and the surrounding archaeological scenery. The intention was to provide a somewhat balanced score, in terms of gravitas and humor, keeping always in mind the film’s nature and of course the foremost overall Eastern ethnic perspective.
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As a result, the first scoring attempt occurred by exclusively using ethnic instruments that are presented in the diagram below:
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The Fifth Element (Score v.1 by E.Chouvardas)
Below is the score extract and audio clip of this first segment:
Audio Clip
The basic rhythmic structure has been scored mainly for the two low pitched frame drums, performing in an ultra-slow Misket mode, having in mind that it should describe the round alien robots’ size, heaviness, and almost difficulty in walking movement. That is the core reason why only a couple of ethnic drums were chosen for this purpose since a higher pitched instrument or especially a percussion ensemble would be too grand, complicated, and overly dramatic. It was also a window of opportunity considering the music experimentation that would take place with the later on implementation of the classical orchestra.
Audio Clip
Although every scoring attempt in the entire research has been realised with having in mind not only the visuals but also the dialogues that in most cases is difficult to isolate and mix together with the newly composed music, in this situation, there was an exception at 00:54"-01:20" where dialogues were managed to be extracted and separated from the original video. Going through a bit more technical details since the film’s version had a 5.1 channel separation, the centre/dialogue channel could be divided from the rest and with a bit of mixing engineering process was able to be cleaned from any background music elements and therefore used efficiently in conjunction with the new score.
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Making this possible delivers a noticeably increased immersion taking into consideration the viewing experience as it supports the narrative but also provides supplementary sound information considering the sound and pitch variations of the actors’ voices. This is in particular quite interesting when paying closer attention to the aliens’ voices since its low pitch as well as their English language accent gives an extra layer of perception of solemnity and supremacy.
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The last observation seemed quite interesting in respect to the plot and geolocation since there is an evident influence on the sound of vowels, pitch steadiness, and clearness as well as length and emphasis of certain letters with an example being the letter ‘r’ (rrrrrr). It is, linguistically, an idiosyncratic effort to sound more ‘Eastern’, more ‘exotic’ in terms of ethnic colouration and that was found to be a valuable observation worth including in this video clip.
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An additional noteworthy musical aspect is the recording of an Eastern female solo vocal performing in a Boulseik (Harmonic minor) mode. This has been highly influenced by similar implementations of ethnic vocals mainly observed in the previously reviewed Bladder Runner film.
This was recorded with the intention of adding a more spiritual atmosphere especially at 02:00" where the alien robots reach the ancient statue in the middle of the room. This signifies the beginning of a new musical segment that follows the picture’s majestic and revealing scene of the so-called ‘fifth element’ which is of course unknown at this stage to the viewer as to what it actually is.
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Nevertheless, its importance is apparent from the camera’s viewing angle as well as the priest’s amazed facial expression accompanied by the character’s cue ‘The fifth element’. This is the reason at this exact stage why a new music motif, dynamically rising and rich in terms of instrumentation, is being introduced. The qanun tremolo and ney flute take the leading place in the first half perfoming in a A major Locrian followed by a Sabah (Aeolian mode2) scale while the female vocal adds a slightly different perspective by performing in a A minor Algerian mode. Reaching the middle of the motif’s development, the duduk sits in the front row with a strong and clear character of an A major Hijaz mode leading the way to the score’s ending.
Below are the extracted score and audio clip of this segment:
Audio Clip
The next stage to this example presents experimentation of the classical orchestra in performing in a mimicking way in view of the previous ethnic oriented score. Out of all the ethnic elements only the female vocal was kept at this stage and this is because of its unique and irreplaceable sounding character. Below is the new clip’s version as well as a graphic representation of the instruments’ changes:
The Fifth Element (Score v.2a by E.Chouvardas)
This classical scoring example has a quite diverse character when comparing to the previous ethnic attempt even if it wasn’t found to be as interesting and diverse. It is only natural and expected to end up with such a result since there is an apparent lack of Eastern colour due to the absence of all the unique sounding and performing features of Eastern ethnic instruments.
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Nevertheless, the end result has a certain quality due to the contrasting character of scale modes, ethnic instruments’ performance attributes, and the sound of a symphonic orchestra. A result that was found equally apparent in all previous films scored in this particular composing sequence.
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It also felt that somehow this scoring version lacked the depth and dominant character of the previous ethnic one. In order to balance this, extra brass instruments were scored and mixed in a new enhanced version:
The Fifth Element (Score v.2b by E.Chouvardas)
The third and final version of this video clip includes a blended score of both symphonic and Eastern ethnic instruments. As with previous film examples, this contributes to a more balanced and full sounding score.
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The Fifth Element (Score v.3 by E.Chouvardas)
One example can be demonstrated by listening to the added weight of the combination between the ethnic and classical percussive elements shown in the following score extract and corresponding audio clip:
Audio Clip
On the other hand implementing these two approaches portrays a challenge in view of blending a rich-sounding Western instrumentation together with the ethnic colour of Eastern music tradition.
It is obvious that there is an attempt to lean more towards the ethnic composition character rather than making the classic orchestra too obvious and upfront. It was thought that following that route would yield more interesting and out-of-the-ordinary results that at the same time would have a rich-sounding character. This seems to work well and it is most apparent during the final sequence commencing at around 01:49" with the commencing of a gradual scoring crescendo stretching through the end of the scene.
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It is worth noting that this is a point in which a quite interesting amalgam of Eastern oriented scales is taking place. On the one hand the qanun and ney flute are progressing in a Locrian and Sabah (Aeolian mode2) mode while the orchestral strings are supporting the female vocal’s A minor Boulseik (Harmonic minor) mode and in turn progressing through A major Locrian and Hijaskar to finally reach to the common path of A major Hijaz. This is a quite diverse and lively combination which seems to work adequately enough to the corresponding scene.
Below is the strings’ score extract and audio clip of this section:
Audio Clip
3. Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Alien vs. Predator is an additional film example where there is an obvious visual connection between ancient on-earth human cultures and alien species, as discussed before. That is also one of the main reasons why the film had been chosen to experiment with and serve as a demonstration in terms of ethnic implementation in film music composition.
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Of course, the plot’s historical location (ancient pyramids) played a major role in this decision as well. It is a film example that shares a lot of similarities with Stargate although the scoring approach is quite different due to the fact that they fall into two quite divergent film categories; Stargate being an action-adventure science fiction film and Alien vs Predator, as it is with the entire Alien film franchise, being an action horror science fiction film.
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One of the key aspects before writing the score was to keep a strong ethnic character throughout the selected clip but without making it excessively harmonic in a sense that it could respect the film’s nature. Such a decision would also be applicable if one was to entirely remove the ethnic angle and produce a score using any other stylistic approach, for example composing for the classical orchestra with or without sound design implementation.
This statement is also apparent from the original scores of David Arnold (Stargate) and Harald Kloser (Alien vs. Predator) as well as the overall previous discussion considering the categorization of science fiction films in genres.
As a result the first score created by using mainly ethnic instruments that are presented in the table below:
Below is the video clip of the first created score:
Alien vs. Predator (Score v.1 by E.Chouvardas)
Percussive structure is quite straightforward commencing at 00:15”, setting the ground and pace of the tempo but without being overly dramatic. By that way it unobtrusively enhances the visual rather than drawing attention to itself. Although the modest beginning includes three boodams, one bendir and one tumbek, the moment where there is an obvious intention to make the percussion apparent is in bar thirteen (00:40") where the second tumbek introduces a Sufi mode following the womens’ sacrifice scene. This is also one of the reasons why the darbuka, as well as boodams, bendir and tumbek to a certain extent, are mixed more upfront in the audio spectrum.
Below is the segment’s extracted score and audio clip:
Audio Clip
Sound designed instruments were used essentially for two reasons. First and foremost it was thought, artistically, that a rational connection should exist in the score between the ancient human race and alien species.
Therefore, and in order to achieve this association, the use of synthetic instruments seemed appropriate due to the fact that there is an apparent technological aspect, in particular, considering the alien predators. In the provided video clip this is presented by their spaceships (00:30”), laser beam weapons (01:10”) and self-destructive mechanism (01:23”).
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Secondly, this decision seemed to work well in terms of sound continuity-fluidity. In view of the orchestration and particularly applying sound design techniques such as granular techniques et. Al., it was thought best to keep ethnic instruments’ natural transients’ attack rather than trying to expand and stretch their sound characteristics.
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Alternative mixing methods had been explored by using audio effects and time-stretching algorithms but it was eventually decided not to take that route because of the unnatural and masked result which lacked the dynamics, definition and recognition of the physical instruments themselves. For that reason, extra synthetic sounds were used and seemed to work better in this particular situation.
Alien vs. Predator (Score v.2 by E.Chouvardas)
In this second version, the use of symphonic orchestra attempts to combine Eastern flavour with the Western philosophy of film scoring. Consequently, this can make the audience feel more familiar providing, consciously or unconsciously depending on the listener, a comfortable and identified aesthetic but simultaneously without losing its initial ethnic angle and hopefully its unique sounding characteristics.
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Orchestral strings react and bond together with ethnic instruments increasing the enigmatic scene’s atmosphere. The score begins with a solo ney flute, orchestral strings and a synth pad. The last two set the environment for the characters’ mysterious exploration inside the pyramid, hence the atonal strings’ semitones’ part together with the synth’s glowingly repeated A note. On the other hand, the ney flute’s performance in A minor Boulseik (Phrygian) mode signifies the ethnic character, setting also the time to an ancient period, of the discovered hieroglyphics.
Below is the introduction’s extracted score and audio clip:
Audio Clip
String ostinatos also contribute to the expansion of dynamics at 00:53” where the symphonic strings support the rhythmic structure leaving space for the brass instruments to reinforce the main four-note motif performed by the qanun, santur, oud and accordion.
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The four note motif has been composed with the intention of avoiding harmonic complication, even in the scenario of implementing Eastern modes’ variations; being something simple enough that could be a synonym statement to raw music expression which in turn signifies the plots’ suggested hypothesis of time and place. It is also worth noting that this simple four-note motif has been scored bearing in mind that it could be potentially used as a thematic leitmotif for the alien forms throughout the film, either ‘aliens’ or ‘predators’ or even both with perhaps a certain variation degree.
In all cases, choosing the specific instruments did manage to provide the desired Eastern ethnic character although, as mentioned before, there was no obvious intention in practicing Eastern oriented scales-modes or even microtonal performances.
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Audio Clip
Finally, the percussion end segment consists of a variety of added instruments such as extra boodams, frame drum et. Al. that doubled by the taiko sticks, anvil and gong construct a dynamic crescendo cue which extends to the end of the scene. The mode used here is a variation of the Azari in 4/4 as demonstrated in the following extracted score:
Audio Clip
4. John Carter (2012)
The aliens’ home location in John Carter film has a distinctive atmosphere and thought that it would be appropriate to connect with Eastern traditional instruments and music. As it is visually apparent there are a number of aspects that correspond, or at least seem to be related to a certain degree, to Eastern geographic locations as discussed before.
The composition in the first video clip demonstrates an absolute ethnic scoring approach which consists of the instruments presented in the table below:
John Carter (Score v.1 by E.Chouvardas)
The bendir, bass darbuka dhol drum, and def have been used to construct the main slow 4/4 cifteteli mode. It seemed appropriate to create a rather heavy and slow tempo texture so as to correspond to the sluggish and weighty pace of the alien desert animals. This also parallels to the picture’s architectural constructions, alien tribe appearance and the more generic morphology of the ground and living conditions.
Audio Clip
In combination with the cifteteli rhythmic structure, the harmonic development of an E major hijaz mode was intentionally used for the beginning of the scene, as this mode creates a sense of grandeur given the fact that visually the picture zooms out and shows a landscape of, what it seems or feels to be, a very old civilization. Immense buildings, ruins, and walls around the city which seems to be in the middle of a desert contribute to this picturesque, impressive view.
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It also contributes to a greater sense of dynamism in view of the alien tribe. This seemed to work well in conjunction with their external appearance as well; face harshness, a combination of leather and metal lightweight armory, big necklaces and shoulder weapon holsters are a few visual examples that indicate a warrior-type community which in turn implies a dynamically strong music character.
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The E major hijaz mode progresses into an A minor boulseik (harmonic minor) mode, which is formed by the relative fourth scale of the E major hijaz, signifying the alien leader’s entrance. The following score extract demonstrates the ethnic instrumentation realising the previous points discussed:
Audio Clip
The following second scoring attempt presents a quite diverse approach. For experimentation reasons, ethnic instruments and performances were replaced by the symphonic orchestra. In this way, a direct comparison could be drawn between the previous ethnic score as to how effective, original and experimental the music can be as well as how much of its original Eastern ethnic character can be retained when using classical instruments performing an ethnic oriented score.
John Carter (Score v.2 by E.Chouvardas)
Results were found to be rather motivating. One might say that there seems to be a strong sense of unexpectedness due to the fact that the symphonic orchestra is not usually associated, at least in Western culture films, with rhythmic structures like Cifteteli or vibrant Eastern modes such as Hijaskar. In general, and as it stands with ‘John Carter’ film as well, there is a more apparent Western harmony familiarity which possesses the vast amount of scoring time and usually attempts to move towards ethnic music orientation, in this case in view of Middle Eastern flavour, in the form of small injections used parenthetically and not predominantly.
Below are the score extracts for both pitched and unpitched symphonic instruments together with their corresponding audio clips:
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As interesting and asymmetrical as this version of the score was found to be, it is irrefutably lacking the Eastern music tradition scope of the first one. I must admit that if scoring for the classical orchestra was the first move of this film’s scoring experimentation, with Eastern music qualities always in mind, results might have been fairly diverse and perhaps more towards a musically predictable Western harmony.
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On the other hand, and if the ethnic score had not taken place first, inspiration for such symphonic instrumentation would not be so colourfully expressed, at least not in the same level as it resulted to be. As a personal experience, it is more than often true that music tools and sound palettes have a direction of their own, influencing and driving the music inspiration accordingly.
The third and last score combines the first two and it is an attempt to bring the two scoring philosophies closer together.
John Carter (Score v.3 by E.Chouvardas)
The classic orchestra was used mainly for keeping the rich and wide frequency response, especially of the low strings and brass, and in such a way adding weight to the instrumentation. All of the ethnic instruments were used here as well, keeping the sense of Eastern music atmosphere as vivid as possible. Below is the score and audio demonstration of this percussion and tonal instruments’ combination:
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3. Summary
Scoring for these four films was indeed a challenging experience. In the case of The Fifth Element it was rather important to keep the balance between seriousness and humour although the scene itself contains enough information in order to create a score with the correct balance. Even if the film imparts many different ethnic elements, as discussed before, the newly composed score seems to successfully provide a different and, if one might argue, closer to the visual music scope concerning the selected video segment.
It could also be an example where the most of the scoring body could be on par with this approach while still keeping the in-between implementations of other ethnic music styles, as in the original film’s score. In all case scenarios, I believe that it would certainly be something considerably new to experience as a viewer.
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In the other three films, the composition techniques have an even more apparent visual connection which makes the suggested scores work well in terms of the audiovisual relationship. This is especially apparent in Stargate where the majority of the scenes are located around ancient Egypt. Of course, this applies to John Carter as well, as the desert scenic environment/aliens’ home has a dominant character in the entire film.
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Although a different film in character, Alien vs. Predator shares the same ideology with Stargate which is based around the theory of the world’s creation by ancient aliens. Therefore, the film holds a strong visual connection with ancient human cultures, especially in parts such as the one chosen in this chapter for scoring demonstration.
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In that respect, the audiovisual relationship appears to be quite balanced, even though this is a strong, dynamic scene which most likely would have been dealt with a grand orchestral cue. Nevertheless, the emphatic rhythmic nature of the Middle Eastern percussion together with the simple motif carried from the ouds and qanun gave the score a dynamism which is thought to work successfully in relation to the visual.
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In conclusion, one might say that these scoring attempts manage to adequately present solutions that increase the overall sense of Eastern authenticity in ways that have not been found to be apparent in the majority of cases previously visited and reviewed.