Soul: Sound choice

In scouting for loyalty free music across youtube I discovered Audiomachine, a music company based in California who range from releasing their own original scores as well as providing for independent film makers and industry projects alike. Upon listening to a vast amount of their pieces it was clear that a huge majority of the pieces were tailored specifically for trailers. Because of this I contacted the company directly and requested to use their music, receiving the go ahead I begin to critically analyse the soundtracks to identify which soundtrack would be best suited for a horror / thriller trailer such as 'Soul'.

Audiomachine - Ascendance analysis:

The opening of this piece begins slow paced with the faint use of violin, drum and keyboard showing how suited a voice over would be to govern this segment or to build up tension to specific points in order to prepare the audience for the dramatic portion of the trailer. Having this calm opening creates a good pace for the trailer to present the audience with initial characters, location of setting, hints of the plot as well as indication of what genre the film is setting itself up to be.

This steady pace continues until 00:37 as the music intensifies to gradually becoming increasingly fast paced having drums beat every split second until 00:47 when the bass suddenly drops for a moment. This section, after following the easy paced beginning for the voice over, could possibly be building up to where the voice over ends; leaving a cliffhanger or a question to leave the audience on eventually leading them up to the intense section of the trailer and bracing for the action which is to follow.  

From 00:42 to 00:54 seconds in, a static effect is introduced above silence with a drum sound every few seconds for 13 seconds having an almost distorted resonance to it however also an intense action and thrill vibe. For this part of the soundtrack to be such an intense segment of having the sound significantly differing from the rest of the piece it could show a major plot point or highlighting the disruption of the equilibrium; having quick one word titles appear, with clean cut transitions, in time with the beats to add more to the quiet but yet anticipating part of the score. After the quickening change of pace to the distorted segment, the pace of the score then becomes increasingly fast and dramatic with the additional speed of the violins and the continuous sound of the drums. The sudden pause at 00:57 breaks up the action slightly however continuous to maintain a decent pace while making the pauses work as the next one comes at 1:00 and followed by another at 1:03. Just as before with the sudden intense noise of the drum climaxing to an intense drop off, this continuous from 1:04 to 1:07 to which the split second silence then gives way for the climax of the trailer, having the majority of the action and thrilling sequences implemented within this segment elaborating the fast paced and story driven action and suspense; showcasing exactly why this film should be watched. Even though the coordination of the drum, violin and orchestra work creates an impactful dramatic trailer and works extremely well in setting up a the hype from the audience to persuade them to witness the film, there is still a vibe from the sound choice which sets up the trailer going with this sound choice to be presented as a block buster, mainstream film which ‘Soul’ is not set up to be.

Audiomachine - Crossing Destiny analysis:

The opening segment, despite starting at an extreme slow pace for trailer purposes, it still carries an extreme ominous tone, easily fitting the general conventions and setting up to be presented as a horror/ thriller film just as Soul is. While continuing the slow pace for a large quantity of the score this could also be a good use of a teaser for a film instead of a full feature trailer or for exploration purposes in order to fully establish the setting, characters and hints of plot through voice over, panning and establishing shots. As the soundtrack approaches the 1:22 mark the music dives to silence for a few seconds until then revealing a drum build up with a slight distorted pitch, perhaps leading up to a breaking point of the trailer to reveal a specific plot point. However after this mark the same continuous piece carries on, as if attempting to build up to something however is never reaching the climax. Another drop off point appears at 2:18 plummeting to silence for a few seconds to only then retain the the same initial beat as before only on a slight more intense level however nothing too significantly changing in the overall tone. towards the end a slight opera piece can be heard against the already existing beat, finally beginning to build up towards a slight climax. For the third time the soundtrack then falls once again to silence at 3:30, holding the silence for a few seconds until finally revealing the climatic and intense segment of the trailer fitting for shot reverse shot segments the attempting to excite the audience and wanting to repeat the segment in order to grasp what these split second clips may reveal or connote too. The use of fast paced violins and drums against the faint opera in the background can give the sense of the need to discover someone, certain knowledge or perhaps running away for self purposes which is partly fitting for soul however not quite.

My two biggest personal critiques for this piece, while sounding very well composed, has an extreme dulling slow pace to it which is more suited for perhaps a different genre or, as I said before, a teaser instead of full feature trailer. This slow pace in my opinion kills the dramatic tension of a trailer ,believing it is important to follow a balanced and structured routine of presenting a trailer with a slow start to establish characters, setting, themes and hints of plot to then follow through with a breaking point and a small but immensely dramatic segment of shot reverse shot clips at the end to climax the tension and then leaving the viewer longing for more. With this soundtrack however the slow paced beginning lasts for a unnecessary prolonged amount of time ultimately killing any tension and build up the trailer is attempting to create. Although this piece may be better suited for a different genre or perhaps more suited for a game trailer showcasing gameplay instead of a feature film trailer, specifically for ‘Soul’.

Audiomachine - Devil's Tower analysis:

As the score begins we are welcomed by a fast paced introduction almost throwing the audience straight into the action without warning or preparation; considerable unusual for many trailers. Although this specific kind of upbeat pace is not like the dramatic climax at the end of a trailer it can still be used for dramatic voiceover purposes however would generally fit more of a dramatic or action type film. My initial thought of the beginning is having stunning establishing shots of vast landscapes, perhaps more fitting for a fantasy or sci - fi genre to implement these and use this score for that purpose. As the track continuous 00:24 second in the sound falls to silence however a small distorted pitch can still be recognised perhaps implemented for dramatic purposes however doesn’t deliver as the same beat as before is carried on when the soundtrack is brought out of silence. This process is then repeated once more at 1:10 however has a slight change to the original track before the silence by having a opera sound choice in the background accompanying the orchestra. After this the soundtrack then returns to how it sounded before the silence, creating a very linear effect just as we witnessed in the analysis of ‘Crossing Destiny’. Only until the end are we presented with a change in the pace of the trailer having the suspenseful segment at the end however not as faced paced as previous analysed soundtracks, overall having the slightly fast paced score maintained throughout the whole 2:14, creating the same dilemma as ‘Crossing destiny’ had with the slow pace being maintained throughout nearly the entire score. despite carrying an easily recognisable heavy tone to the soundtrack rendering it as suitable for specific Thriller / Horror films I still believed it was more suited for a slight dark fantasy or sci- fi film rather than what I was aiming for; this unfortunately wasn't as structured and balanced as I’d been looking for to use for ‘Soul’.

Audimachine - Shadowfall Analysis:

In the end I decided to go with 'Shadowfall' as I felt it embodied the perfect pacing in having a slow start to represent characters, plot and setting to the transition to more dramatic and pulling sequences of the trailer. After, showing a small section in the middle to build up tension then to follow with increasingly intense music to showcase the more thrilling and grabbing parts of the trailer, ending with a perfect climax and settling down to leave the audience wanting more. I felt as though many of the pacing elements and instruments used build up a sinister and chilling atmosphere, especially in the beginning, for a thriller / horror film as well as the dramatic segments in the middle and towards the end made a great foundation to build upon with implementing the most dynamic and pulling segments of the film.

Soul Synopsis

FAITH MASON, aged 16 years old, opens her soul to a spirit known as a XAVOUR after going through emotional distraught and being broken down after the loss of her parents in a sudden car crash. With FAITH’s soul being in such a delicate state the XAVOUR makes her a deal: in order to heal her soul and make her well again she must be connected to his soul, allowing him access into the mortal world. Despite FAITH accepting the request in mending her soul, her mindless and broken attitude still continued as an effect of the XAVOUR slowly taking control over her mind and actions. Upon re establishing herself at a private school set up through the council, her attempt to try and emend a normal life once again was destroyed by the telekinetic and supernatural abilities that the XAVOUR embodies, becoming too much and eventually resulting as a danger to others at the school. Eventually the only option the school had was to contact a supernatural institution and ask for assistance in order to secure FAITH’s safety and understand why this is happening. DEMI MALICE, a scientist in exploring and studying supernatural existence, is summoned in order to help FAITH’s condition and offers to take her to an institution and help understand the violent supernatural behavior. 

Upon arriving at the institution FAITH was then put under constant surveillance to monitor the supernatural behavior as DEMI attempted to make conversation with FAITH through a security cam microphone and learn more about her. While the XAVOUR was trying to convince FAITH to leave and that all that the institution offered was a lie she suddenly snapped and stated that she is in control of her own life despite being connected him. Slowly after this incident she began to come to terms with her powers and the company of the XAVOUR however after a while of going through tests in order to discover the limitations of the XAVOUR and their connection FAITH started to become increasingly weaker, only to discover that the tests her and the XAVOUR have been going through are slowly breaking the spiritual connection between them. 

FAITH decides to confront DEMI about the matter and upon getting no significant response FATIH then relies on force as well as the power of the XAVOUR in order to gain an answer. DEMI’s assistance then assault FAITH and locks her and the XAVIOR in holding for further interrogation. The XAVOUR repeats his offer of setting her free and expressing his hate for their false appeal of helping her, ultimately having FAITH give into his offer after losing her trust in DEMI's intentions. The XAVOUR attempts to make himself partly mortal in order to come into contact with solid objects at the cost of FAITH losing consciousness, breaking all the security cameras and unlocks the door keeping FAITH in the interrogation room; reverting to his spirit form and telling her to run. They both escape from the institution and run away with the intentions to start a new life without DEMI’s watch. After running for a significant amount of time FAITH suddenly breaks down and apologizes to the XAVOUR for not listening to him sooner and promises that she'll become stronger and braver so he wouldn't have to always protect her at the cost of his own existence.
Recapping all of the experiences they had undertaken, a bond of friendship was formed between the two, with FAITH then giving the XAVOUR the name ‘SOUL’ wanting to refer to him in a better tone. After journeying together for a while they suddenly realize that DEMI and her subordinates were still in pursuit of the two despite ANTON, DEMI's subordinate who treated FATIH with the most care out of everybody, trying to warn her that DEMI would stop at nothing. With FAITH now being at full health  SOUL breaks the spiritual connection between them in order to protect Faith from getting caught, ultimately splitting his own soul back into 5 pieces, with the core soul being taken by DEMI back to the institution. Heart broken and suddenly regaining the familiar feeling of loss after the passing of her parents, FAITH then decides to take action instead of wallowing in self pity as she did before and made haste to gather the remaining 4 parts of SOUL’s soul. Because of the mythological background SOUL had the 4 pieces of his soul took the form of a wolf, a tiger, a lion and a crow finding their way back to FAITH and eventually leading her to the institution to storm the building and take back SOUL. However because of the experiments they had began on SOUL’s form as well as him being unattached to a human source, he became increasingly weak to the point of nearly fading away.

DEMI upon accomplishing her desires in opening a small portal to the spiritual world with SOUL's help, begins to deteriorate by now having no soul to connect hers with she tried to flee however starts to get dragged in. FATIH exposes herself in order to push DEMI in however begins to fade away herself. Knowing that all along SOUL wanted to materialize into the mortal world FATIH sacrifices her life force to him in order to make him whole, stating that it’s her turn to save him from fading away. SOUL now being mortal decides to not let these events be forgotten and decides to re-establish the organisation and to help those who are suffering from paranormal activity such as people like FATIH were. After a while of conducting his new team he suddenly realizes that the remains of FAITH’s soul is still attached to him however this time they are in opposite places.  

Soul: Audience Profile

In terms of target audience I wanted 'Soul' to appeal to a teenage audience as well as a fanbase of thriller / horror films, looking for at least a 15 or 12A certificate in order to appeal further to these groups of people. My reasoning for appealing to a teenage audience for 'Soul' was because of the themes presented , being governed by a higher status society and having everything including your freedom decided for you, as well as the situation and personality of Faith herself, feel detached and isolated from the rest of society because of her differences. By Faith's character being inspired and referenced from numerous other films including the characters of Hanna, Carrie and Andrew from Chronicle I came to realise that the target audience for this films were teengers and fans of the genre due to the relatability of the characters, having all all 3 consist of having a lead teenger and 2 of the 3 being based around the lives of teenagers and dealing with the differences they have to others.

  this lead me to believe the younger teenage audience was drawn to this because of the gratification need of escapism and realising that being able to associate themselves with a teenage lead allows them to put themselves in the characters shoes and diving into their life ultimately forgetting theirs for the screen time of the film.

 Psychographics:

For teengers, a horror / thriller film would make a perfect chilling atmosphere as well as intense mood appropriate for the genre to appeal to teenagers looking for a teenage film to watch with a group of friends. This would be not only have the audience relate to Faith but also due to the atmospheric aspect of the film causing them to indulge into the world of 'Soul.

As for thriller fans: Soul would appeal to them due to the conventions presented within the film, creating an intense and dramatic thrill appeal as a result of the quick cuts, toned down grayscale colour scheme as well as the plot twists and characters which demonstrate binary opposites to be included within the final prduct. With all of the above include to exemplify the political and social themes presented, making a comment on society which thriller films often make, this would ultimately attract thriller fans to 'Soul' as a result of this.

Lastly due to the cross genre 'Soul' would also appeal to a horror audience. this part of the genre however was difficult to capture while also keep the main story and themes because of the typical jump scares and presence of blood and gore instead of the more atmospheric approach, which 'Soul' was more tailored for. By having a more atmospheric approach this would ultimately build an uneasy mood and vibe for the film, giving the illusion of generating uneasy and unnerving scenes to watch; giving a different kind of scare compared to a quick jump scare. 

This would be presented by the presence of Soul carrying the supernatural aspect of the film in not only having the presentation of Soul hidden from the audience and being oblivious to what he looks like but also him lurking around Faith however being unseeable.   

Hanna Equilibrium Theory

Chronicle: Equilibrium theory

Hanna Trailer Analysis

Hanna, a unique teenage girl like no other, has been undergoing intense training by her father, an ex - CIA agent, to become the perfect assassin with having the strength, stamina and smarts of a fully fledged soldier. From the isolate Finland wilds, her intense training take a turning point after Hanna’s father sends her on a mission across Europe in order to take out a ruthless intelligence operative who has dispatched agents to capture and kill both of them for reasons still unknown. However as Hanna approaches her ultimate goal she is suddenly faced with the daunting truth behind her existence as well as the secrets of her father's ambitions.

The intense thrill of Hanna was captured perfectly through the trailer, having it’s exciting, original score co-exist with the visuals on beat. As usual the beginning of the trailer started off slow displaying the characters and their current position in the story and towards the end having the pace quicken to an intense action sequenced, continuously until the end cut off point; leaving the audience lusting for more.

Although the trailer was partly misleading, in some cases being good or bad, it could have set up the wrong impression for the film as the beginning of the trailer has Hanna within an interrogation room presents her almost as a young criminal and the overarching story being that she must escape for purposes that were not present in the trailer. However instead was about her being a trained assassin and taking down the head CIA experimentation facility.

this factor alone could have been the reason why the box office for Hanna wasn't as successful as it could have been, only in taking an estimate of $13,000,000 on the opening weekend in comparison to the original budget of $30,000,000. Although as soon as the film came available to DVD the over all grossing skyrocketed to $40,000,000, perhaps because of the true story being released for people to witness instead of the misleading trailer which originally set p the wrong pitch for the film.

Chronicle Trailer Analysis

Plot:
Following the shy and lonely outcast teenager Andrew Detmer, he decides to document his  high school life with a camera; using this as an escape from his abusive alcoholic father and bullying from school. His cousin Matt Garetty upon driving to school invited Andrew to a party however on the night, meeting up with school friend Steve Montgomery they decide to explore a mysterious hole in a field near the party after overhearing unusual noises. Venturing into the hole deep underground the 3 wake up the next morning with no memory and the footage lost from last night. The only thing they had gathered was from last night they had gained telekinetic abilities, with Andrew experimenting and eventually becoming the strongest of the 3. As time continues however Matt sees that Andrew is becoming too strong, endangering not only himself but others around him, causing their great power to bring their dark sides out.



The trailer and even the film of 'Chronicle' consists of a very long and unique style where the use and effect of cameras angles and shots can only tell the audience so much as the entire film is shot from a handheld camera despite a few exceptions of security cameras. This almost has the effect of the audience being a member of the group with Andrew, Matt and Steve, sharing the secret they all have. The camera furthermore represents the feeling of secrecy and mystery, being slightly cut off from the rest of society.
Although the way the key plot points was given away in the trailer ,very much like 'Carrie', it still left a lot of curiosity for the audience to go off of as the subject of the telekinesis and super human abilities are a big success in the film industry, having a hug hit if done correctly. This also comes into play with the choice of camera movement playing a huge part in telekinesis power and how more realistic the powers the more successful the theme of the story is. With Telekinesis plot points being exposed the curiosity is still peaked as to how these characters lived with these powers and what made Andrew turn to use his powers against others; In comparison to How Carries situation was exposed and how she reacted being revealed within the trailer instead of teasing the audience with what she might have done.

the trailer and even the film Chronicle consists of a very unique style where the use and effect of camera angles and shots are limited to what they can tell the audience as the entire film is shot through a handheld camera despite numerous security cameras, almost in the way that the film ‘Clover field’ was filmed. this almost has the effect of the audience being a member of the group with Andrew, Matt and Steve, sharing the secret that they all have. the camera can furthermore represent the feeling of mystery and being secretive, as if cutting off from the interaction of society and perhaps keeping to themselves instead of risking exposing their secret.

Although the way the key plot point was given away in the trailer ,very much like Carrie, it still left a lot of curiosity for the audience to grab onto as the subject of telekinesis and super human abilities are a big success in the film industry if done in the correct way. further more the superhuman power being present in films other than super hero or marvel films creates even more of a success as it leave the audience on the edge as to what the film might contain or play out, if not following the generic superhero conventions that most films that present this power has. This also comes into play with the choice of camera movement playing a huge part of the telekinesis power and how the more realistic the power is the more successful and well received the film is. This choice was obviously well perfected as well as the marketing scheme for the film playing a huge part in presenting the trailer as the box office shows the opening weekend in taking $22,004,098 and overall grossing $64,572,496;  nearly 5 ½ more than the original budget for the film.

With the telekinesis plot point being exposed through the trailer the curiosity is still present as to how the characters have lived their daily lives with these powers and what originally made Andrew turn to his darker side as shown in the trailer or if it was even Andrew at all doing this out of his own free will.