Momoko Oishi
Character Themes
In the Music in Film Workshop, we have been learning over the semester about the ways that music can have a great impact on scenes in films by emphasizing the tone of the scenes and invoking certain emotions from the audience. In my final project, I chose to pick 3 scenes from 3 different films, and compose music that would fit with each of the scenes by examining their tones. To compose my music, I used a software called Soundtrap, which allows me to create music using the available instruments on the software. After composing my music, I used another software called Premiere Pro to combine the film scenes and the music. Before this workshop, I had never composed my own music or used music-making and video editing software like Soundtrap and Premiere Pro. Therefore, I found the overall workshop to be both a challenging and fun experience. I hope that those who see my work can also take interest in creating their own music, and learn the importance of music in films.
Kara no Kyoukai - The Garden of Sinners
The first video shows a scene from a movie called "Kara no Kyoukai," also known as "The Garden of Sinners." In the scene, the main character, Shiki Ryougi, is facing off with a man named Lio Shirazumi. Shiki was born with special powers that allow her to see the mortality of everything, both living and non-living. Due to her awareness of her own abnormality and the dark sides of humanity, Shiki was not able to love herself or other people throughout her life. However, she one day met a boy named Mikiya who gave her the emotion of love, which affected her and gave her hope that she will one day be able to experience happiness like any other person. This scene takes place after Lio claimed that he has killed Mikiya. I felt that the overall tones of this scene are sorrow and longing. Mikiya was the person who gave Shiki hope in life, and so losing him must have left her with a great feeling of sorrow and longing to see him again. The flashbacks of her and him spending time together further emphasize her grief. In order to express these tones in my music, I decided to mainly use combinations of the piano and the violin because I believe that instruments like drums and guitars would make the music too upbeat. Although I mostly used the C major scale, I included one sharp note for the beginning portion of my music, so that the music won't be too happy sounding, just as we learned in class. I also made sure that the melody is slow and gentle to express Shiki's sadness. I found the process of making this video to be pretty fun since I got to experiment with different sounds to see what works and what doesn't.
Pixels. Shiki Ryougi vs Lio Shirazumi [Kara No Kyoukai] . 7 Mar. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jYPemgWuu8.
Rope
For the third video, I took a scene from the film, "Rope." In the scene, a man yells at two boys who had committed murder after being inspired by the man’s speech about superiority and inferiority. The man then feels deep frustration and regret for having influenced the boys to commit such an act, and denounces all of his past teachings. Thus, I thought that the scene gives off a tone of frustration, regret, and melancholy. For the music of the scene, I decided to incorporate the piano and the violin. I left the first half of the scene without music because I felt that the part where the man yells at the two boys and shoots out the window is an intense scene that would be more impactful without music, and we learned in class that silence can be effective at bringing out the tone of a scene as well. After the man shoots out the window, some distant voices of people being alarmed by the gun shots are heard. The music fades in around this scene. First, I put the slow, gentle sound of the piano in. I made sure that the melody is not upbeat, but a bit somber to match the melancholic mood of the scene. I then incorporated the violin sound a few seconds after the piano starts. I chose a violin track that also sounds sorrowful, so that the deep feeling of regret and sadness will linger in that scene. The music in this video was the first actual piece that I created for a specific film scene, so it was a difficult, but exciting process.
​Rupert Discovers The Body (Final Reveal Scene) | Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope' (1948). Fear: The Home Of Horror, 1 June 2018,
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final
The second video shows a scene from the movie, "Rurouni Kenshin: The Final." In the scene, the main character, Himura Kenshin, is fighting against a man named Enishi Yukishiro. In the past, Kenshin fell in love with a woman named Tomoe. However, while he was fighting against a group of enemies, he accidentally cut her down and killed her when she ran in between him and the enemy in an attempt to defend him. Enishi was the younger brother of Tomoe, and therefore harbors an intense feeling of anger towards Kenshin and strongly desires to take revenge on him for his sister. I thought that the overall tones of this scene are solemn, suspenseful, and aggressive. The intense clashing of the two characters' swords emphasizes the seriousness of the scene, and the audience can feel suspense from thinking about the fate of the two characters. In order to bring out these tones, I used several combinations of the piano, violin, and drums. Since the story of the movie takes place in past Japan, I didn't want to make the music sound too modern, so I stuck with using mostly classical instruments like the piano and the violin. The drums helped me intensify the music, and I added in a bit of the flute to change some parts of the music around. I believe that the lessons in class in which we examined music from different film scenes helped me decide on the overall melody and rhythm of the music. Although it was challenging to properly combine the instruments and unify the rhythm of the music, I found the process of creating this piece to be enjoyable.
mClips. Kenshin vs Enishi RUROUNI KENSHIN THE FINAL 2021 . 23 Sept. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As6SR9qEqAQ.
