Thriller Opening - Score UPDATED

For the opening of our thriller we wanted a very atmospheric and dramatic score that would build the tension in the sequence and create an unsettling atmosphere.



This piece, titled 'Ready for Battle', has a very fast tempo which could suggest the onset of panic as the protagonist realises he's been kidnapped and is in an unknown location. Alternatively, this could be too fast paced and build anticipation rather than suspense, though this is effective it's not the atmosphere we want to create. Also, as the name suggests, it carries connotations of war and violence, again this could be very effective but our thriller contains subtler conflicts and dilemmas. This means that this piece of music would construct the wrong connotations for our opening which could misdirect the audience and change the atmosphere of the film. The score of our thriller is meant to unsettle the audience and make them uneasy, although the opening of the piece could appear to do this, the pitch of the rest of the piece is too high to do this effectively. This,again, means that the wrong atmosphere would be created and the score would be manipulating the audience's emotions in a way we did not want. The pace is also too fast for the pace of our edit, this means that the score would be building excitement within the audience while the edit would subtlety be revealing information. The lack of connection between the score and the edit would confuse the audience and stop the build of suspense.



This piece, named 'Alone in the Cellar' is very eerie and unsettling, this would be very effective for the sequence when our protagonist awakes after he's been kidnapped because it would reflect the confusion and fear running through he mind as he questions his situation. The gradual increase in pace at the beginning of the piece could be used to reinforce this idea because it suggests a sudden rush of thoughts and the trepidation these thoughts would create. This piece could also be used to enhance the sense of mystery that is present throughout our opening because it builds suspense. It features strings which is a very conventional way for depicting fear through music, they are effective in this piece because they would unnerve our audience which would help them to empathise with our protagonist and connect with him. Overall, this piece would be incredibly effective because it would manipulate our audience's emotions whilst simultaneously building the tension within the scene.
However, the unusual combination of instruments may be better suited to a psychological thriller because it creates an idea of a decent into madness. This may not be suited to our thriller because although our protagonist in unsettle and confused he is not losing his mind as that isn't the focus of our thriller.



This third piece has a fast tempo, this could be used to mimic our protagonist's heartbeat as he begins to panic once he discovers the situation he's in. This would reinforce the distress felt by our protagonist which in turn would inform the audience of his emotions. This would separate him from other thriller protagonists because typically the male lead of a thriller wouldn't be concerned by this situation because they've experienced it before. However, similarly to the first piece, the tempo could be too fast paced which would build audience anticipation instead of trepidation. This is because it has a similar pace to that of pieces of music that accompany chase sequences. This could work if our protagonist escaped and ran away but seeing as this doesn't happen this would decrease the score's value. The drum beat is also very reminiscent of war drums which would imply action and violence, this may make this score more suitable to an action thriller, rather than our slower paced, crime thriller, This would, therefore, make the score less effective. Alternatively, whilst being fast paced it is also unsettling so it may be able to create the atmosphere we desire.