Lesson video

Hi there everyone.

Welcome to today's lesson on film music drama.

Yes, this is the fourth installment of our compose and create unit where we've been looking at nature documentary-inspired film scores.

My name's Mr. Croughan, and today I'm gonna be helping you bring the drama to your own film score.

Are we ready?

Let's begin.

By the end of this session, you'll be able to say that you can create drama in your film score, considering effective ways to build on your motif to create a sense of danger and disaster.

Let's begin by looking at today's keywords.

We start with film score.

This is an original piece of music composed to accompany a film or television program that contributes to the narrative by adding emotion, tension, or drama.

The next one is natural disaster.

This is a sudden event caused by a natural and not human activity, for example, an earthquake or a flood.

Scoring is our next word, creating original music for film or television that enhances the narrative.

Dramatizing, now this word is using music to amplify the impact of that narrative, of that story beyond the visual on screen.

So we can imagine seeing it on screen and this music, it dramatizes it, it lifts it to a whole nother level, and then motif, a short recurring musical idea in a film score that represents perhaps a place or character, an emotion or idea.

We all know just how important it is to warm up our minds, bodies, and voices before we begin, we want to make sure we're listening carefully, we're able to concentrate on our new learning.

We want to be able to work together, play music together.

We want our body to be warm and safe.

We want to play our musical instruments very well, and if our voices are warmed up, we can prevent our voices from injury as well as develop our singing skills.

And so there are three warmups in today's lesson.

The first one is echoing body percussion.

That will become clear, I'll pop it on the screen in a moment.

Then there's "Nanuma," which we can sing in different parts.

And then "Four White Horses" which can be done with clapping.

So here comes the first one.

This is echo body percussion.

You are watching the person going second.

<v ->Let's do some body percussion.

</v> We are going to clap for ta.

We are going to stomp our feet for ta-di, and we're going to pat our knees for ta-ka-di-wi.

Okay, so I'll start and then you join in with the echo.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Ta, ta-di, ta-ka-di-wi-ta ♪ ♪ Ta, ta-di, ta-ka-di-wi-ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di, ta-ka-di-wi-ta, ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di, ta-ka-di-wi-ta, ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di, ta-di, ta, ta-ka-di-wi ♪ ♪ Ta-di, ta-di, ta, ta-ka-di-wi ♪ ♪ Ta-di, ta, ta-ka-di-wi, ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di, ta, ta-ka-di-wi, ta ♪ <v ->Very good, now I'd like you to pause here</v> and I'd like to play the track, "Nanuma," because you can then decide, singing it in unison, if you want to divide into two parts or even four, see how you do and come back when you're done.

Very good.

Now, we might have looked at "Four White Horses" once before I'm gonna ask you to watch this video this is the faster version of it working as a clapping game in a group of four.

Here it comes.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Four white horses ♪ ♪ Four white horses ♪ ♪ On the river ♪ ♪ On the river ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey, up tomorrow ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey, up tomorrow ♪ ♪ Up tomorrow is a rainy day ♪ ♪ Up tomorrow is a rainy day ♪ ♪ Come on and join ♪ ♪ Come on and join ♪ ♪ Our shadow play ♪ ♪ Our shadow play ♪ ♪ Shadow play is a ripe banana ♪ ♪ Shadow play is a ripe banana ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey, up tomorrow ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey, up tomorrow ♪ ♪ Up tomorrow is a rainy day ♪ ♪ Up tomorrow is a rainy day ♪ <v ->Great, now you've seen that you can decide</v> probably starting a bit slower than that if you can master that in groups of four.

Pause here.

Have a go where you are.

Nice one, people!

Very well done.

Are we all focused, warm and ready for music?

If so, let's press on.

There are two learning cycles in today's lesson.

The first one is dramatic film scores, and the second, scoring and natural disaster.

Let's begin by listening to some of these dramatic film scores.

So a film score, original music composed to accompany a film or a television program and it can contribute to really dramatizing a narrative and it guides the audience through elements of the story.

A film score can actually work with our subconscious, transforming that storyline into a fully immersive experience.

And often a composer will use a motif in their scoring and these motifs can be adapted for dramatic effect as well, which we'll look at in today's lesson.

And if you thought about a film that you've seen recently or a TV series that you've watched, how do you think that film score helped to tell the story?

If you've got something you'd like to share, pause here and have a quick chat in your class.

We have been listening to film scores from the "Planet Earth" series, a famous BBC Natural history documentary.

The three series are "Planet Earth," and "Planet Earth II," and in 2023 we had "Planet Earth III.

" Now across the series the dramatic stories of animals are told alongside drawing our attention to natural disasters and the impact of climate change on our planet.

The award-winning film scores help to tell the story, and this is what your film scores are beginning to do as well.

Thinking about natural disasters, some examples might include a wildfire, a drought, earthquake, hurricane and volcanic eruptions.

We're going to listen to a part of a film score now, and I'm not going to tell you what it is, I would simply like you to think what natural disaster are you imagining?

And remember, we might all have different ideas because the film score normally is there to enhance the visual storytelling.

So we'd see what natural disaster it was, but we're taking that away and I would just like you to use your ears and imagine which natural disaster do you think this is?

Have a pause and a listen.

So after listening to that, I imagine there was a range of different ideas in your class, some quite different from each other.

Izzy suggests that the music's scary, feels like the ground is rumbling or something is spreading across the ground.

I think it could be an avalanche she suggests.

I wonder if you had any similar ideas where you are, if you've not done yet, you can pause here to share your ideas with each other.

Otherwise I am going to reveal now what we were listening to.

So this film score is called "Fire.

" And on the screen there is an image of wildfire spreading across trees along a coastline.

"Fire" was scored for "Planet Earth III: by Jacob Shea and Sarah Barone, and it features in Episode 6, which is called "Extremes.

" And the same on the soundtrack album.

It gives us a sense of dramatic scenes when a fire is spreading and burning everything in its path to the ground.

During the documentary, we can see the destructive wildfires in South Africa's coastal and mountainous fynbos.

So so every 20 years, fire causes all of the vegetation to turn to ash.

And here's the twist, this fire is not a natural disaster, but it's actually a necessary part of this region's lifecycle.

The fire causes a season of regrowth, so the plants and those shoots are responding to the ash.

Quick question for you then, true or false?

"Fire," that we just heard, uses a long melodic phrase to shape the dramatic scenes of the wildfire.

If you need to, you can pause here and have a listen again, I'm just looking for a simple true or false.

So true or false, "Fire" uses a long melodic phrase to shape the dramatic scenes of the wildfire.

Do you think true or false?

Pause if you need to.

Otherwise I will share with you that statement is in fact false.

Now the piece focuses around a motif of two ominous notes and this pulsating accompaniment, so no long melodic phrase there.

A different piece, now, "Life Without Water.

" This was scored for "Planet Earth II" in 2016, Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe this time.

And the film score features on Episode 4, which is "Deserts," and on that soundtrack album.

In this one it captures the feeling of dry expanses of desert and that lack of life that's a result of the absence of water.

And during this documentary, the film scans over the Namib Desert, this barren, empty, dry landscape.

And we see a pride of lions enduring the scorching temperatures and the lack of water in search of prey.

The only prey for 20 miles is a herd of oryx and we see the ambush, a chase across the desert, and the lions fail to catch the oryx and they have to go hungry for another day.

I'd like you to listen to it and then we'll come back together so pause here.

You've got an understanding of what's happening that that was scored for.

So have a listen and see what comes to mind as you do, see you in a mo.

So what do we think then quick check.

How does the film score dramatize the scene?

You're gonna pause here.

You can listen again if you'd like to.

The question to you is how does the film score dramatize the scene?

You might start thinking about the musical elements.

You might start thinking about the quality of sound, of the timbre.

What is it that's happening, how many layers of sound are happening, all these sorts of things.

How a little pause in the chat.

How does the film score dramatize the scene?

Off you go.

Great, so you might have said stuff a bit like, it starts slow and thin, like a hot, empty landscape.

And then this pulsing motif could feel like it's the sun beating down.

I'm relenting in its heat and lack of shade.

You might have said something like the drums pick up the chase and create this feeling of a desperate activity.

And you might have said lots more besides, but if you're starting to use, if you're thinking about the instruments and you're thinking about the texture, you're thinking about what you can hear and how that might reflect what's happening in the, on the visual on the screen and how it accelerates and adds to that drama, amplifies that drama, then you're doing really well.

This is gonna give us some great ideas for creating our own.

So the first task is gonna just be listening to some natural disaster film scores.

And these are being composed from the Oak Class by Andeep, Izzy, and Sam.

And your job is simply to match the narrative to the film score.

Now we remember that that film score, it's one of the tools used to tell the story, it goes alongside the visual storytelling and you might have different opinions on what you hear to other people in your class and that's fine.

Once you have identified, I'll show you on the next screen the ones we're going to listen to and then you match it to the film school narrative.

You need to say why, I think a matches that description because, and you need to be using words such as texture, dynamics, perhaps structure, the tempo, what changes.

And the more that musical language you are using, the more accurate and more likely your answer's going to be correct.

So here they come, we have A, B, and C, Andeep's piece, Izzy's piece and Sam's.

And then we've got three narratives.

The first one is a snow leopard is on the move in search of food in the open, harsh hold.

Suddenly vibrations can be felt and an avalanche begins.

The second one, a herd of elephants migrates slowly, wearily in search of water.

The drought has dried all the watering holes.

So either and Andeep, Izzy or Sam will have scored for that one.

And then the third one, a koala clings to a tree, no longer able to out move the wildfire as it approaches, burning ever closer.

So you are going to pause here and you're going to play each one of those in turn and match them to the descriptions.

Then we'll come back together and see how you did.

Remember you can either write this down, make some notes, up to you, to describe why you think so, what is happening in the music that matches, that would work for each of those narratives.

Off you go.

Okay, let's see how you did.

The first one.

Andeep's was about the wildfires, the koala clinging to the tree, no longer able to out move the wildfire as it approaches.

So if you got that right, very well done.

We will listen, we'll talk in a moment a bit more about what was happening musically.

B, Izzy's was the elephant's migration, wearily searching for water, and C, Sam's was the snow leopard on the move in search of food in the open before the avalanche begins.

So things you may have said of Andeep is koala and the wildfire.

You might have said something like the motif sounds light simple, maybe wooden like a koala in the trees and the strings and percussion crescendo, suggesting the fire is approaching as it's that music's getting louder but the fire's getting closer.

If you said something like that, fantastic.

As long as you're using some of that musical language to justify your reason, then you're doing really well.

Izzy and the elephants looking for water, "The motif sounds heavy," she says, "steady, and plotting like the elephants, the strings' entry suggest this feeling of worry as the elephants continue on their search.

" So if you are perhaps mentioning some of the instruments and you at all describing the timbre, how it sounds, then you're doing really well.

And Sam the third one, snow leopard and the avalanche.

The description is the motif tinkles and echoes like caverns and mountains of snow.

And the rumbling and shaking that suggests that's the start of the avalanche.

So if you were linking what you heard to that description and using that musical language, then very well done.

It's time for the second learning cycle in today's lesson where you are going to be scoring a natural disaster.

For the final part of your film score, you're going to add a natural disaster and you're going to need to consider how you can really build that sense of drama in your piece.

So we think about what we've got so far, our habitat, the animal and the threat that we chose previously, and you're now gonna think about what natural disasters may happen in your chosen habitat.

You might have time for some research on that and then decide on the natural disaster that you're going to add to your narrative and your film score.

Now if you don't have a film score narrative, here's some ideas.

The habitat is the desert, the character is the fennec fox and the threat is the illegal pet trade.

So we can think what might be a natural disaster here.

If we think about polar ice caps, you might choose the animal, the orca.

And the orca is the the predator threatening the seals.

And now we think, well, what could be a natural disaster of the polar ice caps?

Another example, woodlands.

Then our character is the stag beetle threatened by magpies.

And then we could think, okay, well what might be a natural disaster in woodland?

The city, could be any city in the world.

The character we've chosen is the rat and the threat is cats.

And we think, okay, if this is any city in the world, what could be a natural disaster that happens there?

As you do your research into natural disasters, take some notes to help you remember some facts and then share your research with a talking partner or a small group.

You can ask questions about how they're going to bring that dramatic narrative to life when they're representing it in their film score.

What ideas do they have to show that natural disaster occurring?

Pause here and crack on with that.

See you when you're done.

Very good, so now let's use the musical elements to guide us through.

We're gonna put some musical ideas down that's really gonna help with our scoring.

So now we're thinking of this natural disaster that's going to happen.

I'd like you to consider what sort of pitch you might use.

Is it low or high or somewhere, is it changing, up to you.

Is there a steady rhythm or not?

Is it slow or quick?

And then the notes, are they long, drawn-out notes, short, snappy notes, somewhere in-between.

Does it change?

Think about the timbre.

What sound are you trying to create?

And once you know what sound you'd like, is it something that makes us feel uneasy or worried?

Does it build, is it low and rumbly, is it high and twinkly?

It's entirely up to you how you're gonna represent your natural disaster.

Start to think about what instruments you might be able to use to represent that.

Then we're thinking about dynamics.

Is it always loud?

Is it always quiet?

Is there a crescendo?

We think back to the forest fire, there was a crescendo as almost like that the fire's getting closer.

So consider your dynamics.

And then texture or structure, you might also think about, oh, do I just want one or two instruments playing?

I'm gonna layer things up, I'm gonna add some additional sounds.

How much do I want happening?

And then the order, we think we've got our habitat, that description of the setting if you like, and we introduce our character, the animal, and then how they move and what they're up to.

Then the threat and then what happens in that.

And then this next part is the disaster, how does that natural disaster build?

So think about your structure.

I'd like to pause here and fill that in.

Yours might not look exactly like that, but you should be making some ideas and jotting some ideas down for each of those.

Off you go.

Alright, very well done.

We're gonna listen to an example film score now.

I'll play it for you in just a moment.

The narrative here is of an orca pod hunting seals before they migrate north.

Now in terms of natural disaster, climate change is causing the polar ice caps to melt and they're leaving, that's leaving less ice for the seals and a greater expanse of water for the orcas to hunt in.

Have a listen, here it comes.

Okay, a quick check for you then, I'll play it again, and I want you to think as you are listening, what is it that's happening in the music when the natural disaster occurs in the film score, it's about 25 seconds in, have a listen.

Okay, now you've heard it.

Let's pause and just share some ideas with a partner or in the whole class and then we'll come back together, off you go.

So you may have said things like the atmosphere suddenly changes.

There's this dramatic change to the piano motif and that drip-drop, ascending notes, they're suddenly descending into a feeling of dread.

And there are quiet repeated bell sounds in the background perhaps that's representing the ice cracking, melting into the ocean, it's adding to that impending sense of doom as the polar ice caps continue to melt.

I hope you had a good conversation and that some of that came into what you were talking about.

Now there might be two ways in which you create your piece.

You could be using a digital audio workstation, and if you are, I'm gonna play you a clip of what that might look like if you're creating a film score using one of those.

And then we'll also listen to an example if we were creating it using instruments in our classroom as an ensemble.

All right, so this is of ice caps melting and this is using a digital audio workstation.

Here it comes.

Great, so that's what that looks and sounds like.

If you are doing that, hopefully let's give you some ideas.

And if you are using live instruments and working as an ensemble in your classroom, have a listen now, this is how a polar ice cap-themed film score might sound where you are, here it comes.

Right then you are now ready to get composing.

So here's what you must do.

First of all, recap your film score so far.

You're gonna have a piece that tells the story of your habitat, that's your first motif, then an animal, that's your second motif, and then a threat it faces or that it faces to another animal, whether they're predator or prey.

And that's when there's the change in the music, something different happens, okay?

Considering the structure of your piece, at what point in your narrative do you want the natural disaster to occur?

Gonna decide that we know what the disaster is, we've got an idea of how we'd like it to sound, and then you score your natural disaster.

And I want you to think about, it's gonna end, so how can you make your film score have a dramatic finish?

Very best of luck and enjoy composing, and I'll catch up with you when you are done, off you go.

Fantastic, really well done.

I do hope you get an opportunity to share that with other people in your class or year group, perhaps wider.

Maybe you want to record that and save it so that you've got it as a wonderful keepsake of your film score.

Now then what we're going to do is listen again to the orca film score and I'd like you to think about how effective this is at creating a dramatic ending.

And then you're gonna think about how your film score compares to that.

Have a listen.

Here it comes.

So whether you are able to share your work with an audience now or whether you're gonna plan in for that to happen, what I'd like you to do is this, share your narrative with them, whether that's written down or you tell them of your habitat, the animal, the threat, what happens there and the natural disaster building to that end, and then ask them, can they identify the different stages of your story in your musical score?

I bet they can.

Whether you're doing that now or whether you're doing that soon, very best of luck, and really well done on your project.

It's all we have time for for today and indeed this unit so let's have a recap on our learning.

The first thing is a film score is an effective tool for adding emotion, tension, and drama to a visual story.

A motif can be used to represent an idea or a emotional character and it can be developed and built on to create a bigger piece.

We need to think about structure when scoring so that the film score clearly enhances the visual narrative.

And then making changes to the elements of music, for example, we might change the tempo, that can really help to add drama and tension to our film scores.

Wonderful work, really, really well done and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

All the best, bye for now.