Adding Music into Scenes | Development

We recently got sent our new composed music by our composer - who was found by me through close sources - and I straight away edited the music into our sequence. I then raised the volume of the music in scene 1, and edited music in throughout the different scenes that Simon had asked for.

The music that was added into scene 2 & 3 is quite upbeat but it also has a negative tone, in the sense that it adds a little bit of tension to the scene. The range of notes in the music track keeps the scene entertaining, and almost quickens the pace of it, which is something Simon told us was needed. I adjusted the volume of this track so the music wasn't too over powering over the actors dialogue. The only problem I had with this music track was it had a very abrupt ending, meaning it would end in the scene and it would feel like something in the video had gone wrong technically. I faded it out a little so the ending wasn't so harsh, and I made the title sequence start quick soon after that had finished, so there isn't too much of an empty gap.

The new title sequence is really upbeat and just what we wanted. The old one had grown on me throughout the editing process as I was used to it, but the new one definitely feels and sounds a lot better for the show. It has a 70's style to it, whilst also not being overly vintage, and it's fun to listen to. It will attract viewers of all ages, and it's very distinctive meaning, when someone hears this music they should recognise it as the Young & Famous theme tune. I adjusted the volume of this as it was quite loud, but I made sure to keep an eye on the audio level. The duration of it is long enough for the title sequence and hopefully it'll be long enough for the credits, if it's not we can adjust it easily.

I added a little bit of music during the seaside shots to quicken the pace of the shots, and to bring us to scene 6 a little bit faster. I didn't think scene 6, 7 or 8 needed music as they are quite quick scenes and the editing of it is quick and clean. However, scene 9 & 10 definitely needed music to quicken the pace of the two scenes. The music the composer made didn't necessarily fit for this scene, so I found a royalty free track on line that is fun and uptempo. Once I had added it onto this scene, I thought it worked really well - it quickened the pace of the scene and added more humour to it. I really liked this change, and I thought it definitely made this scene stand out against the others.

I then changed the stings to be the composer stings, and they fitted in really well. They were a good length and there was a lot of variation to choose from. However, one of the sad stings didn't really work with the tone of the show, so I found another royalty free one that worked instead.

Music was added into scene 11, and I definitely think it made the scene quicker and more intriguing. It's easy listening music and it adds a sense of casualness to the scene which works really well in terms of the story line. Along with this, scene 12 had music added to it, which had a fast tempo but dipped in out of a seriousness tone and a fun tone. This was perfect as the dialogue Annie & Dean have together starts off quite silly and then turns fairly serious, and then back to silly. I decided to end the music as we cut into scene 13 as I didn't think that scene needed a music bed underneath it. It's already quite an interesting scene with the tv screen being used, and I didn't want to distract the audience away from Marie rejecting Annie & Dean again.
Similarly, in scene 15, I decided not to have any music as I didn't want to steer away from the sad tone of this scene. If music was added, it would've bought the energy up and I wanted this scene to noticeably be the sad scene where the characters feel defeated. This gives a good difference in all the scenes as you can clearly feel the emotions of the characters change which then shifts again during scene 16.
At first, I wasn't sure what music bed to put behind scene 17, however myself and Nisserin discussed this and the idea of using The Last Dish advert's music was worth trying. I added the music in and kept it playing until Jordan Hamsay leaves the scene, which helps create fun and joy at the beginning of the scene, and then sadness and a feeling of being rejected at the end. I think overlapped the credit music in scene 17 to the credits, and it starts after the characters stop talking. This works as it gives the audience something to listen to and keeps their attention on the scene before the credits appear.

Overall, I think by adding this music it has definitely made the show feel a lot more like a sitcom, and it feels quicker. The pace of the scenes are good, and the music definitely helps carry them from one scene to the other. Now the show feels a lot better and more complete, and I'm really happy with the outcome of this change that has been made.