Morrigan Alcorn BA3 Popular Music Music For Film, TV & Games – Live Ensemble (28 Days Later)Commentary

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My final composition would be played by musicians/lecturers at Perth College UHI. For this I

decided to compose to a scene from the film, 28 Days Later. I chose this scene as it would allow

me to write in a more suspenseful manner which I believe to be my forte. The instruments we were

allowed to use were as follows; trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, piano and percussion. I tasked myself

with writing for all of the instruments as opposed to a select few, as this would be an opportunity to

gain feedback from experienced musicians during the live performance.

The song consisted of a heavy focus on bass, whilst the guitar and piano would accompany with a

relatively simple chordal rhythm. The percussion would prove to play a very menial role until bar

eight where the surdo and snare drum would become a more vital part to the piece, creating a real

sense of drive. Although, this would not last for long.

Overall the bass guitar and chords would lead to the music being appropriately sparse, in turn

making the listener feel very isolated and alone, in keeping with the actions demonstrated on

screen. This is successful as it helps to depict the isolation the character within the film would be

feeling.

Although I used a surdo as the bass sounding drum, this could be interchangeable with a regular

bass drum from a standard rock kit. The purpose of the initial use of surdo was simply due to the

lack of bass drum sounds within Sibelius.