Music For my Documentary

During my viewing sessions of mainstream documentaries I regarded most profoundly that there was a continuous theme of background music in all of them, it was used in particular sections more dramatically when used to emphasise a fact or a serious story (such as when an individual was giving  history of their illness/experiences to the audience) I perceived the tone of the programme most efficiently through the use of their soundtracks as it allowed me to identify the essential segments of the film whilst also creating a mood which prompted particular emotions from me (for example in 'Supersize vs Superskinny Kids' the involvement of a bleak, depressing soundtrack used during the discussion of the child anorexic sufferers stories allowed me to perceive truly how much they had suffered through the constraints this evil illness subjected them to) therefore I believed background composition would be most effective for  detailing a story (such as the one of the girls in my own documentary) whilst aiding in giving a certain atmosphere to the film (happy, sad, enthusiastic) which would provoke a particular mood or response from my audience. To conclude with I decided to listen to several unique piano soundtracks as I concluded I wanted a calm approach music wise to my documentary as I felt this would give a more 'relaxed' approach to entail how delicately and innocently an eating disorder will develop in an individual.



The first instrumental set of music I listened to was the 'Sad Beautiful Piano' by Sparrow. I felt this tune personified in particular places (especially between the time of 0.07-0.15) the unhappiness and underlying sadness the girls of my documentary feel and experience due to their anorexia. There was such a melodramatic tone within these first few opening seconds which really connected and corresponded with the overwhelming emotion associated with the illness. However as the peice of music continued I noticed how the pitch was amplified and the overall dramatic element of the pianist playing was increasing frequently in sound. This unfortunately is not what I desire as I was hoping to disover a piano sountrack that was relatively calm throughout the piece with having few if to none aggressive instrumental moments. Although this could heighten the sense of anger the women feel towards their condition I believed it did not reverberate that despondance I desired throughout the continuation of the documentary. Essentially I was to use the Sparrow piano soundtrack I could potentially only incorporate the initial 30 seconds which is not satisfactory especially with my extract being an extended 5 minutes in production time, furthermore this would not be benefiical to me. I also noticed that the music repeated itself rather then being a varying track, this is most identifable in the segment 3.11 when the opening sequence is repeated. I wasn't too enthralled by this, I'd rather have a unique piece flowing without then one that continously overlaps, without repeating itself I feel the music would highlight how the illness is ongoing with new circumstances encontered often in each individuals journey (such as new behaviours accquired due to an anorexic mind or the painful process of recovery) it is through all these points brought to immediate attention that discourages me from using this soundtrack at all so I may just discard it from my potential music pieces.




The second piano instrumental piece I engaged with was 'Thoughts', the artist of this such composition is unknown. From the onset of me playing it I was almost instantly deterred, the opening music was extremely aggressive and loud compared to the quiet and melodramatic feel I intended to create in my documentary. Loudness indicates anger and although I can acknowledge that the girls in the film will most likely have some level of aggression directed to their illness, this emotion would most importantly not be there on a consistent basis, I feel the levels if sadness would outweigh it on many an occasion (I can presume this is true after speaking with many of the women I interviewed for my documentary as they described a heightened sense of depression and anxiety which is associated with their anorexia). A calm soundtrack is essential for the most major parts of the documentary, such as the establishing scene and interviews with the participants, I can't really identify a place where a violent outburst of music is required since the whole film is designed to provoke some empathetic response and sympathy from the audience. I feel the viewer would be deterred by the aggression within the music as they would not associate this piece with a programme that focuses upon the underlying sadness attached to mental illness, it does not signify sadness but that of true anger which contains no sympathetic qualities, furthermore this highlights to me they will not be provoked to elicit the correct emotional response I desire (I want the overall feelings of the audience to relate to how the anorexic girls are feeling, if the viewer is given the impression to be angry then they are incorrectly identifying with the girls conditions)




Through listening to the previous two extracts I was beginning to become discouraged by what instrumental intros I had on offer from Youtube as none ultimately fit the strict criteria I had set for myself in regards to what I found most desirable for the music product in my documentary. As a last resort I listened to this final piano piece in the belief I would find what I was most searching for. After engaging with the opening three minuted of the intro I was relieved to have found exactly what I had described. The opening minute of this specific piece is extremely melodramatic and empty in tone, the pace and rhythm is extremely slow in pace and composition which ideally is what I had intended for the opening extract of my documentary - in the beginning scenes I am emphasising the shocking statistics surrounding anorexia which requires a level of sincerity towards it from the audience members. In addition one of the girls will be introduced in this narrow time frame and I feel a slow tempo is an appropriate method of introduction to them which will slowly allow me to increase the frequency of the background music to act as an 'action' pace to keep up with the 'action' explained within her story. The speed in this piano piece increases at 1.04 seconds into the clip, I feel this relates significantly to the build up of 'action' in my documentary clip, more specifically so when the girls story is beginning to unfold as it signifies a journey of discovery is about to be undertaken by the audience, therefore the cascading tempo fits most appropriately with this specific section of my documentary. The rapid succession also indicates to me personally that it is acting as a build up to a climax where something truly awful will happen, my idea expressed here is most coherent which can be identified within 3.02 as the volume dramatically decreases to the extent its almost inaudible. This personifies in the extract of my documentary how serious the girls anorexia descended to (as she required hospitalisation) - the decreased pace amplifies the seriousness as the rapid reduction in sound illierates a dramatic overtake in the situation regarding her illness,  the depressive mood surrounding this event prompting the audience to regard her in a sympathetic light. This contrasts identically with how I desire the viewer to feel, as what I had described in my brief, in the more critical aspects of the documentary (such as the opening and middle) certain events should naturally be more paid attention to so the points in the music where it changes so rapidly indicate to me this is the perfect opportunity to incorporate my serious clips into. There are so many advantages within using this piano soundtrack as it fits the criteria I described for my filming style so perfectly that its easy to conclude this will be the final piece I will use in the production of my documentary 'The Girls Who Wouldn't Eat'.