I made minimal changes to the original sketch. Some levels were changed to order to hear the dialog better.
The additional part that I worked on is when Dawn walks down to Joyce. I created a variation of the main theme that reversed the timing of the notes for Dawn, so she had her own theme. I also added when the vampire wakes up. Here, I wanted to create a feeling of dread and suspense. I utilised Linear Chromaticism in the strings to create tension (Figure 1) and added a bassoon to add timbral texture and variety. It is subtle but you notice when it isn’t there.
Because this clip was already edited, I used the existing cuts to mark changes in the music. When the vampire smiles, I move to more dissonant notes (Figure 2), and again I do this when the vampire steps forward. This punctuates what we see on screen to make the overall feeling more sinister. By matching the action, it heightens the emotional tone of the music, making the sum of the parts greater.
I really enjoyed creating this score, it has challenged me to think outside of diatonic centric music and focus more on the feeling that I’m trying to evoke. I also think that this will be a focus for my creative practice going forward as I see both creative development and growth from these projects and can see even further development in more exploration.