I set out to compose a score for a particularly haunting scene in the film “The Night of the Hunter” (1955), but realized that I would have to render it more abstractly so as to abide by the project guidelines. The result is a composition heavily influenced by the mood of the scene, potentially recognizable as a score but hopefully also able to stand on its own as an abstract piece with distinct elements of terror and suspense.
In order to build suspense I commenced the piece with an ambiguously hypnotic track that last 30 seconds and rarely changes in pitch or tone. Underneath it I laid yet another hypnotic track, though I don’t believe it is excessive because it has a completely different tone and neatly accentuates the power first track. The scene in “The Night of the Hunter” where Robert Mitchum looks toward the sky, a beautiful, geometrically absurd shot intercut with a doomed Shelley Winters, is treated with the sound of a heartbeat. To underscore the tension I laid a calmer sound of wind beneath it, and with the rising action I relied heavily on ERH’s “Ominous."
I did not base the composition directly on the actions in the scene, however; the scene has been embedded in my mind for years, so I needed only to draw upon the memory of it to design the piece. The rising action in the piece might not align perfectly with the rising action in the composition, which would be fine as it was meant to be an abstract interpretation of how the scene made me feel, and I am very satisfied with it.
“The Night of the Hunter” was not the only inspiration behind the piece. I realized that of all the elements of the film that had me feeling so passionate about it, its relation to German Expressionism was the most powerful. I was especially inspired by images from Robert Wiene’s “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1921) and F.W. Murnau’s “Faust” (1926), which might have even inspired director Charles Laughton in making “The Night of the Hunter.” I initially found Logic to be quite challenging, but after two hours I felt sufficiently comfortable, at which point I first began editing the audio tracks that I had singled out. It is not exceptionally complex, but the result is exactly what I hoped for when I arrived at the idea for it two weeks ago, as it is pleasingly haunting and can exist as an abstract sound piece while still fitting as a score for the scene in “The Night of the Hunter” that continues to inspire me in all forms of art practice.
SOURCES:
Title: Nikonf4
Artist: Heigh-Hoo
Source: http://www.freesound.org/people/Heigh-hoo/sounds/16071/
Title: Fire Forest Inferno
Artist: Dynamicell
Source: http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=dynamicell
Title: Evening in the Forest
Artist: Reinsamba
Source:http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=18765+reinsamba&f=&s=num_downloads+desc&advanced=0
Title: Radio Static
Artist: Percy Duke
Date: 8-9-200
Source: http://www.freesound.org/people/Percy%20Duke/sounds/23503/
Title: Wind
Artist: ERH
Source: http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=erh+atmosphere
Title: Angels
Artist: ERH
Source: http://www.freesound.org/people/ERH/sounds/29589/
Title: Silver Tones
Artist: ERH
Source: http://www.freesound.org/people/ERH/sounds/31028/
Title: Coma Cluster
Artist: ERH
Source: http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=erh+coma
Title: Heartbeat Enhanced
Artist: Herbert Boland
Source: http://www.freesound.org/people/l3ardoc/sounds/52895/
Title: Negative Future
Artist: ERH
Source: http://www.freesound.org/people/ERH/sounds/33838/
Title: Nine Lies of the Heart
Artist: ERH
Source: http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=erh+ominous
Title: Emergency
Artist: ERH
Source: http://www.freesound.org/people/ERH/sounds/38543/
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