Hero - Short Film Score - Walkthrough Pt.12 - M3 (Part 3)

Welcome to the last part of this composition walkthrough for the cue M3. The previous parts of this series are available here.

As I will be going on a few days of Christmas break before returning with new posts, I decided to make this one available for all Patrons (also to give a little teaser of the higher tier contents for the people who aren't sure about it yet).

In this part we will cover the last section of the Car Chase sequence with the first appearance of the main theme.

As usual, we will work with score reductions. The full score, Midi and Audio File of the entire cue are attached at the bottom of the post.

Here's the entire sequence without music (and in the video at the title you get the final film version at the same time stamp)

https://youtu.be/y1aVLZMtSRw?t=260

The spotting notes that I had for this sequence:

• 05:23:00 hint the winnig, hint theme and go all out when he spreads arms
• 05:31:23: all out on theme
• 05:36:03: die out
• 05:52:09 end

Here's the orchestral recording of that sequence:

https://soundcloud.com/robin-hoffmann/hero-m3-bar36-end/s-li0CZlYCoiK

And the playback of the piano reduction from below:

https://soundcloud.com/robin-hoffmann/hero-m3-bar36-end-piano-reduction/s-9ZArOQSKziS

As per the spotting notes, the purpose of this sequence is to hint the winning of the two brothers. I mentioned it already in a previous part that the challenge with a short film where the score is thematically driven is to establish the thematic material quick enough so that it can be used as a dramatic device. But of course, a theme only works as a dramatic device if it is already familiar enough for the audience. So here it was essential to not wait until the final shot of the movie to establish the theme but use it as early as possible in the movie to make its appearance at the end of the movie as impactful as it can be.

Technically speaking, the use of the theme here is wrong as its purpose actually is to portray the bond BETWEEN the brothers and not as a theme FOR the brothers. However, in spite of the dramaturgic blur that its use establishes here, we saw that the chance to link it to the brothers was relevant here. Had this been a feature film where I would have enough other possibilities to clearly establish it, I would have not gone for the theme here.

The idea here, was to not completely release tension just yet but stay in a relatively tenseful music that hints the hope of victory.

Musically speaking we're coming from an Eb&A bitonality from the bars before so the harmony of Eb in bar 36 just seems to be a logical consequence of those alternating chords from before. However through the use of D in the bass, it technically becomes a Dsus4(b9b13). So essentially, bars 36-38 linger in a dominant tonality of D that changes its hue a bit within (e.g. bar 37 avoiding that sus 4 but sounding the minor 7th). The theme itself is reduced to its head motif which is being played in the contour and rhythm but the intervals diverge from the original to fit the underlaying harmony.

As before, the pulse is going through (strings) to keep the energy up and not relax too early. In bar 37, I  fill the long sustaining note of the theme with a ascending woodwind figure in D phrygian which is the scale that is implied by the harmony here.

Bar 39 and 40 set up more or less a IV-V to the following downbeat of Bb in bar 41. That D phrygian just mentioned already is the scale material for the Bb major so it's a rather smooth transition. Also, the motion of the bass from D to G in spite of the harmony going to Eb over that G still has a stronger cadential force than if I had gone in 39 to a Eb with the root in the bass.

The existance of bar 40 is only justified through the need to place that hitpoint a little later than what would be musically expected. I established some ascending figures in the woodwinds and high strings in 39 that make this "odd extension" of that bar plausible by aiming at a target note that feels musically logical to stay for two beats longer on the dominant. In such moments, it is incredibly important to find a musical justification for the odd length of a harmonic situation. Here, the ritardando also helps as it clearly telegraphs an important downbeat that is approaching in bar 41. The Ebm/F could be understood as an F7sus4b9 and creates a bit more extra dominant tension than the rather plain alternative of an Eb/F (aka Fsus) or even F7 would create. 

As you will know by now, I tend to orchestrate a lot of longer sustaining brass chords with a (s)fp<f dynamic shape as I did here. This leaves some space for the details in the orchestration that would be masked if the brass just sustained on a loud dynamic and it dramaturgically leads nicer to the target of that chord as the "opening up of high harmonics" happens closer to the new downbeat.

Here it is clear that the brothers are winning the race and the younger brother spreads out his arms in a victorious gesture. The tension releases and the music gets a moment to soar. The challenge here was to squeeze the theme into the roughly 5 seconds I had before the next hit point so it is quite on the fast side but I wanted to get more than just the "head motif" into this moment. I also wanted to keep the energy up a bit and keep the eight note pulse which is carried by the celli and bassoon playing chord arpeggios. 

Harmonically, we hang on a Bb pedal point for 3 bars with changing chords to Bb, Eb and Ab over it, so a relatively simple cadence with the Ab being the bVII chord which gives it a bit of a spice. It is relatively similar to the harmonization of the theme at the final shot in the movie with the difference of the second chord which here is not Dm (as it would need to be if it was analogue to the ending) but a Eb/Bb. You can try it out yourself, but I felt that the Dm would push this harmonically way more into a emotional and bittersweet quality while the Eb/Bb keeps it at a more upbeat quality. There is a quarter note side line in the horns, 1st trombone and clarinets. Other than that the orchestration is rather straight forward with high strings playing the theme in octave unison and low brass providing harmonic fundament.

This section is to reduce the "steam" from the race and create a gradual decrease of energy to end the cue and also kind of switch back to the more upbeat children playing feeling.

Bar 45 switches to a chord type that we had already just a few bars earlier in bar 36 which is that major triad with the bass a minor second below the root note of that triad, so here it is Gb/F. To understand this better, we could look at it again as a dominant version of F (To be exact F7b9b13 (the actual 7 (Eb) is not part of the chord but implied)). To look at this from a perspective of F would make more sense also as this is clearly the dominant of the Bb tonality that we had before so this passage of bar 45/46 could be seen as a field of V of the preceding Bb.

And consequentially we go back to the I in bar 47. From there on we have some off-beat chords in the woodwinds/celesta sometimes coupled with muted trumpets that alternate back and forth between Bb and C triads. You could see this again as a bitonal field, I marked it with Bb lydian as this is more how it feels to me, it's just this kind of adventurish witty quality that you get with that lydian sound. Notice that the rhythmical engine is still going on in the violins but kind of "chokes" in bar 50 before going to a static chord in 51 that fades out. I didn't want to create a too "definitive" final chord so I consciously left out a bass register so it doesn't get this "affirmative tonic" quality.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I will allow me a few days of not posting here but enjoying some time off with the family. I'll be back with new posts after christmas.

If you're celebrating christmas, I'm wishing you a wonderful and festive season in spite of that strange year that we're all having.

Stay healthy and see you on about a week!

Robin