Part of the Composer’s job is deciding what sounds to use. This palette is a consistent group of instruments or sounds. For the film Mrs. Worthington’s Party (former title Creche), I used an eclectic palette of Pizzicato bassi and celli, celesta, glockenspiel, tubular bells, gong, harp, piano, acoustic guitar, accordion, boys choir and a solo male voice in falsetto. By having a consistent sound palette, we bring a commonality to the project and yet, by making it unique to this project, it becomes a proprietary audio mnemonic to the film. In short, we create an unique and identifiable audio branding for the film.
Consistency is a huge part of the success of the score. It needs to envelop the film, create the subtext and world of these characters and never call attention to itself or get in the way of the story.
After viewing and discussing the film with the director/producer(s) and after our 20 questions exercise, there needs to be a decision on the size of the sound of this film. Is it huge and epic? Intimate and close? A mix?
Lord of the Rings has a different sense of size than say Sliding Doors. Budget also plays a factor in this decision and whether we can afford to hire the London Symphonic Orchestra on this one or the local chamber group or the excellent sample sound library in the Composer’s collection.