Composing a track for anime sequence

Character design

The brief

"I wanted my audio to be able to accompany my YouTube intro video other than my uni related work. I was looking for melody which is referenced to Puella Magi Madoda Magica Rebellion (Movie 3) - Mami’s and Homura’s transformation music with sound effects whenever possible. As for my intention, I wanted to have something new and created a 2D stop motion animation as a new technique to try and create in which I believe I have done very well. I didn’t realise when everything was complied, it was more than what I expected. The audio results were excellent and very well produced. Altogether created a cringefest worthy animation sequence for my YouTube video which will be featured in the upcoming videos."

Reference materials

Mami is the yellow haired girl in this video, so we listened to the music.

(the Rebellion Story (Madoka Magica) - Transformation Sequence, 2014)

The sound effects were referenced from League of Legends promo video

(Riot Games, 2017)

In this team project the design of the sound effects were given to my colleague and he began to used Wave table synthesis to create the Foley sounds for the anime sequence.

I created the music progression and began composing in a simple key of C major and use a classical feel touch by using the following instruments. Legato strings, flute, plucked strings, harp Orchestral chimes. These instruments were referenced to the slow waltz-like sound from the reference track of Mami in the first video.

Cubase session

The key Signature of the piece is C major and throughout the piece it transitions to Ab major to give tension then resolves again to the C major. this adds mystique to the piece and gives the music.

Since my partner worked in Logic and I worked in Cubase we both mixed the final composition in ProTools after bouncing out to .wav files.

Final Deliverable

(The Anime Otaku, 2019)

Reflection

The piece went through a few iterations due to Alison changing the lenght of the piece several times. The saving grace was that we held regular weekly meetings and all changes were communicated early so that we could compose a new track for the following week. After working with an anime artist it is extremely important to have them lock down the length of the piece animation sequence as early as possible so to reduce the chance of rework in Foley and composition.

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References:

the Rebellion Story (Madoka Magica) - Transformation Sequence. (2014). [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-F2KhA1Y1Dk

Riot Games. (2017). A New Horizon | Star Guardian Ahri Animated Trailer - League of Legends [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-lx_1kgEjOk

The Anime Otaku. (2019). Cupid Dance Transformation [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/8DielSsLji8