“Working with David at Presto was a joy, not only did he portray the music so beautifully but he took the time to understand, study and care for the characters and the story". Case Study: Elegance Productions
We were approached by Elegance Productions, headed up by the highly talented writer/actress/producer team of Kerry Williams (The Be All and End All, Damaged Goods) and Tina Malone (Shameless) to provide the score for the feature film "Scotland Road", due to start production in 2013. In the run up to the main feature, Kerry had also written the script and screenplay for the heartbreaking short film "Aftermath". Directed by the renowned cinematographer Len Gowing, this powerful story depicts a couple trying to come to terms with the loss of their Son. The first production team meeting was emotionally harrowing as Kerry presented the script to help us truly get a feel for what was being put across within the film. Every nuance of every scene was looked at from a variety of viewpoints, culminating in Presto Director David A Jones presenting back initial themes to Kerry for critique. Such was the typical Presto immersion into the project and attention to detail in the initial meetings that the first draft of most of those themes made it to the final cut.
Of writing the score, David said "It was imperitive that the music reflected the impossible pain of such a horrendous loss, yet stayed far from melodrama. There are so many touching, tender moments within the piece that a fine balance between melodic beauty and musical subtlety had to be found. The interjection of score between dialogue was also of great interest to work with, ensuring that the music flowed appropriately to the tension/release and light/shade of the text." Check out the scene from 7:40 through to 9:00 to hear a wonderful example of this.
Kerry continues; “Working with David at Presto was a joy, not only did he portray the music so beautifully but he took the time to understand, study and care for the characters and the story. David's input really helped and the music he created complimented the dialogue superbly. This in turn enhanced the film, helping make those all-important and still moments in the piece much more meaningful and moving.”
Elegance had originally commissioned the score from David and Presto simply to assist with what was simply a showcase of the writing and production team, and in turn to raise the profile for "Scotland Road". Such was the power of "Aftermath" that it went on to be internationally acclaimed. We are proud to be asociated with Elegance, Kerry and her team, and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.
Journey 9
1We were approached by renowned cinematographer Len Gowing and ad agency Journey 9 to produce the style-specific music to accompany the new Jaguar XF and XJR commercial. The producers wanted a highly 'retro' feel to put the viewer firmly in the 70's. This was to contrast with the uplifting, motivational and more contemporary second half of the score which brought the viewer back to the present day. As with all our projects, we were more than happy to supply the producers with a couple of versions based on the projects brief so we could really bring their initial concept to life. We settled on a 70's 'folky' vibe, complete with a highly intimate, close mic'd approach to recording the guitar and percussion performances. This was juxtaposed with the dream-like ambient piano in the second half to hint subtly at key points of the music brief; distance, reaching and aspiration. The whole commercial was under the watchful eye of Hollywood Director Derrick Borte who was very pleased with the music we created.
Carbon Digital
2We were delighted to provide Carbon Digital with the soundtrack (score and SFX) to the trailer to their Sci-Fi concept 'Synapse'. Following an initial brief with Director Paul McHugh, we set to work on the tempo map, identifying the hit points and scoping out the important SFX. We pride ourselves on striking a clean balance between multilayered sonic depth and clarity of mix. Therefore it was important for us to create foley material that both complemented the score and sat appropriately within the soundstage, and likewise, the score needed to reflect the action, follow the tension, yet enfold the SFX track, not drown it. Right down to the ambience that each sound effect was treated with, our attention to detail was typically 'Presto'. For example, check out the subtle tiled laboratory distanced ambience of the scanner in the second shot, followed by the close mic positioning in the third shot. Also, listen to the 'in the head' positioning of the robots own analysis of the surroundings at 0.50. We also pride ourselves on our communications, our openness and our willingness to adapt, edit, rehash or indeed totally redo work if something is not right. We are proud of our work, but not precious. Following some really useful feedback from Paul, we pushed the score further, re-writing the penultimate scene and created more power to the 'knockout punch' shot. This greatly enhanced the dynamic flow of the piece, resulting in a more dramatic ending and a better result overall.