This score was actually the first one in the series I completed. It was the second in production, and musically I was heading in a rather esoteric direction on The Witches Prison score. On that score I was aiming to build all the sounds out of animal sounds and in direct contrast, when I saw the visuals for this episode I decided to go for something a bit more traditional, a fundamentally strings based score.
There are a few main themes in this episode, that of the woods, the apparition and the boys themselves. As the story is mainly based around the forest, I decided to keep the score as organic as my style allows. In the most tenuous way, stringed instruments are made of wood… and that was enough, in my mind, to make this at least a tangible connection within which to base the instrumentation.
In opposition to this, the evil presence in the forest is played through sharp blasts of brass, which separate it from the organic woodiness of the strings, yet the beating ‘wood-like’ drum that underpins the theme also keeps it within the same arboreal soundscape. Apart from the dreamlike tuned percussion and the pads that emanate from them, the only other substantial instrumentation is that of a rattling noise. This was inspired by the stratospherically detuned guitars of Meshuggah on the Catch 33 album.
I’ll pick out some of the themes from the episode here in more detail:
Amongst the Trees
This is the theme of the forest. I wanted to make it sound expansive, but also small at the same time with a building sense of oppression. The main theme builds from a string quartet at 0:30, and then as the sound fills out it takes on a thicker texture like that of a deepening forest. The second half of the theme which begins at 1:11 introduces a sound that mirrors the creaking of old trees. As the theme comes to an end, the texture thickens and also adds in some randomness in the string articulations to give that sensation of being lost in amongst the trees.
Enter the Forest
This is the theme of mischief and wonder. The forest is not immediately ‘scary’ and this theme bridges the gap between it being a source of adventure and then becoming more sinister. You can hear the contrasts between the two halves of the track, but the overarching theme is that of detachment and that the whole soundscape feels otherwordly and dreamlike.
He Rises
The apparition’s theme, starting off with the same instrumentation found in that of the forest and initially sharing the same melody (beginning at 0:18). As the strings mutate more and more it eventually erupts into brass, separating it from the forest’s soundscape and making it feel more immediately threatening amongst the dreamlike distant feel of the rest of the score. This theme is purposely the most ‘in your face’ sonically, and all the other cues in the episode sound rather muffled and distant by comparison. Underpinning the whole phrase is the sound of church bells, forming a pad-like sound. The centre of the story is around a church in the forest and this seemed to be a great way of merging the soundscapes together.
Ending Scenes
The main focus of the episode is that of friendship and this is the culmination of that theme. All of the instrumentation from the other themes is here, but noticeably the dark church bells are absent. The playful whimsical tone, tinged with nostalgia brings the episode to a conclusion.
Production Company : Eleven Film Ltd
Director : Gareth Tunley
Executive Producers : Jamie Campbell, Alex Marengo, Joel Wilson
Sound Mix : Greg Gettens (Molinare)
Music Composition : Jack Matthias