Garrett Owen - The Bell Tolls

Garrett Owen - The Bell Tolls

Abstract

When looking to score modern film, or media of any type, the combination of multiple styles will often be more impactful and unique as the sum rather than as its parts. To provide an example of this principle, this paper will conduct a deep dive into a scene from Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022) and how a score composed of both orchestral and uncommon electronic elements elevates the emotions and heightens the tension of the source material. The scene selected for my culminating experience follows two characters: Puss in Boots, a cat with an over-confident desire of pursuing his heroic nature, and Death, a physical and symbolic manifestation of Puss’ fleeting mortality. The music for this scene needed to provide a variety of emotions: ominousness, heroism, danger, and hopelessness. To do this, I used a variety of compositional techniques, both orchestral and electronic. Everything from romantic style to contemporary orchestral writing, from a creeping electronica to a blasting of metal drums, were used to convey the wide array of emotions the scene provides. There are multiple moods and feelings throughout the cue, which is part of the reason I chose to write for it in the first place. The story of the scene transitions from ominous to heroic, ultimately ending on a huge finale of overwhelming fear. This forces the music to be crafted in such a way that sways from one end of the pendulum to the other, keeping a sense of constancy as to not disorient the audience. This paper will explain how exactly I was able to follow this rollercoaster of a scene and do so while combining some of my favorite aspects of music into a single, unforgettable experience in London and beyond.

Publication Date

7-1-2026

Campus

Valencia (Spain) Campus

Keywords

Horror; Hybrid; Orchestral; Animated; Rescore

Garrett Owen - The Bell Tolls

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