What do you do when you're launching a Kickstarter campaign for a gorgeously-illustrated card game featuring overpowered weapons like the Hammer of the Gods, a Kaijumaximus, or a *shudders* Most...Cuddly...Rabbit?
You add some epic music to that pitch, of course!
One Hit Kill ended up being a very successful Kickstarter project, with 1,951 backers donating more than $76,000 to see John August's card game come to life (and of course to be able to play it themselves).
For the score, I had to accomplish two goals:
- 1.) Start big. Epic. Lord of the Rings. Mahler Hammers! Choirs! Horn Rips! Oh my god!
- 2.) Bring it the heck down. The rest of the video is pretty quirky and cute.
On paper this sounds a little...schizophrenic. But sometimes composers have to quickly change the scale of a piece and give themselves a little bit of, well, whiplash.
Mahler Hammers!
Quirky and cu-- OK, bad example.
Bridging the gap between these two musical feelings is an important part of composing for media. Whether it's a feature, a short, or a Kickstarter pitch, you have to let the content guide you. In many ways, a film or game composer is never without a muse. The media is always there, inspiring the composer, and whispering in her ear to transition to this feeling or that feeling.
And sometimes the muse doesn't whisper at all.
Definitely a quote from this movie.
If you'd like to watch the One Hit Kill Kickstarter pitch, you can check it out here.