Production Blog: Selecting Music For Our Opening Sequence

Production Blog: Music Selection

    Hello blog welcome back! This is Anthony Villegas and today we will be discussing our music choice for our opening sequence. Based on my research and knowledge of the film industry from my observations, most kidnappers tend to have multiple reasons to "justify" their actions like revenge or interest most of the time looking for a rescue price. In most cases, I have observed that most kidnappers in movies all seem to be insane and have certain behaviors that are unusual and seem to be insane just based on their actions. I believe that music is something extremely important in people's lives as well as in a film! I like to listen to multiple types of genres which makes this task satisfactory to complete. I think being a thriller I want to avoid the common Jaws soundtrack as well as songs that are fast with a lot of bass. I want the song on the scene to be played by the kidnapper as he commits his crime. I want to make sure to not use a popular song that many people know or a song that is loud/scary but doesn't match the essence of the film. For that, I put my headphones in and look up songs that talk about moving on feet or anything on the lines that can be related to the film as the audience observes it. Now I am looking for a song that is also not as popular so I decided to avoid songs made after the early 2000's. After searching "Run" and "Chase" on my Apple Music I kept an eye out for older songs I did not know myself. After listening to multiple songs I was able to come across a song that grabbed my attention right away. Well, the song is said to be the first ever released by Flanagan & Allen in the 1930's. The song has a particular sound that caught my attention due to how rare it is. The lyrics of this which I think are perfect in this scenario mention a third person singing to a rabbit telling him to run away from the hunter and his gun which he is willing to use for fun and in the look of a rabbit pie. The song is about an indefensible rabbit being chased and it sounds like such a calm song. The song can be interpreted in different ways depending on the context given to the listener. Playing such a calm song that can be badly interpreted being played while there is a kidnapper I think it definitely gives a message to the audience and causes a thrill on what will happen next. Now if the kidnapper himself is playing it as he commits the abduction I believe it can have a stronger meaning in the song itself terrorizing whoever gets to hear this. Not only that but the song takes place on a Friday as well as the abductions that will occur on a "Friday the 13th" on 13th street which I think connects everything. At first, the opening sequence will be simple then as things get eventful and violent as the victim drops the phone the song will start transitioning to the audio. The volume will then rise again because we get the shot of the kidnapper putting the volume up. The kidnapper does this just not to hear whoever is in the trunk as he "runs" which in my opinion gives a dark twisted meaning to such an innocent old song. The song will be the cherry on top for the opening sequence. The song lyrics are below for reference. Thank you for your time have a great day!