Project Overview

For my collaborative assignment, I worked on two separate projects involving music composition and production for visual media. One short film, and one video game. The short film, titled “Looking Like Elena”, came to my attention through a mixing event at Leeds Beckett. The producer, Miguel Arroyo, approached me after I introduced myself as a classical guitarist. We exchanged numbers and I was asked to compose an original soundtrack. The film follows a young man who is troubled by his resemblance with his deceased aunt, grappling with his identity as he clears out her apartment. The film explores themes of masculinity, identity, and grief. My role was to enhance these themes in a musical way through the use of spanish inspired guitar and ambient textures, ensuring that I complemented the emotional themes explored in the film.

For the video game, the creator, Nico Clack, is a personal friend of mine. He created the game back in 2023, and after mentioning my collaborative assignment, he expressed interest in remastering the game with a new score. It’s a 3d platformer that allows you to change the direction of gravity. After the games main character, Jorvix, was thrown out of orbit into an abandoned lab, your mission is to recover the parts of the space ship to send them back on their way to his home planet, Buonia, of which he is the protector. The design and gameplay is minimal and linear, and so a minimal approach to songwriting and production is appropriate. The emotional tones I set out to create were mystery, isolation, tension, and curiosity. My role was to enhance these themes with appropriate compositional and production techniques, utilising ambient soundscapes and atmospheric textures.

Biography

I am qualified for both of these roles as I am a competent Classical Guitar player, and have experience making ambient music. These collaborators chose me for these reasons.

Panopto Video – Final Product (10-12 Mins)

Chronological Monthly Diary

Looking Like Elena Diary:

November 2025:

27th: I attended a mixer event where I met Miguel Arroyo (producer) and Amelie Ellis (director).

28th: Miguel shared the film’s pitch, and directors vision (Appendix A)

29th: Miguel shares some inspirations for the score.

December 2025:

2nd: Met up with Amelie and Miguel to discuss demos, references, and OneDrive access.

January 2026:

6th: I sent Miguel a track to demonstrate my skills as a composer/producer, it was well recieved. (Appendix B)

29th: We meet at a cafe in Leeds to discuss the track I sent. They liked the instruments and soundscapes but hoped for something a little darker in terms of composition.

30th: Miguel sent me the film script. It helped me to better understand the emotional tone I was assigned with creating.

March 2026:

1st and 2nd: Sent Amelie a demo of the first song. It was met with positive feedback (Appendix C).

4th: I had a phone call with the editor, Frankie. Discussed direction of second song. (Appendix D).

10th-22nd: Recording process for first song began. I had difficulties.

23rd: I sent Frankie the song, which he was happy with, as was Amelie and Miguel. (Appendix E).

April 2026:

4th-12th: Communication difficulties arose as I struggled to get a response for how long they wanted the second song to be.

16th: I recorded a demo synced to the first draft of the film, just for my own reference. It worked nicely.

17th: I recorded the second song in studio 116. Mixed it over the next few days.

19th: I added the song to the OneDrive.

28th: Amelie didn’t provide Feedback until 9 days later, some of which I didn’t understand very well. I requested a phone call for Saturday May the 2nd, which didn’t end up happening despite me reminding her. (Appendix F).

May 2026:

5th: I took initiative myself and tried to adjust the song despite not understanding her feedback very well. Mastered both tracks.

11th: Miguel sent me the final cut.

Gravity’s Great Betrayal:

November 2025:

Informal chats happened regarding the collaboration around this time, discussing genre’s and influences. We spoke in person about potential influences.

April 2026:

27th: I sent Nico a draft to the title screen of the game. Met with good feedback. (Appendix G).

May 2026:

2nd: I sent Nico the game’s main level theme. He sent some constructive feedback (Appendix H).

5th: I revised the theme based on his feedback.

8th: Nico shared that he had added a new animation to the start of the game (Appendix I).

Evidence of Planning/Process

Up until March the collaboration was strong, with us regularly exchanging ideas and demos through WhatsApp, and OneDrive. The original plan for the short film was to complete the majority of the composition work by March so there would be enough time for revisions and mixing. However, this was difficult as I encountered communication problems with both the editor and the director. More specifically I had trouble receiving responses from them. I had to estimate a time for the second track, and I couldn’t get clarification on the feedback received on the second track, I tried to arrange a phone call, but it didn’t end up happening due to her lack of cooperation, so I had to take a guess at what she meant (Appendix F). This delayed the whole process by over a month. I have made two gant charts detailing the planned critical path vs actual critical path, respectively (Appendix K).

Recording the first guitar composition was challenging. Because the song wasn’t recorded to a click, I had to get it in one take as comping would be too difficult and unnatural. I also struggled to get an audio capture I was satisfied with, experimenting with multiple microphones and positions. This led to me doing four recording sessions in studio 116.

In contrast to the short film project, the video game soundtrack involved much less careful and formal planning. The collaborator was a close friend of mine, so communication was much more casual and less stressful. Initial discussions about what the game’s music should reflect and sound like took place in person or on video call. Most of the production work and evidenced discussions took place in the final few weeks before the submission deadline.

Despite the shorter timeline, the project progressed quickly due to the relatively minimal nature of the soundtrack. The music comprised of atmospheric synthesisers and looping textures rather than using real instruments in recording sessions. It helped that the soundtrack was a genre I was much more familiar with when comparing to the short film soundtrack.

Risk Analysis:

Risks included: delayed feedback, recording issues, creative disagreement. Contingencies: taking initiative despite delayed feedback, multiple booking sessions and microphone testing, reference tracks and regular progress updates.

SWOT:

Strengths: Classical Guitar Skills, experience in ambient music, clear artistic vision

Weaknesses: Lack of experience recording guitar, communication dependency on collaborators

Opportunities: Future game soundtrack work, expanding into professional composition

Threats: Delays from collaborators, tight deadlines.

Reference Material/Inspiration

The reference material for Looking Like Elena was mainly through Miguel’s references, in particular, the music for a Spanish short film trailer. The piece consisted of arpeggiated guitar chords in a majority minor key. It was very fast and slightly outside of my skillset. I adapted this technique into track 1, although the arpeggiated chords in my track were slower. I contacted my old classical guitar teacher in December to re familiarise myself with classical guitar techniques. The second track in Looking Like Elena is adapted from the first track. It features the same chord structure, but the time signature is 3/4 instead of 4/4. The inspiration for the riff and the synths was “Sea Possession” by Sea Oleena. I also spent my free time listening to many artists who specialise in classical guitar composition, including: Mason Williams, Paco De Lucia, and Vincente Amigo.

The reference material for Gravity’s Great Betrayal came from a combination of my own references and some references shared by Nico. I knew early on that the genre should be ambient music to compliment the minimalistic visual aesthetic of the game, and there’s some interesting research that study the effect ambient music has on video games.It’s been shown through research that Ambient sounds help create a more realistic and cohesive game world, supporting deeper involvement in gameplay. It also shows that ambient sounds can enhance a player’s sense of flow and overall enjoyment, (Haehn et al., 2024). I took inspiration from a few C418 songs like “Blind Spots” and “Death” both of which focus on piano alongside ambient textures. I also took inspiration from Aphex Twin songs like “Rhubarb” and “Stone in Focus” which are much more ambient focused, relying heavily on long, sustained ambient textures. Nico sent me “Violations of Order” from the Licorice Recoil soundtrack. The first track, which accompanies the title screen, leans more towards the influences of Aphex Twin with it’s long drawn-out ambient pads. The second track, is more C418 inspired, as it contains ambient pads, piano melodies, drums and sound effects.

Use of Technology

I used Logic Pro X to compose, record, produce, and master all the tracks involved in this assignment, as it’s the DAW I am most familiar with. I used a combination of recorded audio, MIDI instruments, programmed synthesis, and sampled drums.

The main focal point of the Looking Like Elena soundtrack was the guitar. I used my own classical guitar for the recording. As mentioned previously I recorded the first track in four separate recording sessions, with the first 3 being failed attempts due to performance issues and not getting the desired audio capture. I recorded with an AKG C414 set to cardioid the first 3 times I went in. I used the C414 with the cardioid pattern. It is commonly used in close-miking acoustic instruments, as it’s directional polar pattern helps to isolate the sound source and reduce the capture of room reflections (Huber and Runstein, 2012). I initially tried recording with the microphone positioned 12 inches away from the 12th fret as this location produces a clear transient response (Albano, 2022), but I found that the recording sounded too mid range focused and lacked the punch and dynamics required of a classical guitar piece. The next two recordings I recorded it 6 inches away from the 12th fret but found it much too low frequency heavy, due to the proximity effect that comes with cardoid microphones. On the fourth recording session, I decided to switch to a Neumann KM184 as it generally has a better off axis response compared to large diaphragm condensers. It also picks up plucking and picking sounds due to it’s fast transient response (Neumann, n.d.). I achieved the sound I wanted by placing it 12 inches from the 12th fret, enhancing the clarity in the mid range frequencies, and giving a more balanced tonal response. I used my own scarlett 2i2 interface to record my guitar. All the microphones were acquired from Leeds Conservatoire. (Appendix L).

To mix the guitar recordings, I used EQ to reduce muddy low frequencies and enhanced clarity in the mid and high frequencies. I also used a light compressor to control dynamic inconsistencies whilst preserving the natural expression of the composition. ChromaVerb was also used subtly to create a sense of space in the guitar recordings (Appendix M).

A problem I encountered when comping the guitar takes for the second track in Looking Like Elena was it often created a popping sound. I combatted this by using the fade in tool to eliminate this sound.

I wrote the second track synced to the short film. And during the parts of the film where there is dialogue, I played the guitar quieter and quietened the volume of the synth and bass using automation. This didn’t work in my favour as they decided to sync it differently, this part of the song appears during the credit instead of the dialogue. This can be seen from bar 414 to 468 (Appendix N).

The mixing for Gravity’s Great Betrayal was focused on atmosphere. So echo effects and long reverbs were applied to pads and melodies to create a strong sense of space.

For the synths in both projects I used Retro Synth to create bass, pad, and ambient textures. These were used to support the harmonic structure and atmosphere. Simple synthesis techniques were used to shape the tone of the synth. I used filter cutoff and envelope settings to control the brightness and articulation, ensuring the synth complemented the composition appropriately. I also made a white noise synth for the main level track in Gravity’s Great Betrayal to create a “helicopter” type of sound, using automation to adjust the cutoff (Appendix O).

I used the Steinway Grand Piano midi preset in Logic for the piano in both video game tracks, I personally feel as though it is too loud in the main level theme but Nico requested I make it louder. I used an echo plugin here, adapted from C418’s “Blind Spots”.

Nico asked for some sound effects that sounded “sciencey”, I acquired a drip sound effect, and an electricity short circuit sound effect from YouTube. I processed these using ChromaVerb with a long decay time (Appendix P).

Panning and volume balacing was applied to both projects to ensure certain pads or motifs weren’t being overcrowded in the mix.

Evaluation

Evaluation of Product

Overall, I believe both projects were successful and I demonstrated my ability to compose and produce music for collaborative visual media. The soundtrack for Looking Like Elena successfully supported the film’s themes of grief, identity and masculinity through Spanish Inspired classical guitar and appropriate synthesis. Creating an intimate atmosphere across both compositions. Although, the sound design on their end wasn’t the best because background noise can be heard throughout the entirety of both my tracks in the film.

I’m pleased with the guitar compositions given the challenges I faced recording them. The ambient synth textures helped to modernise the sound without losing its traditional charm.

Peer feedback reinforced my satisfaction with the final product. I asked my peers whether the music supported the emotional tone of the film, 100% of respondents said yes. I also asked for areas of improvement, which I received mixed responses for. One respondent, noticed my guitar was slightly out of tune. This was tricky to fix, as I tuned my B string down to an A, and when playing bar chords, that string always went slightly sharp. Going forward I will avoid alternative tunings (Appendix Q).

The Gravity’s Great Betrayal soundtrack captured the intended ambient and minimalist atmosphere successfully. The contrast between the uplifting atmospheric title screen and the slightly moodier melodic level theme worked well, and allowed me to experiment with synthesis and sound design. If I was given more time, I would have expanded the soundtrack further, and the developer is continuing to work on the game, which should give me more opportunities to further develop my skillset.

Evaluation of Process

The Looking Like Elena collaboration started strong, early meetings with Miguel and Amelie established a clear artistic direction for me. But communications later on became less consistent and more frustrating. This caused delays in feedback and uncertainty around song durations. Despite this, I adapted well and maintained professionalism throughout.

There was difficulties when recording the first guitar piece. It required four different recording sessions due to performance issues and capture issues. This was frustrating, but it improved my understanding of microphone placement and session preparation, ending in clearer final recordings.

The process for Gravity’s Great Betrayal was much more informal, with casual communication and a shorter timeline. This gave me more creative freedom, but less opportunity for revision. Although, he didn’t loop it very efficiently

Both projects helped me to develop my understanding of collaborations, project management and production techniques.

Bibliography

Haehn, L., Schlittmeier, S., Böffel., C (2024) ‘Exploring the Impact of Ambient and Character Sounds on Player Experience in Video Games’. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/2/583

Huber, D.M. and Runstein, R.E. (2012) Modern Recording Techniques. Available at: https://archive.org/details/modernrecordingt01hube

Neumann (n.d.) KM 184 – Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone. Available at: https://www.neumann.com/en-us/products/microphones/km-184-series-180

Albano, J. (2022). A guitar miking primer for acoustic guitars. Recording Magazine. Available at: https://www.recordingmag.com/resources/recording-info/mics-miking/acoustic-guitar-miking/?utm_source=chatgpt.com