1. Introduction and Proposed Project
Introduction & Proposed Project
For this module I am collaborating with a film student to create a short documentary about an individual’s experience with cancer. The documentary will illustrate the life of Kate Nicholas and her journey with breast cancer (Alex pope, 2025), with me producing background music to accompany it.
When composing, I will aim to utilize the method of “documentary scoring” to enhance the story, guide audience emotion and support the narrative (Amon Warmann, 2025) to match the emotional themes present in the documentary. It is important for me to employ this method as music can offer a tool for emotional regulation and facilitate a cathartic release of emotions, leading to emotional cleansing (Jill Suttie, 2022). Because music has a profound effect on its listeners, the documentary and its music will provide companionship and catharsis to those individuals in a similar situation to Kate Nicholas.
Initial Research – More about Breast Cancer
A paper on breast cancer statistics cites that it is the leading cancer affecting women all over the world. Research within the book shows that incidences of it is on the rise, where the mortality rate is not decreasing as rapidly as diagnoses occur, sitting at circa 11,500 deaths each year in the UK (Ahmad A, 2019).
Personnel
Ben Goslin-Davis – Sound Designer & Composer: Third Year Music Production student with previous experience of composition to visual media
Alex Pope – Director: Third Year Film student who connects well to the documentary as they have a grandad with cancer.
Kate Nicholas – Interviewee: Christian Author, broadcaster and preacher. Wrote two books about her experiences with breast cancer
(Kate Nicholas, 2025) (see images 0.1 & 0.2).
(Kate Nicholas, 2025)
(Kate Nicholas, 2025)
2. Methodology and Rationale
Rationale and Ethicality
During my degree, I have released fourteen tracks onto my SoundCloud featuring upbeat, down tempo, electronic, acoustic and ambient music styles. I have a great passion for ambient music as it can allow for deep reflection and a sense of voyage, with Brian Ferry citing that “it is music that heals” (Ryan Hooper, 2020). These attributes relate to the documentaries purpose, as ambient music could facilitate deep reflection into the immense impact of having breast cancer. This supports the ethical sensitivity of the topic, addressing and maintaining dignity for the pain that Kate Nicholas went through with her diagnosis.
Methodology
I will briefly list the process of creating the project from earlier this year:
– Receiving brief & Idea Generation: When I received the brief, I had an initial idea to collaborate with someone to create a music visualiser for my music. However, I discovered that I would have struggled to find a collaborator who would create the music visualiser in the exact way that I was thinking of.
I then reached out to people who I knew were on arts/film courses at various universities and asked whether they would want to collaborate on a project where I could make backing music for them. I discovered Alex Pope, who was a 3rd year student in film making who said he had a project “that we could deffo team up on” (See image 1).
Research: When I knew what the documentary was about, I did research into the topic of breast cancer and Kate Nicholas. I also looked at similar documentaries which had the same emotional seriousness to decide what genre/type of music would fit best.
Recording: When I decided on what genre to make for the documentary, I recorded piano and drafted up some demos for the track. All piano recording sessions were made in the Leeds Conservatoire studios, using two AKG C414 microphones.
Editing & Mixing: I will collate all the recordings I made (which is roughly 2 hours long) and edit them together to produce a seamless track, fitting with the different sections of the documentary. Using Logic Pro X, I will layer in any additional elements like MIDI synths and samples to add variation to the current main idea of the ambient piano. I will primarily be using the effect of reverb to add a sense of atmosphere, enhancing the mood and ambience of the piece.
Final Delivery: When I have made the final product, I will send my composition and the documentary to the director for their approval three days before their deadline for doing their film. If they say that they want me to work on it further, I will do so but if not then that’s good.
Communication
My main mode of communication between myself and the director has been through discord (see images 3, 4 & 5).
3. Market Analysis
Market Analysis
The purpose of this documentary is to bring about companionship and catharsis for individuals who are going through a similar situation to what Kate Nicholas had experienced. The documentary could be aimed at certain health charities like Cancer Research UK & Breast Cancer Haven; with it featuring on those websites as a good example on an individual’s own journey with cancer. Furthermore, the documentary could be shown in community screenings to show people the reality of living with cancer and signify to them why it is good to get tested early. Finally, it can be used in educational contexts like universities & schools to shed light on what cancer is and what it is like living with it.
Market/Target Audience
The documentary is part of a growing trend called “micro-documentaries”, which are short, 5-15 min impactful films designed for modern viewers in a world of fleeting attention spans (Abigail Fisher, 2025). Watching a “micro-documentary” means that viewers can watch it without it taking much time out of their day, fitting into a busy schedule.
4. Costs and Budgeting
Time
Communication – 1 hour total
Travel – 5 hours total
Recording – 11 hours total
Mixing – 7 hours
Editing – 8 hours
Total = 32 hours total spent on project
Hypothetical Budget/Potential Funding
Recording & Mixing – According to pirate studios, recording & mixing studios can be booked out for a rate of £9 an hour (Pirate Studios, 2025). This means that for the 18 hours total that I would spend recording and mixing the track, I would need to spend £162 on paying for the recording and mixing studios.
Editing – Since the minimum wage in the UK is £12.21 for working adults (gov.uk, 2025) I will charge a minimum freelance rate of £13 per hour, meaning it would cost £104 to edit the track (as I do not need to book out any studios for this). I would additionally charge the same rate for my work on recording and mixing, which would come to £234.
Cost of microphones – When recording piano, I aim to use a stereo pair of C414 microphones, which would both cost £1,766 (Thomann, 2025).
Cost of travel – I would use buses as my mode of travel between my home and recording studios. I expect to make 6 journeys on the bus (each costing £2.50 per journey) which would total to £15 for travel.
The total cost for the project would be £2,281 (see image 6).
5. Influences
Here are some composers that I take inspiration from when composing the work for this project:
Kris Bowers – (scored Oscar nominated short-documentary A Concierto is a Conversation and the Oscar winning short film The Last Repair Shop.
(Sydney Levine, 2021)
Matt Loveridge – Scored Above The Troubled Water, nominated for Best Music at theinternational sound film music festival.
(Matt Loveridge, 2022)
6. Contingency/Risk Assessment (see image 7)
7. Potential for Development
As I have not created music for a documentary before, this project will give me more confidence and experience in creating music for documentaries and films. This will advance collaborations with other film makers that I work with in the future.
During the process of making the track for the documentary, I have learnt a lot about breast cancer and how major illnesses can affect normal people in a profound way. In addition, I have also increased my soft skills in how to collaborate with a film maker to make a high-quality documentary. I now know that I should extensively research into the subject matter before beginning to compose a piece of music.
8. Evaluation Viability
The direction for this project has been greatly supported by early research that I undertook, helping me to fully understand the nature of the documentary. All of the feedback that I gained from my presentation supports the notion that my project is viable (see image 8).
With this evidence here from the form that I made, will conclude that my project is feasible and viable.
Piano demo for project
9. Presentation
10. Bibliography
Frozen River Film Festival (2024). Frozen River Film Festival. [online] Frozen River Film Festival. Available at: https://frff.org/blog/the-rise-of-micro-documentaries-small-films-big-impact [Accessed 5 Dec. 2025].
GOV.UK (2025). National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage Rates. [online] GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates [Accessed 11 Dec. 2025].
Hooper, R. (2020). Ambient Is My Drug: Discovering the Power of Space and Place In Music. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/cambium/ambient-is-my-drug-discovering-the-power-of-space-and-place-in-music-475ae6058842 [Accessed 4 Dec. 2025].
Levine, S. (2021). Oscar© 2020 Nomination for Short Documentary Film: ‘A Concerto is a Conversation’ by Ben Proudfoot…. [online] Medium. Available at: https://blogs.sydneysbuzz.com/a-concerto-is-a-conversation-e428b619b933 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2025].
Loveridge, M. (2021). Above The Troubled Water | Matt Loveridge Composer – Film & TV Bristol, UK. [online] Matt Loveridge Composer. Available at: https://mattloveridgecomposer.com/above-the-troubled-water [Accessed 6 Dec. 2025].
Nicholas, K. (2017). Kate Nicholas. [online] Katenicholas.co.uk. Available at: https://www.katenicholas.co.uk/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2025].
Pirate Studios (2025). [online] Pirate.com. Available at: https://book.pirate.com/?site=leeds-kirkstall-industrial-park&filter_studio_type=3&studio_type=8&date=2025-12-10&time=10&duration=4 [Accessed 7 Dec. 2025].
Pope, A. (2025). Production File – Semester 1 Film. pp.1–7.
Spitfireaudio.com. (2024). Kathryn Bostic Navigates Between Scoring Documentaries & Feature Films. [online] Available at: https://composer.spitfireaudio.com/en/articles/kathryn-bostic-navigates-between-scoring-documentaries-feature-films [Accessed 1 Dec. 2024].
Suttie, J. (2022). Why Listening to Sad Music Makes You More Sensitive. [online] Greater Good. Available at: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_listening_to_sad_music_makes_you_more_sensitive [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
Thomann (2017). AKG C414 XLII Stereo Set. [online] Musikhaus Thomann. Available at: https://www.thomann.co.uk/akg_c414_xlii_stereo_set.htm?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1581403909&gbraid=0AAAAADuDMCXa7kN5yTlyt-mquLu4Rsi-I&gclid=CjwKCAiA0eTJBhBaEiwA-Pa-hVow0jf5wIonsS8WSQpFy_fUBrZaMflYEg5c5l1NOblSDHQsncFbghoCujwQAvD_BwE [Accessed 8 Dec. 2025].
Zaatar, M.T., Alhakim, K., Enayeh, M. and Tamer, R. (2023). The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health, [online] 35(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100716.
