While I realize there are some huge Connor fans out there, this article is addressing the larger numbers that didn't seem to take to Connor from Assassin's Creed 3. I, personally, like Connor. Not as much as Ezio Auditore, but I did like him. Or maybe I liked his potential. I want to say that, clearly, Connor was unpopular since Ubisoft promised another Connor game if he was well received. However, I dispute the reveal of Edward Kenway as being a result of fan opinion. They had to be working on Edward long before fan feedback on Connor to launch Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag a year later, simple as that. Either they were thinking Connor wouldn't be popular, or they had no intention of bringing him back until further on down the line.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Music is everything sometimes. (I've had three hours of sleep.)
So, a friend recently convinced me to play the Mass Effect series.
I won't be discussing that in length right now, but I will say it has me reflecting once again on the importance of proper background music in various forms of media.
I'm a huge fan of background music that's correct for the scene you're witnessing. It can make or break a scene. If you have the wrong kind of music for a given scene, it really doesn't matter how the scene is performed. We're auditory as much as visual when it comes to our absorbing of information, and there's nothing worse than being thrown out of something because the mood was set wrong.
I think it offends people when they show me something they're very fond of and I say, "The music made that scene." I can see why, but I honestly mean it as a compliment! It gets very hard for me, individually, to watch scenes with mismatched background music. You don't set a comedic scene with a piano solo, and you don't set a melancholy or sad scene with anything that has a quick tempo. Well, I mean, you CAN, but it can honestly throw the scene.
Part of the reason I think music is so quick to throw me out of something, or pull me in quicker to a scene, is because I don't necessarily hear lyrics unless I try. This has admittedly gotten me in trouble in the past when people have tried to communicate feelings to me through music, and it's something I've gotten better with over time, but if you look at most the music I listen to frequently, there are no lyrics. Music helps me write, and I'd rather listen to the tune and what it's saying than words.
So, where does Mass Effect come in to this whole rambling nonsense of a post? Mass Effect 2, the music you hear during the final battle got me thinking about how wonderful video games tend to be these days with their music. Assassin's Creed really set the bar for me as a series, much of the music from series through Revelations being this perfect blend to the surroundings, sometimes being downright haunting. As I type this, I have the Jesper Kyd track 'Desmond Miles' playing, from AC: Brotherhood. This is the track that plays when you play as Desmond, frolicking around Monteriggioni.
I can't believe I actually spelled that right on the first try. Normally I butcher it. Go me.
But the final battle music for Mass Effect 2 had me revisiting the effectiveness of background music. Mass Effect 3 only perfected this in the series, and I can really appreciate it. I particularly love the piano tracks that you find through ME3. It's a such a sad theme (to me) and effectively used. This reoccurs throughout the game, but you can hear the first one just in the beginning of the game when Shepard is witnessing an event that seems to haunt him/her throughout the entire game. (See me not speak spoilers. Go me go. You know that's hard for me to do if you know me.)
Said friend showed me a video of a cutscene in the DLC "The Citadel" in the last couple of days. This is another prime example of how music makes a scene. I'll assume you know there's spoilers ahead:
Perfect music for the situation.
I'm all for music being picked to fit a scene deliberately horribly too. This seems like a weird statement, but I'll use Saints Row 4 as a good example. Nothing is serious in that game. It's a case of the devs lost their minds and are absolutely, 100% lacking apology for it. But they had a real composer step in and do some really amazing music (I'm not talking about the radio stations, the actual orchestra-backed tracks) that you wouldn't really associate with a game like that. And it fits! Despite the absolute madness going on, they managed to fit what would normally be completely unfit for that type of game.
Anyway, if you're someone who likes to write, or just have music that you can write movies to in your head, I do have some artists you ought to check out for music that is often found in movies, shows, trailers, even games from time to time.
Jesper Kyd (who has one independent album that I'm aware of)
The Immediate (also known as Immediate Music)
E.S. Posthumus
Two Steps From Hell
Epic Score
Max Richter
Brand X Music
Ludovico Einaudi
Outside of Max Richter and Ludovico Einaudi, these artists are in the 'epic' genre. Literally. These tracks are the sorts of pieces you hear most often in trailers, but also battle scenes and victory scenes, though they have very romantic tracks and whatnot. Two Steps From Hell has a particularly large amount of music, as they have released albums that specifically designate what kind of scenes they had in mind for the tracks within (comedy, youth, romantic, combinations thereof).
Ludovico Einaudi and Max Richter are classical composers whose music can often be found during tragic, romance-tragic, etc type scenes. Their music is quiet, sometimes haunting, and often features piano and strings.
Just remember, if someone sees a scene and all they do is comment on the music... unless they are clearly saying it with the tone of an asshole, they probably enjoyed the entire thing, but they're complimenting the thing that stood out the most to them and made it feel cohesive for them.
I won't be discussing that in length right now, but I will say it has me reflecting once again on the importance of proper background music in various forms of media.
I'm a huge fan of background music that's correct for the scene you're witnessing. It can make or break a scene. If you have the wrong kind of music for a given scene, it really doesn't matter how the scene is performed. We're auditory as much as visual when it comes to our absorbing of information, and there's nothing worse than being thrown out of something because the mood was set wrong.
I think it offends people when they show me something they're very fond of and I say, "The music made that scene." I can see why, but I honestly mean it as a compliment! It gets very hard for me, individually, to watch scenes with mismatched background music. You don't set a comedic scene with a piano solo, and you don't set a melancholy or sad scene with anything that has a quick tempo. Well, I mean, you CAN, but it can honestly throw the scene.
Part of the reason I think music is so quick to throw me out of something, or pull me in quicker to a scene, is because I don't necessarily hear lyrics unless I try. This has admittedly gotten me in trouble in the past when people have tried to communicate feelings to me through music, and it's something I've gotten better with over time, but if you look at most the music I listen to frequently, there are no lyrics. Music helps me write, and I'd rather listen to the tune and what it's saying than words.
So, where does Mass Effect come in to this whole rambling nonsense of a post? Mass Effect 2, the music you hear during the final battle got me thinking about how wonderful video games tend to be these days with their music. Assassin's Creed really set the bar for me as a series, much of the music from series through Revelations being this perfect blend to the surroundings, sometimes being downright haunting. As I type this, I have the Jesper Kyd track 'Desmond Miles' playing, from AC: Brotherhood. This is the track that plays when you play as Desmond, frolicking around Monteriggioni.
I can't believe I actually spelled that right on the first try. Normally I butcher it. Go me.
But the final battle music for Mass Effect 2 had me revisiting the effectiveness of background music. Mass Effect 3 only perfected this in the series, and I can really appreciate it. I particularly love the piano tracks that you find through ME3. It's a such a sad theme (to me) and effectively used. This reoccurs throughout the game, but you can hear the first one just in the beginning of the game when Shepard is witnessing an event that seems to haunt him/her throughout the entire game. (See me not speak spoilers. Go me go. You know that's hard for me to do if you know me.)
Said friend showed me a video of a cutscene in the DLC "The Citadel" in the last couple of days. This is another prime example of how music makes a scene. I'll assume you know there's spoilers ahead:
Perfect music for the situation.
I'm all for music being picked to fit a scene deliberately horribly too. This seems like a weird statement, but I'll use Saints Row 4 as a good example. Nothing is serious in that game. It's a case of the devs lost their minds and are absolutely, 100% lacking apology for it. But they had a real composer step in and do some really amazing music (I'm not talking about the radio stations, the actual orchestra-backed tracks) that you wouldn't really associate with a game like that. And it fits! Despite the absolute madness going on, they managed to fit what would normally be completely unfit for that type of game.
Anyway, if you're someone who likes to write, or just have music that you can write movies to in your head, I do have some artists you ought to check out for music that is often found in movies, shows, trailers, even games from time to time.
Jesper Kyd (who has one independent album that I'm aware of)
The Immediate (also known as Immediate Music)
E.S. Posthumus
Two Steps From Hell
Epic Score
Max Richter
Brand X Music
Ludovico Einaudi
Outside of Max Richter and Ludovico Einaudi, these artists are in the 'epic' genre. Literally. These tracks are the sorts of pieces you hear most often in trailers, but also battle scenes and victory scenes, though they have very romantic tracks and whatnot. Two Steps From Hell has a particularly large amount of music, as they have released albums that specifically designate what kind of scenes they had in mind for the tracks within (comedy, youth, romantic, combinations thereof).
Ludovico Einaudi and Max Richter are classical composers whose music can often be found during tragic, romance-tragic, etc type scenes. Their music is quiet, sometimes haunting, and often features piano and strings.
Just remember, if someone sees a scene and all they do is comment on the music... unless they are clearly saying it with the tone of an asshole, they probably enjoyed the entire thing, but they're complimenting the thing that stood out the most to them and made it feel cohesive for them.
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