# Disney Pixar's short film 'Presto' - Rescore



## Aeonata (Nov 12, 2015)

Hey!

I decided that I need some practice in animation/cartoon scoring, so I rescored the Disney Pixar's short movie 'Presto'. I think it's one of their best and funniest short films!

It's the first animation movie I ever scored, so at times it was quite challenging for me to synch my musical ideas with the picture. I didn't hear the original before (I muted the original audio), and I'm glad I didn't because this may have influenced me. So I did it 'my way' and I guess I've chosen a rather unusual approach for a cartoon score, as I tried to come up with a few themes and motives and reuse material throughout the whole piece.



I added in some of the original Sound FX/Foley afterwards, mainly to see how my score would work in combination with some FX.

Anyway, constructive feedback would be highly appreciated!

Thanks!

P.S: The original movie can be watched here


----------



## XiphiasAudio (Nov 12, 2015)

Hey, really loved the Mickey mousing done here!
Whistling at the start, such a nice touch xD

Out of curiosity, how long did it take to write this particular piece? (Without the SFX)


----------



## lumcas (Nov 12, 2015)

loving it!!!


----------



## jacobthestupendous (Nov 12, 2015)

Very good!


----------



## tav.one (Nov 12, 2015)

Totally loved it, you're very talented.


----------



## Cass Hansen (Nov 14, 2015)

You really have an artistic flair when it comes to orchestrating animation. Your rendering is flawless and the mixing was professional to my ears. Animation, especially animation without words, is extremely difficult because it’s not only providing the music soundtrack but the dynamic feel of all the gesticulations of the animated characters and reactions to what’s happening on screen. I think you handled this very well. 

It felt “flat” for me in a few situations though and this is all subjective of course but maybe you can see where I’m coming from. For instance when his fingers get snapped by the mousetrap there should of probably been an accent in the score, or when he hammers the carrot to death on the table, maybe some short “hammer” like/short attack sounds in the orchestration, but not necessarily percussion, just percussive in nature. But the moment I notice the most was the climax, the piano hitting the stage. I should “feel” the vibration of the impact at that precise moment, but a came a second later when he stood on one foot, ( which by the way I liked a lot.) However, most of the time you combined action and music perfectly, such as when the magician comes into his dressing room and he licks his thumb and wipes his tongue, shuts the door and furtively looks back. That whole scene was stellar. Guess what I’m saying is that it takes lots of thought with animation to get it right and except for some minor instances, you were superb at it. Just my thoughts on how I perceived it, take it or leave it.

Overall though, excellent work. The actual music was delightful and kept in character with the subject. Much impressed!

Cass


----------



## dan1 (Nov 14, 2015)

i cried


----------



## tav.one (Nov 14, 2015)

Cass Hansen said:


> You really have an artistic flair when it comes to orchestrating animation. Your rendering is flawless and the mixing was professional to my ears. Animation, especially animation without words, is extremely difficult because it’s not only providing the music soundtrack but the dynamic feel of all the gesticulations of the animated characters and reactions to what’s happening on screen. I think you handled this very well.
> 
> It felt “flat” for me in a few situations though and this is all subjective of course but maybe you can see where I’m coming from. For instance when his fingers get snapped by the mousetrap there should of probably been an accent in the score, or when he hammers the carrot to death on the table, maybe some short “hammer” like/short attack sounds in the orchestration, but not necessarily percussion, just percussive in nature. But the moment I notice the most was the climax, the piano hitting the stage. I should “feel” the vibration of the impact at that precise moment, but a came a second later when he stood on one foot, ( which by the way I liked a lot.) However, most of the time you combined action and music perfectly, such as when the magician comes into his dressing room and he licks his thumb and wipes his tongue, shuts the door and furtively looks back. That whole scene was stellar. Guess what I’m saying is that it takes lots of thought with animation to get it right and except for some minor instances, you were superb at it. Just my thoughts on how I perceived it, take it or leave it.
> 
> ...



I learned the Art of giving Feedback from your post.


----------



## dan1 (Nov 15, 2015)

what patches used?? what tools used for reverb& panning/space?


----------



## Aeonata (Nov 15, 2015)

XiphiasAudio said:


> Hey, really loved the Mickey mousing done here!
> Whistling at the start, such a nice touch xD
> 
> Out of curiosity, how long did it take to write this particular piece? (Without the SFX)



Thank you! Hmm, hard to say as I worked on it mainly in my spare time/between projects. I would say about 8-9 days in total? But I'm not sure, it could have been more.



lumcas said:


> loving it!!!





jacobthestupendous said:


> Very good!





itstav said:


> Totally loved it, you're very talented.



Thank you guys, I'm glad you enjoyed it!



Cass Hansen said:


> You really have an artistic flair when it comes to orchestrating animation. Your rendering is flawless and the mixing was professional to my ears. Animation, especially animation without words, is extremely difficult because it’s not only providing the music soundtrack but the dynamic feel of all the gesticulations of the animated characters and reactions to what’s happening on screen. I think you handled this very well.
> 
> It felt “flat” for me in a few situations though and this is all subjective of course but maybe you can see where I’m coming from. For instance when his fingers get snapped by the mousetrap there should of probably been an accent in the score, or when he hammers the carrot to death on the table, maybe some short “hammer” like/short attack sounds in the orchestration, but not necessarily percussion, just percussive in nature. But the moment I notice the most was the climax, the piano hitting the stage. I should “feel” the vibration of the impact at that precise moment, but a came a second later when he stood on one foot, ( which by the way I liked a lot.) However, most of the time you combined action and music perfectly, such as when the magician comes into his dressing room and he licks his thumb and wipes his tongue, shuts the door and furtively looks back. That whole scene was stellar. Guess what I’m saying is that it takes lots of thought with animation to get it right and except for some minor instances, you were superb at it. Just my thoughts on how I perceived it, take it or leave it.
> 
> ...



Thank you very much for your detailed feedback! I definitly agree with your points! You're right, I should have accented the mousetrap and the moment the piano was hitting the stage. I wanted to support the moment of silence right after the magician stood on one foot, and thus I think the aprupt change there works quite well. Not sure how the scene would have worked with the climax a few seconds earlier, it's hard to say without having the FX sounds.



dan1 said:


> i cried



Is that good or bad? 



dan1 said:


> what patches used?? what tools used for reverb& panning/space?



I mainly used East West's HS & HB, Adagio and BWW for this cue, if I remember correctly. Reverb was a mixture of Phoenixverb and QL Spaces.


----------

