Sara and I are continuing with an Art Challenge Project that is part of the series we started with the theme of space exploration. This series has a common thread of visual and audible themes that focus on the journeys of a particular space explorer in a distinct spacecraft. This week we are getting into the second part of the series.
In this scene, our explorer has been visiting a desert planet when a massive sand storm is picked up on the ship's sensors and relayed to his instruments. The explorer rushes back to the ship, leaving his equipment behind, to ensure it does not take on major damage. As the engines power up, he sees it: the storm, a wall of cloudy sand with flashes of lightning and ferocious winds approaching rapidly, only minutes away from engulfing the ship. Trying to keep calm, the explorer begins takeoff as the ship begins to shake from the winds. He ascends to reach the upper atmosphere and the dust cloud surrounds hims. Fighting the controls, he manages to keep the ship stable as lightning strikes around and rocks knock against the hull. And then, he is in the eye of the storm. He climbs to safety.
When Sara and I decided the topic for this project, my mind quickly went to a few soundtracks that would evoke space and desert, such as Star Wars and The Martian (2015). The Martian even has a scene quite similar to the one I described so I was able to get a good idea for the sound. While I was thinking about the project, a scene from Mad Max: Fury Road kept coming to mind, in which there is a chase scene through a giant desert storm.
The music I created ended up being a blend of scenes of those two films and some of the sounds forward from Part I of the Space Journey Series. The form of the track follows closely with the story I outlined above in three parts. The first represents the hurry to the ship, the second is fast approaching storm as the explorer is leaving, and the third is the fight through the storm and out. One of my favorite parts the juxtaposition of the chorale-like strings and brass with the scene of struggling through the storm of the third section.
I hope you enjoy this piece and look forward to the others in this series as we are! See the video below for the music and drawing timelapse.