OVERVIEW
Jump into a plethora of movie genres in Reel Run as you explore various main characters and what it's like to be enthralled by countless enemies and hordes of chaos.
Featured below are three demos for the western, horror, and boss rush themes of Reel Run. Written and mastered in SoundTrap, these themes capitalize on the various movie genres represented in gameplay. Each piece loops consecutively as the level is completed at the player's pace. These themes are not included on the finalized album or in game.
Reel Run Poster
ALBUM
Reel Run Album Art
Released on August 29, 2025, the Reel Run Original Soundtrack features pieces inspired from various movie genres including classic cinema, westerns, horror, and romance themes. This project uses symphonic instrumentation with modern, contemporary elements to represent each film type. The album art conceptualizes film burn with the game's font across. Album art was created by Trinity Peters and myself.
This album features nine original tracks including the Studio Hub World, three Western tracks, three Horror tracks, one Romance track, and the Finale. My primary objective during this project's production was to focus on each film genre's instrumentation with the practice of theory and applicable research. This album will be streaming on all platforms August 29, 2025.
MARKETING
Editing marketing materials takes place in Adobe software and iMovie. Hooking your audience is the key when getting more eyes on your project. Keeping content short, simple, and concise will get marketing the views it needs to stay relevant.
Film Burn Effect in Adobe After Effects
Finalized Album Art Reveal
The "Album Art Reveal" was edited in Adobe After Effects. I used the album art and stock black .png with the album art as the composition photo. I layered the black .png first with a film burn effect. In the film burn effect, I positioned the exact start location as well as the randomized seed of the film burn. Once set, changed the opacity of the black image to show low visibility of the album art underneath. Set the frames the film burn would show then layered audio. Fire crackling audio was added and layered to enhance the film burn flare with a snip of one the album's tracks.
Layered audio and text transition in iMovie
Finalized Album Teaser
The "Album Teaser" was finalized and edited in iMovie. Using text overlayed on a black image with transitions between each blurb of information allowed for a smooth transition between each slide. Music was a key factor when splicing this teaser. New instrumentation would signify when the next slide would go into effect. The music fades out when the teaser ends. With timing edits finalized, the album teaser was ready to publish. All marketing here is published to my professional social media accounts.
COMPOSITION PROCESS
Composing music for a game that represents a variety of genres was quite the task. Creating compositions that encapsulate western, horror, romance, and boss fight music seemed very daunting, however I love a good challenge. I needed a good understanding not only of these genres, but how they are specifically portrayed in movies. Capitalizing on the dramatization of each instrument and their dynamics was key to writing the music for Reel Run. Each piece was composed and mastered in Soundtrap.
Western Level One "The Saloon" Process
Soundtrap Western Level One Piano Roll
The Saloon Gameplay with Audio
Western Level One, stylized as an old-time saloon, uses various instrumentation styles to uniquely capture the player's first impression of the wild west. Using a calabash as the composition's rhythm driver, this percussion is the backbone of the piece as other instruments layer to add the depth this piece offers. Written in A minor, these instruments are written with staccato and spiccato styles to emphasize the sharpness of this level. Brass is added in as this piece leads to its climax with dynamic crescendos and minor cadences. The paper tube percussion layers with the string instruments to add harmonies to a sequence that loops for the player. This piece was written in SoundTrap and mastered in Audacity. The gameplay video features the following track.
REFLECTION
Creating compositions for different movie genres pushed me as a composer. Expanding my knowledge within western, horror, and romance music honed my skills with new instrumentation styles and cadences. The importance of doing detailed research, receiving criticism, and being open-minded are key factors to the success of this project. Experimenting with marketing materials gave me a new perspective when editing and publishing media. I'm eager to continue composing pieces, expanding my knowledge within other genres of music, and publishing edited media.