A Score to Settle
Released: 30th January 2015
Composer Help Quest
Composer Help Quest
Main Characters / Extra Characters:
My Characters
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Requirements / Rewards
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Part 1
Kelsy: I have something you might like to hear…
Late one evening, you get a text from Kelsy…
Kelsy: ‘Completed the score for your festival short film. Pay a visit at your convenience.’
Soon, you arrive at Hollywood U’s sound mixing studio, a cavernous, soundproofed space filled with plasma screens, sound boards, and a vast assortment of instruments… Looking around, you spot Kelsy at a workstation, wearing headphones. Even from a distance, you hear the loud music pouring through.
Danny: Hey, Kelsy…
Kelsy: …
Danny: Kelsy!
Kelsy: Hm? What’s that? Oh! Hello, Danny. My apologies.
Kelsy twists a dial at the soundboard, lowering the volume, but doesn’t take off the headphones.
Danny: Were you still working on the score?
Kelsy: No, it’s all finished. But whenever I feel accomplished, I listen to the end credits overture reprise from Rudy to accentuate the moment. You plan to enter this film in a festival by the end of the week, yes? I imagine you’re quite eager to hear how the score turned out.
Danny: I can’t wait!
Rewards
Kelsy: Excellent. We’ll begin momentarily. One more guest is yet to arrive…
Danny: Oh, who else is coming?
Kelsy: Um… in what may have been a rash decision, I invited Professor Hunt.
Kelsy instinctively hits a button. The music on the headphones changes to an ominous track from the Inception score.
Kelsy: His films always had the most sophisticated, nuanced scores, so I’d hope for his approval… but…
Danny: I know. Hunt is ridiculously dreamy. I mean, have you seen his jawline?
Kelsy: Er… well, yes, no one is denying his physical appeal… I’m more referring to the fact that he can be rather… cruel in his appraisals.
Thomas Hunt: I tell the truth, Kelsy. And the truth often hurts.
You turn around to see Professor Hunt striding into the studio!
Thomas Hunt: A movie’s score is not to be taken for granted. It must exponentially increase the impact of every scene and every line. It is a film’s heart. Clear, vibrant, and one-of-a- kind. Does yours serve its purpose?
Kelsy: I… I believe so, Professor.
Thomas Hunt: Let’s find out.
Part 2
Kelsy: Without further ado…
Kelsy plays the newly scored short film on one of the large monitors. You and Professor Hunt watch with rapt attention…
Danny: Wow! That was so good, Kelsy! Did you really play all of those instruments yourself?
Kelsy: Why, yes, in fact I’m classically trained in seventeen musical instruments.
Danny: Well, I think it sounded really professional. It actually reminded me of The Hunger Games.
Thomas Hunt: Of course it did, Danny. Because Kelsy simply mimicked James Newton Howard’s style in the Catching Fire score.
Kelsy: What? No, it’s…
Thomas Hunt: Not to mention you used the same horns from Lisa Gerrard’s work on Gladiator. And the strings simply reeked of Clint Mansell’s Requiem for a Dream.
Kelsy: But I… you’re mistaken, the horns are… but the arpeggiation is…
Hunt presses play on the workstation. The score comes over the speakers with a rich, full sound. Kelsy listens…
Kelsy: …you’re right. It does sound like those movies.
Danny: Kelsy, there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re still learning.
Thomas Hunt: But what Kelsy hasn’t learned is that there’s a difference between standing on the shoulders of giants, and sitting on them. I did not come here to pump out recycled versions of previous greats. I’m only interested in discovering new voices.
He marches for the door, pausing at the threshold. His eyes lock with yours, alight with intensity.
Thomas Hunt: Inspired voices… voices that in turn inspire the world around them.
He shuts the door behind him.
Time - 6 hours
In the silence after Hunt leaves, Kelsy sighs and hits a button. The headphones’ music switches to a mournful tune from Pan’s Labyrinth.
Kelsy: He’s right. I’m just a copy.
Danny: Kelsy, you can’t be so hard on yourself. The rest of the world will be plenty tough on you as it is.
Kelsy: If only it were so simple. But it’s true. I don’t have a unique sound, like all the greats do. John Williams’ triumphant, soaring orchestration… Rachel Portman’s pulsing, ethereal majesty… Hans Zimmer’s propulsive, churning horns.
Danny: Well, have you considered that it’s because you always have those headphones on? You’ve been studying movie scores for so long that you only know how other people hear emotions, instead of how you experience them yourself. Why don’t you try taking those headphones off?
Kelsy: But… but these scores are pure genius! And music is my life!
Danny: But life also has to be your music. I think if you listen closely to your world, you own sound will be there waiting for you.
Rewards
Kelsy takes a deep breath… and pulls of the headphones. After listening quietly for a moment…
Kelsy: I hear… I hear the air conditioning. A breathy, low C-sharp. The clock, a grace-noted 60 BPM snare… But mostly I just hear… emptiness.
Danny: Of course. That’s because we’re not doing anything. No one would want to score a movie of the two of us standing around. We have to go out and really live! get you reacquainted with real-life romance and thrills, with your own two ears. And I know some people who can help us out. Come on, I’ll text them…
Part 3
Danny: Romance always pulls at the heart strings.
You and Kelsy drive down to Palos Verdes, where Berry and Howard are waiting outside a post, seaside country club.
Kelsy: Wow… what a marvelous vista! Reminiscent of a Monet or a Sisley painting. But what are we doing here?
Berry: Danny told us you’re looking to be inspired by romance…
Howard: So we’re here to witness the most romantic, most beautiful act a couple can share!
Danny: Um…
Howard: A wedding, Danny! I was talking about a wedding! My word.
Berry: Howard and I go to all the biggest weddings on the social calendar. We just love the outfits.
Howard: And we just love true love!
Danny: And there’s nothing like true love to inspire Kelsy’s inner melody. Thanks for bringing us along as your plus-ones.
Howard: Er… well, to be, um, perfectly frank…
Berry: We weren’t exactly invited.
Kelsy: We’re crashing a wedding?!
Time - 9 hours
You and Kelsy sneak through the halls of the country club with Howard and Berry.
Kelsy: We’re not exactly Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. We can’t just crash a wedding… can we?
Berry: It’s not technically crashing if we’re only here to wish them well… and to judge their gowns.
Howard: Nobody called it crashing when hundreds of thousands watched the Royal Wedding, and that was the most wonderful wedding ever!
Kelsy: Still… if I had my headphones at the moment, I would be listening to the Mission: Impossible theme.
Danny: Don’t think about other music, Kelsy. Just listen to what’s around you, and what’s in your heart.
The four of you steal into the candlelit area outside, just in time to catch the procession!
Berry: Oh my god, there’s the bride. She’s wearing a Mauro Adami! I repeat, we have achieved Adami!
Howard: And they wrote their own vows! I’m gonna melt!
Later, at the reception, a genteel wait staff serves a lush, delectable wine. A potbellied older gentleman clinks glasses with you and asks you how you know the bride and groom.
Danny: Um… I’m an old friend of… Jimmy.
The older man beams. He turns around and waves over a thin younger man to join you.
Kelsy: Red alert, Danny. I think that’s Jimmy.
Danny: Bail, bail!
Before the man can turn back around, you scamper off, hiding in the large crowd. Soon, your group looks on as relatives, bridesmaids, and groomsmen raise emotional toasts to the newlyweds.
Howard: Sniff… they’re so beautiful I could cry…
Berry: Yes, the bridesmaid dresses are really too perfect for words…
Danny: Kelsy, what do you think?
You look over to see Kelsy watching the quiet toasts, teary-eyed!
Kelsy: …
Rewards
After a couple hours of dancing to the DJ’s ‘90s music, you and Kelsy hurriedly sneak out of the country club.
Kelsy: You couldn’t have been more correct, Danny. I’ve always equated weddings with chimes, bells, and Here Comes the Bride… But during those toasts, there was no music. Just the wavering tremolo of their cracking voices, the lush crashing of the Pacific echoing against the cliffs… Life really does have its own score.
Danny: And you never would have heard it if you were only listening to your headphones. But romance is just one part of life, and only one type of movie. It’s time to really get your blood pumping!
Part 4
Danny: This just became thriller night.
It’s midnight by the time you and Kelsy make it over to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Cira and Susan are waiting for you there.
Kelsy: Um, what’re we doing here? This place is a little… spooky.
Cira: Welcome to one of the most ghostly, otherworldly spots in all of L.A.! Look over there!
A large, decrepit house held together by rotting boards rests nearby, its windows dark.
Danny: Is that a haunted house?
Cira: Yup. Every night, people come through to get scared out of their skin. We’ve got zombies, ghouls, vampires, you name it. I do the makeup for the whole cast.
Susan: Cira bet that I’m too scared to go inside. But I’m brave enough for anything!
Danny: But wait, where is everybody then?
Cira: Oh, it’s closed. We’re going in… After hours! No music, no cast. Just Kelsy, us, and the fear, baby!
Time - 12 hours
In the dead of night, you, Kelsy, Susan, and Cira creep your way through the empty haunted house.
Kelsy: Gulp!
A terrifying sound loop echoes throughout the house. Floorboards creak, distant voices wail, demons cackle, and zombies groan!
Susan: Pfft. This is… this is for wimps. Totally.
At the edge of your vision, a shadow flits around the corner!
Danny: Did you guys see that?
Kelsy: Cira, I thought you said no one was in here!
You turn around to find Cira gone!
Danny: Cira?!
Susan: Something’s in here with us!
Just then, the door behind you flies open with a screech! A figure leaps out, its face twisted and deformed!
Susan: Aaaaaaah!
Danny: Hyah!
Instinctively, you throw out your fist, connecting with the shadows’s jaw!
Cira: Ow!
Kelsy: Cira?!
Dazed by your punch, Cira stumbles out of the shadows, covered in gory makeup!
Cira: Geez Louise, Danny, I was just trying to scare Susan…
Danny: Sorry, Cira, can’t sneak up on me like that. I’ve got cobra-like reflexes.
Cira: Ha! Danny is the real action hero here!
Rewards
Leaving the haunted house, Kelsy is trembling and exhilarated!
Kelsy: Danny, that was heart-pounding! Usually, I imagine the scores from Jaws or Alien… But today, all I heard was the off-beat syncopation of our breathing and our heartbeats… the minor-key chorus of screams, like ancient, out-of-tune violins… I’m simply brimming with ideas!
Danny: Your own ideas.
Kelsy: I have to get back to the studio right away! Come by tomorrow!
Part 5
Kelsy: One must strike while the iron is hot!
The next morning, you head over to the sound mixing studio on campus. Kelsy is there, head resting on a soundboard, snoring away…
Danny: Kelsy, were you here all night?
Kelsy: Hnh! Diminished seventh! Wha… Oh, Danny… I…
Kelsy gazes forlornly at the blank screen at the station, frazzled and drained.
Kelsy: It’s just that… you helped me rediscover all the sounds of life… but I can’t figure out how to combine them into a singular sound that defines me, like all the greats have. After all that inspiration, I can’t find the one thing that can make me stand out.
Danny: Who says you really need one, Kelsy? After all, life is too big to just have one sound, and so is your music. Everything that inspires you, everything you write from the heart… that’s all still your sound.
Kelsy: Perhaps… perhaps you’re right. Perhaps, instead of narrowing my focus… I must take advantage of limitless options!
Danny: …so you’re ready to score the film now?
Kelsy: Yes. I believe I am!
Danny: Good. And now to rush you or anything… But you really, really have to hurry. The deadline to submit to the festival is in less than 24 hours!
Rewards
Suddenly springing into action, Kelsy leaps up, plugging in amplifiers and effects pedals!
Kelsy: You said it flawlessly, Danny. Everything that inspires me becomes part of my sound. The problem wasn’t that I was inspired by the great composers of our age… it was that I wasn’t contributing anything new either!
Danny: But now?
Kelsy: Now I believe I have much to contribute. Quickly, while the fire of inspiration burns within us, take an instrument!
Part 6
Kelsy: Grab an instrument!
Kelsy: Do you know how to play any instruments, Danny?
Danny: Yes.
Kelsy: I knew it. I could tell you had the soul of a musician in you. Come over here!
Danny: What do you need?
With Kelsy guiding you, the two of you experiment with all shapes and sizes of exotic instruments… And together, you coax skin-tingling melodies out of French horns, clarinets, cellos, and waterphones in a fit of inspiration!
Kelsy: There’s still something missing, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. A different tenor among the instruments…
Danny: Why don’t we try that thing?
You point across the studio to the hyperbass flute! Kelsy approaches what looks like a massive winding tube standing upright. It towers over Kelsy!
Kelsy: The hyperbass flute! Brilliant! It will add a deep, earthshaking tone that will unnerve the audience during the tense scenes! Let’s continue. We still have much music to create!
Time - 15 hours
After a marathon recording and mixing session, Kelsy hits ‘save’ on the computer and slumps back in the chair, thoroughly exhausted.
Kelsy: It’s… it’s finished. And there is still time to submit it to the festival.
Danny: First, do you want to ask Professor Hunt what he thinks?
Kelsy thinks for a moment…
Kelsy: No, I don’t. I craved his approval before, because deep down I had no confidence in my own sound. My own voice. But now, I’ve found it.
Danny: That’s music to my ears.
Rewards
A few days later, Kelsy knocks on your dorm room door.
Kelsy: Tonight is the moment of truth. Closing night of the underground film festival… and the debut of your short.
Danny: And your score.
Kelsy: I am quite eager to see how it is received. Shall we be going?
Danny: First, we’d better look like we belong.
Part 7
Kelsy: Like any good score, an outfit must have harmony.
You, Kelsy, and the rest of the movie’s crew arrive at the film festival. Filmmakers and fans mingle on the street outside the neon-lit theater.
Kelsy: Your ensemble is quite becoming, Danny. I might even call it an inspired choice.
Danny: You fix up nicely yourself, Kelsy. And where are your headphones?
Kelsy: Awaiting my return to the studio. My ears feel strangely exposed… but perhaps that’s a good thing. There is plenty of life still to hear.
Inside the theater, your movie plays out on the big screen. Kelsy’s score booms over the surround sound! As the final image fades out, it’s met with hearty applause!
Danny: Brave, Kelsy. Bravo.
After the show, you take compliments from the audience. You notice that Kelsy is mobbed as well.
Danny: It seems we had quite the hit. Your score really took it to the next level. In fact, I heard some people saying they’d never heard anything like it.
Kelsy: Because they hadn’t. Thank you, Danny. Thank you for believing in me.
Rewards
You and Kelsy resume schmoozing with the crowd, but soon you feel a strong hand on your shoulder. You turn around…
Thomas Hunt: Danny. Kelsy. I see you rewrote your film’s score.
Danny: Yup. Kelsy redid the whole thing from scratch.
Kelsy: Indeed. And if you ask me, I’m rather pleased with how it turned out.
Thomas Hunt: … What are you waiting for, Kelsy? Are you not going to grovel for my approval?
Kelsy: No, Professor.
Thomas Hunt: Good. I positively hate groveling… maybe you’re learning something after all. Although, for what it’s worth, your score sounded… different. It’s a relief to see you found some inspiration.
At that, his eyes meet yours for a split-second, and he walks off. And as he goes, you hear him humming Kelsy’s score…
Kelsy: I have something you might like to hear…
- Have Kelsy
Late one evening, you get a text from Kelsy…
Kelsy: ‘Completed the score for your festival short film. Pay a visit at your convenience.’
Soon, you arrive at Hollywood U’s sound mixing studio, a cavernous, soundproofed space filled with plasma screens, sound boards, and a vast assortment of instruments… Looking around, you spot Kelsy at a workstation, wearing headphones. Even from a distance, you hear the loud music pouring through.
Danny: Hey, Kelsy…
Kelsy: …
Danny: Kelsy!
Kelsy: Hm? What’s that? Oh! Hello, Danny. My apologies.
Kelsy twists a dial at the soundboard, lowering the volume, but doesn’t take off the headphones.
Danny: Were you still working on the score?
Kelsy: No, it’s all finished. But whenever I feel accomplished, I listen to the end credits overture reprise from Rudy to accentuate the moment. You plan to enter this film in a festival by the end of the week, yes? I imagine you’re quite eager to hear how the score turned out.
Danny: I can’t wait!
Rewards
- 20 Cash
Kelsy: Excellent. We’ll begin momentarily. One more guest is yet to arrive…
Danny: Oh, who else is coming?
Kelsy: Um… in what may have been a rash decision, I invited Professor Hunt.
Kelsy instinctively hits a button. The music on the headphones changes to an ominous track from the Inception score.
Kelsy: His films always had the most sophisticated, nuanced scores, so I’d hope for his approval… but…
Danny: I know. Hunt is ridiculously dreamy. I mean, have you seen his jawline?
Kelsy: Er… well, yes, no one is denying his physical appeal… I’m more referring to the fact that he can be rather… cruel in his appraisals.
Thomas Hunt: I tell the truth, Kelsy. And the truth often hurts.
You turn around to see Professor Hunt striding into the studio!
Thomas Hunt: A movie’s score is not to be taken for granted. It must exponentially increase the impact of every scene and every line. It is a film’s heart. Clear, vibrant, and one-of-a- kind. Does yours serve its purpose?
Kelsy: I… I believe so, Professor.
Thomas Hunt: Let’s find out.
Part 2
Kelsy: Without further ado…
- Kelsy
Kelsy plays the newly scored short film on one of the large monitors. You and Professor Hunt watch with rapt attention…
Danny: Wow! That was so good, Kelsy! Did you really play all of those instruments yourself?
Kelsy: Why, yes, in fact I’m classically trained in seventeen musical instruments.
Danny: Well, I think it sounded really professional. It actually reminded me of The Hunger Games.
Thomas Hunt: Of course it did, Danny. Because Kelsy simply mimicked James Newton Howard’s style in the Catching Fire score.
Kelsy: What? No, it’s…
Thomas Hunt: Not to mention you used the same horns from Lisa Gerrard’s work on Gladiator. And the strings simply reeked of Clint Mansell’s Requiem for a Dream.
Kelsy: But I… you’re mistaken, the horns are… but the arpeggiation is…
Hunt presses play on the workstation. The score comes over the speakers with a rich, full sound. Kelsy listens…
Kelsy: …you’re right. It does sound like those movies.
Danny: Kelsy, there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re still learning.
Thomas Hunt: But what Kelsy hasn’t learned is that there’s a difference between standing on the shoulders of giants, and sitting on them. I did not come here to pump out recycled versions of previous greats. I’m only interested in discovering new voices.
He marches for the door, pausing at the threshold. His eyes lock with yours, alight with intensity.
Thomas Hunt: Inspired voices… voices that in turn inspire the world around them.
He shuts the door behind him.
Time - 6 hours
In the silence after Hunt leaves, Kelsy sighs and hits a button. The headphones’ music switches to a mournful tune from Pan’s Labyrinth.
Kelsy: He’s right. I’m just a copy.
Danny: Kelsy, you can’t be so hard on yourself. The rest of the world will be plenty tough on you as it is.
Kelsy: If only it were so simple. But it’s true. I don’t have a unique sound, like all the greats do. John Williams’ triumphant, soaring orchestration… Rachel Portman’s pulsing, ethereal majesty… Hans Zimmer’s propulsive, churning horns.
Danny: Well, have you considered that it’s because you always have those headphones on? You’ve been studying movie scores for so long that you only know how other people hear emotions, instead of how you experience them yourself. Why don’t you try taking those headphones off?
Kelsy: But… but these scores are pure genius! And music is my life!
Danny: But life also has to be your music. I think if you listen closely to your world, you own sound will be there waiting for you.
Rewards
- 20 Cash
Kelsy takes a deep breath… and pulls of the headphones. After listening quietly for a moment…
Kelsy: I hear… I hear the air conditioning. A breathy, low C-sharp. The clock, a grace-noted 60 BPM snare… But mostly I just hear… emptiness.
Danny: Of course. That’s because we’re not doing anything. No one would want to score a movie of the two of us standing around. We have to go out and really live! get you reacquainted with real-life romance and thrills, with your own two ears. And I know some people who can help us out. Come on, I’ll text them…
Part 3
Danny: Romance always pulls at the heart strings.
- A Level 7+ Wardrobe Designer (Berry)
- A Fairy Tale (Howard)
You and Kelsy drive down to Palos Verdes, where Berry and Howard are waiting outside a post, seaside country club.
Kelsy: Wow… what a marvelous vista! Reminiscent of a Monet or a Sisley painting. But what are we doing here?
Berry: Danny told us you’re looking to be inspired by romance…
Howard: So we’re here to witness the most romantic, most beautiful act a couple can share!
Danny: Um…
Howard: A wedding, Danny! I was talking about a wedding! My word.
Berry: Howard and I go to all the biggest weddings on the social calendar. We just love the outfits.
Howard: And we just love true love!
Danny: And there’s nothing like true love to inspire Kelsy’s inner melody. Thanks for bringing us along as your plus-ones.
Howard: Er… well, to be, um, perfectly frank…
Berry: We weren’t exactly invited.
Kelsy: We’re crashing a wedding?!
Time - 9 hours
You and Kelsy sneak through the halls of the country club with Howard and Berry.
Kelsy: We’re not exactly Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. We can’t just crash a wedding… can we?
Berry: It’s not technically crashing if we’re only here to wish them well… and to judge their gowns.
Howard: Nobody called it crashing when hundreds of thousands watched the Royal Wedding, and that was the most wonderful wedding ever!
Kelsy: Still… if I had my headphones at the moment, I would be listening to the Mission: Impossible theme.
Danny: Don’t think about other music, Kelsy. Just listen to what’s around you, and what’s in your heart.
The four of you steal into the candlelit area outside, just in time to catch the procession!
Berry: Oh my god, there’s the bride. She’s wearing a Mauro Adami! I repeat, we have achieved Adami!
Howard: And they wrote their own vows! I’m gonna melt!
Later, at the reception, a genteel wait staff serves a lush, delectable wine. A potbellied older gentleman clinks glasses with you and asks you how you know the bride and groom.
Danny: Um… I’m an old friend of… Jimmy.
The older man beams. He turns around and waves over a thin younger man to join you.
Kelsy: Red alert, Danny. I think that’s Jimmy.
Danny: Bail, bail!
Before the man can turn back around, you scamper off, hiding in the large crowd. Soon, your group looks on as relatives, bridesmaids, and groomsmen raise emotional toasts to the newlyweds.
Howard: Sniff… they’re so beautiful I could cry…
Berry: Yes, the bridesmaid dresses are really too perfect for words…
Danny: Kelsy, what do you think?
You look over to see Kelsy watching the quiet toasts, teary-eyed!
Kelsy: …
Rewards
- 20 Cash
After a couple hours of dancing to the DJ’s ‘90s music, you and Kelsy hurriedly sneak out of the country club.
Kelsy: You couldn’t have been more correct, Danny. I’ve always equated weddings with chimes, bells, and Here Comes the Bride… But during those toasts, there was no music. Just the wavering tremolo of their cracking voices, the lush crashing of the Pacific echoing against the cliffs… Life really does have its own score.
Danny: And you never would have heard it if you were only listening to your headphones. But romance is just one part of life, and only one type of movie. It’s time to really get your blood pumping!
Part 4
Danny: This just became thriller night.
- A Level 7+ Make-Up Artist (Cira)
- An Action Hero (Susan)
It’s midnight by the time you and Kelsy make it over to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Cira and Susan are waiting for you there.
Kelsy: Um, what’re we doing here? This place is a little… spooky.
Cira: Welcome to one of the most ghostly, otherworldly spots in all of L.A.! Look over there!
A large, decrepit house held together by rotting boards rests nearby, its windows dark.
Danny: Is that a haunted house?
Cira: Yup. Every night, people come through to get scared out of their skin. We’ve got zombies, ghouls, vampires, you name it. I do the makeup for the whole cast.
Susan: Cira bet that I’m too scared to go inside. But I’m brave enough for anything!
Danny: But wait, where is everybody then?
Cira: Oh, it’s closed. We’re going in… After hours! No music, no cast. Just Kelsy, us, and the fear, baby!
Time - 12 hours
In the dead of night, you, Kelsy, Susan, and Cira creep your way through the empty haunted house.
Kelsy: Gulp!
A terrifying sound loop echoes throughout the house. Floorboards creak, distant voices wail, demons cackle, and zombies groan!
Susan: Pfft. This is… this is for wimps. Totally.
At the edge of your vision, a shadow flits around the corner!
Danny: Did you guys see that?
Kelsy: Cira, I thought you said no one was in here!
You turn around to find Cira gone!
Danny: Cira?!
Susan: Something’s in here with us!
Just then, the door behind you flies open with a screech! A figure leaps out, its face twisted and deformed!
Susan: Aaaaaaah!
Danny: Hyah!
Instinctively, you throw out your fist, connecting with the shadows’s jaw!
Cira: Ow!
Kelsy: Cira?!
Dazed by your punch, Cira stumbles out of the shadows, covered in gory makeup!
Cira: Geez Louise, Danny, I was just trying to scare Susan…
Danny: Sorry, Cira, can’t sneak up on me like that. I’ve got cobra-like reflexes.
Cira: Ha! Danny is the real action hero here!
Rewards
- 20 Cash
Leaving the haunted house, Kelsy is trembling and exhilarated!
Kelsy: Danny, that was heart-pounding! Usually, I imagine the scores from Jaws or Alien… But today, all I heard was the off-beat syncopation of our breathing and our heartbeats… the minor-key chorus of screams, like ancient, out-of-tune violins… I’m simply brimming with ideas!
Danny: Your own ideas.
Kelsy: I have to get back to the studio right away! Come by tomorrow!
Part 5
Kelsy: One must strike while the iron is hot!
- Level Kelsy
- Spend 750 Cash
The next morning, you head over to the sound mixing studio on campus. Kelsy is there, head resting on a soundboard, snoring away…
Danny: Kelsy, were you here all night?
Kelsy: Hnh! Diminished seventh! Wha… Oh, Danny… I…
Kelsy gazes forlornly at the blank screen at the station, frazzled and drained.
Kelsy: It’s just that… you helped me rediscover all the sounds of life… but I can’t figure out how to combine them into a singular sound that defines me, like all the greats have. After all that inspiration, I can’t find the one thing that can make me stand out.
Danny: Who says you really need one, Kelsy? After all, life is too big to just have one sound, and so is your music. Everything that inspires you, everything you write from the heart… that’s all still your sound.
Kelsy: Perhaps… perhaps you’re right. Perhaps, instead of narrowing my focus… I must take advantage of limitless options!
Danny: …so you’re ready to score the film now?
Kelsy: Yes. I believe I am!
Danny: Good. And now to rush you or anything… But you really, really have to hurry. The deadline to submit to the festival is in less than 24 hours!
Rewards
- 3 Diamonds
Suddenly springing into action, Kelsy leaps up, plugging in amplifiers and effects pedals!
Kelsy: You said it flawlessly, Danny. Everything that inspires me becomes part of my sound. The problem wasn’t that I was inspired by the great composers of our age… it was that I wasn’t contributing anything new either!
Danny: But now?
Kelsy: Now I believe I have much to contribute. Quickly, while the fire of inspiration burns within us, take an instrument!
Part 6
Kelsy: Grab an instrument!
- Kelsy
Kelsy: Do you know how to play any instruments, Danny?
Danny: Yes.
Kelsy: I knew it. I could tell you had the soul of a musician in you. Come over here!
Danny: What do you need?
With Kelsy guiding you, the two of you experiment with all shapes and sizes of exotic instruments… And together, you coax skin-tingling melodies out of French horns, clarinets, cellos, and waterphones in a fit of inspiration!
Kelsy: There’s still something missing, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. A different tenor among the instruments…
Danny: Why don’t we try that thing?
You point across the studio to the hyperbass flute! Kelsy approaches what looks like a massive winding tube standing upright. It towers over Kelsy!
Kelsy: The hyperbass flute! Brilliant! It will add a deep, earthshaking tone that will unnerve the audience during the tense scenes! Let’s continue. We still have much music to create!
Time - 15 hours
After a marathon recording and mixing session, Kelsy hits ‘save’ on the computer and slumps back in the chair, thoroughly exhausted.
Kelsy: It’s… it’s finished. And there is still time to submit it to the festival.
Danny: First, do you want to ask Professor Hunt what he thinks?
Kelsy thinks for a moment…
Kelsy: No, I don’t. I craved his approval before, because deep down I had no confidence in my own sound. My own voice. But now, I’ve found it.
Danny: That’s music to my ears.
Rewards
- 20 Cash
A few days later, Kelsy knocks on your dorm room door.
Kelsy: Tonight is the moment of truth. Closing night of the underground film festival… and the debut of your short.
Danny: And your score.
Kelsy: I am quite eager to see how it is received. Shall we be going?
Danny: First, we’d better look like we belong.
Part 7
Kelsy: Like any good score, an outfit must have harmony.
- Change Danny’s outfit
- Change Kelsy’s outfit
- Spend 1000 Cash
You, Kelsy, and the rest of the movie’s crew arrive at the film festival. Filmmakers and fans mingle on the street outside the neon-lit theater.
Kelsy: Your ensemble is quite becoming, Danny. I might even call it an inspired choice.
Danny: You fix up nicely yourself, Kelsy. And where are your headphones?
Kelsy: Awaiting my return to the studio. My ears feel strangely exposed… but perhaps that’s a good thing. There is plenty of life still to hear.
Inside the theater, your movie plays out on the big screen. Kelsy’s score booms over the surround sound! As the final image fades out, it’s met with hearty applause!
Danny: Brave, Kelsy. Bravo.
After the show, you take compliments from the audience. You notice that Kelsy is mobbed as well.
Danny: It seems we had quite the hit. Your score really took it to the next level. In fact, I heard some people saying they’d never heard anything like it.
Kelsy: Because they hadn’t. Thank you, Danny. Thank you for believing in me.
Rewards
- 5 Diamonds
You and Kelsy resume schmoozing with the crowd, but soon you feel a strong hand on your shoulder. You turn around…
Thomas Hunt: Danny. Kelsy. I see you rewrote your film’s score.
Danny: Yup. Kelsy redid the whole thing from scratch.
Kelsy: Indeed. And if you ask me, I’m rather pleased with how it turned out.
Thomas Hunt: … What are you waiting for, Kelsy? Are you not going to grovel for my approval?
Kelsy: No, Professor.
Thomas Hunt: Good. I positively hate groveling… maybe you’re learning something after all. Although, for what it’s worth, your score sounded… different. It’s a relief to see you found some inspiration.
At that, his eyes meet yours for a split-second, and he walks off. And as he goes, you hear him humming Kelsy’s score…