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Which is better for an animated TV show theme?

Posted: 29/05/2005 - 13:12
by MFE
Greetings all!

Given that this is a forum comprising the musically talented, I figured this board might be able to throw a few suggestions my way. I've done a couple of variations on a TV show opening credit themes to be used for a pitch effort for the webcome "Faux Pas" http://www.ozfoxes.com/fauxpas.htm. I'm trying to get an idea of what sounds more appealing.

The webcomic revolves around the lives mostly of two foxes, one domesticated and clueless about real fox life, the other wild-born and with no knowledge of what life with humans is like. It also features a slew of other animal characters, domesticated and otherwise. It's family-oriented, with the humour pushing the limits of PG in some places.

The two themes are thus:

Theme one: http://www.dolphinwave.org/elsol/FAUXPASbrit.mp3

and

Theme two: http://www.dolphinwave.org/elsol/FAUXPAS3e.mp3

Vote away folks, and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

Posted: 29/05/2005 - 13:44
by Chris Abbott
I'm not sure if this theme doesn't imply a quieter cartoon than the source material: kind of, a gentle children's tale about woodland creatures. It also doesn't capture the sense of conflict between the two foxes at the heart of the cartoon: and if you did that, which fox would get what style? In the cartoon, is the city fox sophisticated and refined, or busy, streetwise and bustling? And is the feral fox a slob or a snob?

Either way, I maybe would have started off with what you have now, and then done a stylistic switch halfway through: say, if the opening credits were covering the countryside and then switch to the city or something. Perhaps turning it into Seinfeld (if the city fox is Seinfeld like), Simpsons type thing (if wacky), or Jazz (if Frasier) :)

Just random thoughts...

Chris

Posted: 29/05/2005 - 15:23
by MFE
Chris Abbott wrote:I'm not sure if this theme doesn't imply a quieter cartoon than the source material: kind of, a gentle children's tale about woodland creatures. It also doesn't capture the sense of conflict between the two foxes at the heart of the cartoon: and if you did that, which fox would get what style? In the cartoon, is the city fox sophisticated and refined, or busy, streetwise and bustling? And is the feral fox a slob or a snob?

Either way, I maybe would have started off with what you have now, and then done a stylistic switch halfway through: say, if the opening credits were covering the countryside and then switch to the city or something. Perhaps turning it into Seinfeld (if the city fox is Seinfeld like), Simpsons type thing (if wacky), or Jazz (if Frasier) :)

Just random thoughts...

Chris
I toyed with a variety of ideas for the theme (indeed, these are actually the fourth and fifth attempts at a theme, two that the actual creators like and are deciding between, but they are open to further developments), and there isn't much "conflict" as such. The original strip cartoon is set in a semi-rural setting next to a forest, and there's nary a city in sight, and it all is very laid back though at times a little exciting.

I also attempted to go for something that, while still sounding fairly traditional in style, also was unique in that the musical themes in each are generated by the names of the actual characters in the strip, as well as the name of the cartoon. I guess I should have clarified that the pushing the PG envelope is done only occasionally, at it really is intended to be a more a g-family oriented show.

Still, these are far from the final product, and I've already spent a little time on these ones adjusting the mix, particularly toning down a bit of the reverb which is too heavy in both instances, I've come to feel; I just haven't uploaded them to my webspace yet. But it was more the style I was concerned about anyway. No doubt, there'll be other takes on this!

Posted: 31/05/2005 - 9:07
by n3mo
Imho it should be around theme 2, nice catchy tune.. ^^
Would like to see the outcome of this.. ^^