Giotto

a WIP of my Sheith future AU.

From Star vs. the Forces of Evil - Conquer.

(Trying something new here, streaming high-quality from Soundcloud instead of degrading the quality in order to fit within Tumblr’s file size constraints. I hope it works okay for you guys!)

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

Here’s the score from the last 7-ish minutes of Conquer, the season 3 finale of Star vs. the Forces of Evil. 

Let’s talk about Eclipsa’s theme a bit.

Scoring a serialized TV show poses conundrums when it comes to themes for recurring characters. First, the ability to initially communicate a full melody is dependent on how long that first scene with the character is and what’s happening in that scene. Like with Toffee, his introductory scene was with Ludo, and it was a job interview, and it wasn’t all that long, so I could only introduce a small part of his whole theme, and it was fairly minimal. I got flesh out Toffee’s theme in a myriad of ways later (which was awesome), but I had to play it pretty light at first.

Now, Eclipsa’s introduction into the present storyline (not in flashback), which is where I chose to introduce her theme, was in the castle rose garden, where she has a pretty lengthy conversation with Star, which is then continued later in another scene. So this gave me a chance to actually use the beginning, middle, and end of her melody in one episode. In addition, the scenes conveyed a lot of what lies at the core of Eclipsa throughout season 3 – we don’t know if she’s good or bad, and she’s always a little sad, a woman thrust into a different time without her family. So the theme I wrote, and its initial instrumentation, was made specifically for that.

So that’s the first conundrum – the introduction of a character’s theme being somewhat dictated by the length and context of their first scenes.

Second, I never really know what’s going to happen down the line. I can ask, and I can get general descriptions from Daron and the crew, but it’s really a guessing game for me. When I wrote Eclipsa’s theme, did I know that she’d eventually take Star’s wand? Nope. Did I know she’d have to make a crucial mid-battle decision about her estranged daughter? Nope. Did I hope for a big dramatic climax to her storyline? You bet. The sustained notes and general shape of her theme lent itself towards a big, soaring iteration, even if the first use of the theme was quite intimate. So, you know, I had my fingers crossed.

And then I watched Conquer and was like yessssssssss.

Sneaking in Eclipsa’s theme after she first blasts Meteora was enormous fun, and then kicking it into full gear after her devastating “STOP” was a dream come true. I can’t tell you how many times I went back and listened and tweaked and listened and tweaked, partially because I wanted it to be right, but also because I know opportunities like this are rare in my job. I might never get a chance like it again. So I just wanted to savor the moment while I had it.

And then we get to investigate Eclipsa’s theme even more, as it turns into a sad lullaby, and then something swooning and romantic and just a little bit dangerous. Again, these are moments that I could have never predicted, but was so grateful to communicate to the audience.

The rest of the battle was also a blast, and it’s hard to believe that a melody I wrote 4 years ago for the pilot (Star’s theme) has evolved into something like this. It’s big and dramatic and scary, with genuine emotion as Star reasons with her opponent. 

Eclipsa Part 2