大象传媒

The six tiny animals featured in Big Little Journeys face huge challenges for survival, but the stories also feature moments that are heartwarming, gentle and funny. It was crucial that these different moods and emotions were subtly reflected in the music. The production team turned to internationally acclaimed composers Stuart Roslyn and Chris Elmslie, to create a fresh and original score.

Finding a unique sound for Natural History

Stuart and Chris’s challenge was to bring a unique sound to a natural history documentary and avoid the traditionally orchestral approach.

“Our goal as composers was to create a filmic score with a grand and expansive tone that was equally as inspiring as the images and stories. We used textures and soundscapes, with a hint of organic instruments, to achieve this. This helped us to create scale with the use of synths, reverbs, and sound design.”

For Series Producer Paul Williams the music is deeply embedded in the fabric of the environments in which the characters live and taps into the contemporary resurgence of a distinctive synthy style. “When I first heard what the team were creating it brought to life the world of our little heroes in a much more visceral way. I like to imagine our characters with little headphones on, listening to the musical soundscapes as they travel."

Enhancing the journey

In Natural History composition the music is used to enhance the emotional engagement with the challenges being faced by the animals, and in the case of Big Little Journeys it also adds to the sense of a quest and the race against time.

“We wanted the music to help transport the audience into the worlds of six little heroes, and to highlight the gravitas of the challenges that they face” – Paul Williams, Series Producer

For each character the composers created a sound or texture-based motif. “We weaved these idents and motifs throughout to help maintain a sense of familiarity associated with the different scenes and characters within them. Some animals needed very simple tonal elements, and some could be a little more detailed.”

Vulnerable to Mighty

The music is used to reflect and enhance two perspectives of the characters - vulnerable and tiny in a world of giants and big and mighty in their own world. So while a water vole is seen to be as bold as a lion, we also remind the audience that they are the UK’s fastest declining mammal. While, on its scale a tiny turtle hatchling is like an unstoppable tank - only 1% will make it to adulthood.

As Chris and Stuart attest there is a temptation as a composer to always add more, but that can often cause conflict with the intent of the pictures, especially when there is narration. “You can create scale in music without making things sound huge and too complex. With the use of the right sounds, reverb, space, and dynamics.”

Favourite score from the series

For Stuart and Chris the favourite track is ‘Fireflies’ from the Pangolins story. “It has a feeling of wonder, intrigue, and excitement, whilst maintaining the suspense of the Pangolin’s situation.”

Hints of this cue reappear a number of times across the series, contributing to the exciting stories of the other animals.

The composers

Stuart Roslyn is a composer, producer and musician specialising in original music for the biggest names in film & TV, and a host of high-profile international brands. From bespoke scores for motion pictures and their trailers, to unique soundscapes for network TV and big brand commercials, and computer games Stuart Roslyn is known for fusing modern production techniques with emotionally compelling orchestral compositions. For Big Little Journeys, Stuart invited Christopher Elmslie to work on the score having collaborated for the past 5 years on countless movie trailers, tv shows and documentaries.