Soundtrack Boxing Day

Abstract

The relationship between the documentary film form and the corresponding soundtrack is largely predicated on the film’s themes and generally does not involve the music soundtrack form. The Australian feature film, Boxing Day employs high definition video to allow the narrative action to be captured in a real time documentary format, with only 4 edits throughout the piece. To musically interpret and respond to the events of this documentary narrative formed the basis of this research.

Although this documentary process would not normally involve a music soundtrack, it was felt necessary by the director to add music sparingly after the filming took place. In order to preserve the intellectual integrity of the film, the soundtrack to Boxing Day created by Tom Ellard was composed and recorded music on the real Boxing Day 2006, at roughly the time when the virtual events unfold onscreen. This recording was supplied to the director for the final edit in January 2007.

The Film Boxing Day has been reviewed on popular television show At the Movies, and in the publications The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Hollywood Reporter. The film was shown at the Pusan International Film Festival and The Montreal Festival of New Cinema.