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MUSIC BRIEF"Superhero-Man and the Logic in a Bottle" — dir. Germans Reliņš
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The filmAn absurdist superhero comedy short. Live action + cel-shading, comic-book style (think Borderlands / The Wolf Among Us). Timeline 36:00, ~22 min of music in 20 cues.
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The storyIn the cartoony city of City-47, a young superhero called Superhero-Man needs to stop mad Cannonball Man from obtaining the Logic in a Bottle — a mystical artifact of infinite power, which can help him destroy every idiot and dumb person in the world.
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What is this story really about?It's an absurd comedy about a hero who keeps fighting for people who don't deserve it — but does it anyway, because that's who he is.
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The golden rulePlay the pathos completely straight. The comedy comes from the gap between epic music and the idiocy on screen. Music that winks kills the joke.
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Style Orchestral hard rock: a symphonic layer (brass, strings, percussion) + guitar riffs, bass, drums.
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How it's splitThe score is divided by "sound worlds", one composer per sheet: Cannonball (villain), Superhero-Man (hero), Logic in a Bottle (artifact), Miscellaneous.
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Tempo ruleKeep the contrasts: slow heavy cues stay slow (~75–90), fights and the big set piece hit hard (~130). Don't flatten everything into a comfortable middle. BPM targets are in the sheets.
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Cannonball-Man Theme
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#InOutLengthTitleOn ScreenFunctionMusic Direction & Sync PointsBPM TargetReferences
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032:333:391:06Cannonball's Main ThemeThe mysterious man turns around: "I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!!" Whoosh caption. Cannonball Man yells and threatens. He came with a purpose and nothing will stop him!The main introduction of the antagonist. His leitmotif is set here. Every later version grows out of this one.A menacing, heavy, slightly over-the-top villain motif. Sync points (where possible): the villain's turn; the whoosh caption; a "stumble" in the music on the selfie moment.~75–90"Magneto" (X-Men: First Class) - reference for the sound; "Still Crazy" (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) - reference for the mood.
Some ostinato and electric guitars inside the orchestra are welcome.
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043:394:310:52Beatdown in the LibrarySuperhero-Man and Cannonball fight between the shelves.The film's first action scene. Sets the bar for the fight sound.Fight cue #1 — orchestral hard rock at full power. Driving riffs + orchestral hits on the cuts. The fight should sound like a combat variation of Cannonball's theme.~130
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065:116:070:56Bomb in the LibrarySuperhero-Man exhales and surveys the damage done to the library. He hears the beep of a bomb, spots it, but can't defuse it. He evacuates everyone, but the library explodes.The film's first catastrophe. The villain's theme "wins" for the first time.Cannonball's theme in a fast, panicked version: a ticking build, then — 2–3 seconds before the explosion — tense silence.~130 (accel.)
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1012:5513:561:01RAGESuperhero-Man took a bomb to the face and is now marching, dead set, to punch Cannonball's lights out — and take the Logic in a Bottle while he's at it. Approaching the hideout, he sees sparks and a HUGE beam into the sky — the threat becomes real.The villain has real power now. The theme mutates from "creepy and vengeful" to "actually dangerous".The heaviest, most aggressive version of the theme. Climaxes on the beam into the sky.~105–120
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1216:0816:450:37Cannonball's Main Theme (bigger)Cannonball threatens the whole world on live TV. Two goons twist Superhero-Man's arms. "And those who stand in my way — will be destroyed TWICE!"The villain at his public peak; the hero publicly humiliated.The main theme, but wider and louder — full orchestra, choir optional. Loud and cocky.~75–90
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1521:2322:130:50Cannonball Man's Victory"BAM!!" All weapons vanish. "Burn! Burn, all of you!" The citizens explode one by one. Cannonball Man looks at the fruits of his desires, turns around and walks away.Evil wins. The darkest moment of the film — and it has to feel that way, comedy or not.Cannonball's theme as a triumphant funeral: slower than the main version; heavy bells and low choir welcome. The heroic march (track 14, written by another composer) breaks off — and the villain's theme rises on its ruins. The cue ends on the counter at "POPULATION: 1" and "With one left hand": one last quiet, smug touch of the motif.Slower than main
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1927:3128:321:01Beatdown in SpaceThe standoff at the hideout, Cannonball flies off with the bottle, the bottle-bomb explodes in space, both heroes glow and spark. A supersonic head-on collision and — KABOOM — the flat Earth explodes.The film's last action scene. The peak of destruction.A heavy riff with a frantic pulse inside. Contrast with track 04 — fists there, planets here. Full stop of all sound after the Earth explodes.~130Main reference - Beatdown in the Library. The two tracks must rhyme.
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Superhero-Man Theme
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#InOutLengthTitleOn ScreenFunctionMusic Direction & Sync PointsBPM TargetReferences
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089:2210:301:08Superhero-Man's Theme - This Is MY CitySuperhero-Man finds a poster; Grampa is sent into a cardiac arrest. After of moment of deliberation - hero walks out into the night.The hero's leitmotif is born and the quest kicks off. The first truly heroic moment in the score.The hero's theme, heard for the first time, noble but modest. No big fanfares yet: warm strings, light brass. One clear rising motif (the same one that becomes "2.0" in Tr. 18). Starts as a quiet decision, ends as a march when he walks out.~110 - 120"Skydiving" (Kingsman: The Secret Service) for the heroic lift; the quiet-to-march build.
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1725:3826:340:56Superhero-Man RespawnedSuperhero-Man's determined look of avenging the people. He sees Grampas briefcase. In it - Golden light. He grabs the whole briefcase. Hero is about to reborn.Break into Act 3: getting ready for the final confontation. This cue exists to set up the 2.0 reveal.A quiet pulse, low strings, pieces of the hero's theme trying to come together. On the golden light: a short tease of the 2.0 theme.Slower than mainMain Reference - the next "Guardian and Defender 2.0" track as the main refence. Treat this one as a prelude.
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1826:4027:210:41Guardian and Defender 2.0A storm; a silhouette rises over the horizon: a gleaming white-and-gold suit, a new cape. Whoosh caption: "SUPERHERO-MAN - NOBLE GUARDIAN AND DEFENDER 2.0".The classic hero shot — the hero reborn. Maximum pathos of the whole film.The hero's theme in full glory: fanfares, choir, wide strings. Over-the-top pathos IS the joke here (the caption on screen does its part). Hit the accent exactly on the caption.~110 - 120"The Power of Grayskull" (Masters of the Universe 2026) - rock-infused hero power-up;
"Flight" (Man of Steel) for the vertical build.
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2032:5235:492:57FINALE and CreditsSuperhero-Man said his last piece. Cannonball man thinks long and hard. BAM! A white flash - the city is restored. The bottle returns to the cave, the book is destroyed in the library. The city is safe and under the protection of their saviour - Superhero-Man. Credits.Resolution + credits suite.Three parts: (1) the world restored, (2) the Superhero theme as a closing, (3) credits. The film should leave on a high, not a fade.~110 - 120End-credits energy of Kingsman: The Secret Service;
"What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?" (Main of Steel).
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The Logic in a Bottle Theme
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#InOutLengthTitleOn ScreenFunctionMusic Direction & Sync PointsBPM TargetReferences
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010:151:151:00The Logic in a Bottle — The Dinosaur Story (Prologue)Full 2D animation. Cretaceous period, night. A velociraptor runs from a T-Rex, hides in a cave and finds a glowing bottle. A grand Voice-over: "NEVER TOUCH THE LOGIC IN A BOTTLE!"The opening "legend". Sets a mythological scale and lands the first absurd contrast: epic voice, cartoon dinosaur.First statement of the Logic in a Bottle theme. Fake grandeur, "ancient mystery": low brass and choir, then a building chase. Keep the tempo UP in the chase. Climax on the Voice's final line, then a hard cut to silence before the city title card.~130–136 (chase)
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054:444:530:09Jingle — The Logic in a BottleA close accent on the artifact.A 9-second sting — the artifact's calling card. An instantly recognizable capsule of the theme.3–5 notes of the theme in a "magic" color (celesta, bells, choir), bright top end. Works on its own as a jingle; doubles as the base for the whoosh-caption stings. NOTE: appears TWICE — here at 4:44 (the book page) and again at ~9:07 (the hero opens Grandpa's map and it shows the way). Same motif, second placement; slight variation welcome.—
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0910:3412:362:02The Logic in a Bottle — The Cave and Opening the Bottle (slowed theme)The cave, a pedestal, the bottle, a note. At home at night Superhero deliberates if he should open the bottle. Then proceedes to caustically open it. The longest suspense cue of the first half. Three phases: awe (cave) → tension (opening) → panic and explosion.The theme slowed into something "sacred". Inner drama required: (1) chorale/ambient in the cave, (2) plucked tension and micro-pauses at the opening — silence between notes does the work, (3) a hard comic FULL STOP on "UP YOURS!" (1–2 sec), (4) panic build with the ticking fuse, full hit on the explosion.~112
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1622:5025:302:40The Logic in a Bottle — The Dinosaur Story (full)White space. Dead Superhero-Man; a projection continues the cartoon from the prologue. The Voice tells the full story: the raptor, the war of the super-dinosaurs, the death of all life, "history will repeat". A purple portal appears.The centerpiece of the score — the full statement of the theme, tying the prologue to the finale. The story is funny, the stakes are real.A three-minute suite on the Logic in a Bottle theme. Structure follows the story: (1) "creation" — transparent magic, (2) the dinosaur war — the theme twisted into battle mode (echoes Tr. 04/19), (3) the death of the world — a requiem drop, (4) "Keep fighting" + the portal — the SUPERHERO theme grows through the Logic theme: the two leitmotifs meet for the first time. Key moment of the score; coordinate the hero motif with the Hero block.~112–117
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Other Music
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#InOutLengthTitleOn ScreenFunctionMusic Direction & Sync PointsBPM TargetReferences
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021:262:230:57The Library — Boccherini's Minuet (diegetic)The Central Library reading hall. Student laughs at a book called "Jokes for Idiots", two girls read a spray can.It's the "temple of knowledge" in a city of idiots. Classical music as a mock-elegant backdrop that sets the tone for the whole story.A chamber arrangement of Boccherini's Minuet (String Quintet Op. 11 No. 5) — diegetic, plays inside the hall. Funny, slightly ironic, deliberately dainty. The composition is PUBLIC DOMAIN: record your own arrangement of the actual piece, note for note — the temp track uses exactly this Minuet, and we need that character one-to-one.~129The temp track (primary — it uses this exact piece); prim, ironic classical in the Wes Anderson vein.
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076:287:090:41Blues in the Spirit of Short Change HeroSuperhero-Man's apartment — posters, comics, figurines, a drawing that says "NO, YOU MOVE!". Paralyzed Grandpa (ex-superhero "Quantum Man") in front of the TV.Ironic introspection — the hero at home. A nod to "this ain't no place for no hero".An ORIGINAL piece in the spirit of "Short Change Hero" by The Heavy — no melody or lyric quotes. Slow heavy blues rock, tremolo guitar, western-noir mood. The same feeling of tired heroism — in spirit, not in notes.~105–110The Heavy — "Short Change Hero"; Morricone's spaghetti-western guitars.
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1114:3814:460:08Jingle — News IntroThe City-47 news show opener; the live broadcast begins.A parody of news branding — a smug TV fanfare.An 8-second jingle in the style of evening news openers: synth brass, a drum roll, "important" chords, just a bit too solemn. It should sound like a real channel ident — it's funny because it's believable.—Real evening-news openers (national networks, CNN); the news world of Anchorman.
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1319:0420:511:40Gathering at the HideoutAn endless crowd walks over the hill in slow motion: Lashpek in knight's armor, cosplayers, businessmen, guys in sombreros. Pitchforks, torches, plungers. The Mayor gives a speech from a hill.A mock-epic "army assembles" — a parody of the classic trope. One continuous scene with Tr. 14: same composer, do not split.A building epic: from a single beat to a full march — keep it UP, the scene must not sag. Slow motion loves wide brass and choir. Under the Mayor's speech the music drops lower, with a silly patriotic tint, then ramps straight into Tr. 14.~130–136300 (Tyler Bates) — slow-mo heavy epic; Two Steps From Hell trailer builds.
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1420:5021:110:32Avengers-Style Parody"CHARGE!!" — hundreds of people rush forward, screaming, in slow motion.The peak of the mock epic, a direct jab at Endgame finale battle.An ORIGINAL heroic theme that strongly recalls the Avengers theme in spirit and sound — rising brass in fourths/fifths, marching drums, choir — but with ZERO melodic quotes (legal requirement). The audience reads the reference through the genre code, not the melody.~130The orchestral grammar of The Avengers (Silvestri) — the grammar, NOT the melody.
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