The Way of The Blade is the brainchild of moviemaker R. Kolby Woodfield. I was lucky enough to be able to write the music for it.

Fresh off hiatus, KNOWITALL Productions is back! This time it’s pure pulp, screaming, “Hey, Warner Bros…. this is how its done!” If you enjoy Tarantino, Zombie, and Fincher then sit back for R. Kolby Woodfield’s blend of horror this time through the lens of the 80’s actions flicks. The follow up to the HAKKER Film Festival winner for best film, “The Way of The Blade” will turn up the intensity to an 11 at a pace that’ll make you feel like you’re actually in a fight.

The film is a short–clocking in at almost 17 minutes, but this could easily be expanded into a feature-length film. The entirety of the Director’s Cut is below. Please note this features lots of violence and is not safe for work.

The Way of The Blade – Score

In the score, the listener hears a mix of grungy, dirty, death-metal rock, orchestral instruments both natural and contorted, and a little bit of music that borders on sound design. There is actual sound design done by KNOWITALL Productions.

Most of the orchestral music is created using stock Logic sounds, as the entirety of the music was written, recorded, and produced in Logic. For those on a Mac and interested in music production, you likely already know how effective and plentiful Logic’s stock samples, plugins, and workflows are. This made it easy to compose within it.

Much of the orchestral instruments fall into three main groups: strings, metallic percussion run through a guitar amp, and timpani run through a sub bass or other EQ.

The Way of The Blade – Rock songs

These were mostly improvised, honestly. I used my modified Fender Stratocaster, detuned by a major 3rd on every string, to achieve a dark, nu-metal sound fused with grunge and 80s-style leads. Run through my my Zoom multi-effects pedal, then to a DI box, and then into my audio interface, I then used Logic’s stock guitar amp plugins and effects to create a unique blend of dark, heavy, dirty, and piercing low grumbles and searing leads.

Combining a whammy bar and a whammy foot pedal, I catapulted some notes much higher than they should go and sunk others in a divebomb to hell. I also used a bass guitar simulator so I didn’t have to use my cheap bass and could get a really individualized bass tone.

The final piece, and actually the beginning part when improvising these songs, was Logic’s Drummer feature. The rock songs we fun to jam out, and while I did more than one take of each part, they were pretty much written, recorded, and mixed simultaneously.

Hypomania

This process of composing and making music occurred during hypomanic episodes of my bipolar disorder; these were bookended by manic episodes but if I am being honest with myself I could not have scored this short film if I had truly been manic during the actual music-making process. Instead, my hypomania made me an exuberant, overjoyed, hot mess of creativity and energy, in bad need of a shower at times and with no thoughts of stopping.

The final product

The Way of The Blade was a really fun project to work on, and I am so glad to see the Director’s Cut out there. What an amazing process to be involved in. Thank you to Kolby for letting me be a part of this journey of realizing your cinematic vision.

The movie is thrilling, graphic, and doesn’t lack for a sense of wonder. It is great for those who love action movies, especially 80s-style ones; great for those who love horror and zombies; and it doesn’t answer every question you may have–it leaves a lot up to your imagination. If you are into things that are hard-hitting, check out The Way of The Blade.

-Dan

For more of my work, check out my YouTube Channel.