soundtrack
One of the most powerful tools a composer brings to your film is the ability to make the stakes feel like they're constantly rising — without a single line of dialogue or a single additional frame.
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What do we do when we need to make present-day music sound “retro?” That’s the question I faced when having to write a romantic theme in the style of a 1950s Hollywood film.
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Batman always leaves a good impression…
One of the joys of contributing outros for Scriptnotes is getting to learn more more about a composer’s style.
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only the creepiest quartet plays music here…
I absolutely love scary movies. And more than that, I love writing scary music. Detuned pianos, screeching strings…
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when you’re fighting a boss…like a boss
What makes good “boss battle” music?
This is a question I asked myself after a prompt from a client to create a track in the style of a Kingdom Hearts…
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there’s nothing peaceful about this rest…
It’s not often I get the chance to write music for a project that’s in pre-production, so when I was approached to do exactly that for a Crime Thriller set in Nigeria…
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A still from Horizon Zero Dawn can stand in for the unreleased short, right?
The short film follows the efforts of a lone woman carrying fire and light from one town to the next in a world that lives in unending darkness.
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cozy and open at the same time…
I was well-acquainted with the kind of freezing weather on display in this section of the documentary. It can be painful but beautiful at the same time.
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Nothing says “indie” like a VW van…
When I came back to the states from Japan, I did a lot of camping, and this piece sort of developed over a few trips outdoors.
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X marks the spot?
For a while, a simple piano tune was rattling around in my head - something warm and cool at the same time…
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grainy black and white = scary!
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I use it as an excuse to watch a bajillion horror movies, and also to listen to my favorite kind of movie music - horror movie music.
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All journeys must come to an end…
It’s always fun when you’re asked to hit a range of emotions within a single cue.
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A person who has returned from the dead…
It’s funny what inspires a song sometimes. It can be a word, an image, a feeling…
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The creepiest “snow” you ever saw
As I’ve been watching Craig Mazin’s excellent HBO series, Chernobyl, I’ve been especially taken by the score for the show.
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Helping WGA members track their projects
I recently wrote the score for John August’s video explaining The Start Button - a new way for WGA members to track their current projects and request help from their guild if they need it.
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Run, little man, run!
I’ve been listening to Lorne Balfe’s score to Mission Impossible: Fallout a lot lately, and this idea started developing in my head: what if an Ethan Hunt-type character (let’s call him, I dunno, “Jira”) had to save the world from The King of the Monsters by running a lot?
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It’s not an action-style logo without a blue anamorphic flare!
This is a gift I gave to my students and co-workers before I left my school in Japan. I wanted to give the school something unique. I came up with this - an action movie arrangement of their song.
Read MoreAdventures of Miss Fit is the definition of a passion project. Gregg and Denise Simpson put over five years of their life into this cool documentary about Real Life Superheroes. What do I mean by “Real Life Superheroes?” Does that mean police officers and firefighters?
Great guess! But no.
It means…
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