‘Long and Winding’ is a 2009 short drama directed by Jane Langford and produced by Michele Maurer. It is a beautifully shot road movie, filmed in rural America and follows a couple as they revisit the locations that led up to their eventual engagement. Powerful, deep and encompassing, the film meanders through their journey until the end where a twist is revealed. For this film I wrote a song, and based all the cues around the melody of this track. I put together lush ensembles of strings, guitar, piano and slide guitar to give a typically traditional American sound that was rich enough to portray all the emotions present in the film. For the closing piece there was a full version of my song ‘Lost’, with the vocal performed by friend and collaborator Phil Vincent.

Find Out More:
Official Site

‘Where is My Solomon’ is a 2009 documentary directed by Shoshana Eilon. It explores the lives of the Darfuri community in Tel Aviv, which has been established in the wake of the Darfur conflict as thousands of refugees have fled north. For this film I contributed three tracks, along with other composers, and together we created an eclectic mix of Middle Eastern influences that reflected all cultures in the region. I was lucky enough to contribute the opening piece, which used my favourite nylon string acoustc guitar, downtuned to sound like a tradtional middle-eastern Oud. Another contributed piece entitled ‘Wasteland’, was a string and piano piece, which you can listen to in the showreel.

Find out More:
IMDB Entry

My first project of 2008 was Chris Purnell’s ‘Don’t Look At Me (I’m Ugly in the Morning)’, which was also my first feature length project. It is a drama with elements of black comedy, focusing on three siblings suffering after the death of their abusive Father. Here I had a really defined sound, with more experimental sound design pieces for the intimate scenes, and more pop/rock orientated pieces for the rest, including two original songs. With a great cast including stand up comic Ed Byrne, as well as the very capable Chris Condie, this was one of my best projects to date.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Find out More:
IMDB Entry

‘On Friendship and Fidelity’ (Directed by Tania Andrade) is a beautifully shot romantic short that I worked on in Spring 2008. Again I used my favoured combination of strings (cello in this case), piano and guitar to accompany the blossoming of a romantic relationship between the two main characters. This was a really competent effort from the production team, who themselves were a lovely group to work with, but it also encouraged me by showing further to myself the higher calibre of project I was now attracting.

A Headline Romance (directed by The Fdz / Produced by Cracked Lens Productions) was my second non-animated short and presented me with an opportunity to put together a very eclectic sound. The story addressed the issues of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict through the telling of a romance story between a Jewish male and Muslim woman. The score that I put together combined elements of sound design, along with intimate instrumentation and programmed rhythms, culminating in the final credits piece, which I feel is still one of my best works.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Umbillicalripcord (directed by Adam Goodwin) is an action-packed animated short from 2007. Unashamedly clichéd both visually and musically, it is set in a post-apocalyptic future where a resistance fighter tries to steal what is known as ‘The Prophecy’ from the base of the Empire. Although I consider the music to be very ‘Bondesque’, this was a great opportunity for me to practice a large orchestration synchronised to specific hit points. This was a fun film to work on, but marks my last venture in to animation, favouring live-action work since then. Unfortunately the version below was a re-edited update, so not all the music synchronizes as originally intended, but it’s still pretty close!

A Dog’s Life, directed by Victor Throe, was my first ever film project, and though I completed the music back in 2005, the film itself was not completed until 2007.  The film is a brilliant and charming animation following the exploits of a bored dog in the Australian outback. Musically I wrote a slapstick but light hearted soundtrack, and though I have come so far from this sound now, (perhaps unrecognizingly so!), I owe it to this project and subsequent collaborations with Victor for really getting my career rolling.

‘Light Echoes from a Supernova’ (directed by Gary Mackridge), was my first non-animated film project and a brilliant experiment for me. The film consisted of three dream sequences amongst other scenes, and it was these scenes in particular where I pushed myself well outside my comfort zone to create some truly original sound design. The production style I created here went on to influence many of my future projects, and I feel it marked the beginning of my journey to find my own unique sound rather than simply copying the greats. The film was bookended by a grand and uplifting theme that I arranged for string quartet.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Wrong Move (directed by Richard Lord) was an early animated student short that I worked on in 2006. The art style was quite wacky and the story and setting equally bizarre. The music I wrote for this film was creepy but quirky, influenced by Danni Elfman as well as classic B-movie horrors. In particular I used a lot of classic organ sounds which I’ve since grown fond of recording more often.

The Dead Family Christmas (directed by Neil Jepson) was a later entry in the student animations I worked on in 2006. Though the music here was still quite indistinct in its style, it was my first real use of a string orchestra. The music was based on the classic ‘Jingle Bells’ but rewritten to sound creepier, and it was generally the most in depth writing for strings I had done up to that point.