Newsletter #6 - Two New Short Films
Kia ora everyone,
In this Newsletter I turn my attention away from Shortland Street (which is going really well), and towards two short films that have just been released publicly and can be now watched.
The Generation Gardener
A heartfelt short documentary about the struggles and life of a local Aotearoa bonsai artist.
My old friend Luke Ross brought me on board for his new short documentary called The Generation Gardener, which has just been released as part of the Someday Stories program.
Luke and I have collaborated on several short films, ranging from various 48-hour film festival shorts to his documentary from last year, Our Money.
For the soundtrack of this film, I wanted to do something very different from the music I've been composing for Shortland Street. So, I collaborated with a clarinet player who brought a unique and special touch to the project. The player I approached is Joshua Buckler, an incredible musician and a skilled improviser. I recorded Joshua before finalising the arrangement, intentionally leaving the score vague in terms of articulations and dynamics.
We workshopped these elements with Joshua, and he provided numerous valuable suggestions and contributions to the performance, going beyond merely playing the notes on the page. I then composed the remainder of the arrangement around the recordings, resulting in a very different composition process.
You're Out!
A queer-themed, genre-aware horror film that pays tribute to slasher classics like Scream and Halloween.
This was a film I scored last year, collaborating with filmmaker Chaz Harris. After recently playing at a couple of festivals, Chaz has now released the film on YouTube.
Before composing the music for this film, Chaz had me watch the original Scream, which I had not seen before, and listen to a bunch of classic horror scores from the 80s and 90s. For You're Out, we drew inspiration from these influences but added rock and metal guitars as a special element in the score.
What’s coming up?
Soundtrack Releases!
I will be releasing the music for both You’re Out and The Generation Gardener in the near future. You can expect the You’re Out soundtrack to be available next week, and Generation Gardener at the end of next month. If you haven’t already, please follow me on Spotify or Apple Music to be notified when these are released.
Some creepy music this way comes...
I've had a side project simmering on the backburner, and it's now nearing completion.
About a year or two ago, Lithuanian director Dominykas Ivanauskis created the music video for my track Sparrow, a music video I am really proud of. Since then, we have been collaborating on a shoestring-budget found-footage feature horror film, titled "Velnio Įrankis" (The Devil's Instrument).
Dominykas has been sending me individual scenes over the last couple of years as he films them. This was a great side project to work on, particularly at the beginning of last year when I had few other projects underway. Excitingly, about a month ago, he sent me the first full cut of the film. There is still a little bit of tweaking to do, but we now have a feature film on our hands that will hopefully be coming to Lithuanian theaters soon!
Thanks so much for reading.