Previous Work
CHAIN
Original Score
Spring 2024
About
CHAIN is a clever and playful animated short about the food chain of insects and birds, and the relative nature of predator and prey.
Team
The film was produced by Academy of Art University and the StudioX Animation Department. It was directed by Ling Han and Tzu-Ying.
Also on the production team were key faculty of the Music, Film, and Animation Departments including Department Head Bradley Hughes, Animation Department Director Derek Flood, and Professor Gunnard Doboze.
The sound team consisted of Audio Engineer Kirsten Johnston, Sound Designers John Kessler and Rachel Deshler, and Niko Nettesheim as the Music Composer.
CHAIN has won many awards including ‘Best Music in any Genre’ at the Logcinema Festival in Buenos Aires, ‘Best Composer’ and ‘Best Music Score’ at the Cineverse International Film Festival and was also displayed at the Academy of Art 2024 Spring Showcase.
My approach
For the score, I wanted to combine classical orchestration with the contemporary colors of latin percussion, and some oriental elements derived from classic Kung Fu Movies, to bring rhythm and excitement to the jungle setting of the film.
916 Pilot
Original Score
Summer 2024
About
An aspiring videographer has his camera stolen during an important gig. He must rise to the challenge and get it back from a dangerous man.
ZBI
Original Score
Winter 2024
About
ZBI is a unique and experimental illustrated short inspired by the maddening isolation many experienced during the 2021 COVID Pandemic. It was created and illustrated by Nabil Zine Eddine. It’s about a man in a mental asylum in complete isolation, being pushed beyond the breaking point of his sanity by his hallucinations.
Team
On the team is Creator and Illustrator Nabil Zine Eddine, Sound Mixer and Audio Engineer Kirsten Johnston, Sound Designer John Kessler and myself as the Music Composer.
My approach
Nabil specifically used references from the artists “Yeat” and “Playboi Carti” which immediately clicked for me. The music just came to me easily after that conversation. I wanted the music to embody the unbearable descent into madness. My goal was to convey the noise that the mind begins to conjure when it has experienced silence and isolation for too long. My approach was to push fun, exciting trap music to its distorted maximum, creating the feeling of being in a loud and stressful place when all you crave is sleep.