A Beautiful Death
Fiction, Short-Film, 11′ Stereo UK.
Location Sound, Post Production, Original Score, 2018.
Directed by Will Thomas Freeman,
co-produced by Dantalion Films & Period 8 Pictures.
More info here.
"Catherine is a practitioner of "prescriptive music"; she performs the harp for the terminally ill. Whilst observing their vital signs she tailors her playing to suit each client's personality, state of mind and stage of expiration."
The challenge was that we couldn't go into the shoot without preparing some music. However what would ultimately play in the film depended heavily on factors that could only be workshopped on set. Certains loops, pieces, progressions and scales were chosen ahead of the shoot. Then on set I evaluated factors like colour, temperature, set design, heart-rate etc. and from that the music was constructed on spot.
All music was composed for the Harp and Piano, the latter was completely improvised on set. This is a horror film so it relies heavily on sound design which is mainly based around the Harp. The fact that I was present in the whole process means a lot as a composer. It allowed me to come up with a set of rules based on my research into music-thanatology and always be creating.
