20
September 2024
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Cue of the Week: “Dee and T”

This week’s music selection is the opening from Emerald, Texas, filmmaker George Adams’ modern-day reinvention of The Wizard of Oz.

In this cue I lay out the instrumental palette of the entire score: acoustic blues guitar, solo strings, drums, and – to use the technical musical term – weird surreal floaty stuff in the background.

As the film plays with the boundaries of the waking world, the music keeps one foot in down-home existence and one in a more dreamlike place.

06
September 2024
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Cue of the Week: “Golden Coreopsis”

For some reason I think of this blog as having TV-like seasons, each of which kicks off after summer travels. So welcome to season fifteen or so!

This week I re-run my favorite music from the feature film Emerald, Texas, which envisions The Wizard of Oz in modern day. The protagonists are lazing in a resplendent field of flowers — loosely, the poppy fields from the original book. I took the opportunity to write a pastoral string melody to reflect the expansive prettiness and momentary peace.

I really need to make an album of this score, but (insert standard excuses about not having enough time here).

02
August 2024
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Cue of the Week: “Where To?”

The finale music from Secrets Beneath the Floorboards returns to a rustic-acoustic flavor that reflects the film’s rural backdrop. After a bluesy guitar intro (courtesy of Tom Strahle), the piano plays the four-note theme that’s popped up throughout the score, serving as a musical farewell to our protagonists who have managed to survive to the finale. (This is probably not a spoiler if you’re familiar with Lifetime movies.)

The nice thing about simple themes is that they’re so versatile. For example, here are those same four notes being mysterious, and here they are transformed into the film’s love theme.

26
July 2024
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Cue of the Week: “Final Confrontation”

It’s time for that inevitable moment in every suspense/thriller film score: the final confrontation cue! In addition to the requisite hair-raising effects, this cue presents several of the film’s themes in a musical “getting the gang together” moment. (For example, the main theme becomes a creepy call-and-response between two solo violins.)

As usual, you can tell from the music when the bad guy gets his just deserts. (Or does he? See the movie to find out!) We conclude with some of the overprotective grandmother’s piano melody, hinting that maybe she wasn’t so paranoid after all.

12
July 2024
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“Escaping Wonderland” announced!

I’m happy to echo the release announcement of Escaping Wonderland, a followup to Cortopia’s hit Down the Rabbit Hole. Escaping Wonderland is a VR puzzle-solving game rich with story depth, set in a familiar but darker version of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy world.

I had a blast writing the orchestral score for this game, and am looking forward to the Meta Quest release this fall! Til then, enjoy the release trailer, which includes a smattering of the game’s music.

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Morituri Te Salutant // Michael Gordon Shapiro - Highlights
  1. Morituri Te Salutant // Michael Gordon Shapiro - Highlights
  2. Emerald, Texas // Highlights
  3. Mythic Battle // Highlights
  4. The Yard Sale // Michael Gordon Shapiro - Highlights
  5. Investigations // Highlights
  6. Home Room // Highlights
  7. Sands of Arabia // Highlights
  8. Spider Cult // Highlights
  9. Poker Night // Highlights