This week’s selection is an action cue from one of my first feature films, a political thriller called The F-Zone.

The string orchestration gives it a quaint and almost neoclassical sound in comparison to the brass/percussion/electronic action music style of today, but I’m pleased with the energy and sense of storytelling even after all these years.

This music introduces a short film called Dead Line, which I scored many years ago. Detuned piano, fiddle drones, and exotic bells create a disquieting atmosphere to accompany a lone figure walking through the Nevada desert at dusk.

“Detuned piano” usually implies a deliberate process, but here I was taking advantage of a piano that was already out of tune. 🙂

Here’s the opening music from the film Craving Greatness, celebrating its recent release. As mentioned last week, the film is a visual love letter to the writer’s journey, both ups and downs.

This cue is alternately reflective and playful, reflecting both of these aspects of the creative process.

Craving Greatness, a heart-warming love letter to creative process, runs this weekend at the Kapow Intergalactic Film Festival. (This is just a hunch, but I suspect they favor submissions from the Milky Way.)

Here’s the finale from the film’s score, which I wrote for two pianos. The mood of the film is of reflective gratitude and joy. I tried to capture that spirit here.

We’ve reached the denouement of the Lady Usher film score, a reprise of the opening theme for protagonist Morgan.

As always, it’s tough to describe what’s going on cinematically without spoilers. Suffice to say that the final musical twist suggests an appropriately Poe-like closing.

It’s been a pleasure sharing with you selections from this score, which picked up an award during the course of these posts. A final shoutout to the musicians who made the music come to life: Cosima Luther, Steven Huber, Daniel Adams (violins); Laurann Woods, Brandon Encinas (violas); Simone Vitucci (cello); Tom Strahle (guitars); Jennifer Lin (conductor). And thanks as always to filmmaker George Adams, with whom artistic collaboration is always a pleasure.

Every movie about a domineering matriarch needs final confrontation music, or so they taught us in composer school. This week’s music from Lady Usher accompanies the final face-off between the earnest Morgan and her most unaccommodating hostess.

The score’s string quartet is playing rather furiously here. Stick around to the end for some hair-raising effects!