The pandemic slowed things down for Three Cities and I needed a new creative outlet. Having always been a huge movie buff, and like so many others, being wowed as a kid at John Williams’ opening Bb as STAR WARS crawled across the screen, I wanted to take a stab at scoring some short films.

I met director Humza Syed (of Black Rock Pictures) and composed, produced, and recorded a score for his short film Saint Joseph.

The film chronicles the spiritual journey of a son who never made peace with his recently deceased father and is pressured into reflecting on his broken relationship at the local church by his sister. The three acts of the story are set in a mansion (Act I) and a church (Acts II & III) with each location getting its own theme. Themes change orchestration and timbre as the story progresses, with the mansion theme evolving from courtly to metal, and the church from angelic to somber.

Orchestration includes strings (played by the incredibly-talented Atlys quartet), heavy metal ensemble, pipe organ, choir, and solo piano. This one was a lot of fun and I am very proud to have been able to contribute something to Humza’s fantastic film!

Here’s the soundtrack:

And here’s a screening cut of Humza Syed’s Saint Joseph: