Original scores for fiction film.
Score
Directed by Carlos Montenegro · 2026
Currently in festival submission
Ending: the film’s pivotal emotional scene builds. The main theme enters at 0:30
Transition: a quieter moment between scenes, more ambiguous emotionally
The film
Trapped in a cycle of grief, David uses a futuristic device to relive memories of his deceased boyfriend, but he must choose between a perfect digital dream and the painful reality of letting go.
Director
Carlos Montenegro
Year
2026
Runtime
9 min
Role
Score
Festivals
In submission
The brief
The director highlighted the need for restraint. Cues were kept to pivotal and transitional moments- music needed to sit under the emotion on screen rather than lead it. Most of the space went to realistic, ambient sound design and the score was limited to a single instrument that could carry a sense of memory and loss.
Approach
I started on piano, writing chords and melodies without clear emotional signposting or resolutions before transitioning these to programmed patches on my hardware synth to give them weight.
Tracks were then processed with digital degradation and tape effects to make them feel worn and dubbed over many times, paralleling the main character’s constant reliving of his memories.
Score and Sound Design
Directed by Diogo Carlos and Adriana Silva · 2024
Official Selection, Cinanima 2025, National Competition
Official Selection, Lift-Off Global Network Film Festival 2024
Intro: open, organic textures introducing Tsubu and the desert
Ending: the final cue brings a sense of completion to Tsubu’s quest
The film
Tsubu, the fennec fox, has to overcome his loss and face several riddles across the desert to find his dawn.
Directors
Diogo Carlos, Adriana Silva
Year
2024
Runtime
6 min
Role
Score and sound design
Festivals
Cinanima 2025, Lift-Off Global Network 2024
The brief
The directors wanted an organic sounding score that blended sound design and texture seamlessly with the music. Pivotal scenes needed to emphasize emotion and match Tsubu’s cuteness, with the final cue bringing a sense of completion to his quest.
Approach
The intro was built from stacked harmonies on my analogue synth, creating an organic sound similar to an orchestra tuning before a performance. Droning layers, wind chime textures and granulated kalimba fill the ambient passages, blurring the line between sound design and music.
From these neutral pieces, I developed cues that progress into more emotional passages culminating in a final section with a subtle sense of loss and resolve that mirrors the film’s arc.
Score
Directed by Gin Huang · 2026
Official Selection, Leiden International Film Festival 2026
Transition: a piano piece warmed by cello
Finale: Dream sequence cue contrasted with fuller final resolving theme
The film
A 38-year-old single Dutch woman finds herself like a stranger in her hometown after years of working in Afghanistan with the United Nations.
Director
Gin Huang
Year
2026
Runtime
23 min
Role
Score
Festival
Leiden International Film Festival 2026, Official Selection
The brief
The director asked for cues that could provide a sense of “home memory” and nostalgia featuring piano and strings. The music needed to provide movement and reflection while keeping the emotion restrained to avoid overdramatizing the film. These main cues were to be contrasted with brief dreamy alternative pieces to provide a subtle disconnect from reality. Any musical connection to the city of Leiden was also to be emphasized.
Approach
The director mentioned finding the train jingles of his hometown, Taipei, nostalgic whenever he returned home. I drew on their neutral tone, harmonic structure and movement to carry his sense of homecoming into the score through piano and strings.
For the contrasting dream sequences, I used a sampled piano library and stretched notes unnaturally long with slow fades, further processing them with echo and reverb to enhance the subtle disconnect from reality.
I also worked with the Leiden Carillon society to arrange and record the main themes on the City Hall bell tower, heard throughout the film (click here to see the process!)
Behind the score
Other credits
Short films
Lipstick Hearts Everywhere
For Free
Paige
Estranged
Pattern
Kill the Babies!