No Hard Shells Crack?
In 2020, a month after the world had largely gone into lockdown, I heard from Rich McAfee - A friend from my hometown of Ross on Wye. He was deep in the production of an experimental horror short film No Hard Shells Crack? and wanted to know if I'd be interested in producing a score for it. I couldn't express how excited I was to get involved, and I dropped everything to get to work.
The brief
The film is an allegory concerning the inability of the British public to follow guidelines during the COVID-19 lockdown and the subsequent strain put on the National Health Service. We discussed at length the themes of the film, visual and musical influences and potential approaches. Rich used Future Markets by Jonny Greenwood, taken from the film There Will Be Blood, as a temp track. This gave me a great idea of his thinking and what to aim for.
Building the score
The first thing I did was establish a palette of sounds. I listed everything that could be associated with the pandemic in the UK and picked out what would be most effective.
Handclaps were essential — representative of Clap for the NHS, useful for keeping the film moving and maintaining tension. I used the sound of a ventilator as the percussive anchor, the hiss and release hitting on or near the downbeat. I left the timing deliberately loose to add to the unease.
A vicious cello became the principal instrument, nodding to the temp track. A muted acoustic guitar added percussive rhythm. Where I differed from the temp was in using more stop-and-start, hitting the dramatic beats harder. At the film's peak — the big reveal — I brought in a trombone with a phasing tremolo effect to disconcert and build terror.
Before building the main score, I set myself a warm-up: a short piece capturing the mood I was aiming for. I focused on the Clap for the NHS and built a little nightmare scenario, claps rising to a crescendo. It got me into the right headspace.
The result
I was thrilled with the result. It has flaws, but I feel the music effectively delivers what Rich asked. I'm pleased with my process, navigation of a new challenge, and the resulting clarity and speed with which I worked. My most satisfying creative endeavour of 2020, for sure.