The Last Time I Saw Richard

BACKGROUND: This is the soundtrack for a short Australian film - an amalgam of psychological drama and nightmarish horror. Rather than abiding by the soundtrack tropes associated with the genre (multiphonic orhestration and 20th centruy orchestral atonality), it provided the opportunity for poignancy (through timbral subtlety) and violence (through African percussiona and Noise). SIGNIFICANCE: Funded by Screen Australia. Awards: 2014 Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts Awards 2014 - Best short film winner; Blue Mountains Film Festival 2013 - Silver Yowie winner, San Jose Short Film Festival - Audience Favorite CONTRIBUTION: This film provided a psychological framework to explore representations of nightmaring surreality. What are the sonic extremes possible (both sublety and excess) when generating fear and terror in film? How can these be explored in less conventional ways than traditional cinematic horror? How can the relationship between the score and sound design be best exploited to stimulate imagination, anxiety and empathy for these character's plights? Whilst the extremes were slightly tempered in the final mix, the end result still demonstrated an innovative approach in bringing a Power Electronics (Noise) aesthethic, fused with tribal drumming to frame nightmare and terror in original ways.