I was truly humbled when director Florence Heller approached me to score her film because I knew it was a story that is very close to her heart. Spoiled Milk is a short film about a girl who experiences emotional abuse at the hands of her father. He has always dreamed of his daughter attending medical school, but she longs to study music and their relationship suffers as a result.
The film is emotionally charged and takes place in various intimate settings, so I wanted the score to subtly enhance the drama without being too heavy-handed. I chose a small ensemble consisting of live cello, violin, and piano, where the piano often played two opposing parts (which became the father-daughter relationship “theme”), symbolizing the conflicting desires of the father and daughter. The theme also made a small appearance in a jazzy source* cue I wrote, which played in the background as our two main characters dined at a restaurant.
It was a genuine pleasure working on this film, much in part due to Florence having a clear vision for the story and how she wanted music to help tell that story.
* “Source music” is music that is part of the fictional setting and therefore heard by the characters.