Introduction
Appendix: Beambuddy’s Video on Signalis
Goals
When writing the score for this short film, my goals were split into two distinct areas. Improving my knowledge of writing for media, and to learn how to write in genres that are not my speciality
Short-form content has always been a corner of interest for me. Ever since I gained access to YouTube, I was intrigued by what smaller directors, who are typically constrained by budgets, lack of resources, and other logistical nightmares, could achieve. However, my experience watching those short films, from small creator houses in India such as Filter Copy, and Jordindian, who were more focused on sketches about everyday life of Urban India, to creators like Nexpo and BeamBuddy. While the latter’s content descends towards a video essay inspired by Internet Horror phenomena.
While not directly related to my particular project, they have played a significant role in shaping my interests, which in turn have influenced my creative practices.
Proposed Project
For the Interdisciplinary project, I have taken on working on a short film revolving around the theme of loss and how one processes it. This particular assignment will be a viability study and will also explore a few of the contingency plans that I will be taking.
Personnel Involved
When it came to this assignment, I was frantically looking for people I could collaborate with. It was then that I was reminded that a friend of mine from high school now studying in Singapore, was taking a film module in her 3rd year. Due to this, I decided to ask her about her assignment for the module and if she would require any background scores for the same.
Krishna Karan
I’m a metal/rock producer specialising in instrumental from subgenres like metalcore, djent, rock, pop-rock and pop punk, to name a few
- My background is in the guitar, which forms the background of all my creative endeavours.
- I am very interested in sample creation through the destruction and desecration of the original sample to the point of no recognition.
- This project would also be my first foray into writing for media and my first foray into scoring for a project.
- I also write scripts in my free time, either inspired by the media I’m consuming or completely original scripts!
Tvarita Surendar
Tvarita is a 3rd-year Chemical Engineering Student currently studying at ‘National University Singapore. She had taken this film studies module to get away from the stress of engineering.
- This particular project would be the final submission for her film studies module.
- This will also be her directorial debut, her first step into a creative field
- She has had experience with other creative fields. She is an avid short story writer and has written many different genres
Methodology and Rationale
Both Tvarita and I are huge fans of Indie-media, especially video games and short-form content like short films. While coming up with concepts for the theme of the film, one theme that we kept gravitating towards was the concept of loss, a theme lot of us have faced in our lives. I was also very interested in working with a director, be it a short film or a full-length feature film(with a limited budget). It was then that I decided to message Tvarita and ask if she would have me on board to write the background score for her final submission. She agreed, and we began our collaboration.
Writing the score for this particular short film was one of the hardest creative endeavours I undertook. My creative field lies in alternative genres and metal, did led to a few creative roadblocks on the way. I undertook research into what goes on while scoring, such as layering, using cue points; however, after much consideration and debate with Tvarita, we decided to keep the score as simple as we could to keep the high quality of work.
Scoring traditionally is split into 6 different segments: Spotting, Writing, Mockups, Orchestration, Recording and editing. There are a number of steps to synchronise the music to the film to enhance narrative and emotional impact (Savage, 2025). With the time constraint we both had faced, we felt that excluding orchestration was the best choice to deliver a high-quality product.
Work on the songs was both fulfilling and, at the same time, very stressful. Most of the songs that were written for the short film were inspired by the work of Randy Newman, most known for Toy Story and Sean Townsend, a YouTuber transcribing metal songs to piano. Using their work as a reference. I began taking apart some of my older demos, transcribing guitar sections to piano, and layering them with strings.
Appendix: WIP Version that I would send over
Using those techniques I picked up, I used a demo from a synthwave song, a shoegaze song, a riff I had written a long time ago on the guitar, and transcribed them, adjusting their velocities, their tunings, adding effects and so on. Some field recordings were also then, where I blended the sound of the conservatoire’s piano pedals and used them to create a more intimate feel for few of the scores.
Tvarita was very involved with the song creation, giving me feedback for all of the scores, as after each section was composed, I would send her a screen recording of the segments. I would receive feedback a few hours later, and I would work on the aspects she would mention
Appendix: Feedback for a particular Section
Filming the scenes was all done in a single day in Singapore’s National University, Singapore. All scenes were shot on a single Sony DSLR, with a single actress, which made this film extremely easy to film and use as few resources as possible. And with no dialogue by the actress, the only dialogue would be a voice-over from a Narrator, which was recorded by Tvarita.
Appendix: Voiceover discussion
Timeline of Work
SWOT Analysis
Appendix: SWOT Analysis
Market Analysis
Profit seeking is rarely done in the creation of short films, as the primary value of short films lies in serving as a proof of concept and in pitching ideas to gain more funding or backing for a bigger film. (Sparks Film School, 2024)
However, in recent times, film festivals have been hosting more short films, which brings more viewers for smaller directors. Film festivals like HFP Festivals and the Clermont Short Film Festival, which serve as world leaders in marketing and presenting short films for directors worldwide, especially Clermont, which offers Remote participation with 4,000 participants last year! (Clermont International Show Film Festival, 2024)
Market/Target Audience
While conducting further research, it was also found that platforms like YouTube and Instagram tend to be the primary platforms where Short Films tend to be marketed to. Taking cues from such platforms, we found that a lot of creators use platforms like these to showcase their content to a wider audience and market it towards a broader audience, which consists of both the general populace who consume media as well as avid movie watchers.
Costs and Budgeting
Hypothetical Budget
Appendix: Hypothetical Budget
Potential Funding
Singapore has a grant provided by the National Arts Council, which will award grants for projects taking place in Singapore. The grant assists with the development of works based in Singapore and caps out at 50,000 SGD (National Arts Council, 2023). For artists based in the United Kingdom, the ‘Help Music Do It Differently’ awards 3000 British Pounds for artists to develop more creative skills (Get Into Theatre, 2024). For the worst-case scenario, the project could also be funded by the personal savings we both have.
Inspiration and Influences
As mentioned before, I have been inspired by all forms of media that I have been fortunate to consume, from content houses such as Jordindian and Filter Copy, to indie horror YouTubers such as BeamBuddy and Nexpo. Their own creative practices have led me to want to work with creatives like them.
Musical influences, while limited, were heavily inspired by Sean Townsend and Randy Newman’s body of work, using Townsend’s transcription of metal tracks led me to take the same route by transcribing sections from my older demos and applying them to this.
Contingency/Risk Assessment
The project came to a close on the 3rd week of November, being a very quick process from start to finish; however, as the full movie comes to 7:30, I have other concrete plans to work on even shorter films during the winter break. I also plan to do a quick breakdown of my workflow on the final submission alongside the track. At the same time, I also have other projects lined up with other film students based in India, whom I am very keen to work with.
Appendix: Risk Assessment
Appendix: Excerpt from the Film
Potential for Development
As this is the first time I would write for a field that is not my forte of Metal, it was exciting to dive in headfirst into scoring for films. There is a huge scope for development, as the techniques I picked up during writing the scores, would help me in writing more orchestral sections in my own compositions.
Evaluation/Viability
As this project has already come to an end, I believe that this project is viable. I received some feedback from my peers, which would play a huge role in developing this project to its best potential. There were some concerns from some peers, mentioning that some parts might have felt rushed
As this was my first time composing for a piece of media, I had to look for inspiration in order to find a sound of my style of writing. With the feedback I got, I find that it will be useful to spend more time researching more scores, so that future projects can be at their highest potential. This project is also being evaluated by my peers and is being deemed viable. I believe that this project will be viable
Appendix: Feedback from my peers
Final Project Powerpoint
Bibliography
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Clermont International Show Film Festival (2024). Clermont ISFF | Short Film Market | Clermont ISFF. [online] Clermont-filmfest.org. Available at: https://clermont-filmfest.org/en/short-film-market/about/.
EW.COM, Wikimedia Archives and Archive Today (2025). Blocked. [online] Archive.ph. Available at: https://archive.ph/20121205204251/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0.
Get Into Theatre (2024). Do It Differently Fund | Funding, grants and Scholarships. [online] Get into Theatre. Available at: https://getintotheatre.org/opportunities/funding/do-it-differently-fund-help-musicians-uk/.
HFP | Film Festivals (2020). Home | HFP | Film Festivals. [online] HFP. Available at: https://hf-p.com/ [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
National Arts Council (2023). 404. [online] National Arts Council. Available at: https://www.nac.gov.sg/support/funding-and-schemes/creation-grant/overview. [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
Post #2 (2024). Rates for scoring an indie short film? [online] VI-CONTROL. Available at: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/rates-for-scoring-an-indie-short-film.158475/ [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
Savage, M. (2025). BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Where are the new movie themes? [online] Bbc.co.uk. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7525242.stm.
Sparks Film School (2024). Why Make a Short Film? 10 Ways Short Films Can Easily Boost Your Filmmaking Career – Sparks Film School. [online] Sparks Film School. Available at: https://sparksarts.co.uk/why-make-a-short-film [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
Townsend, S. and YouTube (2025). Sean Townsend. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4p9kiiXzLalJ5e2DnbQQwg [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
