choheewon: 04.2012

4.23.2012

Harry Escott: Brandon ("Shame" Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Harry Escott is best known for his scores to films such as Hard Candy, A Mighty Heart, Deep Water and Shifty. His collaborations with directors such as Michael Winterbottom, Nick Broomfield, David Slade and Eran Creevy have greatly influenced his approach to composition, encouraging a focus on the capacity that musical sound has to convey meaning and emotion. This focus on the potential for music to function as storyteller is a common theme that threads through all of his work, from the concert platform to the big screen.
Born in London, his musical education began as a chorister at Westminster Cathedral and he went on to complete his studies at The Royal College of Music and Oxford University, studying composition under Robert Sherlaw-Johnson and Francis Pott.
He has composed the scores for several award-winning films such as the BAFTA winning Poppy Shakespeare, Michael Winterbottom’s The Road to Guantanamo (Berlin Silver Bear) and Clio Barnard’s The Arbor, for which he received a nomination in the 2011 Cinema Eye awards. He received a coveted BIFA nomination for his scoring of Shifty in 2008 and has developed the score into a concert piece for his own ensemble, The Samphire Band, which was premiered at last year’s Latitude festival.
Earlier this year, Harry worked with the poet Lavinia Greenlaw on an exciting Artangel project called Audio Obscura (a sound installation designed for train station forecourts). It opened in Manchester Piccadilly station as part of the Manchester International Festival 2011 and then moved on to London’s St. Pancras station.
Harry has just completed the score for Steve McQueen’s latest film, Shame, which has picked up a number of prizes from the film festival circuit. Shame will be in cinemas from December 2011.