The Brief
A director sent me silent footage of a stark desert landscape. The only sound: wind. No dialogue, minimal movement. The story: Sisyphus eternally pushing a boulder up a mountain.
Understanding the Vision
We had a few calls about what the music should feel like. The director wanted:
- A sense of repetition (mirroring the eternal task)
- Tension that builds but never quite resolves
- A flute melody that represents human presence in an indifferent landscape
The Approach
I developed a simple, repeating synthesizer motif—almost hypnotic at first. Over time, it grows, multiplies, becomes slightly chaotic. The flute air stays constant, representing Sisyphus’s perseverance and his small humanity against an impossible task.
The repetition becomes both meditative and unsettling, which is exactly what Sisyphus embodies: routine that never ends, effort that never truly culminates.
Outcome
The director felt the music captured the philosophical weight of the story without being heavy-handed. The flute gave the piece a human voice, and the growing synth layers created tension that matched the visual progression.