When I Grow Up (2019)
A montage scene from Tyler Reeves' "When I Grow Up." In the scene we see the imagined past (in reverse) of a couple through the eyes of a young boy, who has yet to come out to his family. To capture the bittersweet nature of the story I sought to create a "Disney animation-esque" score as emotionally diverse as the scene it accompanies. The dreamlike percussive introduction accompanies the happy married life, the Gershwin style jazz orchestra brings some fun to the bar scene, the love theme first brings joy and romance to the boy's first kiss, but reappears with a more distorted and tortured harmony when he finds out his friend's secret. Finally, the piece ends unresolved as the camera returns to the restaurant revealing the still closeted protagonist. Like the music, his struggle is still unresolved, but there is a tinge of hope in the air.