Dust to Dust

Dust to Dust by director Collin Couch is at its heart a ghost story, told from the perspective of a grieving father. He carries home urns containing his wife and child, moving through the large, empty house like a wraith. After seeing flashes of his family, perhaps still alive, he begins to unravel. Eventually, he gives in completely, sitting down for a family meal with the apparitions. He opens the urns and begins to feverishly eat the ashes in a painfully disturbing conclusion.

A Film by Collin Couch

The score for Dust to Dust was all about the cellos. I brought in cellists Nick Coratti and Sydney Jo Gershon to perform the score, and they were amazing artists to work with. The main idea was that the two cellos represented the two missing family members. At first, contained in their urns, they whisper in strange hushed tones. Then, once they are “released” by the father, the cellos speak in full voice, growling and gasping in otherworldly horror. The tone of the piece was inspired by Under the Skin (dir. Jonathan Glazer, music by Mica Levi) with a slightly gothic flair. I also used vocal buzzing and whispers layered throughout the score, citing fragments of old english and latin prayers to invoke the ghosts of the house.