Short Scores: Tessa Rose Jackson

In Short Scores, Eye on Sound playfully pushes at the boundaries of film music. We asked a new generation of musicians and composers to create new mini film scores to accompany a short piece of film of their choice from Eye’s collection. Tessa Rose Jackson chose Gordon Highlanders Returning to Camp (1897).

By Thijs Havens09 February 2023

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For Short Scores, Tessa Rose Jackson wrote a new soundtrack for Gordon Highlanders Returning to Camp (1897), a fragment from Eye's collection.

Can you briefly introduce yourself?

I'm Tessa Rose Jackson, I release art and music under the name Someone and also work as a film and theater composer.

Why did you choose this specific film fragment?

I thought it was a nice challenge to get the tension that is in such a march – and which is a bit lost without sound – back into the film. I also recognised a choreography in the military, coordinated movements, which I also found an interesting element to emphasize.

What inspired you in making this score?

I really like many different styles. Marc Mothersbaugh of many of the Wes Anderson films is a great hero of mine, but Cristobal Tapia de Veer – with his alienating, often almost disturbing music – was the biggest inspiration in this one.

How did you tackle the project?

Actually, I started from a kind of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom feeling, with a deep drum on every beat and a sort of vocal chant. But that felt too silly. It quickly became apparent that it needed to be a bit more epic, so I doubled up the acoustic tom with electronic drum samples, cut out the vocals, and gave all the sounds a bit of a distorted edge. I then started working from the sound of the bagpipes you see on screen. They always play a very present lying bass note while above that the harmony can move. I wanted to give that sound a modern twist, so I made a similar part and played it on a synth and instead of a lying part, let it pulsate. I chose a few moments in the film where I felt a tipping point, when the big boss arrives and then again when the troops start moving again. I built stops and build-ups around that, to tell a story through dynamics in such a short fragment.

All Short Scores to date

Every three weeks, we will add a new clip accompanied by fresh new music to the Short Scores collection, which will therefore keep growing.

Watch all Short Scores clips