‘Operose’ celebrates a selection of works in collaboration with filmmakers for numerous short films. Each track is scored to a particular film, possessing a unique blueprint upon the visuals. ‘No Longer Angel’ uses soft synth pads, suspending harmonies and delicate string sostenuto chords to reflect the pain and struggle of relationships and hardship the characters face. ‘Kill Your Darlings’ uses a combination of celeste, vibraphone and piano to create an underbed of colour and shimmer. In contrast, ‘The Vulgariser’ uses dense microtonal chords, orchestrated by a string quartet to create depth and shade to the sonic landscape. ‘Misfortune’ enhances the visuals through creative delay effects on the piano and percussion, whilst blending on top of double basses with amplified frequencies. The horror film ‘Tarot’ is complimented musically by intricate polyrhythms and rapid Bartok violin ostinatos to add momentum and vigour to the scenes. 

Killian’s latest album seeks to break boundaries of conventional classical music, through asymmetrical structures, sonic manipulation and microtonality. Each film possesses its own complexion and plot that develops in startling and unforeseen ways. Equally, the music seeks to reflect all the emotions and sensations the characters endure. All of this was achieved through dedication and industry, epitomised by the name, ‘Operose’.

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This album was scored to accompany the film “Cast Away”, a 2000 survival drama film starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt. Action-packed sequences, such as Chuck riding the waves, contain scores (‘Hold On’, ‘Sirens’, ‘Waves’) which are produced to add drama and tension to the scenes. This includes rising and falling strings that mirror the motion of the waves, rapid percussive rhythms to heighten the tension and moments of cascading brass, to underline the irresistible force of the sea. Chuck and Kelly’s romance is reflected in the scores ‘Love of My Life’ and ‘Impact’ which explore the feeling of love and loss using rich and dissonant harmony, a soaring solo violin and delicate flutes that double the string legato melody. Moments of isolation and solitude are underlined by scores ‘I Think We Did It’ and ‘Crossroad’ which use delicate orchestration and secluded melodies to represent the pain and struggles of loss and change throughout his journey.

Killian’s score was devised to bring out the emotions and self-discovery that Chuck Noland endured throughout the film. The compositional style for this score resembles purity and innocence, relying solely on free melodic phrases, orchestral blending and loose structure that ebbs and flows, like the life of Chuck and every person on this planet. “Cast Away” prompts viewers to reflect on what is truly important in life and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming challenge and advertisement. 

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The album is a score for the film "American Sniper", a biographical war drama based on the life of Chris Kyle, a U.S. Navy SEAL sniper. With the tragic funeral scene featuring a solo trumpet, this sound is enhanced throughout the score, representing the feeling of pain and loss. The movie plays with feelings of anger and revenge, underlined by the distorted bass guitars and soaring celli. Furthermore, the male vocals represent the soldiers as victims of war, underlining their struggles and vulnerability.

During scenes of training, the score ‘Feeling Dangerous’ and ‘Sheepdog’, use distorted guitars and hip-hop beats to portray power and invincibility. As the plot develops, the brutality of war comes to fruition, with a stark contrast in emotions reflected by the compositions ‘Execute’, ‘Butcher’ and ‘Sheepdog’. The music ‘You’re My Hero’ contains the four-note motif though in a more melancholic style, in conjunction with a new, darker melody played by a solo guitar. This underscores the reunion scene with Kyle and his brother, which reveals the mental scarring suffered by the brother due to war. ‘We Remember You’ accompanies the tribute scene at the end of the film, using the solo trumpet to signify the sound of a soldier’s memorial. 

The music seeks to portray the vivid and complicated emotions portrayed in this biopic, about the life of the ‘deadliest sniper in US military history’.

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Scored to the film "No Country for Old Men", an acclaimed motion picture for its stark cinematography, taut pacing, and powerful performances, particularly Bardem's chilling portrayal of ‘Chigurh’. The antagonist ‘Anton Chigurh’, is represented in the scores ‘Gunpowder’ and ‘Chigurh’ through an ostinato, transposed randomly to create a lack of key and unpredictability, underpinning the nature of his persona. Chigurh's relentless pursuit draws to a climatic face-off between him and Lweleyn Moss. The compositions ‘Lights Out’ and ‘Showdown’ both use piercing synth ostinatos, distorted brass and side chain compression to raise the pulse and heighten the tension of the fight. The score ‘Vanity’ opens and closes the film with a solo dark bassoon at the forefront, underlining the cyclical message of the film that evil has and will always be prevalent in society. The unorthodox film is mirrored by the album, which is unique through its harsh and vile soundscape, and that every track is in the same tempo and same key centre - Eflat minor.

"No Country for Old Men" symbolises the relentless and arbitrary nature of violence through Anton Chigurh's character, the moral decay of society depicted by the failed drug deal, and the fading ideals of the old guard embodied by Sheriff Bell. The film explores fate, existentialism, and the inevitability of death, which is accompanied by a musical landscape that is asymmetrical and barbaric to its core.

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