Ross Wariner and Cody Uhler create and release music under many monikers. They've written and performed as Kindercastle, they've released solo albums under the names Uncle Skeleton and Nahnee Bori (respectively) and create scores as Upright T-Rex. Their sound design and enchanting music is best known as the bedrock of the DOTS family of games - DOTS Classic, Two Dots and Dots & Co. - but they've created pieces for numerous film trailers, apps and animation. Without even realizing it, Upright T-Rex is all around you.
Always looking for new creative outlets to extend their talents to, Upright T-Rex teamed up with filmmaker Alex Myung and producer Amy Benaroya during the early phases of their short film, Arrival. The film is free of dialogue, animated entirely with hand-drawn cells and tells the tale of a uniquely modern LGBTQ couple navigating their way through complexities of relationships and adulthood. The opportunity to lend a fitting score to the piece was irresistible.
The sweeping orchestral score was recorded at The Tracking Room in Nashville with a 12-piece suite of musicians and done early enough in the animation process that it influenced the direction of particular scenes to ensure a perfection cohesion of music to story.
Arrival traveled the festival circuit from the Seattle International Film Festival to the London Short Film Festival to the Asian Pacific Film Festival in Los Angeles, earning praise and accolades along the way. The film was released online in April of 2017 and the original score is now being made available for the first time in October of 2017. The film and score are a beautifully cohesive piece, showcasing the powerful pairing of animation and score without the aid of dialogue.