Nelson Ortiz The short film Fuel Crisis was produced by FM Films Ltd in the spring of 2005. The story is set following a global fuel crisis, and it therefore required a very specific soundtrack, one that was indicative of a traditional but also fresh sentiment. After several failed attempts of matching music that just didnt fit the general mood I was trying to produce with the images, I came across Nelson Ortizs work. In particular, I discovered his track The Last Goodbye. It was perfect for what I was after. Nelsons approach to melody is calm and structured, and therefore ideal for supporting scenes with a fitting soundtrack. The changing mood of Nelsons track was similar to that of the film, in particular its evolution of tempo and sentiment, producing a progressive and sentimental emotional response; ideal for the story I was trying to tell in Fuel Crisis. Nelson is well aware of the logic of film and story, and it is this that which qualifies him as an excellent composer for TV and cinema. He is open-minded in his productions and has been a refreshing talent to work with. It is my ambition to use Nelsons talents again in the future as I believe his grasp on story and structure is invaluable for successful film production.
John Fox (Director) - FM Films Ltd.
Nelson Ortiz was a regular on MP3 Unsigned when I first started going there and obviously had made many friends there, although - for my sins - I never had the chance to hear anything from him. Moreover, he has been absent from that site for some while so it was a bit of a surprise to see this track appear on my MP3 Unsigned list this month. Let's hope it was all worthwhile eh? Citing David Thomas as one of his influences should give you as clue as to what kind of music this Modern Composer delivers, as indeed should the title of this track...
I have to say I am not a big fan - at all - of movie soundtracks. Usually, I like the soundtrack to stay with the film where it belongs but - having said that - I have still come across a couple of film soundtracks that I did like. To give Nelson credit, this about as good a soundtrack work as I have ever heard. An orchestral piece in essence, full of warm string figures and long sweeps of sound, this is an aural treat - whether fil soundtracks are your thing or not. There's a majesty and style in this that you definitely won't hear in most soundtracks from online musicians. In fact, growing up as I did listening to the works of premier soundtrack genius Nelson Riddle (my dad loved his stuff) made me realize just how difficult it is to make a film soundtrack stand up WITHOUT the film.
Nelson Ortiz does that - or at least he does it on this track, so I assume he can do it on others. On of things that did really impress me about Movie Suite from the get go was the lushness of the sounds and the evocative nature of the arrangement. All of which should help Nelson enormously in the RW movie soundtrack business which is where, I suppose, he is heading. It would be interesting to see what other people thought about what KIND of film this should be attached to; epic, romance or pot-boiler? The choice is obviously yours. An excellent introduction to this very talented composer and an area I will be looking at further in months to come.
Steve Gilmore - MP3Unsigned (Oct 20, 2005)