How I Scored “Туфли” (“Shoes”), a Short Film Seen More Than 4.7 Million Times

Jul 9, 2024

4 min read

In 2017, I composed my first original film score: five pieces for “Туфли” (“Shoes”), a short comedy written and directed by Evgenia Marokhotina.

The project brought together a recognizable cast led by Polina Grents, Mikhail Politseymako, Evelina Bledans, Viktoria Maslova and Ekaterina Bondareva. Pavel Muntyan, co-founder of the animation studio Toonbox and one of the creators behind Mr. Freeman, served as the film’s principal producer.

For me, it was an opportunity to enter a new part of the profession — not by contributing one existing track, but by composing music specifically around the story, performances and edit.

The completed film was selected for the competitive program of the VI International Short Film Festival KONIK. It later became available through the IVI online cinema, while its YouTube release has now received more than 4.7 million views.

The Film and Its Creative Team

Evgenia Marokhotina came to filmmaking after working in journalism, including positions at Komsomolskaya Pravda and Channel One. She wrote the screenplay for “Туфли” and directed the film, building a compact comedy around competition, status and the value people attach to material things. (Kino-Teatr.ru)

The story follows Varvara, a demanding executive preparing for a meeting that could change her career. She needs a particular pair of red shoes, but after her secretary brings her the wrong size, she goes to the shopping center herself.

There she meets Lena, a young woman trying to buy exactly the same shoes. Both need the same size, and the store has only one pair left. What begins as an ordinary shopping problem develops into an increasingly absurd confrontation.

Viktoria Maslova and Ekaterina Bondareva played the two women at the center of the story. The supporting cast included Polina Grents, already widely known for one of the leading roles in the television series Fizruk, alongside established actors and television personalities Mikhail Politseymako and Evelina Bledans. The complete cast and production credits are listed by Kinopoisk and IVI.

Writing Five Pieces for the Film

Until “Туфли,” I had primarily created records designed to work as independent music. A film score follows a different logic. The edit determines the duration, development and precise ending of every musical passage.

I could not simply write a track and place it under the scene. The music had to follow the changing balance between ambition, tension and comedy without interfering with the dialogue or revealing the joke too early.

I wrote five pieces in different formats because the film moves through several distinct situations. Each one required its own pace and tone, but together they needed to feel as though they belonged to the same story.

At the time, I described the experience in an interview with Sobaka.ru:

“It was completely new territory for me. I wanted to reflect what was happening on screen and strengthen it emotionally through music.”

Sobaka.ru named “Туфли” my key project at the time and highlighted both the scale of the cast and my work as the film’s composer.

Bringing Live Musicians into the Score

I did not create the entire score with programmed instruments. For several pieces, I brought in musicians whose playing could give the music a more individual character.

Krasnodar jazz saxophonist Yuriy Krasilnikov, my longtime friend and collaborator, recorded saxophone for part of the score. We had already worked together in Stellar Pride and on other projects, so I understood the range of moods he could bring into a performance.

Ukrainian guitarist Aleksey Sytnik recorded guitar samples in Kyiv. I then incorporated the recorded material into the finished compositions.

This was also part of my role as the project’s composer and producer: deciding when the score needed a live musician, finding the right person and turning separately recorded performances into music that worked with the picture.

From a New Experience to a Proven Film Credit

“Туфли” entered the competitive program of the VI KONIK International Short Film Festival, held in Moscow with support from the city’s Department of Culture. The festival program included 42 short films and a jury of working film professionals.

The project also continued to find viewers well beyond its festival run. Its presence on IVI gave it a place on a major Russian streaming platform, while the official YouTube publication gradually built an audience of more than 4.7 million views.

For my first experience of composing to picture, the project was unusually substantial: five original pieces, live musicians in two cities, a professional production team and a cast that already had a national audience.

More importantly, it gave me a finished film credit in which the music had been created for the screen from the beginning. “Туфли” was not a record later licensed for use in a scene. It was my first opportunity to construct an entire musical layer around a director’s story — and see that work become part of a film watched by millions.

Watch “Туфли” (“Shoes”).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxYQXmA3UU4