Yurun Wu is one of the most exciting and original composers working today. The native of China joined the University of Southern California’s Master of Music program in Screen Scoring on the Harry Warren Endowed Scholarship. Immediately upon graduation, Wu was recruited by composer Nathan Wang to arrange and orchestrate the original score for Chinese blockbuster sensation Crazy Alien(2019), which has so far grossed more than $320M globally. Wu’s work has also been featured by leading brands in their advertising campaigns, in particular, China’s No.1 high-end kitchenware brand Fotile and tech giant Tencent, who owns Riot games.
Because of his outstanding abilities in composition, as well as audio production and abilities as a multi-instrumentalist, Wu is constantly sought after by award-winning projects of all genres. He composed the original score for the documentary short, Mom and Me, winner of the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards’ Best Documentary Student Short and an Official Selection at Crossing The Screen International Film Festival.
Wu also composed the soundtrack for the dramatic short film She Comes in Colors Everywhere, which won 17 awards in multiple film festivals including Diamond Award at the LA Shorts Awards, Audience Award 1st Place at Five Continents International Film Festival, and Best Comedy Short at the Independent Shorts Awards. Wu has also contributed to the Asians on Film Festival best Fantasy/Sci-fi winning short film Robot Vacuum’s Escape and the Accolade Global Film Competition Award of Merit winning short A Birthday Gift.
The most memorable piece of music from Crazy Alien perhaps is Wu’s orchestral hybrid version of the Prelude from Richard Strauss’s piece Also Sprach Zarathustra. Tracing back to his Chinese background, Wu was able to arrange
and orchestrate this piece creatively with a combination of Chinese orchestra, western orchestra and electronic elements. The rearrangement gives this classical piece a modern and Chinese sound and brings the absurdity and the comedy to a higher level.
In She Comes in Colors Everywhere, he helped director Shaun (Yao) Yu to determine a classical theme and a pop alike theme for the two girl characters. Wu also suggested that he only use strings, piano and a harp for the imaginary girlfriend but add lots of sweetness by using more woodwinds, tuned percussions for the barista to create color contrast in music to enhance the picture.
Wu’s unique artistic vision is cultivated through the constant exploration of the eastern and western culture “The immanency of music is much more important than modern technology, which most people have access to. I feel lucky that I’m able to convey my thoughts and feelings through my music.” Wu says.
