Erath teen ‘scores’ big project

At the age of 18, Erath County’s Diego Campos knows what it’s like to be an accomplished composer.

The teen spent two nights last week at the Dallas Cinemark 17 and IMAX for the premiere of “The Light of Virsa,” an independent feature two years in the making, for which he estimates he has spent 4,000 hours in producing the score.

This film represents the latest in several projects with teen Christian filmmakers Clare and Mary Vining, who he first met after they issued a casting call for their short film, “Cyber Attack.”

“I contacted the Vinings who were holding auditions for Cyber Attack and asked them if they wanted an original score,” Campos remembered. “Fortunately they said yes! I didn’t know until recently, but apparently I was the very first person to contact them for anything on Cyber Attack-even before actors asking for auditions.”

This was in 2018. They followed this with another short, “Seek First,” which earned several selections in Christian film festivals and accolades. Campos’ score for this short was nominated for best score at the Great Lakes Christian Film Festival and International Christian Film Festival.

“The Light of Virsa was a huge development of our dynamic,” said Campos.

Not only is the feature 90 minutes as opposed to the 30 and 18-minute shorts he scored before, the feature is described as a Christian fantasy adventure film calling for an epic sound.

The Vining Sisters Website offers this synopsis for the film: When the Dark Lord Azcar captures the sister, and only surviving relative, of a young carpenter named Cayden, he sets out to rescue her. As he treks across the sundry terrains of the land of Virsa, he must confront the dark lord’s evil agents as they attempt to waylay him. Along the way he learns that although he himself is not capable of defeating darkness in the world, the Light is, and it is only by means of character, perseverance, and trust that he can let the Light work in him to save his sister and make him the messenger of light and hope for Virsa.

“The movie itself focuses on the theme of ‘rising to the challenge’” Campos said. “That particular idea was reflected in everyone who was involved in the film. I had no idea how I was going to pull off the score to an epic hero’s journey.”

Campos was able to rise to the occasion having put a lot of work into developing his craft, even at the age of 18.

Campos started learning music at seven-years-old and has been composing since the age of 13.

“I first started on Garageband on my iPod, then moved to a MacBook Air with Logic Pro X 2017 which let me do much more,” said Campos of his equipment. “In June 2020 I upgraded to a MacBook Pro and a 2020 version of Logic Pro.”

This new setup allowed him to simulate an orchestral sound by creating a template of every instrument in an orchestra and adding them in any scene as needed. “To give the film more depth, I tried to add sound dynamics wherever possible,” he added.

At the premiere, the Vining sisters cited “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” as inspiration, but Campos admitted to being largely unfamiliar with either franchise. “I’m a ‘Star Trek’ guy,” he said. He added that he wanted the score to feel more original but he did pull inspiration from composers Ennio Morricone (in the main character’s theme) and James Horner and Dennis McCarthy in the war-like finale track. “Other than those homages, everything else was original,” he said.

“The Light of Virsa is my largest accomplishment so far, though nothing could be as personally touching as the Karanet [Mass Army] performance of Three & Freedom,” Campos said.

Campos’ composition of Three came in the middle of the COVID pandemic when he sent a composition that was practiced and performed individually by a full orchestra in recordings that were mixed together for a full orchestra sound.

“The thought that over fifty musicians from around the world would take time from their day to practice and perform my piece is mind-blowing,” Campos said.

Campos’ main nervousness in screening the film in a commercial IMAX theater was that the louder scenes would break the equipment and, of course, “the dread of hearing my work on something so large with 250 other people at once.”

“Fortunately, the technical dude at the Cinemark let us know that the sound system could take whatever we threw at it,” Campos said.

Campos called his experience at both screenings “incredible,” witnessing his work from the center of the theater on the first night and all the way in the back and off to the side the second. “It was a really awesome experience,” he said.

For more information on the Light of Virsa, visit viningsisters.com. To learn more about Diego and hear his music, visit diegojcampos.com.