SYNOPSIS: Will collects nature recordings and uses them like narcotics, transforming the chaos of inner-city London. With headphones he smothers ringing phones and traffic with birdsong, waves and tranquillity. But after leaving himself vulnerable in the street, he starts to suspect his sound habit is turning against him.

Some context... the idea was conceived in response to a brief by IdeasTap and The British Library, asking for films that used recordings of rare wildlife sounds in unusual, non-literal ways. Listen Hard was one of 10 shorts commissioned in early 2013 (for more info about the project check this British Library article: bit.ly/135XiJV ). It was shot in 2 days in February and stars James Capel (imdb.com/name/nm4102902/).

*** NOTE: as the title suggests, there's a lot of work in the sound, so wear good headphones to get the most out of it! ***