Palo Alto is the debut feature film for yet another member of the Coppola empire: granddaughter Gia Coppola. It is based on a collection of short stories written by the multi-talented James Franco who also produced and starred in the film. It showcases some impressive young actors and has a nice flow to the editing but ultimately lacks a sense of coherency, presumably due to the difficulties of pasting several independent stories together. None the less it presents audiences with an interesting insight into the youth culture of our time.The score is very vibrant and in my view, one of the most effective elements in the film. It was commissioned from two up and coming artists; yet another Coppola- Robert Schwartzman, and the British electronic artist Devonté Hynes, both of whose independent work mixes an “indie” mindset with a more mainstream sound. The result of their teamwork is an impressive and catchy meal of modern electronic sounds with artsy alternative edges. The score showcased an array of colours- ambient moments, some quieter moments with a bare piano melody and synth accompaniment and a few rowdy intense moments with harsher sounds e.g. the football match scene. This broad palate of styles, despite their differences, were skilfully worked into a unified whole and maintained the difficult balance between development and coherence. I felt that the score thus played a big role in helping the film hold together despite the various stories and large cast. In addition, the general alternative vibe worked wonderfully in accompanying the lives of the main characters, all of whom are slightly on the outside of high school life and are themselves more “alternative” than “mainstream”. The composers added some track music to the film in addition to their own score work e.g. Die Antwood’s Enter the Ninja. These were very well chosen and fitted excellently with the sound of the score and the general tone of the film. All in all, I found it to be a very interesting score and feel that there will be many more to come for these two young musicians in the future. 24/30