Don’t you love it when you’re watching a scene in a movie or a moment on TV that makes your heart jump, your throat close and the tears to start? Some how the creator pulled all the pieces together — the actors are just right, the camera is filming the only way it should, and the perfect song is playing…which just takes it beautifully over the edge.

Freakin’ brilliant.

As I’m sitting there, blinking back ears, I’m usually also pulling apart those pieces, or at least trying to (it’s blurry!!). What really made it… it? Take for example the opposite viewing scenario — something like a prom scene, which looks pretty accurate/realistic/emotionally a’ok. Then you flip on the behind the scene footage, one of those bonus features. They’re dancing, they’re dancing…to nothing. Weeiird. The music — it’s the music that plays such a big part, at least in my mind.

A few of my favorite soundtracks and scores, in no particular order:

Garden State (2004)
The Virgin Suicides (2000) - the score, not the soundtrack
Black Beauty (1994)
Grey’s Anatomy Vol. 1 (2005) and Vol. 2 (2006)
The Truman Show (1998) - my husband loves it and has played it enough over the years that it’s reeeeeally grown on me…
Lost In Translation (2003)
The O.C. Vol. 2 (2004) Vol. 4 (2005) and Vol. 5 (2005) - fine, it’s cheesy, but they’re great soundtracks, I can’t help it.
Six Feet Under Vol. 2 (2005)

James Bow, a Torontonian (yay Canada!) writer, talks very candidly about how music plays a part in his creative process:

As I may have mentioned, when I write, a lot of the material that’s inside my head is actually visual. I “see” the story, in many was as if it were a movie, including camera angles. During my Toronto reading this past Wednesday, I explained this, and had a student ask me, “why aren’t you a director, then?”. Well, I like working with words, and I have far more control over the finished project by writing it instead of directing it. Also, if you direct movies, you need a camera and expensive actors. You can write with a pad of paper and a pen bought for under $2.

This hasn’t stopped me from visualizing the story before I write it. And some of my best stories, I think, come with their own soundtracks. Music is important for setting the mood in my mind, though the music itself never comes across on the page. Sometimes I just listen to songs which capture the general mood of the story, but other times certain songs (especially instrumental pieces) work with specific scenes, as if it were real incidental music.

He goes on to talk about Jorane, an artist out of Quebec who’s haunting sound and deeply emotive sound would suit the soundtrack to his novel, Fathom Five (due out Spring 2007) if it were to be turned into a film. How neat is that? A music recommendation and insight into what’s happening in the minds of an ‘artsy’ person all in one.

Her website can be found here, but for soundclips and more information check out this page. I found the video for Pour Ton Sourire is particularly evocative.

Here’s a couple other Montreal-based female singers who frequently make the rounds on my iPod:

Amy Millan - also one of the lead singers of one of my favorite bands in the entire world, Stars; check out a free download of Skinny Boy off her solo album Honey From The Tombs.
Feist - catchy, lighthearted, but I must admit the album art for Let it Die pressed pre-Juno win was far more unique/memorable than this…

And since I’m in a link-y mood…here’s a couple other places where blogs and artistic creativity collide. More artists should blog; makes for fascinating stuff…

The Morning After Girls on Tour - they’re done touring now, but the photos are worth taking a trip back to June/July ‘06.

Derek Shanks FiReFly Photoblog - lots of artists do what Derek’s doing on Flickr, where they actively ask for comments/feedback, but I like that he gives more background about the photoshoots and the process.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 12:13 am and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.