El Film Element: Lyrics as Narrator

th.t:llyri~s ofa song can act as the voice of a character. They can reveal the inner thoughts in a way that can 'be more interesting than a simple "talking heads1!
$(¡!erte .. Lyrks canalso be used as the voice of the narrator. Lyrics add another delivery system with which to parcel out character and thematic information.
Apocaplyse Now offers a powerful example of this.

Film Example: Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now opens with the Doors' song "The End." The lyrics establish the theme, conflict, and mood of the piece. As the Doors were a band from
the period of the Vietnam War, the music serves to anchor the film historically. The nihilistic lyrics immediate set the tone for the audience. This will be a
critical view of war. It will show us the underbelly, not the brass and polish. The inverted sense of right and wrong, good and evil in a world gone mad is
also suggested by putting a song with lyrics that start with "This is the end" at the beginning of the film. This initial inversion is continually repeated in other
forms of the films. The first time we see the protagonist, for example, he is in close-up and upside down - a graphic interpretation of the theme already
established by the lyrics.

Dramatic Value
As lyrics are a poetry, they can set up any idea. As thematic songs are sparingly used, the audience will expect the lyrics to be significant. This is especially true
when they are placed at the beginning of a film! "the most expensive real-estate" in a movie.

Script Note
The lyrics were not included in the original script by John Milius and Francis Coppola. Writers should note that there have been many movies written around
a specific songo However, it's important to get the rights first. All rights are not available and putting copyrighted material in a script is a risk. If the music is
only intended as ambience, then stating the kind of music (such as jazz or western, for example) is a better choice.

Other Films
Sea of Love
Play Misty for Me
Blue Velvet
Miller's Crossing ("Danny Boy")
Apocalypse Now( 1979) (page 1)
Screenplay: John Milius and Francis Coppola.

The following page is from a transcript of the movie, not from

the original screenplay.
The opening scene :

THE END BY THE DOORS

TI;1;i.s is the end
Beautiful, friend
Thil'; is the end
11;< 'p nly friend, the end
g;!.p .;o~i;u;; '~!l,~bol1iate plans, the end
trf !ª'l·~;:t:yt:f1ing that stands, the end
NO ~R,a,~attM or !surprise, the end
~xI l ;rfe'íl~¡'j:; lcók into your eyes ... again
d'a:n X'~1L I\l!l. ct~re what will be
53::¡ ~:i'mitl'ess and free
De13peratély in need ... of sorne ... stranger' s hand
r .IP a ... desI?erate land
I M a't ,:titt. :4. romance ... wilderness of pain
And I!-'il t,he children are insane
All tbe children are insane
Waiting for the surnmer rain, yeah
11 Film Element: Symbolic )U·~;:)Óf::Mu~iC
:oi'. . • -, J ••

In a stirring scene from Shawshank Redemption, we see. music symbolically used. It is the turning point for its main character, Red. It isn't the particular~
selection of music or what the music means that m,oves Red and the other men in Shawshank prison. It's the idea of music itself. •,

Film Example: Shawshank Redemption

Andy Dufresne is the newly arrived prisoner at Shawshank Prison. Andy soon befriends Red, a longtime inmate. Unlike the other men, Andy will not give ~p
his humanity or his sense of hopeo This puts Red at a crossroads: Will he stay on course and become an institutionalized man, or will he take up the new p~·th
Andy represents? Up until the mid-point Red has preferred to watch Andy. He's impressed, but doubtful that Andy's philosophy can survive Shawshank.

At the midpoint scene, Andy's hope has paid off. After five years of letter: writing, the prison library receives donations of hundreds of records and books.
In celebration Andy plays a record in the library. Angered by the guards who scream for him to turn off the music, Andy locks the door. He switches on the "I,
P.A. system so the music can be heard through every speaker in the prison. He~ing the music fuels Red's most significant turning point. He knows something
jQ~ide him has crossed over to the other sid~, and he can't go back.

Dramatic Value
Here the symbolic use of music acts as a catalyst for change. Structurally it underscores the movie's mid-point.

Other Films
The Piano
Out of Africa

7 MUSIC
ShBwshankRedemption (1994) (Scene 131)
Se eenplay: Frank Darabont. Based upon the story "Rita Hayworth
a:d Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King.
131 INT -- GUARD STATION/OUTER OFF ICE -- DAY (1955) (page 131)

------lides the Mozart album from its sleeve, lays it on the

s~ ~ter, and lowers the tone arm to his favorite cut. The
p a HISSES in the groove ••• and the MUSIe begins, lilting
ne e dle
and gorgeous. And y s~n
. k s ~n
. t o W·~ 1 ey ' s c ha~r,
' overcome b y ~ts
.
1. 3.
beauty.
145 BXT -- EXERCISE YARD -- DAY (1955) (page 145)
CAMERA TRACKS along groups of men, all riveted.
RED (V.O.)
I have no idea to this day what
them two Italian ladies were
singin' about. Truth is, 1 don't
want to know. Sorne things are best
left unsaid. 1 like to think they
were singin' about sornething so
beautiful it can't be expressed in
words, and rnakes your heart ache
because of it. 2. 4.

CAMERA brings us to Red.

RED (V.O.)
I tell you, those voices soared.
Higher and farther than anybody in
a gray place dares to dream. It was
like sorne beautiful bird flapped
into our drab little cage and made
these walls dissolve away ••• and for
the briefest of rnornents -- every
last man at Shawshank felt free.

(Another exchange occurs between Andy and Red a few weeks later,
see scene 150.)
. ' Film Element: Music as a Moveable Prop
As in the previous example, music can be used as story elemento In Out of Africit, ás in Shawshank Redemption, it is used to express an idea (freedom) which
is linked to a specific character. As it is represented by a tangible, moveable p,i :opin Out of Africa and appears repeatedly, it can also be used to trackchanging:
relationships and values over time.

Film Example: Out of Africa

Karen Dinesen, a young Danish woman (Meryl Streep), arrives in Kenya in 1913 to marry a penniless aristocrat for his title. Despite the terrain and arduous
journey, she brings crates of china and sil ver to fill her new home.

Karen's marriage to Bror Blixen is soon over and Karen falls in love with Denys, an American (Robert Redford). Denys gives her a gramophone, symbolizing
their friendship and the freedom he represents.

First Use
When Denys first gives Karen the gramophone she views the gesture cynically, suggesting that Denys is trying to seduce her. Denys is mildly insulted, and
indicates that, quite the contrary, it's a gift between friends (page 74) •

Second Use
Ten pages later when Karen confides to .a friend that all is not well in her new life, Denys' presence in her marriage is represented by the gramophone playing:
softly behind them (page 85).

Final Use
In the final scenes of the movie we see Karen has transformed. The guarded, class-conscious Dane now dances with her lover barefoot on the grass under the
night sky. She has lost all her material wealth. This time the gramophone provides the music for their dance, rather than underscoring her unresolved troubles
(page 126) .

Dramatic Value
Once the symbol is set up, each subsequent reference can suggest change.

7 MUSIC ' "

out of Africa;(19:85)
Screenplay: Kurt Luedke, Aug. 1983. See Chapter Credits.

First Use (Page 74-75)

EXT. IN THE FOREST OAY-OAY
She'S riding home, Ismail walking beside her with her rifle.
Now faint, the SOUNO of a Mozart sympathy (O.S.). Puzzled,
she strains to hear, puts her horse to ·a trot, leaving
Ismail behind.
EXT. THE TERRACE-OAY
Denys's safari truck, with Kanuthia and Wasili. He's on the
terrace with champagne, gramophone blaring.
OENYS 1.
(reduces the volume)
thought you'd like sorne music.
got another for myseIf.

Second Use (Page 85)

INT. OINING ROOM-NIGHT
GRAMOPHONE MUSIC, low. They're in evening clothes. He's
flushed, perspiring. Juma clears the plates.
KAREN
(cheerful)
2.
I'm in the worst sort of trouble now.
BERKELEY
Denys?--

Third Use (Page 126)

EXT. THE TERRACE-NIGHT
Denys brings the gramophone to the old stone mill tableo
They wind it, start the record: a WALTZ, made for an
eighteenth century ballroom. She takes off her shoes.

3.
 Chapter Credits By Film E:, .l1let1t
39. Apocalypse Now (1979)
Writer: John Milius (Screenplay) ~
Writer: Francis Coppola (ScreeIiplay)
/
Writer: Joseph Conrad (Uncredited)
Director: Francis Coppola
Production Company: Zoetrope
Distributor: United Artists

040. Shawshank Redemption (1994)

)Vtiter: Frank Darabont (Screenplay)
Wtiter: Stephen King (Short Story: "Rita Hayworth and
Shawshank Redemption")
Director: Frank Darabont
Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainrnent
Production Company Columbia Pictures Corporation
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Distributor: Columbia TriStar (USA)

41. Out of Africa (1985)

Writer: Kurt Luedtke (Screenplay)
Writer: Isak Dinesen (Memoirs)
Writer: A.E. Housman (Poem: "To an Athlete, Dying Young")
(Uncredited) )
Writer: Errol Trzebinski (Book: Silence will Speak)
Director: Sydney Pollack
Production Company: Mirage Entertainment
Distributor: MCAlUniversal Pictures

r,

7 MUS IC