From The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring
Recently, I've been listening to a lot of Irish music done by modern bands. One song I love in particular is called "Nil Se'n La" by Celtic woman. Part of the song is in the old Irish language, and the rest is in English. It starts off with part of a folk song:
Chuaigh mé isteach i dteach aréir
Is d'iarr mé cairde ar mhnaoi an leanna
Is é dúirt sí liom “Ní bhfaighidh tú deor
Buail an bóthar is gabh abhaile.”
Is d'iarr mé cairde ar mhnaoi an leanna
Is é dúirt sí liom “Ní bhfaighidh tú deor
Buail an bóthar is gabh abhaile.”
Roughly translated, this verse means:
I went into a (public) house last night
and I asked the barwoman for credit
She said to me "You won't get a drop
Hit the road and go home."
and I asked the barwoman for credit
She said to me "You won't get a drop
Hit the road and go home."
The setting of this song is in a bar or ale house on a cold winter's night. After making his case to the bartender (the woman in the intro) that he will be staying because he is the main source of entertainment, the speaker of the song then instigates the festivities. The song is about an all night party that no one ever wants to leave because of how lively and inviting the environment is. The night is magical, with instruments playing and a golden fire as drinks abound, never seeming to run out.
Celtic Woman Album art
The chorus goes:
Níl sé ina lá, níl a ghrá,
níl sé ina lá is ní bheidh go maidin,
níl sé ina lá is ní bheidh go fóill,
solas ard atá sa ghealaigh.
Translated:níl sé ina lá is ní bheidh go maidin,
níl sé ina lá is ní bheidh go fóill,
solas ard atá sa ghealaigh.
It's not yet day, it's not my love,
it's not yet day and it won't be 'till morning,
it's not yet day and it won't be yet,
A high light is in the moon.
it's not yet day and it won't be 'till morning,
it's not yet day and it won't be yet,
A high light is in the moon.
And while the listeners are never told if this party is actually real or all a wistful fantasy in the speaker's mind, the tone and voice of the music brings them into the scene so completely that they are somewhat sad when the song ends at last and the last note of this bright magical world in the middle of winter drifts away.
From the Lord of the Rings, Pippin and Merry eating.
Music really does have a much bigger on the tone and even the theme of a movie than people seem to think. Even if you don't normally notice the music, you would certainly notice if there was no music at all or if it had a happy tone when a certain scene was supposed to be sad. The carefully created mood would be ruined. When I was in high school, one of my teachers proved this to my class. He played a scene on a big projector screen that was supposed to be suspenseful and even a bit scary, such as a villain playing a cat and mouse game with either the hero or someone close to the hero in a dark setting. Instead of playing it with the normal suspense music, however, my teacher had a very cheerful carnival-type song on.
The effect that combination had on my classmates and I varied. Some of us just couldn't take the scene seriously anymore. It just wasn't scary. To other people, the cheerful music with this setting just made the scene ironically creepy. Either way, the mood of the entire scene was warped a great deal. And it was all because of the music being played in the background, the aspect of a movie that many people don't even notice. That is why theme songs for television shows are so important, even if you do skip them half the time. For one, the theme song is supposed to portray the overall attitude and tone for the show, as a whole. It could be a comedy, or dark drama. The theme song should suggest what elements might go into it.
Even while I'm writing or drawing, I often listen to the type of music that corresponds with the mood I want for a particular mood or theme. This helps to put me in the right mood instantly and also can give me inspiration from time to time. When I first started writing DA Shadow Phantom, a song that I have considered to be the theme song for this story is called "The Bird and the Worm" by the Used.
The song starts:
He wears his heart
safety pinned to his backpack
His backpack is all that he knows
Shot down by strangers
whose glances can cripple
the heart and devour the soul
safety pinned to his backpack
His backpack is all that he knows
Shot down by strangers
whose glances can cripple
the heart and devour the soul
Then it moves on to the chorus:
All alone he turns to stone
while holding his breath half to death
while holding his breath half to death
Terrified of whats inside
to save his life he crawls
like a worm from a bird
crawls like a worm from a bird
to save his life he crawls
like a worm from a bird
crawls like a worm from a bird
Beast Within, artwork by me, inspired by the image above this one
A big theme in DA Shadow Phantom is Dalan struggling with his inner beast. Should he resist it? Shun it give into it? Or should he try to understand its nature and work with it, allow it to truly become part of him? Whatever he chooses, this process is lonely and scary, even painful at times. Having even a single ally, like Dalan's friend Heather Dennison, is a huge relief, though it does not remove the burden, not by a long shot.
The song above portrays the overall mood and attitude I was picturing for this story. Maybe if I get around to creating more images for this story, maybe even an animation, I will play with setting them to music like this.
Stories are all about a journey, either internal or physical. The main characters grow and develop, their motives often driving the plot of the entire story. This process enables the readers/viewers to get into the story more and even root for the main character(s). Music is also a journey. It incites the listeners' emotions a certain way so that they feel like they are on a journey as well.
So how do movies make people cry, or fill them with excitement, euphoria, or even rage? Some images can be quite compelling, true, and sometimes famous movie lines can get stuck in your head for days, but one aspect that most people forget about is music. According to a Scientific American article, "Why Does Music Make us Feel?", "speech sounds don’t give us the chills, and they don’t make us cry [....] But music does emanate from our alarm clocks in the morning, and fill our cars, and give us chills, and make us cry." It is a big part of the lives of many people worldwide (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-does-music-make-us-fe).
In a recent study covered by a recent paper by Nidhya Logeswaran and Joydeep Bhattacharya from the University of London, 30 participants were given pictures of human faces and were told to rate them from 1 to 7 in terms of emotion, with 1 being extremely sad and 7 being extremely happy. The researchers found that, if music was playing, it actually influenced the ratings. Sad music made the frowns seem that much more melancholy, while lively, happy music made the happy faces seem all the more ecstatic. One explanation the article gives "is that the emotions of music are 'cross-modal,' and can easily spread from sensory system to another." Since images and colors are also powerful in getting a response from people, putting these together with music the correct way into the plot of a story can have an even more powerful and even magical effect, pulling the audience more fully into the world of the story, as more of their senses are engaged and even interacting with the story.
Try noticing the way music and images/colors are used together the next time you watch a movie or anime, and you'll see what I mean.
Happy travels!
Dalan's aging process, from 5 to about 20
If anyone has any questions or comments, or if you just want to start a discussion with me, leave a comment after this blog. To see the fantasy kindle books I have on Amazon, visit these links:
1.) North Country, Book One: The Riders of Redrog
2.) DA Shadow Phantom, Volume 1: Transformation
Feel free to stop by and browse, and maybe leave a review.
For more artwork and story-related stuff, or if you just want to get in touch with me and see what I'm up to, visit me at these websites:
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