Tuesday, October 12, 2010

A Story's Soundtrack

Imagine yourself sitting in a cushy seat of your local movie theater. Smell of popcorn, lull of voices, and the golden flicker of the sidelights lining the stairs all stimulate your senses.

What is the first thing that grabs your attention at the opening scene of a film? The music, right?
Every film is comprised of individuals scenes with settings, actor lines, and movement. Just like a story set between the pages of a hardcover. But you can't splice music into a storybook...or can you?

When you think about a story you've already written, your current manuscript, or one brewing inside you, what genre of music would best represent that body of work? If you're a reader, think of a story you've read.

AE ~

Music Genre: Rock
Story Genre: Dystopian.
Description: Shifting psychic powers is the one Gift Isilen Temple doesn't want. She was born with the death sentence, but it brings her new life in the form of Aaron Auchul, a government Operative who cannot bring himself to kill her. Together, they find common ground tainted with decades of government lies. 
Song (lately): The Catalyst, by Linkin Park

Jessie ~
Music Genre:  Folksy Rock (not sure that's a genre, but that's mostly what I listened to when writing DESTINED)
Story Genre: Romantic Retelling
Description: When Sadie destroys the one relationship she can't live without, she must journey alone through ancient Greece, and confront the goddess who would see her dead, if she wants to reclaim an immortal love.
Song(s): What if You by Joshua Radin, Crack the Shutters by Snow Patrol, Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung

Nikki ~
Music Genre: Alternative Rock
Story Genre: Urban Fantasy (Greek Mythology Driven)
Description: Sixteen-year-old Maya Georgiou is a beautiful ocean nymph faced with an impossible decision. She must choose between sacrificing Nate, the only boy she’s ever cared about, to a Greek Goddess with insane demands - or take his place instead.
Song(s): Here We Go Again by Pararmore, Starlight by Muse, Perfect by Flyleaf



JA ~

Music Genre: POP
Story Genre: Steam Punk Dystopian.
Description:  Evelyn Winters has been trained from the age of three to be an Enforcer--a trained assassin--and the only child of the Governor and Governess of the underwater utopia know as Elysium.  But, when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, finds his way into her comfy little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie.  The happy little bubble she’s lived in all these years has just popped and the person she knows as Mother is a monster.  She must now find a way to rescue Gavin from her murderous mother’s hands, regain control of her body and the implanted instructions constantly urging her to kill, and start a new life with Gavin on the surface.
Song(s):  Keep Moving On by Avril Lavigne; Breathless by The Corrs; Precious Illusions by Alanis Morrisette.

Me ~
Music Genre: Alternative Rock
Story Genre: Paranormal Romance
Description: Sixteen-year-old Anastasia Tate is a tenacious tomboy who must break an ancient curse, saving a yuppie boy, before she literally looses her mind. Only problem: she must die first.
Songs: When I'm Gone by 3 Doors Down, Storm by Lifehouse, Scars by Papa Roach   

Now share your answers with us. Thanks for the discussion. 

1 comment:

  1. Since my manuscript features four different protagonists, it would probably be a blend of rock, alternative rock, and pop music. Kings of Leon, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Katy Perry have already gotten shout-outs in my story. :)

    ReplyDelete

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