“It’s funny when you start writing an album and then recording – the songs begin to take on a spirit of their own.”
Matt Schultz
My hope is that as I continue to create this movie that it begins to take on a spirit of its own as Cage the Elephant’s songs do.
Now that I have shared our shooting schedule I thought I would begin sharing what we plan to include in out film, starting with sound.
Our plan for the film opening is to create a montage, set to music, of our main character experiencing life without her friend for the first time.
In order to achieve this plan we needed a song that is both somber and melodramatic. I also wanted the song we used to not be too well known because I do not want it to distract from what is on the screen.
I know I had heard a song like this before so I turned to my Spotify account and looked at my previous songs and playlists. This is where I cam across the song, Cigarette Daydreams by Cage the Elephant included below.
Cage the Elephant is an American rock band that later relocated to London, England. Their songs are influenced by classic rock, funk, and blues music. The band consists of vocalist Matt Shultz, rhythm guitarist Brad Shultz, lead guitarist Nick Bockrath, guitarist and keyboardist Matthan Minister, bassist Daniel Tichenor, and drummer Jared Champion. Their album Social Cues won a Grammy for Best Rock Album just this January, so including their songs may increase our audience by enticing fans of Cage the Elephant to view the film.
Cigarette Daydreams is a slow rock song, the steady drum beat and guitar in the forefront paired with the uplifting piano in the background create a somber yet hopeful tone that matches our film plan. In addition to this the lyrics of the song also match perfectly with the plot of the title sequence. Take the excerpt below as an example.
“Did you stand there all alone?
Oh I cannot explain what’s going down
I can see you standing next to me
In and out, somewhere else right now”
The lyrics shown above match the conflict that is going on in the movie. The main character is now all alone and does not know what is going on. She keeps having flashbacks and sees her friend there with her even though she is away at college.
Many lyrics throughout the song also match the plot of the title sequence and can even be used to develop shot ideas. When the shots are made with the song or soundtrack of the movie in mind it makes them flow naturally when the two are edited together. In addition to this, keeping the soundtrack in mind will also help to match the lyrics of the song to the actions the audience is viewing on screen. This makes watching the title sequence a more pleasing experience to the viewer.
Resources:
“Cage The Elephant – Cigarette Daydreams Lyrics | AZLyrics.Com.” Www.Azlyrics.Com, http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/cagetheelephant/cigarettedaydreams.html.
“Cage the Elephant.” Wikipedia, 17 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cage_the_Elephant. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.
One Day or Day One 