Movie Soundtrack Experience

Movie Soundtrack Experience

by Evelyn Ontiveros, MT-BC

As a music therapist, it can sometimes be difficult to develop new ideas to incorporate into sessions when you’re also balancing a full case load of clients, documentation, and life in general. This intervention was born from one of those moments where I felt like I had no idea where to even begin! I had started seeing a new client whose sessions were very unique. Goals were primarily focused on abstract cognitive and emotional skills, and sessions were fun, engaging, and structured like games. While brainstorming new ideas to use with this client, I eventually came up with this Movie Soundtrack experience – a cognitively captivating project that engages your client’s creativity that can be adapted to their personal goals. 

The structure of this intervention is based on a plot diagram. I recommend using a visual that outlines what a plot diagram consists of and how it represents the general structure of a movie or story (download available at the end of this post). If you aren’t already familiar, a plot diagram is a visual representation of dramatic structure. It’s sort of shaped like a rollercoaster and consists of an exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The client is tasked with selecting a movie genre, developing the storyline of their own movie, and selecting a song to support each of the plot elements.

Perhaps the most important starting point is making sure to effectively explain the elements of a plot diagram. This is where a visual of the plot diagram would be useful to have, as the rollercoaster shape adds a visual element that represents the flow of the plot and supports visual learners.

1. Exposition

This is the start of the story. Here, your characters and some of their backstories are introduced. There should not be any problems or conflict yet.

Questions you can ask:

• Who is/are your main character(s)
• What is/are their name(s)?
• How do they know each other?
• What do you want your story to be about? (You won’t necessarily be writing about this in the exposition, but it helps to kickstart the process if you know where your plot will go.)
• Where does this story take place?
• What are some other details that will be important throughout your story? (For example, if your client decides to go down a fictional route, what magical elements will be featured throughout the story.)

2. Conflict

This is where the main problem of the story is introduced. Your characters want to achieve something, but something or someone is in the way. There should not be a huge battle to achieve it yet, as it is only being presented.

Questions you can ask:

• What changes from the exposition?
• Who or what is introduced that is in the way of the main character(s)’s goal?
• What is the main problem of the story?

3. Rising Action

This is the part of the story leading up to the climax, or the peak of the plot where everything changes. The main character(s) try solutions to achieve their goal despite the conflict in their way. The rising action can involve increasing tension, emotion, difficulty, or challenge.

Questions you can ask:

• How do/does the character(s) respond to the conflict?
• What do they try to do to achieve their goal?
• What about their mindset changes?

4. Climax

This is the most important and exciting part of the story. The story takes a turning point and the conflict is finally resolved. 

Questions you can ask:

• What do/does the character(s) do to successfully solve the problem?
• What do/does the characters(s) find out or learn that changes the story?
• What about the story changes compared to before? 
• How do/does the character(s) feel about the change?

5. Falling Action

This section covers all of the events that happen due to the conflict getting resolved and includes tying up loose ends and answering any lingering questions. The falling action is usually more relaxed and less tense than the last few steps.

Questions you can ask:

• How do/does the character(s) move on after the climax?
• What happens as a result of the conflict being resolved?
• How do their emotions change?

6. Resolution

The ending of the story. It can fully answer any questions left after the falling action – or leave off on a cliffhanger!

Questions you can ask:

• How should your story end?
• How do/does the character(s) feel at the end?
• What questions do you need to answer, if any? What questions do you want to leave unanswered (cliffhanger)?

Adaptation Ideas

• The music therapist can adapt this activity by having the client write out a detailed plot to get an idea of what songs would fit each scene – or, they might instead write more general ideas to save time.
• An MT-BC could support decision-making for soundtrack songs by providing a list (or playlist!) of the client’s preferred music and encouraging them to select songs from the list. Depending on the songs chosen, the therapist could then have a more focused discussion about their lyrical/musical content. 
• We have a fill-in-the-blank template available for download at the end of this post, but clients might benefit from the music therapist typing this activity in real time during the session since it can sometimes be difficult to predict just how much a client may want to write.
• MT-BCs might task clients with naming their original movie. This could be done by asking the client to select a line or phrase from lyrics of one of the chosen songs – and this discussion could involve a brief or even an in-depth lyric analysis.
• Try adding some art! After completing the movie and soundtrack, therapists could try having clients draw out scenes while they listen to the soundtrack.

What other adaptations could be made? Let us know in the comments!