Thor Ragnarok was a memorable experience for me last year, as I got to watch it in the theater with my buddies Siddharth and Smita. The very opening scene set the tone for the entire movie. I'm referring the one involving Thor fighting Surtur the fire demon, with a lighthearted conversation in the grim context of Asgard's annihilation, followed by a spectacular breakout act by Thor. The same goosebumps effect we experienced again at the peak point of climax too, when a Mjolnir-less self-conflicted Thor transforms into the ultimate God of thunder and leaps upon a whole army on rainbow bridge with his bare hands throwing bolts of lightening.
"Are you Thor, the god of hammer?"- still echoes as a powerful dialogue by Anthony Hopkin's Odin in my ears, because of the way I felt in that moment.
In both the scenes, the key ingredient for that memorable connect and the goosebumps was its background music. Inclusion of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant song will be hailed as a masterstroke for years to come.
Another such moment came to me on hearing one of my favorite band Sigur Ros's soulful Sæglópur ('Lost at sea' in Icelandic) in Aquaman movie. In fact, Zack Snyder is the master of such opening montages and has recreated version of classics weaving beautifully in his movie openings, such as a recreated classic by Sigrid Everybody knows (Batman V Superman) and Simon and Garfunkel's original The Sound Of Silence (Watchmen). Arguably the best X-men film of all time- Logan, last year released two trailers as a matter of fact. One with the song Way Down We Go and the other one with Johnny cash's legendary Hurt. These were examples of visual storytelling at its emotional best.
And now for the grand finale, I present to you my all time favorite movie Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. Watch and listen to this rendition of the song Dirty Paws by a brilliant Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men. This beautiful visual story explained through this music video has given me courage to take major decisions in life and a sense of self belief whenever felt devoid of a spirit.
I relive the whole 3 hours of this memorable movie and its inspirational effect in this 4:20 minutes video time to time.
As you return from office to home, click on the YouTube links above and cherish these beautiful videos to rekindle your tired soul during this long commute.
We will meet again tomorrow with a Thursday special short-fiction tale to enjoy.
Storyteller's Tip:
We are a creature of emotions. And Music has the strength to invoke a range of emotions universally, irrespective of the language, culture, geography or even demography involved.
Bring in the elements of music within your stories, may be in the form of soulful vocal songs, instrumentals or at the very least, as a humming tune in the background.
In this world full of noise, music is an effective tool to make your product, business, brand, cause, even people stand out of the herd and shine bright like a diamond.
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