Screenwriting : Music in a script by Christine Capone

I totally get wanting to share the vibe!

The problem with music is that not everyone has the same feeling and interpretation when listening to the same music as we do. What sounds haunting to you might just be chill to someone else.

I think in some ways it could take them away from it because they'd have to go look it up and then think about what you might have meant when you put it there, etc.

I personally try to only mention music if it's relevant to the story and probably general like "popular 80s song" or "obscure 80s song".

Christine Capone Hi Christine - the desire to do this is totally understandable. I write to soundtracks and sometimes choose one piece of music that encapsulates the script. You're not alone there. But the fact of the matter is that readers do have standards that they are used to and will set a script aside upon first glance that the minimum standard isn't being met. That includes attaching the music, which we likely don't have the rights for, to the script. It also steps on the toes of the director out of the gate, which we don't want to do. Our first impression matters. Hope this helps!

Great advice, thank you Audrey and Leonardo!

You are very welcome Christine Capone . All the best to you! Love your last name by the way. It conjures up images of Robert De Niro walking around a round table of gangsters holding a baseball bat spouting, "Enthusiasms".

haha! I guess it's a pretty famous one though but for all the wrong reasons!

Christine Capone I think it's awesome! It ties you to movies and it's easy to remember!

It is not a good idea unless it has something important to do with the story itself.

Psst, do whatever the fuck you want in YOUR screenplay. If you want to add a famous music track, go ahead.

The screenplay cost nothing but YOUR time. And it's probably the only time you get to tell your version before strangers who love your idea (and maybe they PAY MONEY 'cause their own careers will benefit) decide to change it.

This spec stuff is an audition. Impress jaded professional Readers with your storytelling. That is all.

Ps: just saw a tweet by the screenwriter of spec script, "Blonde Ambition", that she was hired for a huge studio project. Blonde ambition is about a Young Madonna before she became a pop star. The writer wasn't even born when Madonna was in her 20's. No life rights. Nothing but writer's imagination and storytelling talent.

Christine, I'm like Dan MaxXx when it comes to music in a script: If you want to mention songs of your own choosing, and as long as the tunes help the story, go for it!

Hi, Christine. :) My story takes place in the 60s-70s, and I have songs (only the titles) other than the song (and lyrics) that my father wrote and own the rights to, in my script. Here is a link with some information. Hope it helps. https://freshmenscreenplay.com/a-complete-guide-to-music-in-screenplays-...

Christine I put particular songs into all my scripts both as diegetic and non-diegetic songs.I often in brackets put (or similar) and I have never had any negative comments from readers,producers etc.I would suggest you do a little research on music copywrites in film.There are 3 seperate copywrites required if you want to use an existing recording.Beyond expense there is also the strong possibility that you can't get the copywrite to use a particular song.That's why you' see excessive use of none copywrited songs in film.As long as you do your own recording there's no copywrite required.That's why you see old English folk songs like "The Unquiet Grave" used repeatedly in computer games,TV and film.If you have your own singer sing a copywrited song you still need 2 copywrite approvals.If you're using a particular song as a narrative tool almost a character within the story.If you can't get copywrite on that song your project could fall over in a blink.And producers may see it as a red flag so it's worth doing a little homework to minimise producers ability to bin your script.Anyone who says you have to do a certain thing in a script should have a look at the script for Arrival the weird alien writing that looks like coffee stains on a table are actually in the script pictorially.Apparently the screenwriter was struggling on how to describe them in the script and his wife told him to just put images of them in the script.I doubt that movie would have been made if he didn't ,so always do what you want.But I'd just suggest to be aware as possible about what a producer etc may see as a red flag.

The only time I used a specific song in a screenplay was to help a detective solve a crime. Another time I wrote specific songs in a production screenplay about the producer who was the one who started a band back that had a few hit records back in the sixties and seventies. He wrote and his band performed them but he wasn’t sure he could secure the rights to the music so he figured he would have to make some new songs for the movie. A lot of different individuals could own rights to one song. That is why someone needs to secure the right to use the music in their movies. People can do whatever they want but keep in mind not everyone will appriciate it so personally I would do it sparingly if someday I decided to do it.

Love it! I think music helps keep the tone for each scene as you're writing. I have playlist for each script!

Same here, Christine. One of my scripts Summer Wine echoes the Nancy Sinatra song of the same name. I added it into a scene simply because the brother/sister characters re-unite over that song. It also provides visual subtext to how they see the world. I haven't had any negative feedback so far.

Christine Capone If the music isn’t germane to the story, then don’t do it. An Exec or Producer reading it will have to negotiate another hurdle (your taste in music), before they can get into the story.

Marina and Gigi, glad you do the same! I feel it gives the tone of the moment. How the character is feeling on a more deep level. and what they're doing...it may have more of an impact A reader can visualize it more, in my opinion. I guess it can go either way. I'll withhold adding it but maybe if I do a verbal pitch, I can tell the exec what songs I was thinking about. I have nothing to lose, really. Why do we always have to play by the rules...or book??

Christine Capone. Nobody is paying someone to write a spec screenplay so people don’t have to play by the rules...or what the books say they should or shouldn’t do. However, nobody knows what a reader knows or thinks so if you do things they were taught you shouldn’t do in a spec screenplay your script might have to work harder to convince them. It really is just a crapshoot.

Great question that I haven’t seen an official answer to for my own needs. I will say this tho; to me Tarantino is the master of using music to lead tone, style, genre. He’s said as much. But take the wonderful Pulp Fiction, the music is an important character in the film. Yet you could swap out one particular song for another and not fuck up the whole movie. So what I’ve come to for myself is this: if I love a song or soundtrack because it sets the right vibe, I imbue that vibe in the action, the dialogue, the characters, then omit ’the song is’ description. That way, the Director will shoot your intent, but may just get (insert your favorite artist) to write you an original.

I don't want to limit what others might do with my screenplay, so I describe the music. How does it make the characters feel? How does it make the audience feel? I think that keeps readers closer to living the story. Even though connecting them with existing music is tempting because one melody can be worth a thousand words.