1: How music changes lives
Music has always impacted our lives, and films have managed to portray aspects of it. Music changes us, it is one of the purest ways to express yourself and prove to others and yourself what you are capable of. In the movie Whiplash a promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential. Throughout the movie the young drummer slowly changes his way of thinking and is determined to become the greatest drummer and through it he discovers his true strength. In the movie If I Stay, a life changing accident causes Mia Hall to go into a coma. During an out-of-body experience, she must decide whether to wake up and live a life far different than she had imagined. She was currently auditioning to apply for Juilliard when the accident occurred and her music brought her back. Both of this young adults lives were changed for the good of both of them.
2: How music makes us feel
Music is connected to us in a way that can't truly be explains. Music makes us feel, it helps us connect to others and relaxes us when we are feeling down. In the musical The Last Five years, a struggling actress and her novelist lover each illustrate the struggle and deconstruction of their love affair. What is most intriguing of this musical is that no matter who you think was at fault their music made you feel both of their emotions, and understand both of their sides in this love story. On the opposite spectrum the musical The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home. In this musical you are experiencing hope and adventure through their songs because Dorothy never gives up, which brings up the feeling of reassurance.
3: How music has changed over the years
In the documentary In Search of Mozart it shows Mozart's life and how he grew up writing music. Mozart's music is a perfect example of how something difficult can be simple at the same time. Mozart's music is complex and diverse, not one of his songs sounds the same and they all feel you with the emotion and passion that they were created with. Before the Music Dies tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation. The answers they found on this journey–ultimately, the promise that the future holds–are what makes Before the Music Dies both riveting and exhilarating.