The Journey of Discovering the Musical Story: Find Me in the Clouds
Find Me in the Clouds may have been one of the most difficult stories to develop out of the films we’ve made thus far. Interestingly, it is not because Nizar Bredan’s piano solo “Journey” is musically complex, but rather, its simple melody is so well-crafted and evocative that it feels as if you have infinite options to choose from. When we first heard it, Emmalie and I were immediately reminded of the animated film “Up” and other iconic Disney soundtracks. Something about it makes you think you’ve heard it elsewhere, connecting each of us to it in our own way.
To try to make sense of the ideas swimming in our brains, we made a list of everything we heard within the first 10 seconds of the music – yes, only 10 seconds! That’s all you need for your ears to grab on to a story.
Here are just some of the things we heard:
Someone looking out a window
A person standing alone while it snows
Saying goodbye to a loved one leaving on a train
The moon
A lonely doll in a toy factory
A single flower growing in a garden with its petals falling off
Looking longingly at an old photograph
A memory
A house on a hill
Now that we had a list, we listened further to see if one of these tableaus had a clear storyline as the music continued.
Initial, rough asset design for the film by Jorinde Hol
The crisp, high notes without much surrounding texture sounded like a lonely house on a snowy night. Childlike simplicity and innocence were also present in the melody, and perhaps in the house on this cold, winter night, a young girl was falling asleep tucked into her bed.
Quite soon after, the mood becomes happier, lighter, warmer. The story jumped out at us – we had left the house behind and entered the young girl’s dream!
Short clip of Find Me in the Clouds, animated by Jorinde Hol
Within the waltz pattern, we could hear the young girl’s wonder – for clouds, perhaps? – as the mother joined her daughter, exploring the dream world together. The texture becomes thicker, and the melody begins flowing with greater direction, which for us meant the passage of time, as the pair made memories frolicking in the clouds.
The music changes again as a conflict brews. Short, jumping notes in the lower range of the piano sound like a cartoon villain entering the scene. Could it be a monster blowing wind through the clouds or a storm cloud raining and throwing lightning bolts, or an angry giant chasing them for having trespassed onto his territory?! The silly conflict had the same childlike innocence that we heard previously – it wasn’t anything serious that the young girl couldn’t overcome.
A still of the angry storm cloud by Jorinde Hol
Another element we wanted to include in the story was a meaningful item, keepsake or possession. The music throughout its many mood shifts and overall emotional arc has a thread connecting it together, making it feel whole. We introduced a cloud necklace as the keepsake to act as the story’s connecting thread, mirroring that of the music, and bringing with it a small element of magic.
As we move closer to the end of the work, another conflict emerges, but unlike the previous one, the music’s sense of childlike innocence is gone. The music becomes colder, lonelier, and hollow. Snow was falling again. We were no longer in the young girl’s dream, and she had something serious to face. Where do you think the story goes from here? Listen to the final section (snippet #6), and tell us in the comments. Then, go watch the film to see what we heard at the end of this story.
Quick Links:
Watch Find Me in the Clouds for free through our YouTube channel.
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, support women’s cancer by purchasing a cloud necklace inspired by the film here.
Curious for more tips on how you can practice musical storytelling? Check out our blog post about it.
Are you an educator interested in bringing musical storytelling to your students? Reach out to us! We would love to work with you and create a custom program that best fits your students’ needs.
