Some of the greatest film directors and composers working today, including Francis Ford Coppola, Ang Lee, Spike Lee, John Barry, Gustavo Santaolalla and David Shire, celebrate the impact music has on our movie-going experience in LIGHTS! ACTION! MUSIC!. Using classic examples of unforgettable scores from films such as "The Great Train Robbery," "Rocky" and "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," these artists reveal their inspiration and let movie-goers in on the creative process that makes motion pictures emotional. The program premieres on public television stations August 2007 (check local listings).

Movie audiences might not take conscious note of the music in a movie that is not a musical, but these passionate interviews about the art of scoring for film will spark a new appreciation for the role just a single note in the opening scene can take on. Director Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding"), points to the score's ability to tell audiences "from the first tone, the first note, that you're going to have a bloody good time at this movie." Composer John Barry, whose work includes "Out of Africa" and ten Bond films, describes how music is often an "emotional signpost" in movies. Francis Ford Coppola marvels at a composer's ability to "come up with a musical expression of the entire movie in just a few notes," as David Shire did with the opening notes for "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three." And Spike Lee, whose frequent musical collaborator Terence Blanchard also appears in the program, explains, "As a director, you've seen the film a million times. For me, the film never really becomes a film until the score is put in."

As demonstrated in LIGHTS! ACTION! MUSIC!, a great movie score helps make that world real and unforgettable, and makes you want the movie not to end. Try imagining Rocky Balboa climbing those steps in Philadelphia without Bill Conti's heroic theme and one starts to understand.

List of Participants

Directors
Ang Lee
Francis Ford Coppola
Spike Lee
Mira Nair
Julie Taymor

Composers
John Barry ("Out of Africa," "Dances with Wolves")
Rachel Portman ("Emma," "Chocolat")
Elliot Goldenthal ("Frida")
Gustavo Santaolalla ("Brokeback Mountain," "Babel")
David Shire ("Norma Rae")
Terence Blanchard ("Inside Man," "Malcolm X")
Osvaldo Golijov ("Youth Without Youth")
Marcelo Zarvos ("The Good Shepherd")
Carter Burwell ("Fargo," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?")

A film by Dan Lieberstein/produced in association with Primary Wave Music. Editor: Lisa Shreve. Presented by WLIW New York. ST and CC.

To order related products for this program, go to SUPPORT 21.