wh5 = who, what, where, when and why. The five basic questions that are the structure of any story. Explored in "Who says what, where, when and and Why: Context in Conversation." An introduction to Sociolinguistics through Conversation Analysis. wh5 is the blogsite of the book published 2008 by Nanundo-Phoenix, Tokyo.
Anna-Lisa: What a deserted road.
Chris: The road winds a lot more when we get up into the hills.
Anna-Lisa: You want some music on?
Chris: Yeah. Beethoven’s 9th. It’s the 5th track from the start I think.
Anna-Lisa: Grand noise.
Chris: Grand road. German car suits German music.
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Voice-over
The Napier to Taihape road takes two and a half hours. Bleakly beautiful. Suits Beethoven’s 9th.
Voice-over
Let’s have a go at adapting a work of literature into a film scenario. It’s not of the quality of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, but we all have to start somewhere.
“It will be generally admitted that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man.”
E.M. Forster. Howards End.
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Aunt Juley: I do like the way it opens.
Margaret: Really, Aunt Juley. Heroes and shipwrecks? The third movement…
Helen: Yes, yes, the goblins… and then the elephants dancing…
Tibby: (score open upon his knees) But listen out for the transitional passage, the drum coming in.
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Liz: You don’t use an iPod?
Juliet: No. I travel light.
Liz: So how do carry your music around with you?
Juliet: In my head. I memorize it.
Liz: You mean you hum?
Juliet: Not hum, I read the music in my head and I hear it in the back of my ears.
Liz: Sounds hard.
Juliet: Start with something simple. Like Beethoven’s Fifth. Da-da-da-DAH! Da-da-da-DAH!
Liz: I couldn’t get beyond ten bars.
Juliet: Why I suggest Beethoven’s Fifth is because it’s very visual. Imagine forests. Imagine storms.
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Voiceover
Why Beethoven indeed! What better word-picture-painter than E.M.Forster to add images to help the make the music mean something.
“…the music started with a goblin walking quietly over the universe, from end to end. Others followed him. They were not aggressive creatures; it was that that made them so terrible to Helen. They merely observed in passing that there was no such thing as splendour or heroism in the world. After the interlude of elephants dancing, they returned and made the observation for the second time. Helen could not contradict them, for, once at all events, she had felt the same, and had seen the reliable walls of youth collapse. Panic and emptiness! Panic and emptiness! The goblins were right. Her brother raised his finger; it was the transitional passage on the drum…”
After you have memorized Beethoven, you can tackle pieces which are more, shall we say, abstract?
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