Big Fish (Danny Elfman)

In Big Fish, Elfman uses the score to create an sort of happy, nostalgic atmosphere for the flashback stories which he ties to Ed's son's struggle to reconcile Ed's true story with the outlandish stories that Ed has told his entire life. In one of the first flashback scenes, Elfman uses soft piano and strings--both of which are heavily used throughout the film--with the transition from Will watching a boy on a plane make shadow animals to his reminisce of Ed, his father, showing him shadow animals. The general mood of the current time is sad, employing slow strings and piano for the most part, because Ed is dying and Will and he have not spoken for years. However, in the flashback story scenes, which are not wholly accurate within the plot framework, Elfman uses a variety of instruments to coincide with various scenes. Diagetic examples include the use of an outdoor band with the farewell parade in Ashton, circus music with the circus, and banjo and fiddle with the mysterious town down the old path. The music fits in the last example because the town is Southern, small, and very laid back. In the underscoring, for example, Elfman uses bells and strings to elicit a romantic feeling as Ed interacts with Sandra, and also a few classic rock themes to fit with the circa 1970 arrival on Auburn's campus and later business trips in a now classic Dodge Charger.

Interestingly, Elfman blends together these two realms at the very end of the film as Will sits beside his dying father and finally tells a "big fish" story of his own. His father asks him to tell him how he goes, knowing full well that he is dying of cancer and a stroke in a hospital and probably won't last much longer. The camera views switch variously between the deathbed and Will's story of his father's triumphant escape from the hospital to the crowd of all the characters from his life and his metamorphosis into a catfish in the river. The hospital shots still use mainly strings and piano to continue a sense of seriousness, but the story shots use a variety of adventurous full orchestra, fiddle and banjo, and band as Will and Ed imaginarily flee from the hospital for Ed's last terrestrial adventure. Will carries Ed into the water, the sappy strings and piano bleed over to the story not only to fit with his farewell to his wife, Sandra, but also to show the audience that Will's struggle to understand his father has come to an end as he is now the storyteller and Ed swims quietly off into the deep.