MUSIC CUE: Max Richter – Winter 3 (2012)
The first notes — soft, fragile — not played, but offered.
Like a whisper remembered.
FOCUS – WILLIAM
The music moves through him.
From his chest to his fingertips.
From memory to motion.
WIDE SHOT — AUDIENCE
Enchanted.
Still.
Drawn not into a performance — but into a world.
CLOSE-UP — WILLIAM’S FACE
He is inside the sound.
Inside the grief.
Inside the love.
FOCUS ON MUSICIANS AND INSTRUMENTS.
WIDE SHOT — the orchestra plays, waves of music rising like memory.
MUSIC SWELLS — THEN DIPS: THE COLLAPSE.
CLOSE-UP — WILLIAM.
His face twisted in pain.
GLIMPSES — WILLIAM’S POV / HIS HEART / MEMORY ITSELF.
Shot on 16mm — dreamlike, grainy, slowed.
— A canyon at sunset.
— Lily on horseback beside him.
— William’s hand in the frame, holding hers.
SIDE ANGLE
— Riding beside her.
Her hair and scarf dance in the wind.
— She turns — not behind, but to the side.
She looks at him.
Right at us.
Into the lens.
Her eyes carry love. Sorrow. Knowing.
She begins to drift forward.
— He grips her hand, gently — trying to hold her.
But her eyes say it all.
It’s time.
— He lets go.
She rides on.
Not racing — just… leaving.
— The further she moves, the more at peace she becomes.
The sun glows behind her like a soft goodbye.
She never looks away.
— She just keeps riding.
Smaller… and smaller… until she disappears into the light.
(The music dips slightly — a breath.)
BACK TO:
CLOSE ON WILLIAM
His body stills. Sweat at his brow.
Eyes full — lips parted, no words.
He keeps conducting — But it’s no longer just performance.
Something is breaking open.
Grief and grace… wrapped into one.
WIDE SHOT – ORCHESTRA – MUSIC BUILDING
Strings climbing.
Emotion rising in waves.
ANGLE – PODIUM / SHEET MUSIC
A glimmer appears across the page —
A reflection, faint but unmistakable.
DETAIL – SHEET MUSIC
The title:
“ECHOES”
Light dances over it.
The same kind of light the ring once made.
The glow drifts — lands on his chest.
He feels it.
His breath catches.
He smiles.
Not with sorrow. But recognition.
His chest rises —
As if breathing her in.
He lifts his arms higher.
The music answers — aching, rising.
FINAL CRESCENDO BEGINS
[MUSIC CUE: “Winter 3 – Max Richter (2012)” – 3:26]
And then — The music erupts.
A rebirth.
It’s no longer just him.
It’s them.
A love song.
A farewell.
A resurrection.
WIDE SHOT – THE STAGE
We see the full orchestra.
William’s back to us.
His arms rise higher —
He feels every note.
His body doesn’t just conduct music —
It conducts truth.
The sound crashes like a wave.
The music is no longer a performance.
It’s an offering.
A final letter.
And the audience feels it.
CLOSE-UP – WILLIAM’S FACE
Trembling.
Eyes wet.
Jaw clenched.
Emotion floods into sound — Delicate. Raw. Longing.
Then — a flicker of light.
Something shifts.
The melody lifts, expands —
Like it’s reaching for something unseen.
Strings swell.
Every note: an offering,
A farewell,
A beginning.
WIDE SHOT – THE STAGE
The orchestra swells behind him.
The hall breathes with him.
CLOSE-UP – THE AUDIENCE
Eyes wide.
Hands clasped.
Tears. Silence. Reverence.
No one moves.
They’re not just watching.
They’re feeling—something they can’t name.
Ruby clutches her hand to her chest.
William’s father’s eyes glisten.
Nobody speaks.
They’re all witnessing something more than performance.
CLOSE-UP – ORCHESTRA
Even the players falter, overwhelmed.
But they stay with him.
Carried by something bigger than notes.
CLOSE-UP – WILLIAM
His eyes open slowly.
The light on his chest begins to fade—gently, as if saying goodbye.
He doesn’t try to hold it.
He breathes it in.
The final notes land like a truth being told.
Simple. Soft.
Nothing more to prove.
SILENCE.
He stands still.
The echo of the last chord lingering like a soul.
A beat.
Then—
APPLAUSE.
Not clapping.
A roar.
Standing ovation.
The room erupts—but William doesn’t move right away.
CLOSE-UP – HIS FACE
He looks to the seat where she’d be.
Smiles.
Not with pain.
But with acceptance.
A kind of joy that grief couldn’t take from him.
He stands.
Bows.
A hand to his chest.
It’s not a goodbye.
It’s a thank you.
EXT. NYC STREET - EVENING
William steps out into the city night.
The world hums around him — vibrant, alive.
He walks through the streets.
Alone, but not lonely.
He slips his hand into his pocket.
Pulls out Lily’s engagement ring.
Looks at it.
A quiet breath.
A smile.
WIDE SHOT – ZOOMING OUT
He disappears into the motion —
The lights.
The rhythm.
The city’s pulse.
Life continues.
And so does he.
FADE TO BLACK.
(A LONG PAUSE)
