I Am Sam Cue Sheet

Timing

Scene

Music

Description

00:00:2200:04:19

Sam organizes the sugar packets

Starbucks &
Hospital

00:01:44-

Sam works at the coffee shop

00:02:29-

The boss tells Sam that its time for

him to go to the hospital. Sam
rushes into the delivery room.

Instruments enter one after

another, 4/4,
The tempo gets slightly
faster. Lighter texture. Only
guitar and percussion remain.
The section starts right when
Sam starts running out of the
coffee shop. Faster, heavy on
percussion.

00:03:24-

The doctor tells Sam, this is it.

Sam repeats the phrase over and
over again while spinning.

The guitar repeats F-B flatA-G

00:03:35-

The doctor yells, and its a girl!

Sam meets Lucy for the first time

The repeated guitar line

stops, blocked chords on
guitar followed by gentle
arpeggiation

00:04:2000:05:33

Sam, Lucy, and the mother of Lucy

walk out of the hospital, and the
mother leaves them

00:05:14-

Sam takes Lucy home by himself

When the scene changes, the

song dramatically changes to
G major, 4/4

00:06:2400:07:13

Sam tries to buy diapers, Lucy

doesnt stop crying

Country music
The music is similar to the
one in 00:01:14. light in
texture. Guitars and
percussion, in a major key

Lucy in the Sky

with Diamonds

00:09:1900:09:35

Sams friends come over for a

movie night

00:11:28-00:12:37

Sam and Lucy take photos

00:11:36-

Sam takes Lucy to work

00:12:3800:13:45

Sam and Lucy in the part

00:13:24

Lucy asks Sam if she looks more

like her mother or father

00:16:5700:17:30

Sam doesnt have enough money to

pay for Lucys shoes

Buying Shoes

00:17:3100:18:20

Lucy, Sam, and his friends walk out

of the shoe store with balloons,

Across The
Universe

7
8

Introduction part of the song,

A major, slow, 6/8

Two of Us

At the Park

The voice comes in when

Lucy appears on the screen
The music suddenly changes
from Two of Us to At the
Park as the scene changes
The music gets dense with
layers of instruments and
suddenly gets light in texture
as she asks the question
The usual instrumentation
and style of music for Sam:
light in texture, guitars and
percussion
Gentle guitar intro

00:17:40-

imitating Beatles.
Sam and Lucy at home

00:20:5500:22:12

Lucys friends makes fun of Sam,

Sam attempts to read Lucys book

10

00:23:21-23:40

11

00:25:1500:26:10

12

00:27:1200:27:57

13

00:29:5200:30:45
00:30:18-

14

15

16
17
18
19
20

A prostitute tries to take advantage

of Sam, and a police officer arrests
Sam
Lucys teacher explains to Sam how
Lucy feels about her being smarter
than Sam. Sam explains their
relationship as John and Yoko
Lucy acts as if she cant read
difficult words and Sam tells her not
to lie to him
Sam demands a dish that is not on
the menu and says the customer is
always right, the scene then shifts
to Lucys Halloween party

00:32:3700:32:57-

The judge orders Lucy detained

00:34:12-

The judge explains to Sam that he

can only see Lucy twice a week

00:35:3600:39:56

Sam decides to get a lawyer, he

spins in a chair in the lawyers
office

00:35:4700:36:38

Sam meets the lawyer, Rita

00:36:48-

Rita talks on the phones as Sam

talks about Lucy

00:40:5800:42:12
00:42:1300:43:04
00:43:0700:45:00
00:47:3400:48:30
00:49:48-00:50:11

Heavily amplified guitar

Slow, in a minor key, blocked
chords on piano with guitar,
no percussion
slow, no percussion

Im Looking
Through You
The guitar solo comes in as
Sam pretends to play guitar

Sam pretends to play guitar

At Lucys birthday party, Lucys
mean friend says that Lucy told him
that she was adopted, Lucy runs
away
Sam gets arrested

00:32:1700:34:35

Reading
Together

Again, heavily amplified

guitar
Cello enters
Piano enters as the other
instruments drop out.
Blocked chord in a minor key
Guitar and cello come back
as Sam starts understanding
the situation
Guitar repeats D-C#-D-C#
with percussion
Heavily amplified guitar
enters
EE repeats over and over
again as an ostinato and there
are only two chords used for
this scene

Rita at her party, Sam enters

Sam visits Lucy
Lucy apologizes to Sam that what
happened was her fault
Rita takes Sam to see the
psychiatrist
Sam and his friends try to figure out

The voice comes in

Slow, in a minor key, piano
accompaniment with guitar
and violin, no percussion

Diegetic music, jazz piano

Sam Visits Lucy

The usual music and

instrumentation for Sam
Violin solo, slow, in a minor
key
The same music from #15
comes back
Call and response line

Rita tries to get Sam prepared for

the trial as they are going up the
stairs

between the two guitars, the

music is very similar to the
one in #7
The same music from #15
comes back, heavy on
percussion

Rita goes to the coffee shop

#15 music

Sam organizes the products

Country music
A mixture of #15 music and
the country music

how to use an answering machine

21
22

00:51:5300:53:03
00:54:2000:55:39
00:54:3500:54:39-

Rita interrupts Sam

00:55:4300:56:19

Sam asks Annie to testify at the trial

while she plays piano

00:56:2000:56:47
00:58:4301:01:55

Sam says hi to his friends in the

court room
Rita interrogates the witness and
eventually makes her cry

01:01:28-

Sam tells Rita that what she thinks

of Sam matters to him

26

01:05:1801:06:13

Lucy runs away with Sam

27

01:06:1401:07:07

28

01:08:2801:08:58

29

01:10:25-01:11:17

23
24
25

30
31

01:15:4601:16:42
01:17:3001:18:15

Lucy and Sam on the bus and

eventually get caught in the
playground
Lucy bags Rita not to fire them.
Lucy testifies in the court
The DAA asks Lucy where she
spent the night yesterday, and she
lies.
Annie testifies for Sam and is asked
to talk about her own father
Sam falls asleep in Ritas car. Rita
brings him to her house.

Grande Sonata
Op. 37 (Ayako
Uehara)
Sams Friends

Diegetic
In c major, guitar plays a
flowing melody line
Block chords in a minor key
on piano
Again, block chords in a
minor key on piano. Only this
time, it uses a wider register
Instruments enter one at a
time. It starts in c major,
modulates to a minor, and
ends in f minor

Strawberry
Fields Forever
Lucy Runs and
Sam Loses

Cello melody
Similar to #28. Cello leads
the melody in another key
Debussy-like melody on
piano representing Annie

Golden Slumbers

32

01:19:25-1:19:44

Rita gets frustrated by her son when

he refuses to go to sleep

Repeated guitar notes as the

son is spinning around the
room

33

01:20:5501:21:28

Rita cries when Sam tells she

should be happy that she gets to
spend time with her son

#32 reappears when Sam and

Rita talk about her son

34

01:23:4701:24:19

Rita helps Sam tie a tie

35
36

01:24:3001:25:47
01:30:1901:31:50

Sam is promoted to be a barista

Sam testifies and is asked to answer
why he thinks he could be a good

Orchestra with banjo in D

major. This is the first time
the orchestra comes in.
Similar to the music in
00:01:44. Upbeat
The music starts when Sam
looking back into the times

father

37

01:33:1201:34:14

The DAA questions him and Sam

gets upset

38

01:34:1701:35:56

The security guard and the social

worker try to separate Sam and
Lucy

Torn Away

01:36:0201:37:07

Sam goes to meet Lucy in her foster

home, but once he sees Lucy with
her foster parents, he walks away

Youve Got to
Hide Your Love
Away

01:36:49-

The foster mom tries to talk to

Lucy, but she refuses

01:37:1001:44:19

Sam plays the toy piano. Lucy

crying while waiting for Sam

01:37:36-

Lucy paints

01:38:2001:40:16

Sam makes origami

01:41:18-

Sam gets frustrated and tells Rita

that people like you dont know

01:43:14-

Rita cries and tells Sam how

miserable her life actually is

01:45:5501:46:50
01:50:1501:51:08

Sam goes to see Lucy and reads her

his apology letter
Rita cries and tells Sam that she has
never lost at anything

01:51:09-01:55:11

Pink origami bird falls in front of

Lucy
Lucy picks up the bird and puts it in
her pocket
Lucy quietly leaves her room

39

40

41
42

43

01:51:33-01:52:11
01:54:12-

Lucy Paints,
Sam Makes
Origami

Black Bird

he spent with Lucy. Simple

alberti base line going back
and forth between i and V in
A minor.
Slowly moving blocked
chords on piano and guitar
Orchestra with cello leading
the line. The music intensifies
as they refused to let each
other go
Hey youve got to hide your
love away comes in right
when Sam decides to walk
away
Harmonica line starts when
the camera is focused on
Lucy and her foster mom
Both Diegetic and Nondiegetic. Toy piano Sam is
diegetic and is also part of the
non-diegetic song. The music
speeds up as Sam gets
frustrated and pounds the
piano.
The guitar comes in as Lucy
starts painting. More
instruments join in
All the instruments other than
guitars drop out, and the
guitar plays harmonics
Repeated A-C-G on guitar
and all the instruments
dramatically fade out as Rita
break trough Sams origami
wall.
A-C-G Ostinato disappears.
Longer phrases that ends
ambiguosly
Similar to #11
Repeated A is used as an
ostinato. It is played on piano
and on guitar. Piano fades out
and only guitar remains to
play the ostinato
The origami bird falls as the
song starts.
The guitar solo starts as she
picks up the bird
The same guitar solo as

44

01:56:11-01:57:23

01:57:05-

through the window to go to see her

dad
Sam starts working at Pizzahut and
Lucy keeps coming to Sams house
at night
She realizes the foster mom blocked
the window so she couldnt sneak
out
The foster mom brings Lucy over to
Sam and confesses that she was
foolish to think that she was a better
parent than Sam was

45

02:01:3602:03:44

46

02:03:4502:04:05

Sam at Lucys soccer game

47

02:04:06-

Everyone at Lucys game.

Ambiguous but happy ending

Nighttime Visits

Two of Us

01:51:33. The camera zooms

on the origami bird
New music: country music
with gamelan sounding
instruments.
All the instruments other than
guitar drop and violin enters
as she looks sadly outside
The music starts right when
the foster mom hands over
Lucy to Sam. Long phrase,
viola with orchestra, guitar,
and percussion.
The last I chord of V-I
cadence from the last music
happens when the scene
changes as this scene is the
final resolution of the last
scene. Clapping music,
rhythmic, upbeat
The movie ends with the
lyrics We're going home