Using music as part of your storytelling is nothing new. From the earliest stage musicals, to a guy playing a piano alongside a screening of old silent movies, to more modern cinema, and even videogames, the concept of a soundtrack in visual media like film, television and gaming, is so widespread that it feels more strange and experimental for a piece of media to not tie a piece of music to a scene in that way. But I didn't realise how inadequate decades worth of music-based storytelling in visual media was, until Edgar Wright released his 2017 masterpiece, [i]Baby Driver.[/i] I'll start this essay by talking about how the movie itself starts, and that's with three shots: the tire of a car parking on the street, a POV of a music player inside the car, our protagonist's (Baby, played by Ansel Elgort) face. In a couple of seconds, the audience has been introduced to the three most important elements of this story. Then something interesting happens. See, the music in [i]Baby Driver[/i] is all diegetic - and as we get that shot of Baby's music player, the first song in the soundtrack begins playing. And every time we hear a piece of that guitar riff, the film cuts. Guitar - a shot of one character. Pause. Guitar - a shot of the second. Pause. Guitar - the third. Pause. Guitar - the fourth character. Next, the song starts proper, and the three people in the car with Baby get out. Baby doesn't though - this is important in a moment. As the three people get out, you notice that every single one of their actions, is inextricably tied to every beat of the soundtrack. As they open the door, get out, close the door, step around and open the car boot, walk over to the bank putting on a face mask (this is a robbery, not a pandemic, I feel I should point that out) every single thing they do happens perfectly on beat with the song. We don't get to see the bank robbery, which is arguably the more interesting thing happening in this scene. Instead, we watch Baby dancing and singing along to his music. It's this kind of choice that makes the point of the movie clear; Baby and his character, and his love of music. It's a little difficult to explain in text just how well executed this is in the movie. The best comparison I can give is to think of how it feels when you're playing a rhythm game like [i]Guitar Hero[/i] really well, and every one of your button presses is perfectly in tune with the song being played on screen. What makes [i]Baby Driver[/i] even better though, is that it's not just a performance of the song. This is a story being told in perfect synchronicity with music, and it's incredibly well executed. And what's more important, is the fact that this is not just a gimmick. There is a narrative reason for the music being used this way. Without spoiling any of the story, Baby has tinnitus, and he uses music to cover up the ringing in his ears. But music being important for him, leads to the film's unique style of presentation, and also helps the audience relate to Baby as a character. Also, it's not just the opening scene of the movie that is presented in this way. Most of this movie has music playing, and every time the music is playing, the cinematography and editing is paired with it beat for beat, masterfully. It never gets old. Every scene is flawless. Edgar Wright is a master of presentation anyway, and I could have also spent this essay talking about his visual presentation and use of colour. But I can't overstate how much the use of music in this movie impacted me. Every time another movie, or a TV show, or a game has music, all I can think is, "Yeah, that's pretty cool. But [i]Baby Driver[/i] did it better." I can't help it. Because it's true.