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John Williams to Score Kobe Bryant short film "Dear Basketball"


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On 12/18/2017 at 12:26 PM, thx99 said:

Audio is essentially band-limited to ~13 kHz, meaning it's no better than 32 kHz sampling rate.  And there are very noticeable compression artifacts.

 

I hope that website fixes the audio. The making-of documentary has fine sound on that website compared to the actual film. I want to hear this film in the way it was designed and meant to be heard.

 

Regardless, the film is beautiful, and the Maestro of course needs no words when it comes to his music. I shed a tear or two. I hope it becomes available to purchase on iTunes.

 

The making-of documentary was great. Very insightful; I enjoyed hearing Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant and Maestro John Williams reflect on this project.

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16 hours ago, Stefancos said:

So has the music John Williams wrote for the alleged rapists vanity project been released yet?

 There's no way in hell this will win an academy award considering everything that happened this year

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1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

What happened?

In short, what happened was the standard for guilt for sexual assault went from something proved in a court of law to accusation alone.  

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  • 4 weeks later...

It is a very carefully refined piece of music that flows well and compliments the animation with grace. Nothing about it sounds rough around the edges, mistimed, or out of place. To me Dear Basketball as a piece of music has the same consideration and cohesiveness as the majority of The Post score.

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2 hours ago, Tom said:

This in no way is a diss of SW and the Post, as I think highly of both, but of the three JW scores written this year, this is my favorite.  Perhaps that seems absurd, but I like the theme better than those of the other two, and it even gets a B section in the score (and again in the end credits).  It is a perfect little movie score.    

 

Preach it.  I agree 100 percent.  This is a masterpiece that could sit comfortably next to "Cadillac of the Skies" or just about anything from the '80s.  We need a music-only release!

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Isn't it too soon?

 

I doubt though we will ever get it! :unsure:

I have a hunch Williams wouldn't like this to be released, considering it a lesser work, just like The Sugarland Express.

 

But i agree that for me, this is the best score of the 3 ( counting Last Jedi & The Post)

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I knew Dear Basketball would get an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. I hope it wins.

 

Also, the sound has been fixed on go90.com. Now, the film can be enjoyed in the way it was meant to be seen and heard.

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36 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

When are we gonna get this piece released as stand alone music? The animation and VO are nice, but I just want the great JW music.

 

In about 20-25 years from today.

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On 12/11/2017 at 12:35 AM, crumbs said:

The mere suggestion that this could qualify for an Oscar is quite laughable.

 

lol

 

Anyway... that means 3 John Williams scored films received Oscar nominations. Would I be correct in saying that's more than any other composer this year?

 

EDIT: Fuck, The Boss Baby got a nomination? Really? Well, he's tied with Zimmer then.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Annie Award is an American award for accomplishments in animation and this year's winners were announced yesterday.

 

Quote

Lakers star Kobe Bryant and veteran animator Glen Keane’s “Dear Basketball” won the Annie for short subject, giving it an edge as well on Oscar night in the animated short category.

 

Link

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Lovely interview with Kobe Bryant, Glen Keane and John Williams about Dear Basketball (done by Tim Grieving):

 

http://projectorandorchestra.com/kobe-john-and-glen-the-maestros-behind-dear-basketball/

 

Some priceless anecdotes from Keane about Lost in Space music :)

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Excellent interview, I think.

It would be quite fantastic to have Williams and Keane work together in the future.

Keane is a consummate artist and person.  There is a great force of artistic energy in his work, especially in its purest forms.  

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When I was a kid in the ’60s, I could not wait to get home to watch this TV show that started with this wonderful John Williams score: Lost in Space. I told him that, and he’s like, “Oh no, no. Oh…” He was so embarrassed. “But it’s wonderful, John! I mean, it held the promise of wonder and excitement and fun and quirky and scary and dangerous, and it was all in this one score. And John, the roots of your entire career are in that score.” He said, “Oh no, no…” I said, “Yeah! Can I play it?” “No, please don’t!” I said, “No, I really gotta play it for you.” [Laughs]

 

Well now we know why he no longer wanted to update his theme 😄

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It's disconcerting to see that if he's so dismissive of LIS -- probably the most popular and lauded of his old TV work -- I can't even imagine to think what he feels about the far more obscure TV stuff that I obsess over.

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16 minutes ago, Thor said:

It's disconcerting to see that if he's so dismissive of LIS -- probably the most popular and lauded of his old TV work -- I can't even imagine to think what he feels about the far more obscure TV stuff that I obsess over.

 

Many composers feel rather negatively about their early work.  Dvorak, if I recall, burned all of his.  Perhaps Williams feels similarly. 

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Glen Keane on John Williams:

Quote

For whatever reason, the world of animation missed out until now. I felt like we were so fortunate that we knew him, and that he would give us that slice of time, in the middle of scoring Star Wars, to do Dear Basketball. Really, he’s made for animation. I would love to do more with him. [...] way back, everything was scored first, and then the director would take the score and start to plan out the animation. Every animator had a metronome at his desk, so you knew what the rhythm was. I was taught to animate with a rhythm. So even if I don’t have music, I animate with a sense of musical timing—a pause lasts just enough, and then it keeps going, and there might be a faster pace. Wouldn’t it be a dream to have John Williams score the beginnings of something and animate to that?

 

Perhaps he can convince Williams to score Over the Moon. Fingers crossed!

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33 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

If I had to guess, I'd say he probably hates those scores and hates you in particular for liking them.

 

LOL! :D

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20 minutes ago, Once said:

Glen Keane on John Williams:

 

Perhaps he can convince Williams to score Over the Moon. Fingers crossed!

That would be awesome!  (assuming Williams is willing and the film itself is "up to his level" (not a guarantee given the direct to Netflix release))

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8 hours ago, mstrox said:

 

Maestro!  Maybe Google the guy before you make a joke like that!

 

Oh Lord... :lol:

 

Great interview though. 

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12 hours ago, Once said:

Perhaps he can convince Williams to score Over the Moon. Fingers crossed!

 

That film is gonna be an animated musical and there are already two songwriters assigned to the project. But let's hope Keane and JW will collaborate in some other future project.

 

12 hours ago, Cerebral Cortex said:

I also wonder if, with all the experience he has gained since writing those early pieces, he listens to those works and cringes at how, if he had made just a few tweaks and alterations or done just a few things differently, the result would, to him, have sounded so much better. 

 

I think it's pretty normal for him not being too proud of some of his earliest work for television. He said several times that it was a very factory-line kind of work. It surely helped him forming his own dramatic instincts and the variety of the assignments made sure he could flex different muscles and being versatile. But I guess it's pretty comprehensible for him to look at that period of his life as mere "formative years", without any kind of profound artistic merit. That of course doesn't mean he wrote bad music! Quite the contrary, I'd say.

 

Back to the thread's subject, it looks like Dear Basketball is the front-runner to win in the Best Animated Short category. If that will happen, I totally expect Kobe inviting both Glen Keane and JW on the podium to accept the award with him.

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1 hour ago, TownerFan said:

That film is gonna be an animated musical and there are already two songwriters assigned to the project. But let's hope Keane and JW will collaborate in some other future project.

Sure, but Williams could still score it. Like in the Sherman Brothers/George Bruns days. Bruns had plenty of room for his own themes and melodies, sometimes he didn’t even use the songs in his underscore.

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4 hours ago, TownerFan said:

Back to the thread's subject, it looks like Dear Basketball is the front-runner to win in the Best Animated Short category. If that will happen, I totally expect Kobe inviting both Glen Keane and JW on the podium to accept the award with him.

 

As the short's director, Keane would almost certainly be on stage, and actually given the statue, I believe.  It would be great to see all three of them up there, though, the short being such a collaborative work..  

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