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Showing content with the highest reputation on 14/08/19 in all areas

  1. There is no "dark side", he's just a top professional who requests a certain kind of behaviour and attitude from the people who work for/with him. He doesn't fire musicians just because they accidentally drop a pencil on the floor. What Don and Dan Higgins said in the clips above is that, if you're recording with JW, you as a player don't call to stop the take for any reason. JW might even ignore a performance error, a pencil dropping, or a noisy pageturn because he might like the energy and the feel of that particular take, so he might want to continue and get to the end. He's the "commander in chief" on the recording stage, so it's up to him calling the shots and decide if the take has to be stopped or not. He might prefer to do a full take, even if there are performance errors, check it, address the various issues, and then doing another full one. If you ends up making a zillion of stops during a single take, you lose more time, hence more money. And you also lose the musicality and the feeling of the actual performance from the players.
    4 points
  2. Williams has already loaded the Rogue One master tapes into a cannon and they're aimed at the sun.
    3 points
  3. SOURCE: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER: Rumored PHANTOM character revealed in THIS surprising behind-the-scenes photo
    2 points
  4. Chen will now discuss with you the 3 part structure of the story arc.
    2 points
  5. Bespin

    .

    Not the Throne room again, mercy!
    2 points
  6. I love this, he slips in theme after theme, making it seem so effortless—
    2 points
  7. THIS rendition of the Force Theme! (at 4:43)
    2 points
  8. I agree with that. I just don't think Williams fired a person, Harvey Weinstein or Donald Trump-style, over a single incident like that. Like Don said, he reprimanded said concert master with a strict "I'll have to have the floor". If he was fired, someone else in the project must have done it to accomodate Williams, or he must have transgressed repeatedly. Anything else would be absurd. It would go against everyhing we know about Williams as a person.
    2 points
  9. Again, people here are not focusing on what was the point of Don Williams speaking about that episode: when you record with JW, you just focus on doing your best performance, because that's what you're requested to do. It's not up to you (even if you're concertmaster) to stop the take for any reason--"iron fist in a velvet glove" is probably an apt definition when it comes to JW (or any other great conductor) on the recording stage.
    2 points
  10. Finally, I opened my sealed copy of this magnificent 3CD set. I know Iam late, had the set since ages but never found the right kind of moment to enjoy the score untill I forced myself at 11pm last night. Wow what a journey. Gorgeous and breadthtaking. The sound is so improved here. The notes mention that it was also recorded at UCLA's Royce Hall. I suppose the Barbara Bonney vocals were recorded there as well as 'David's Arrival' cue. The sound is so vibrant in these recordings that it reminded me of the Williams Spielberg III recording (Alas that album never recorded the AI Themes) The plethora of unreleased material is riveting. Fabulous assembly by Matessino. Too bad this set is now sadly OOP. Hope everyone got their copy. BTW, my cover of the booklet seems a bit having a few printing smudges on it. Do you think LLL might have a few extra booklets? I remember reading once they replaced a few to those who had the same problem.
    2 points
  11. Koray Savas

    STRANGER THINGS

    Anyone who dies off screen in anything is never dead!
    2 points
  12. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (OST) by John Williams The prequel OSTs continue to prove interesting in terms of the music they display and the way that it's compiled. The Main Title is cut off near the end by the exuberant Boys Into Battle cue, and while the transition isn't the most graceful, it's probably a lot easier than trying to fade it into the quieting strings (believe me, I've tried to do it!). Of course, while Attack of the Clones offered the most diverse musical palette in the saga, Revenge of the Sith has a number of uncharacteristic fancies that also set it apart. This is evident in the deft beauty of Anakin's Dream, especially the violin solo in the first minute (insert heart eyes emoticon). Battle of the Heroes and Anakin vs. Obi-Wan provide coverage for the sprawling action setpiece of the third act- the climactic lightsaber duel. It's not quite on the level of some other cues in this film, but I feel it's serves its purpose just fine. When listening in "complete form" it can get kind of repetitive though. Anakin's Betrayal is a two-part deal, opening with the lament for Order 66 and closing with a segment from the Orff reminiscent It Can't Be cue. Palpatine's Teachings is another peculiarity, throwing a line forward to the Snoke material from The Force Awakens and providing grounded support for a number of fan theories. I quite liked Grievous' theme when I first heard it, but now perhaps I think it's a little too much. I mean I love to hear the choir just go for it, but in terms of how it suits the character it might be a little overkill. The Immolation Scene continues the sorrowful adagio for strings idiom that seems to be something of a distinct attribute of Revenge of the Sith. The Birth of the Twins and Padme's Destiny always had a mysterious feeling to it, and the funeral procession closes the track quite nicely. Can't say I approve of the Throne Room in the End Credits, which is otherwise just a platform for Princess Leia's theme and more Battle of the Heroes. Attack of the Clones may very well boast the best album presentation of the Star Wars saga, but Revenge of the Sith isn't too far off. There are a few brief moments whose omittance is unfortunate (I'm thinking Arrival on Utapau and Droids, Swimming, Yoda Farewell), and perhaps some editing decisions could have been better, but this OST passes as sufficient in my books.
    2 points
  13. The older I get, the sillier I find these comparisons. I'm perfectly happy enjoying The Lord of the Rings for what it is, and Star Wars for what it is. While they have many similarities (the influence of the story of The Lord of the Rings on Star Wars runs very deep indeed) they also have many distinctions. Star Wars has the space setting, it has familial ties across both sides of the conflict (an element that admittedly gets soapy if played too often, see Sequel Trilogy, The) and it introduces us to a world under one centralized rule: a good one, in the prequel trilogy; an evil one, in the first trilogy. Personally, I like The Lord of the Rings series much more. It has a greater sense of heft to it. There's not a single moment in Star Wars that touched my heart in a way that's anywhere near that of Sam picking Frodo up. Its just more profound that way. Even moments like the opening of the Hidden Door I find immensly moving to this day. Star Wars very rarely aims to move its audience, and its generally aiming at a younger demographic, anyway. I also find the fact that all six movies were made by the same producer/writer/director and the same core creative team, and that each trilogy was essentially produced as one big movie in three parts, to be more conducive to a sense of an overall arc than the Star Wars approach. The way the films change styles (in terms of direction) between entries like Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back or between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi is quite jarring, and you also get rather egregious continuity issues like Leia being Luke's sister all of a sudden, which is bollocks.
    2 points
  14. That much is true: the films are much lighter, more dynamic, succint, and the plot is allowed to unfold in an almost completely linear manner (little to no use of flashback/flashforward). The Middle Earth films, by comparison, take an already complex narrative, full of a large number of characters, setpieces, story threads and concepts, and compounds that complexity by playing large parts of it out of chronological order. Technically, too, certainly with regards to the entries directed by George Lucas, the filmmaking style of Star Wars is much more plain: not very pushed closeups, not a lot of movement, high-key lighting, no long takes to speak of, no use of slow-motion, etcetra. By comparison, Peter Jackson's camerawork is full of movement, stark closeups, superimposition, slow-motion, POV shots, etcetra. Its much more florid that way. The space setting really serves Star Wars in this regard, too, because each planet is distilled to one archetypal environment: Tatooine is a desert planet; Hoth is an ice planet; Dagobah is a swamp planet, and Curoscant is an urban planet. We never get - nor do we need - a sense of geography of the Galaxy itself, other than there being an "outer rim" over which both the Republic and Empire - we come to learn - can't maintain tight control. By comparison, the viewer of the Middle Earth films needs to get some sense for the geography of Middle Earth, hence the occasional shots of map throughout the films. I would also say some of the characterizations are more complex. The most complex character Star Wars pulled off is Kylo Ren, but he's still the villain of the piece. The Middle Earth films pull off complex characters as deuteragonists and protagonists, such as Thorin and Boromir. The way the story is serialized is more complex, too. With the exception of The Last Jedi, every Star Wars film is set within some time period away from the previous film, and the text crawl is used to reorient the audience. With Middle Earth, each film within each trilogy is technically set immediately after the end of the previous one, with little to no recap. There are certain thematic ideas in Sir Peter's films which are more complex, too. There's a commentary on isolationism throughout all six films, from the Hobbits' "its non of our concern what goes on beyond our borders" to Thranduils "other lands are not my concern" and Treebeard's "This is not our war." Star Wars isn't in the same thematic ballpark. The imagery's and some story beats are more challenging, of course. I forgot how violent the fight with Lurtz really was! and the severed heads catapulted into Minas Tirith, yeesh! The only Star Wars film to play in the same league was Revenge of the Sith. Part of the distinction comes from Star Wars being aimed at a younger demographic. That also effects their popularity, with people being exposed to Star Wars at a younger, more impressionable age.
    1 point
  15. Ah, the underwater symphony.
    1 point
  16. Somewhere In Time by John Barry Quintessential and wholesome John Barry goodness. Trademark flute solos and elegant string passages. Planet of the Apes by Jerry Goldsmith ('97 Varese) Quirky and yet still groovy and fun! Curious instrumentation. A classic. Concert suites from Return of the Jedi by John Williams
    1 point
  17. The Fellowship of the Ring (complete recordings) Yeah, this might be the greatest film score of all time. ***** out of *****
    1 point
  18. Huh. I thought the villain was very weak and a lot of beats, including the final decision and through its proxy, the ending, felt completely unearned and not well-motivated. Fluff moments went on way too long. More subjective, but I hate that orange-ish brownish dusk light the final "battle" was staged in, it doesn't look pleasing at all and mutes out everything else. Just overall I like the first 2 visually a lot more, don't give a rat's ass about hair or water simulation being more accurate even if it is, they were more colorful and interesting-looking. I love the first 2 complete scores, listened to 3 maybe... 3 times since I've seen the film? I just don't find myself wanting to go back to it and get into it, it didn't draw me in the way the first 2 did.
    1 point
  19. Oh, don't worry, I was there to intercept them before they were launched, I swapped them out with the master tapes for Hook...
    1 point
  20. Wojo

    STRANGER THINGS

    Or without a silent clock! Looking at you, Tony Almeida.
    1 point
  21. The more years pass, the more Lord of the Rings ages miles better than Williams' overwrought prequel kitsch.
    1 point
  22. Oh my god, people are morons. This person thinks they're Sherlock Holmes figuring out how long the movie is but doesn't even know that there's more music in a film than on the OST *Picard facepalm gif* https://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-score-length/
    1 point
  23. Now Brahms the a-cappella choir composer is a different story altogether. Here's two pieces we did last year:
    1 point
  24. So I got to see this live a few weeks ago, and it is hands-down, one of the finest moments of Williams career:
    1 point
  25. THAT! Oh. My. Williams God! 3:08 to the end.
    1 point
  26. 1 point
  27. That "Golden Age"-esque finish + that pulsing I - vi6 always get to me.
    1 point
  28. It almost certainly has been mentioned before, but the build to the Rebel Fanfare statement followed by the seamless segue into Rey's theme at 2:53 in The Battle of Crait is absolutely sublime. It never ceases to impress me how well the themes for this new trilogy are able to work alongside the preexisting thematic material established 40 years back.
    1 point
  29. Since this score seems to have been made specifically for this thread I guess I'll get started with a few of my favourite examples: 2:33 - 2:40: Love the plucked strings and clarinets in the background, such a cool effect! 1:27 - 1:47: Awesome statement of Rose's theme of course, but what I find particularly interesting here is the subtle use of dissonance in the background, as if the music is fighting its way upward through rubble. Listen out for the slightly awkward chords in the brass from 1:28, the "intentionally" messy rushing strings between 1:35-1:37, and the note clashes in the brass from 1:38. All this shouldn't work...but it does, and not only does it work but it improves it too!
    1 point
  30. In the Escape from Cloud City cue, two moments close together. This Shostakovich-eque moment from 2:05 - 2:13 And this pure awesomeness from 2:24 - 2:47
    1 point
  31. Battle of Yavin climax. Incredible.
    1 point
  32. From 5:52-6:07. Probably my favorite 15 seconds JW ever wrote.
    1 point
  33. For me it's a few seconds in Clash of Lightsabers that ever since I first heard it clicks in the mind. Don't know what or why but: 2.36 to about 2.44 not long before the love theme. (Accompanies Artoo saving the day: "Wonderful! I never doubted it for a second!") but as I say on some level it's always done something for us, then again the whole track does. From just after the duel, with our heroes fleeing knowing Han's lost (or possibly), stormtroopers chasing, the Yoda theme and finally getting off Cloud City by the skin of the proverbials.
    1 point
  34. 00:20 - 00:25 of this clip (4:58 on "T-Rex Rescue and Finale"). The trumpets hold a long note while the rest of the orchestra continues the chaos around it. It's a brilliant example of how instrumentation and composition mirror the tension of the visuals perfectly. While I'm on this video, 1:36 (6:14 on the soundtrack) has potentially one of my favourite short Williams moments of all time. I can't even describe this one. It's pure genius. Watch/listen and enjoy. EDIT - I could literally pick out dozens of moments from this same sequence. Truly a powerhouse run of film and music.
    1 point
  35. The Phantom Menace is a truly great score.
    1 point
  36. Been stuck in my head. So exciting!
    1 point
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