Leaderboard

I would say that Williams tends not to associate certain keys with certain moods. The idea of composers using certain keys for certain moods derived from the days when the 12-note chromatic system was not equally tempered, meaning that the same interval wasn't always exactly the same size. So each key did sound different and many tended to have common associations among composers. When equal temperament became the norm in the 19th century, those associations became more of a relic from the past and weren't used nearly as often. Beethoven was kind of the last big exponent of the idea, and it's not surprising that he spanned the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Anyway, with Williams, I don't see really strong connections between key and mood, but there are a couple of exceptions. Sometimes in his classic scores, it seems that he uses C major when there is a kind of purity in the character the theme represents in the theme's most prominent statement (main title / end credits): Superman fanfare and march (pure good), E.T. and Elliott (childhood innocence), Yoda (pure wisdom). This association of C major with purity is very traditional and mostly comes from C major having no sharps or flats in its key signature, so looks "pure" on the page. Other times, though, it just seems like C major is a convenient key to write in for Williams, like with the Raiders March. Williams also sometimes follows the 19th-century convention of using keys with lots of flats for slow, romantic pieces in major keys. This happens in Han Solo and the Princess, and Luke and Leia, both of which are in D-flat major, which has a whopping 5 flats in its key signature. The many flats are supposed to represent a very relaxed state in a musical way (whereas lots of sharps in a key signature are often associated with lots of energy). These are pretty much exceptions, though. Personally, I feel that Williams' choice of key for a theme probably depends on how he's going to orchestrate it. The use of B-flat major for the Star Wars main title not only allows the connection to the Fox fanfare that preceded it in the same key, but also the high B-flat in the trumpet, which is right near the very top of the instrument's range, as the theme's highest note. Or why the Jaws ostinato is on E - that's generally the lowest note in the double bass, so will be the darkest string colour he can achieve. The more I study Williams' writing, the more I find that his ideas seem very tied to orchestration, so that's why I'd lean more towards "not really" in answering your question despite the exceptions above.

I had an interview with Maestro eight years ago. Extremely nice man. During the interview, I asked, among other things, whether he was tempted to write something for a film himself, since his music was used by great directors, such as Kubrick, Scorsese or Wajda. "I don't want to waste time," he replied. "Besides, it would be a transition to the 'other side', which I don't want to do. "Other side?" I asked. "Look at John Williams. He composes very good music, various symphonies and concertos, he is comprehensively educated, he conducts, but everybody knows him only as a film composer. Similarly Ennio Morricone - even when he writes a mass, it's not as good and known as his film music. I think I'll stay on this side!" https://kultura.onet.pl/muzyka/gatunki/klasyka/szkoda-czasu-na-film/jn34jqn

I would support another trilogy ONLY if Rian Johnson writes and directs it.

Damn! In terms of classical music in the last 100 years, it doesn't come much bigger than Penderecki. I wrote a small obituary, in Norwegian, here: https://montages.no/nyheter/krzysztof-penderecki-1933-2020/ I remember sitting just 5 meters away from him in Krakow a few years ago, I believe the first time he visited the festival himself. Goldenthal, who was also a guest there and sitting next to him, was basically reduced to a fanboy all night. Alas, I never got to meet or interview Penderecki myself, but I was honoured just being in his presence.

So I updated the titles of the unreleased music I have hosted on google drive, to be more accurate to the cue list, based on info provided by those who have been able to get a hold of the partial sheet music leak: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1p9uTxtd8s6eM6_sw77x7__n2bnTJe07L https://drive.google.com/open?id=1E0mLeNoiWK7-3XohSd_byCGkcJRNhFbD https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QTP02C-XqvYEybBIl8AqZNa7zD0Z4rAl https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxQSwI5aPja9d0hlNXlzc0dKVU0 https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxQSwI5aPja9OXRoNnNxWE9uZGs https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxQSwI5aPja9bGxlejg1QUxsNlU https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxQSwI5aPja9aHNsYTFiOGVhT1E https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxQSwI5aPja9WlBmdjJiMU03a3c https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxQSwI5aPja9LWE1RXhPZi11Wmc

I think I put them where they belong

The context of Palpatine's speech was simply that the Sith could keep other people ("the ones he cared about") from dying. It was only a tease so Anakin could think he could save Padme. Plagueis couldn't stop himself from dying so why should we expect Palpatine to? Palpatine should have stayed dead. Him coming back in Episode 9 was stupid.

I just think this franchise deserves more than a David Yates/JK Rowling Director/Screenwriter combo.

I'd be happy for a fourth trilogy, just so long as JJ Abrams stays far, far away from it. I can't imagine Williams having anything to do with it, unless it happens in the next 3-4 years.

I wouldn't say that Rey's Theme resolves gorgeously in A New Home. The dark-sounding cello cadence resolves - but rather open-ended with those repeating notes in the fore, just like the concert version of Rey's Theme. The 6-note figure is a variation of the first bars of her theme, which modulates (upwardly) throughout, also similar to Rey's Theme. John Williams is trying to tell us something with cellos at 0:16. Removing the second-to-last note of the phrase reveals the major triad of The Imperial March. Emperor Palpatine wanted Rey to "Make the sacrifice", and by killing him in anger, "all the Sith" in his spirit would pass into her, resulting in Empress Palpatine. Rey refused, but later chose to push his Force lightning back at him... with quite an angry face. So, in my view, Emperor Palpatine's plan succeeded. Anyone assuming that Rey's story has ended, with nothing significant to reveal, I think, is sorely mistaken. Based on the events of Episode IX, the Saga cannot end in that manner. I'm calling it right now: A Final Trilogy will be made, and it will happen sooner rather than later. Its climax will feature the final showdown between the Sith and the Jedi. Palpatine will return with a vengeance like no other villain in cinematic history. But he will be defeated... conclusively this time. (Third time's the charm!)

That leap of logic about Hammond is absolutely genius. To celebrate it, I created something special: For those who are not real JWFans: 1. Krzysztof Penderecki, a classical composer born in 1933, also a friend of ASM 2. Dumbledore takes memories out of his head and puts them into the pensieve so that he does not have to remember 3. Did you know that John Williams stole from Holst? 4. Sony Classical put the photo of Guitar Williams in their Twitter post celebrating JW's 88th birthsday 5. Don Williams said that John has always been interested only in girls and music 6. Telling stories at Tanglewood! Edit: I noticed that some of my explanations already require a measure of fan knowledge. So advanced is this meme!

I put this together. This might and could very well be the full opening, including the Mustafar sequence, the journey to Exegol, the encounter with Palpatine and the reveal of the Final Order. If nothing else, I put it together just for fun. Enjoy! Share your reactions. 01_Main_Title_and_Journey_to_Exegol.m4a

Social distancing means more time to work on score videos! Walter Piston - Capriccio for Harp and String Orchestra (1963)

Anyone except grandpa.

His impact on film scoring was just as great as his impact on 20th century composers. His music was used effectively in Kubrick's The Shining, Children of Men, Shutter Island, Twin Peaks, and much else. His early concert work, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, practically invented its own notation system and that approach to composing was very influential in the 50's and 60's. He abandoned the avant-garde around mid-1970's and turned to Neo-romantacism around that time. For a jarring stylistic listening experience, listen to his Symphony No. 1 from 1973 and Symphony No. 2 from 1980, the former being of his earlier style and the latter being from his Neo-romantic style. Sweet photo that represents the breadth of his reach - Penderecki with Goldenthal.

A common, and right, criticism of the current school of American blockbuster directors is exactly that: lots of technique, but no POV or interesting insights, whatsoever.

I've studied film for the past six years, and aside from the colour grading, I can't fault the cinematography, the storyboarding or the visual direction of OOTP or HBP. DH and FBs have some wonky direction going on, but that to me all stems from a lack of a strong visual storytelling perspective guided by the story.

I suppose he likes those old school skeleton keys and those nice brass-coloured Lockwood sets. He might not be much for new biometric key technology though.

Not that I've noticed, though it'd be interesting to crunch the numbers. I suppose his marches and fanfares do tend toward C, Bb, Eb, F, or G, but those tendencies certainly aren't unique to JW.

Half Blood Prince is dreadful, gets worse and worse every time I watch it. The grading, the omission of most of Tom Riddle’s memories in favour of more Lavender Brown, Harry and Ginny having literally no chemistry at all, The Burrow burning down. It’s a shame because I think the book is the best of the series. Alan Rickman is great though, as always.

The Draughtman's Contract A cheeky little whodunnit designed by man with an apparent fondness for classical painting and framing. The pieces are always moving in this puzzle, and its characters are always preaching but underneath the elegant opulence of its imagery is its sheer absurdity driving the whole thing. Who needs Knives Out when you've got this! Nyman's score does its job well, though as was common with high concept scores of the time, it's often mishandled.

To elaborate on the Starry Night being labeled "(Edited incorrectly)" 0:00-0:11 should have gone into the Kylo Theme at 0:32 and 0:11-0:00 should have gone after 1:02 for the "Free version" 1:03-1:13 almost seems to be layered from 7M66 The Control Room and Ren in the Forest

And then, wait, did the tower exploding explode the main ship? Did it explode the rest? If yes, why? If no, why did the rest explode? Even above those other planets, was that "people rising up all over the Galaxy"? Wait a minute, how did they even get to Endor and Bespin and Jakku when the rest of the kajingamazillions of the SDs were still in the cloud, why didn't those go out? Is this army just so ludicrously big that they sent out one for each planet then still kept that many over Exegol? But then they wouldn't need the beacons if they weren't planning to go out... I have a headache. I've put more thought into it in these 2x10 minutes today than they did in the whole year plus of production. Every planet celebrating and rioting to Victory Celebration immediately after the Empire loses a big battle is the most self-explanatory thing in the world in comparison.

From years of studying John Williams, I'd say he favors the following keys, in no specific order: - the key to his house. - the key to his basement, where he keeps John Williams the guitarist. - the key to his car. - the key to the cupboard where he keeps his ASM cookies. - the key to Daisy's heart.

RIP. He opened all sorts of new tools and parameters for contemporary composers to build on. Though his later works deserve more credit than they get. His viola concerto is great!

Lets see: Boba Fett, introduced in Attack of the Clones, is slain; the Jedi are re-established when Luke becomes one; Anakin brings balance to The Force. Done.

And yet it clearly is. Best to just mind-wipe yourself of the sequel trilogy, I'm afraid. Sure, you can find ways (convoluted or not) to make sequels to Return of the Jedi - Disney did just that - but they were clearly so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

I do think its time to inject new blood into the series, but not because I'm disatisfied with Yates, but because he's already helmed six (!) of these films. Rowling should absolutely step down from scripting the piece.

And another thought: WHy the hell doesn't Kylo "Let the past die, kill it if you have to" Ren just slice the reanimated corpse into bits? Really, what reason? What can he give him? "A new Empire"? Proper answer is "Dude, the Empire failed. You failed. I kill old things. Btw I have my own new Empire now, which I'm Supreme Leader of. Though I have no idea what I do, how go things, how large we are, what the state of the Galaxy is is, because these morons are sidestepping it because they think the one main lesson from the prequels is NO POLITICS WHATSOEVER OR PEOPLE WILL HATE US." And once again, what exactly is Palps' plan? -Make 20 kajingalamobillazingillion ships all with planet destroyer weapons -Make clones -Have a good but not Force sensitive one -let him go -make a bounty hunter kill him when he has a Force sensitive child, but make it be an incompetent hunter who leaves the kid then dies immediately when he steps out of his ship into... quickpebbles. -Manipulate the grandson of your failed bro who killed you for years through visions and meat puppets for... reasons. -Make an announcement in Fortnite that he's back -Talk to Kylo after he somehow found a wayfinder -tell him to kill Force Sensitive granddaughter who he wants to transition into because... 4D chess? -tell Rey that if she kills him, he will take over his body, if she doesn't then... he will remain on life support tucked away on an unreachable planet? -start killing your dream heir and the Kylo who turned against you after he only ever found you to kill you in the first place -be so stupid that only then do you realise that they are a dyad and can suck their lifeforce out -start lightninging into the sky to stop every ship but then start lightninging your Force Sensitive granddaughter even when she reflects it onto you and you die and don't move into her after all. Makes sense.

AI expansion. Its amazing. It will take a few days to get through it. It has depth.

I'd love to meet you too, Bayesian, as well as many others. In the couple of times I've met JWFANners in real life (London, Boston etc.), it's my experience that I get along more easily with everyone in such settings than in this forum. It's funny; over on FSM, in the "Cheers!" thread, we were talking about arranging a Skype meeting (or some similar service) in these social distancing times. Curiously, this was never a topic before the outbreak, but now it suddenly is. In other words, ironically bringing people closer together than usual. I see no reason why this can't be implemented for JWFAN as well.

Batman Forever Delivering big once again on the spectacle after a comparatively lowkey return of Batman in the previous flick, which was apparently too weird for Warner Brothers. That didn't stop them from slapping the guy onto practically all conceivable paraphernalia in '92. This time around, it's still weird, but it's far more marketable with a hip all-star cast whose big names fly all around the screen during the opening credits, a diverse tie-in soundtrack album with something for everybody, a friendly circus that doesn't kidnap and murder children and less women being brutally shot. We swapped our plastic McDonald's tumblers for glass mugs. Sounds like a recipe for success. For being the biggest movie of '95, it holds up as an entertaining enough funny book flick. There are some real wild visuals in this one, a lot more fun, even human conversation accessible for the straights. The blondie female lead in this one (Nicole Kidman has never looked better) isn't oppressed, pushed out of a window by her boss and/or having a psychotic episode. She's the most normal one! She has a thing for Bats and Val Kilmer suits up, only occasionally looking badass in the suit. Hey, Joel. Can you tell him to scowl once in a while? Look remotely intimidating? Keaton was better. Jim Carrey is a convincing psychopath. He steals every scene, of course. Tommy Lee Jones' performance is bookended by his best scenes. Most of it is comprised of yelling, laughing and making weird noises. I think he's great casting, to be honest. Who else is in this? Oh, that's right. The kid from the Disney Three Musketeers is Robin. I like the scene where he goes on an adventure in the Giger-inspired Batmobile with fins that flap around, tries to pick up hookers and then rescues a 90s babe in double denim from a neon street gang. It's unrelated to Riddler and Two Face and it's just kinda cool to see the streets of Gotham overrun by these punkers who scatter once Batman arrives. Audiences would do the same for the following entry in the series.

It got an oscar nomination for cinematography for what it's worth.

Not sure but you just reminded me of this video I watched a few days ago.

Aye sir, it is what you say.

Literally every single show made directly for streaming services has varying lengths from episode to episode, same with shows made directly for pay cable channels like HBO or Showtime Structured episode lengths are literally only a thing for shows intended to be aired with commercials and forced into a 30 or 60 minute block

0:58 - 1:06 - notice how the strings start out a little rough, before coming together in perfect synchronization by about 1:03. There's nothing in the score to suggest the strings "come together" in this way. So, if this wasn't planned, then it's a "happy accident", because to me it almost perfectly represents the last few seconds before the attack of an army, as they enter final position.

Let's face it, if Williams' daily routine is as he states in his interviews, the man has been practicing social distancing since long before the rest of us were born.

No, bolle, dull and lifeless describes Yates' "vision" perfectly. He's perfect in completely sucking the life out of every character and scene. The RoR is one of the best examples: in the book after Dobby tells him about the perfect hiding place, they go to explore, it's a lovely room, Hermione immediately rushes the bookshelves lining the walls and sees useful DADA tomes, there are cushions to sit on or fall onto, it's a pleasant place. Then they practice by forming pairs, then Harry walks around seeing how everyone's doing. In the film, they go in, it's a cold, empty hall with mirrored walls and a grated floor and nothing helpful inside, in the reveal "reaction" shot, they all just stand like prearranged, speak with no emotions, Hermione blurts out textbook style exposition about a Hogwarts room not even the Marauders found, then they practice by lining up, wasting time and putting immense pressure on people like Nevill, put on the spot and having to perform alone in front of everyone, or lined up and pitting two like Ron and Hermione against each other, everyone staring, then after Hermione "wins", Ron gets stared at some more while emotionlessly delivering some stupid line, while the girls are already clumped together giggling because girls all giggle, and laughing at how Ron "lost". It all completely misses the point and tone and feel of the book scene, it's a cold and sadistic replacement, yet it's still presented as "Hogwarts wants us to fight back" and scored with a cutesy building montage cue.

It was actually @Borodin who edited the image. I remembered posting this and began an exhaustive Google image search of my username which turned up many photos of myself with longer hair, the E.T. ride and sexy celebrities. I was clued off by one result I somehow happened upon, a wonderful skillfully edited image of JW as John Hammond, done by Borodin. That's when I started to suspect he may have been the one who did the Colonel Sanders photo. I continued my search with Borodin's username and that's when I eventually saw the image of Williams in the Colonel Sanders suit with his arms perfectly posed to hold a bucket of fried chicken that would make the Man and Arms and Gwildor cream in their pants. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

I'd been wanting to see for a while now how well the "taking off" section of We Go Together would work with the similar sequence from ROTJ. Even with some editing, it's still clunky, but it might still be fun to see.

Homeward Bound over Call of the Wild, Call of the Wild over Balto.

The Signature Collection: Shadows of the Empire was made for request as a joint venture with Dave Williams from the FSM forum.

I tried so hard to like this film. I held out until the very end hoping that something might happen to salvage what a mess this "final" entry was in my eyes, but nothing happened. In what was possibly a product of the film mix, the quality of my theater's speakers, or both, I could hardly hear the score throughout 85% of the film despite my best efforts. The film ended and the credits rolled and I felt immensely disappointed. I'd spent 2+ hours feeling numb to what was happening and both frustrated and surprised at myself for not feeling more when significant events were occurring with characters I had invested sizable time with. But then those end credits swung into that Rise of Skywalker theme and our theater was filled with that old Williams magic. Suddenly I was back to being a little kid again, discovering and in awe of all Williams had to offer for the first time, eagerly trying to get my hands on anything he had written. There is a seriously transportive nature to that theme that almost, to me, seems to perfectly embody the love and appreciation we have for this man and the impact he has had in our lives more than anything. It's more befitting of being representative of Williams saying goodbye to Star Wars and reflecting back on the stupendous nature of his incredible career than a closing theme for the Skywalker saga (as I'm sure others have noted). For a solid minute, I sat in that mostly empty theater and felt all these intense waves of varying emotions alongside the sinking realization that Williams was here to send us off with one final glorious farewell. Williams was able to conjure up more feelings from me and with more depth in that single minute than the entire film had in 2 hours. As much as I loved the new sequel scores, after the Last Jedi I was content with saying that Williams had said pretty much everything he had to say on this franchise but then this theme comes along and proves me dead wrong. It was like the last piece had finally clicked into place. It feels so deliberate and purposeful to me, almost as if Williams knew back when he was asked if he wanted to score these new films that he had this one last thing to say on them. Or as if he had written this theme in the late 90s/early 2000s and had just forgotten to use it in anything and discovered it stashed away in a drawer somewhere shortly before scoring this film. The man turns 88 in 2 months and still knows how to make me feel certain emotions better than anyone. I'm speechless and in total awe at how beautiful this theme is. This is a defining theme.

Road To Perdition, Thomas Newman Probably one of my favorites TN scores. Gorgeous themes and atmospheres for an impeccable movie. This scene still sends shivers down my spine:

.

2:00-2:13 just gets me so pumped up! I wonder if a complete ToD release will have a footstep-less version, and whether that would be more or less powerful.