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Showing content with the highest reputation on 18/06/22 in all areas

  1. Well if that's your point then you're just flat out wrong that Star Wars has always had haphazard continuity. From the release of Heir to the Empire to The Clone Wars movie the continuity within the expanded universe was a huge consideration and meticulously handled. Any contradictions that arose would actually be addressed and 90% of the time resolved in future media or from members of the Lucasfilm Story Group themselves who took great time and care to respond to fan concerns. The amount of interconnectivity was also insane, you'd be reading a comic set in the Clone Wars and it would be simultaneously referencing events from the Knights of the Old Republic comics, as well as setting up elements for the Thrawn Trilogy which doesn't occur until post-ROTJ Now, when I say 'to The Clone Wars movie' I don't mean that they just stopped giving a shit about continuity after it came out, but rather the Lucasfilm Story Group faced some extreme continuity challenges. Your favorite person Chen, George Lucas, had allowed people to flesh out the area between the Prequel movies quite significantly on the stipulation that he wasn't going to touch it. However, in the mid 2000s he changed his mind and put together The Clone Wars which completely bull-dozed through the existing expanded universe to the point the story group had to come up with a band-aid fix known as 'T canon' which elevated TCW above all the rest of the expanded universe. Unfortunately, while this means that TCW could continue unfettered by any restraints to what was previously established in the era, other EU stories had to bend over backwards to blend the old stories with Lucas' and it became pretty messy. The interconnectivity remained however, and some of the best expanded universe works came out post-2007 so it wasn't a complete write-off Come post the 2013 Disney buy-out and everything is erased except TCW. Theoretically, with this clean slate, continuity should be easier than ever to maintain but the values of the Lucasfilm Story Group shifted significantly and no longer was there the same attention to detail in the pre-Disney expanded universe. However, a bizarre paradox arose where they had the ambition to have everything that was created, be it video game or novel, from now on to be on the same level of canon as the movies. This ultimately proved to be an utter disaster and fell into the MCU trap of alienating the general audience by having events in movies heavily rely on expanded material to understand So, from my point of view when I look at the absolute disastrous state of Star Wars these days I can't help but partly attribute it to de-prioritization of continuity. I also can't help but notice how unbelievably solid it was pre-Disney when that was a greater concern, and how it lead to richer stories and a far more cohesive-feeling universe that also managed to not feel homogenous That is why I do not tolerate the idea that Star Wars should just continue on the death-march it's currently on because 'that's what it did in the past', because not only is that not entirely correct but it's the kind of attitude that breeds stagnation
    5 points
  2. This also alienated Karen Traviss iirc, author of the fantastic Republic commando novels which provided backstory on the clones, order 66 and jango Fett, to the point she quit writing new star wars books altogether
    4 points
  3. I really love all the original material in it, from the opening march to the variations on the sequel themes, the final statement of the friendship theme soars. In general I love the "themes on parade" feel of it. Yoda's Theme and Luke & Leia, bizarre. I would love to know how they ended up in there. But just for its own sake I still kinda love how they flow musically.
    2 points
  4. Matessino had nothing to do with it, and by all accounts, he's the one who has gotten Williams to be more and more open for releasing unedited and supposed "minor" cues.
    2 points
  5. You are right in that it's not as terrible as in Gathering of Friends, but still I find it inexcusable how they could screw up like this. I find the compression creates such an 'unnatural' sound all throughout the album. But let's agree that can be a subjective appreciation. But to me those louder clippings are unbelievable. Like designing a beautiful state-of-the-art car and screwing the paint job. Who QCs these albums? Listen to Rounds from 8:05 on. Is it absolutely terrible? Maybe not. But if I did as bad a job at my work (not sound related BTW) I wouldn't last long. I'm sorry If I tire you all with my ongoing rants on this subject, but the quality of the sound is integral to the quality of an album, and its houldn't be something to worry about for new, high-profile recordings in 2022. I just find it ironic how the labels (Sony Classical, DG) are pushing Super Ultra High Resolution, vinyls and whatnot, yet it all sounds like s**t to me. This is not something I have experienced so markedly in other releases of the same labels. I have been thinking wether they migh asume the average consumer for these albums is not the traditional classical music consumer, and therefore the mastering should be made to sound more aking to pop, or something. But well, the work itself is glorious, I adore the new arrangements and love the performance. It's just sad I'm already dreaming of the remastered edition for the 20th anniversary.
    2 points
  6. I don’t like Holt‘s stormtrooper theme. It’s a weak theme. Low brass in octaves with nothing else going on isn’t epic. It’s lazy. It’s what a first year composition student would write for an assignment.
    2 points
  7. Ludwig

    ANH Temp Track

    So this is interesting. In the "cutting room floor" book cited above, Hirsch says "Ben [Burtt] also came up with Erich Korngold's Oscar-winning theme from the 1938 Robin Hood to play under the crawl at the beginning of the movie. George [Lucas] had experimented with something from Kurosawa, but we all ganged up on him and got him to change it. It was just too bizarre and didn't capture the heroic spirit." But in Rinzler's The Making of Star Wars, Hirsch is quoted as saying "we used music from Ivanhoe by Rózsa for the main title." This is the same person saying they used two different pieces for the main title! It's pretty clear that the Rózsa is essentially the model for the Star Wars main title. Maybe Robin Hood was used at one point then changed out for Ivanhoe, but if so, there isn't really any trace left of it. Sounds like he's probably misremembering in the newer "cutting room floor" book (2020), the Rinzler being from 2007.
    2 points
  8. April 25, 2023 at 7:30pm Spring Gala: Williams Conducts Williams New York Philharmonic Orchestra. John Williams, conductor https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/2223/spring-gala
    2 points
  9. TSMefford

    The Composer's Thread

    I can't say much more or share anything just yet, but I've been sitting on this for almost a solid year. My first Broadcast TV Score! It's not a huge deal - a local True Crime documentary series, but I wrote up about 3 hours worth of cues - a few themes as well. Watching an early copy of the first episode now. Excited for it to come out and hopefully share some of the cues with you all.
    2 points
  10. Paul Duncan (author of The Star Wars Archives: 1977-1983) said on Twitter that the spotting session was on January 10th, 1977 Also, I'm guessing this is pretty common knowledge already but your list doesn't say it, recording started on March 5th, 1977 according to the 1997 SE liner notes
    2 points
  11. I'm not entirely sure about all of them, but here's what I found: Main theme / co-existence Theme that represents mankind and dinosaurs co-existing. Similar to Fallen Kingdom's main theme, but less ominous. Only used in the beginning and ending of the film, as far as I'm aware. Timestamps: Giganotosaurus theme The first theme heard in the score, generally used for the Giganotosaurus. Can be heard almost every time it appears on screen. Timestamps: Giganotosaurus "clang" Aggressive clang sound with some sort of echo effect, also used to signify the Giganotosaurus. Can be heard several times in the film and is used in the prologue as well. Timestamps: Biosyn theme Adventerous theme for Biosyn, mostly used for Alan and Ellie traveling to Biosyn HQ. Timestamps: Ellie Sattler / locust investigation theme (?) I'm not entirely sure what this theme represents, but I think it's linked to Ellie and the locust investigation plot. Timestamps: Maisie / Charlotte Lockwood A theme for Maisie and her past. Used prominently when she finds out about her “mother”, Charlotte. Timestamps: Kayla (?) This seems to be a theme for Kayla, although I'm not sure. A Poignant melody, capturing the feeling of the story coming to an end. Appears a few times at the end of the film. Timestamps: Blue and Beta Only appears once IIRC, but it's prominent enough to be considered a new theme I'd say. Sounds really cute! Timestamp: And here’s a rough breakdown of the suite: (0:00 – 0:13) : Giganotosaurus (0:19 – 4:32) : Biosyn (4:38 – 6:05) : Ellie Sattler/Locust investigation (6:12 – 6:49) : Maisie / Charlotte Lockwood (6:50 – 7:40) : Kayla (7:42 – 8:30) : Jurassic World theme (8:31 – end) : Jurassic Park theme There it is. I probably missed something, but these are all the themes I’ve heard so far.
    2 points
  12. I'd love for Alan to do something for Star Wars. I think it's time.
    2 points
  13. New visit to NYC scheduled for next Spring: https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/2223/spring-gala
    1 point
  14. Madagascar 3. Needed some light-hearted stuff tonight. Forgot that everyone was unhappy in Africa and don’t really like Chris Rock and Dubois, but mostly liked Gloria and Julien made me laugh so hard a few times that I had to wipe my eyes. It might be a little action-heavy, but bring on that sequel. This is a side of Hans Zimmer that I absolutely adore. Why? Why did he waste time on The Dark Knight and Man of Steel if he can clearly do much, much better than this? What a score! Loved the African opening, all the great (theme) variations, the Doyle-esque romance and adventure cues… A few parts do need more reverb, though. Oh great, Balfe scored the spin-off. Typical.
    1 point
  15. Thank you for the theme breakdown! Going to see the movie tonight so I'll be on the watch/hear out too!
    1 point
  16. Still waiting for Seconds to arrive... I will love it, no doubt.
    1 point
  17. Well given how carelessly they have treated several of their Legacy Edition re-releases (particularly Hunchback), I don't have the greatest confidence that Disney would do any better with Star Wars. I don't really understand how a company with effectively limitless resources can make such a hash out of things which, in the grand scheme of things, aren't actually very expensive projects... if LLL, Intrada, FSM, Varese, Quartet etc. can all afford to lavish such care and attention on their restorations, why can't Disney?! And it's not like the people they engage on these projects are lacking in expertise so it's hard to figure out where things can go so wrong.
    1 point
  18. I did, it was pretty terrible overall. Completely missed everything that made Halo special, and I say that as someone who was open to very different events playing out. It just felt like any other sci-fi show, dangerously bereft of camp or a tone of heroism. Instead it was cynical and shallow The score was also a huge let-down, low brraaaaams when we see the Covenant Holy City instead of the religious exultation of choir that's used in the games also contributed to the tone feeling very flat
    1 point
  19. His sensibilities would fit like a glove
    1 point
  20. The quality of the recording alone makes it superior to the original in my opinion.
    1 point
  21. I haven't seen Trintingnant in much, so I'm probably more familiar with his name than his work. But when reading the news, I immediately remembered his understated yet striking performance in Trois couleurs: Rouge.
    1 point
  22. Jay

    STRANGER THINGS

    I'm fine with all that! I watch plenty of other shows with that level of intelligent writing - this show doesn't need to have it too!
    1 point
  23. I've seen the first two episodes now (sadly all that's out), and I LOVE this show, and its music. Just wonderful. Sad that a bunch of review-bombing trolls have made it the lowest rated MCU show on IMDb, because it is honestly one of the best. Love the cast (especially the whole Khan family), the creative direction, the eclectic score... love EVERYTHING about this show. My one little niggle about the score is that the main theme/motif reminds me of the beginning of a long-lined theme from Nami Melumad's Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. But I'm sure that's just one of those musical coincidences that happens sometimes (like Broughton's Shadow Conspiracy/Young's Hard Rain/Callery's 24). Yavar
    1 point
  24. That’s right: one musician shared their part, and it was clear that it goes into something else at the spot where the victory theme first appears in ‘Farewell’, but we just don’t know yet what that something else is, or how long it continues.
    1 point
  25. Jay

    STRANGER THINGS

    Stranger Things 4x03 The Monster and the Superhero OK, I enjoyed the opening bit with Owens (Paul Reiser) being brought back into the fold, and that he had a hidden laptop the govt goons didn't find, etc. But I found myself realized I didn't have a clue who he was! I remembered he was in season 3 but so much time has passed I completely forget what role he played in that season and what his connection is to anything going on. D'oh! Arresting a 15 year old for attacking another 15 year old with a rollerskate, is this what would really happen? I guess it is. I liked that Eleven is facing consequences and it wasn't just glossed over, but then I also liked that Owen showed up to get her out of it anyway When he took her to dinner and gave a long exposition dump about how Hawkins is the center of everything and the world is in danger was probably the only clunky part of the entire run of the first 3 episodes here, but I'll let it slide because everything else has been so good. I liked the whole "monster or superhero" angle, since she thinks she's a monster for what she did in the lab, she'll have to be a monster to defeat evil probably, she's also been a superhero in the past, especially to her Hawkins friends, but she's a monster to the girl she beat up, etc. Good writing! Hopper having to escape from prison himself to even be potentially rescued was pretty brutal; That sledgehammer to the ankle to bend it enough he'd be able to slide his gross, bloody foot through later, but not too much that it doesn't fail the grab test, but all rough stuff. Joyce being surprised it was snowing in Alaska in March was as silly as her not realizing her son was high on pot at dinner I kinda liked Nancy and Robin teaming up to investigate together; I sort of feel like Robin will end up coming out to her by the end of the season, and Nancy will be cool with it like Steve was. What they find in the library was cool! The reveal that Victor Creel was a normal dude who then had his family killed by Vecna way back in 1959 is interesting because it sets up that The Upside Down has been invading Hawkins since long before Eleven was born. I had thought there was going to eventually be some kind of reveal that their origins were tied, but I guess it's still possible that it could be revealed her powers are connected to it, but that the Upside Down's origins could still be unrelated to her (or Hawkins). I am bummed Lucas is still trying to fit in with the basketball boys, though I guess it's not surprising. I knew he wouldn't lead them to where Eddie was actually hiding, but was I supposed to recognize the place he actually brought them? I thought the slow-mo shot of him running away from them was just the first beat of some kick-ass thing he was up to, but then we never saw him again. The reveal at the end that Vecna feeds off PTSD / trauma / etc, and causes the nosebleed and nausceous symptoms (so Chrissy wasn't pregnant or bulimic after all I guess?) was really well done and interesting. Of course I realized immediately that meant Max would be next, and luckily the show did to, although is the other basketball player still gonna bite it before Max? The interesting thing to thnk about is that Will is actually the character on the show with the most PTSD/trauama, but I guess being in California Vecna can't reach him? It'll be interesting to see what happens when the two gangs eventually recombine!
    1 point
  26. I came across this and thought it was a nice arrangement. I still prefer the full orchestra version, but I always like trombone & organ (the other pieces on the album are well performed too) Peter Steiner (Trombone), Constanze Hochwartner (Organ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoxePt7wzY0 https://www.steinerpeter.com/music https://www.berlin-classics-music.com/en/album/8854717167-binary-star/
    1 point
  27. I mean, there's *some* stuff in the original Star Wars that sounds not a million miles from PotA... I'm sure Stravinsky being part of the temp track was a part of that. But if you listen to the complete original Star Wars in particular, it's almost shocking how modernist and non-romantic some of the music is! Sadly I think it's unlikely we will ever get music like that again in a Star Wars score. It would add flavor, for sure. EDIT: Haha maybe I should catch up in reading a thread before I post a reply to an earlier post. Yavar
    1 point
  28. This is one of my favorite releases of last year, and I love that it's a score I never really listened to before the expansion came out, but now is easily in my top 10 Horner scores. Anybody else listening to this album a lot?
    1 point
  29. It would have been a perfect opportunity for SW saga to finally get a first love theme. Alas, stars were crossed once again. Karol
    1 point
  30. what a horrid looking two pages
    1 point
  31. don't even get me started on it. I haven't figured out if I can change it and it was an ACCIDENT when signing up lol
    1 point
  32. I remember distinctly being high on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, John Carter (!!!), Jupiter Ascending and Tomorrowland. Even Super 8. I enjoy things like parts of the JW scores or the Mysterio theme from the second Spider-Man movie. Also I love his Apes actually. Strangely I also remember being high on Star Trek but not on Up. I never connected with Up much. I liked Let Me In but not like the original, I loved the Cloverfield track. I consider things like his third Spider-Man or Batman to be failures. Lost rules.
    1 point
  33. The link you just posted says "However, in the fourth draft, Lucas decided that the character would be more effective if he wore the space suit throughout the length of the film. This act, however, made the suit seem as though it were a permenant encasement of some kind. Lucas had come up with the concept of The Duel by that point--Darth had a duel with his former master, Obi Wan, and falls into a volcano, scarring him so disturbingly that he must hide his features with the mask, much like Doctor Doom". If the fourth draft was finished 1 January 1976, then the whole idea of the duel was envisioned a whole year and a half before ANH was released in May 77 -- possibly even earlier His 'memory is faulty' as well, I am sure I'm sure you do!
    1 point
  34. Greenturnedblue nailed it. @Chen G. the reason I called you disingenuous has nothing to do with being affronted by the accusation that Lucas was lying, and everything to do with your continuous insistence that the primary sources of these information are lying. What's worse, is that it seems to always be in a case where it's a source that directly contradicts what you've claimed. It's like talking to a conspiracy theorist who will dismiss evidence they don't like because 'everyone is in on it man', when you get to arbitrarily decide what is and isn't a valid source it makes discussion less about finding out what the truth of the matter is and more about pulling out all the stops to be proven correct. Textbook bad faith/disingenuous/whatever you want to call it engagement You've written a remarkable amount without really saying anything. I do not care about all these other examples (especially ones from completely different people), I care about it on a case by case basis. Given a piece of evidence, if you want to discredit it by saying the person is lying you need to establish a motive for why on earth they would be lying in the first place, or use another piece of evidence to identify a direct contradiction with what they've claimed. Saying that someone's memory is faulty a year after the moment described and thus they gave an inaccurate account is wild conjecture and is frankly unprovable unless they had some kind of degenerative memory condition at the time. For all you know Mark Hamill has remarkably good memory even to this day, which is why this line of questioning is ridiculous
    1 point
  35. It is all conjecture which is why I said 'allegedly' and 'reportedly' but it is from /r/starwarsleaks back when IX came out. If it were true it would seem obvious JJ wanted to take Snoke in a different direction then what the story group had intended. Seems like Snoke was meant to just be an ordinary person, then JJ and Chris Terrio came up with the magnificent idea to "somehow Palpatine returned" etc. and have Snoke been a puppet grown by Palpy, ignoring what the story group had been working on in the comics. Someone else in the comments say that in Bloodline (I havnt read it) Leia has never trained to be a jedi ever. But what happens in 9? We see a flashback to Leia training to be a jedi The quote I linked you literally is Mark Hamill, talking about the 12 film plan, during principal photography in Tunisia, in 1976! You mean "Lucas has occasionally sent me via an assistant miscellaneous handwritten notes from the period 1976-1983 to help in the writing of the making-of books"? Some exhaustive search! Im not surprised he didnt come up with anything, seems like he wasnt provided much at all There isnt really any point in trying to have a conversation with you, because for every piece of evidence I bring up you seem to think they are lying. In that case Hamill, Lucas, Kurtz, the Star Wars website, and anyone else in the know are all lying about it
    1 point
  36. Also JJ reportedly made it a condition for him coming on to 9 that he could ignore the story group.. which is allegedly why Kiri Hart the head of LFL Story Group and Stephen Feder VP of Film Development at Lucasfilm left Seems you are forgetting that early on RotJ had Wookiees not Ewoks as per producer Gary Kurtz in the Revenge of the Sith blu ray commentary. Obviously this is why Hamill speaks of the 'Wookiee fairlytale', because thats what was originally planned but cut due to budget concerns, it isnt as if he made it up out of thin air. You can read here that Lucas and Hamill spoke of this 12-film plan back in 1976 during filming of A New Hope. Im not sure why you think this "was never a thing at the time", when 1976 is obviously prior to the Aug 77 interview where Lucas reveals details about the duel on the edge of the volcano. The pictures of this 12 film plan are right there in the link, they were quite indeed a thing at the time. Time magazine also reported in 78 that work would soon begin on the sequel, ESB, and '10 more sequels'. Seems like both the volcano fight and 12 films were planned at the time. In fact, Lucas envisioned 12 films as early as 1975, but probably realized this was unnecessary or that he just didnt want to anymore as began to get burnt out and time went on. Gary Kurtz also said in 99 that prior to 1980, the plan was for the entire Star Wars timeline to take place over 9 films. episode 6 would have been about Han sacrificing himself to defeat the Death Star 2 and Luke confronting Vader but failing, 7 was about Lukes life as a Jedi, 8 was about Luke finding his long lost sister and 9 was about Luke defeating the Emperor. You can see that this makes up the broad strokes for RotJ. Kurtz only worked for Lucas til 1980 so he would have had to learn about the plan at some point before then. Then, probably during development of RotJ Lucas realized this all worked better as one single film and amalgamated it all into film, leaving us with the 6 movies that got made. Also back on topic, I saw on TV tonight Moses Ingram in a Dove body wash commercial
    1 point
  37. Exactly. I like non-thematic music. I like music that's heavy on synths. I don't like boring music.
    1 point
  38. Wow during the latest episode I could not believe Bail Organa was that stupid. "I know we're not supposed to communicate" he says. Well, its one thing to communicate anyway because you're worried. It's another thing entirely to give away Kenobi's home on Tatooine, the existence of Vader's children, his adopted daughter is one of them, and the other is with someone called Owen presumably near Kenobi's home. What possible reason could he have had for sending that message, other than just advancing the plot?
    1 point
  39. Hah, funnily enough I'm in the middle of listening to the Plagueis audiobook. I really like the way he frames the Sith to Palpatine as the original Force practitioners instead of the corruption the Jedi always paint them as because "darkness always exists before there is light", and his commentary about how the Banite Sith laugh at the Jedi's notion that getting rid of all the Sith would bring balance to the Force is also fascinating These are all perspectives that paint the Sith as a fully-formed ideology that I wish were in the Prequel movies so I could actually get a sense of what it means to be a Sith beyond a corrupted Jedi It'll never cease to be jarring going from current Star Wars to the old expanded universe (except for some of the novels I suppose), the gulf is actually mind-blowing. They pretty much are completely different universes
    1 point
  40. Haha well misspelling aside, I thank you for posting that tracklist cause looking at the pieces I'd say there's a good chance he actually recorded some of my arrangements ! The Star Wars ones, Bill Conti's Mickey and Yoko Kanno's Little Sister all are covers I made in the past few years and for which I released the sheet music, and the timing of his recordings matches I need to add that Hervé is one of the horn players who inspired me when I picked up the horn so...if those are indeed my arrangements I'd say that's pretty cool
    1 point
  41. We talk of "hints" and "seeds" in here and there weren't any real strong ones heard so far in this series...until now. Five full eps later and nearly the end of the series. The obvious Imperial March rhythm accompanying Vader in this ep was the level of "seeding" that should've been implemented since ep1 for the other themes. Minimal sherlocking was needed to identify that and the main melody wasn't even played. It's the perfect balance between seeding and sherlocking. So you see, Natalie Holt, you can hide themes without it requiring an absurd amount of digging, searching, and theorizing. Why you didn't do it sooner is beyond me.
    1 point
  42. 😂 Giacchino would at least write Star Wars music
    1 point
  43. 1 point
  44. I've always found the yacht rock label pretty meaningless. A lot of the time it seems to be nothing more than "albums featuring Jeff Porcaro".
    1 point
  45. 1 point
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