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Apparently, one of the final awards approved by the Queen https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11244771/Queens-final-knight-John-Williams-honoured-creating-music-blockbuster-films.html

Why choose between fashion and protection when you can just wear a chainmail turtleneck!

The Towner of London!

I wonder does this increase the chances that he will make a return trip to London to conduct the LSO after having to cancel previously due to health issues.

Maybe he was disappointed that there was no Snape's theme...

wow, that's more impressive than an Oscar

Only British nationals can be called Sir, but I will call him that anyway.

Until I see John Williams in the armor, I'm not buying it

So there are people (myself included) who would be happy to see Williams win another Academy Award. Who cares? There are almost 8 billion (!) people on this planet my friend, all with different ambitions, opinions, goals, viewpoints and dreams. If you're going to comment on every line of thinking that deviates from your own, you're going to find yourself a very busy man.

I’m envisioning the turtleneck showing between the pieces of shining armor.

Well that's pretty great! We can call him Sir Johnny now.

It's music made to be noticed so it's either gonna hit your ears as majestic as a peacock, or as hideous (garish, gaudy, lurid...) as a peacock. It's John Williams so better than 50% odds it'll be majestic but what's a sarcastic English thespian to do with a Harry Potter soundtrack, really. The funniest and probably most unsurprising thing reading these diary entries is how blase he was about the HP experience in general. "Cameras rehearse before actors" sounds about right. I'm glad he stuck it out. I love picturing him and Maggie Smith cracking up as he attempts his "unlearnable" speech in DD's office in GOF. I assume he's referring to "Headmaster, I, too, find it difficult to believe this mere coincidence. However, if we are to truly discover the meaning of these events, perhaps we should, for the time being, let them unfold."

I made it through two episodes. And about 10 minutes into the third one (with the introduction of Numenor), I gave up. I tried, I really did. It's just so...vanilla. There's no character, personality or even vision to this thing. Tolkien or not. Everything looks, feels and sounds like a plastic knock-off. It also feels very TV...meandering plot lines and contrived Hollywood beats that feel like they were designed by an algorithm of mass fantasy interests. From what I've seen, it feels like a colossal waste of $4 billion. House of Dragons has surprisingly ended up being far more interesting. I'll stick to that!

The thematic richness of ROP continues to pay dividends. Bear has done a great job. I'm also impressed by the editing and spotting. The music is consistently given big moments to shine along with the great visuals. ROP is the best tv score I've heard in a long time and it's just getting started.

Having reached the 5th episode, I still don't find McCreary's scores for this series to be inferior (musically speaking) to Shore's scores for the movies. Of course, the plot of the series is inferior to the plot of the movies, and the movies' characters were more closely related to Tolkien's poetics than the series' characters; the dialogues in the movies, as far as I know, were taken in a significant part from the books. The authors of the series had to invent most of the dialogues and situations, just to make the whole thing doable - and surely they are not Tolkien. Therefore, inevitably the marriage of Shore's music + the movies (which are still the greatest fantasy movies ever done) has a much powerful and long-lasting impact on the viewer compared to the marriage of McCreary's music + the series. But if I judge the music alone, McCreary's work is definitely deserving of praise. IMHO, of course.

One step away from being crowned King!

Exactly how I feel

They just gave him their best orchestra and a knighthood.

British people just don't appreciate John Williams

That wonderful white bird that delivers the Daily Mail...

Five points from Slytherin, Rickman.

I would read it as a general, philosophical hostility, and a sardonic admission that the film and the score do work on the big screen as intended.

Sir Maestro

One of my first thoughts. Still, it is Daily Fail as well... In any case, pretty cool if true. Karol

You can watch whatever you please. Some evenings I want to just shut my brain off. Sometimes I want to be challenged, or scared, or educated. Sometimes I just want the comfort of watching something I've seen a thousand times. Sometimes I crave something emphatically new. Sometimes I want to laugh. Sometimes I want a show that just oozes "premium quality." Sometimes I'm just interested enough in a junky show to stick around for the ride. Anyone who judges someone else for what they want to watch has too much time on their hands. Probably enough time to watch another show I still haven't seen.

He came to the screening as Friedkin wanted him to score the film. But the conversation went down hill. Friedkin: I want you to write a better score than CITIZEN KANE. Herrmann: ..Then you should have made a Better film than CITIZEN KANE... Film Score Monthly covered this story in a very vivid article. I'll post the link to the download later in the day.

Here are a few examples - mic placement will have a big impact on the sound. For instance, Don Williams said he can tell if the engineer knows what they're doing by how close they have the timpani mic to the drum. Sometimes it will be just a few feet from the drum but some of the overtones are around twelve feet, so the sound of the drum won't be what you hear in the room because if the mic is three feet above the drum, it's not getting all the low frequencies! The resulting sound will be tight and emphasize higher overtones. This introduces a different challenge, mic bleed. You will get phasing issues if the timpani mic captures the bass drum (just as an example) so you want an assortment of mics with different recording patterns to minimize phasing issues. In addition, JW likes the mix to be in the room - meaning that the orchestra is already balanced and as long as the room is accurately captured, it should sound good. This means more reliance on the room mics like the decca tree and rear mics. That is a more classical approach and is not the trend today. Especially since lots of scores are striped - recorded in sections so only strings get recorded, then separately, only brass for example. Sometimes there is an A part and a B part of the strings, and the producer (er composer) can mix and match in post what part they use and how much of it. You can't do that in a room recording. It's also not unusual to record in different halls. I understand Pirates of the Caribbean did this so you might get the orchestra recorded in LA but the choir recorded in London and extra brass recorded their too then all mixed together. It's just an example of very different approaches and trends and they surely impact the final sound. I think the mic placement is an interesting one - I've mentioned this in other posts but sitting next to instruments is not the most interesting sound. They don't have their "true" characteristic sound up close. A powerful brass section might sound loud but tinny. Mics up close get more of that "tinny" sound. Generally, you mix the room with the spot mics to balance the issues each introduce. A double bass is very quiet up close but projects into the room and also has lots of subharmonic frequencies making other instruments sound louder (or fuller), these are examples of the complex considerations a mixer and engineer have to contend with. One other point that is worth mentioning - this is a chart of normal hearing loss with age. In short, the dark line at the top shows young people (in this sample 15-19 year olds) with normal hearing across all frequencies up to around 16,000 hz. 40 year olds will not hear above 14khz - the frequencies you hear drop as you age. By 70 there is almost 100% hearing loss above 10khz. So, though I have no insight to JW's hearing, the fact that he's 90, if we assume he has average hearing, he probably can't hear above about 6-8khz anymore. Include to that a lifetime of music which isn't great for hearing, it might not even be that good. It's worth pointing out that his hearing is probably better than anyone in that age, but the simple fact of his age generally impacts how good his hearing is and if he's the one approving final mixes, he's not hearing the nuances he once did. I think his engineers are all pros and know his sound well but as already mentioned, technology, styles and approaches change over time and what he might like now, might not be what he would have picked earlier in his career. Generally, instruments don't go near this high but there is a "sheen" or sparkle in those upper frequencies which he probably can no longer even hear though he knows is there. Just an opinion.

I feel like this and Mandolorian are good examples of when to deviate from the established sound. The problem is, all the other D+ shows are doing it too. Had they gone the full traditional route for Obi Wan (in a perfect world where it wasn't a low budget sci fi channel original) I don't think anyone would have cared that Andor doesn't sound like SW. As is, it's just another step into the generic modernizing of SW music

No, he needs to release a big showstopper preferably called something like 'An American Symphony' with 500 piece orchestra, mixed chorus, cannon shots and allusions to all his big blockbuster cues. I mean, what more could we ask for?

The Guardian published an excerpt from the late Alan Rickman’s diary. Here’s a bit that jumped out at me! https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/24/alan-rickmans-secret-showbiz-diaries-harry-potter

Am I the only one who just listens to and enjoys this music literally without ever comparing it to Shore's or any one else's music?

It would be rather bizarre if Williams won for this. But he will certainly get nominated. Hildur is getting a lot of buzz for Women Talking and I imagine Tar will do well too. So could be her year again. The character of those descending fifths in the beginning sounds close to the intro idea that leads into the main melody (which is doubled on celeste). From what I remember, the main theme itself is rather simple in shape. Maybe I'll noodle something out from memory later when I'm at the piano.

I'm willing to give Hooper some leeway, since I feel Yates really screwed over Desplat in terms of the kind of scores he could've given to the franchise (which I guess makes JNH a bit of an anomaly).

Andre Previn and JW's dear friend Spielberg have been awarded Honorary knighthood before. Though he will not be able to add "Sir" before his name but nonetheless a well deserved recognition on his marvelous career and his achievement in defining pop culture and making great music. As far as I know, no British composer working primarily in the field of film, TV and visual media has been awarded knighthood. Debbie Wiseman, Rachel Portman and the late John Barry are all recipients of Order of Brisith Empire and hence can add OBE after their names.

I think it's incredible how they managed to make Jared Harris' courtroom analysis so tense and interesting. A lot of science and information that could have been so fucking dull for some. Some genius writing right there.

I'm no fan of The Daily Heil either, so... Star Wars Composer John Williams ‘Knighted By Queen’ In Final Honours – Deadline

I finshed Chernobyl this morning. I'm a bit lost when it comes to finding the words. I thought it was incredible. The whole series was a masterclass in directing, cinematography, sound design, production, writing and acting. To have certain a sense of tension throughout 5 episodes is not an easy thing to do, but the filmmakers succeeded. The first 2 episodes were the shock and scarieness of the incident. Episode 3 and 4 were of the aftermath. And the 5th episode was a slap in the face with tension and emotion. I am a big fan of courtroom scenes, and it was used in very well here. Cutting between the courtoom and the incident of how it happened was incredible. The best acting in this episode came from Jared Harris. What an incredible actor! Skarsgard moment outside was very beautiful. I also thought it was very nice that Emily Watson's character was a mix of all the people that worked on the aftermath of the accident. Paul Ritter's character was an absolute asshole. How can someone be that incompetent. I thought that was just incredible. And also the fact that one of his colleageus got back to work at another plant after his sentence was even more incredible. The fact that Jessie Buckley's character was pregnant and that her baby basicely sucked all the radiation out of her body was heartbreaking. A truly awful thing. I also felt that it was very beautiful that the series was basicely about what truth and lies can bring to the world. And that the showrunners' point was very well made. The final words of the series about the number of deaths that are officialy reported and the number of deaths that is probably the actual number was shocking.

I think he was generally unhappy the production of Harry Potter was so ‘Hollywoodized’ and John Williams -in his eyes the most famous and noteworthy person working on the film- being the example to get his point across. It’s actually a compliment when you think about it. 😉

It’s been three years since TROS. Does anyone else miss the theatrical experience, the long time ago silence anticipating the blast of the Main Title? I’m ready for big budget full bodied cinematic 95 piece orchestra Star Wars.

I watched a "free" old horror movie yesterday on a platform... Anyway, I saw the Andor trailer about 56 times.... and I still don't want to watch that series. Hehe.

Its been christened the Chihuahuarg.

Aww man! You HAVE to watch She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Star Wars Andor, House Of The Dragon, Star Trek Strange New Worlds, Star Trek Discovery, Lisey's Stoy, The Witcher, DC's Stargirl, Sweet Tooth, Squid Game, Cowboy Bebop, DC's Doom Patrol, The Umbrella Academy, Cobra Kai, Superman & Lois, DC's Titans, Reacher, Russian Doll, Severence, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Ozark, Narcos, Vikings, and Walking Dead! C'mon, they're great!

Well, it turns out A Toast! is

Based

That's intriguing, @Amer. Was Herrmann ever in the frame to score THE EXORCIST?

It's "Adventures On Earth". Get. It. Right.

I can't even count the number of times I've listened to this cue, and every single time that passage makes my body tense up because of how emotionally manipulative (in a good way) it is. Every time.

It's one of the most heart-tugging moments in the history of cinema. The music accompanies E.T. telling Elliot "come" and him answering "stay", which is the moment in which the tears have to flow and the story reaches its emotional peak. E.T. is such a masterpiece in how it builds tension and then releases it in the most profound and musically satisfactory way. It's a prime example of Williams looking at the film and writing music that express his sincere emotional reaction, like us audience.

Episode 3: Adar