[What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)]

 

Lyrical and expressive animation score by the Danna brothers, blending eastern instruments with western orchestrations and occasional romantic flourishes that give it scope, at least punctually. 

[Eddie Karam on Williams]

7 hours ago, WilliamsStarShip2282 said:

John seems to have always been somewhat of a rare case in Hollywood, although I think people like Jerry Goldsmith were still writing detailed sketches, Desplat does as well.

 

 

'John' wasn't a rare case, he was using orchestrators as part-and-parcel of his composition process from his humble beginnings like everyone else back then did. Only Herrmann (and Morricone, but he doesn't really count) refused them. It's just a matter of schedules and speed. And let's make no mistake, writing in short-hand, establishing a working relationship to another guy who comes in and can translate your particell into a full-blown score is quite a chore in itself.

[Michael Giacchino's THE BATMAN (2022)]

13 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I usually agree with James (aside from the day long rows we had about Michael Kamen, John Barry and Alan Menken when we were at uni…) but I have to wonder what I’m missing that he’s hearing.

 

Nothing, he probably wanted to have his review out early, beating others to it, and didn't really listen to it. Old journalistic rule of thumb: let it lie a day and then look at (or listen to it) a second time. You'd be amazed how much is changed on the second day.

[Soundtracks, Compilations, or other recently purchased Music]

3 hours ago, May the Force be with You said:

Though none should have won against Return of the Jedi...

 

Far behind Under Fire. Though better than the other three.

[The Official Intrada Thread]

Let's hope for Willow, finally.

[What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)]

 

[What do you think about JW's practice of microediting tracks for OSTs?]

2 hours ago, igger6 said:

Can anyone point to the first known micro-edit?  Was this something that only came around with digital recording?  But no, if it happened on "The Desert Chase," then that can't be.  Was Ken Wannberg snipping tape reels in the '70s and '80s to eliminate ten-second bursts of music?

 

Close Encounters, Star Wars, Superman and Jaws 2 come to mind. I remember catching those bit as a youngster on tv, like the Planet Krypton bits and the finale of Jaws 2, where suddenly snippets appeared that were missing from the album. In Star Wars i distinctly remember a little woodwind flourish in 'Imperial Attack' after 1 minute or so and he edited that out because it went against the big Holst-ian flow, though i always preferred the unedited version more. 

["The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made" - Vanity Fair article 2/21/22]

1 hour ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Wasnt there recently some talk about Horner doing just that?

 

He hasnt been mentioned here yet.

 

He was slaughtered for it ca. 5 million times here and on FSM, so cut him some slack here. We also don't need to single out old Newman or all the other ancient examples that are of a completely different nature - during the old studio system, highly accomplished composers/arrangers helped out their likewise supremely gifted bosses (like Newman), whose job it was to delegate the musical chores of movies or cues within scores to others to get the job done in time. There was no secret about it.

 

As for Horner, during a short phase of his career, ca. 1991 - 1995, he overbooked himself to the extent that he farmed out stuff he didn't care for to highly accomplished composers/arrangers like himself. And of course, with Horner the problem of not giving credit went far beyond not crediting Davis or Pasatieri, he neither did for Britten nor Prokoviev. Crediting just wasn't his. thing, i guess.

[The 14th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2021!]

2 minutes ago, crocodile said:

The Power of Dog? Is it that Netflix movie? It seems to be a favourite. I thought Netflix only makes the cheap low quality stuff so avoided this.

 

It's Jane Campion (and it's a good but not great movie), so lump it into the 'Nextflix prestige' corner paid for by Agents of Shield and Gotham and whatever juvenile shit sells the tickets.

[The 14th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2021!]

Did, but didn't fancy it much. Greenwood tends to be too esoteric for my tastes, but i appreciate his stubborn intellectual process.

["The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made" - Vanity Fair article 2/21/22]

McCreary is certainly in no imminent danger of having to apply for unemployment benefits. Just how interesting it really is *musically* to churn out all this stuff for these never-ending Netflix series is anybody's guess.

 

Everyone who works for big agencies doing a lot of pitches knows how much work even goes into this most unloved chore: preparations, meetings, presentations etc., it must be a chore to having to do all this in addition to what you are really doing, and then all you get out of it is 20 seasons of 'Outlander'.

[The 14th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2021!]

From the little i heard of 2021's output, these are the scores that at least registered, even if for very different reasons:

 

• Power of the Dog
• Buckley's Chance 
• Dune
• Venom
• Cruella
• Jungle Cruise
• (i wish The Last Duel was more substantial, but as it is, there's just not much to hang on to)

 

["The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made" - Vanity Fair article 2/21/22]

Why do bizarre names like Picasso or Da Vinci always turn up in topics like this? We are talking about Hans Zimmer, Bear McCreary or Brian Tyler and their slaves here, for christ sake, not sacred legends of the musical artform.

["The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made" - Vanity Fair article 2/21/22]

18 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

What is depressing for me is that the job of the person credited as the main composer was, according to the article, nothing more than tell what kind of cue he wants for this scene and let the additional composer do all the hardwork. 

 

 

What's more depressing to me is that 99% of it is so bland and devoid of character that i don't even look who's credited. 

 

One of the few good things in 2021 was Greenwood's Power of the Dog, even if it's not exactly easy listening, and guess what? He probably wrote it all by himself and you know just by listening to it. 

 

 

["The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made" - Vanity Fair article 2/21/22]

Damage control.

["The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made" - Vanity Fair article 2/21/22]

4 hours ago, Will said:

If anyone finds any statements by James Newton Howard about whether he uses ghostwriters, I'd love to see it. He's a guy I'm curious about (along with Silvestri). For that matter, if anyone finds any quotes of Desplat, Giacchino, or anyone else talking about ghostwriting, please post!

 

Let me phrase it this way: whenever there's one of those non-descript 9-minute noisy action cues turns up on scores like 'Huntsman', i don't particularly care if JNH or someone else did it. I don't want to listen to it either way. 

 

So this whole outrage seems a bit misdirected, it's not like there's loads of brilliant musical stuff credited to the wrong guy. It's more about denying your subordinates proper wages.

["The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made" - Vanity Fair article 2/21/22]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

This article really made me feel bad. It's awful to know that some of my favorite composers probably didn't write the wonderful cues I love.

 

Tbh, my real favourite cues were written long before the era of Netflix, so...

[What do you think about JW's practice of microediting tracks for OSTs?]

Sometimes it improves the track, sometimes it worsens it. But it isn't really a significant factor, really.

[Who do you think will score the new Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series, using Williams' theme?]

On 18/02/2022 at 4:58 PM, BB-8 said:

It's just a fact that Giacchino came closer to the idiom of previous Star Wars scores by Williams than Powell did.

 

Coming closer to clumsily gang-raping it and then let it lying on the street bleeding to death.

[What Is The Last Score You Listened To From 2022?]

 

And another symphonic score in the true sense of the word.

[Who do you want to score Obi-Wan Kenobi? (2022, Disney+)]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

We dodged a bullett when he was thrown out of ROGUE ONE a few years ago, but then got another bullett in Giacchino instead, so a zero sum game. But if the choice is between those two evils, I'd take Desplat any day of the week.

 

Since it's unlikely that Williams would hand over his theme to a guy that doesn't meet his seal of approval, it's probably Powell, whom he seems chummy enough with.

 

As for Desplat, i would have at least expected more elegant thematic material - which means i would have gotten at least a few cues out of Rogue One, with MG i don't even have that.

[Who do you want to score Obi-Wan Kenobi? (2022, Disney+)]

Desplat, finally? London suggests at least a more european choice of composer.

 

But as far as i can see, Powell did nothing (much) last year, so it's probably him.

[Nicholas Britell - ANDOR (2022)]

Lando's Closet (the love theme) is. And many moons ago Edward Shearmur delivered a dead ringer for a Williams love theme in 'Sky Captain'.

[Nicholas Britell - ANDOR (2022)]

4 hours ago, KK said:

No one, maybe. But Powell was certainly much closer to the mark than Britell, in terms of musicality at least.

 

I waited for you to say Chris Gordon to wholeheartedly agree with you (unrealistic as the choice may be).

[Nicholas Britell - ANDOR (2022)]

3 hours ago, KK said:

I like Britell. But I don't think he really has the orchestral/compositional chops to live up to the musical athleticism of a traditional Star Wars score...

 

Who has?