David Coscina

If it is Conan, I hope they included the cue where he's practicing his swordsmanship at night. I always loved that music in the film.

Sad fact is no one wants big scores any more- at least ones with themes and such. I'm working on a film score where the mandate is to be "subtle". But I'm trying to find ways to inject compelling ideas into it nonetheless. I'm super glad Desplat has managed to find a niche for himself where he can appease directors but also still have that musicality in his scores.

I just re-watched the Sorceror's Stone and I would have to honestly say it's not a good film score- it's great music on its own but the music rarely if ever matches the tempo, mood, and pace of the scene it accompanies. Honestly this film is probably one of Williams' least successful scoring attempts. I thought that originally when I saw the film and chalked it up to Chris Columbus' pedestrian directorial skills. I think that film is okay at best. A very flat style and I think Williams went off and scored the book. It's very disjointed. The action parts (Quidditch) are some of the few scenes where the music works well with its filmic counterpart rather than at odds with it. Strangely enough, Williams' Home Alone was very well done so I'm not sure what happened. I also found Stepmom completely divorced musically from its film (pun somewhat intended).

Thumbs way up on your post Blue. With every day that goes by I respect you more and more. You know, the Desplat may not sound like Williams' original music world. but as some have said, Potter has evolved a lot since then and I doubt if Williams came into this franchise without having done the first few, I think we'd be getting a very different score even from the maestro himself. Obviously we will never know for sure but I do think this would be the case.

It is Mark, trust me. I wouldn't be too concerned. Those who don't like it can not like it. No big deal. I'm sure Desplat is not losing any sleep over it. Those of us who do like what we hear can talk more about it in a separate thread once the score is officially released. I will say that some of the observations on this thread are laughable to me, but that's my POV. As I said before, I didn't expect this to win over a bunch of new Desplat lovers. It's his style through and through and I love it personally.

I would also say to people that a lack of a hummable theme doesn't mean it's not good. How many of Herrmann's themes can you hum? Not many. How many of them are awesome? Most of them.

Could you elaborate, please. Point out to me these basic constructs so perhaps I can also appreciate this music more after figuring out these structures. As it is I am not thoroughly enjoying this music as I find it hard to catch even one basic central musical idea that would somehow ground the whole score for me. What we mean is that take that repeating 16th note alternating string figure. Zimmer uses something like that as the main idea. The central focus is that line. Desplat uses it more as a vehicle to support his melodic ideas. As the track unfolds, you will hear he moves into further harmonic directions (using 7th chords alternating between I-IV degrees) until the track climaxes with that expository thematic gesture. Desplat returns to the unadorned string figure at its conclusion for balance and a sense of closure. He not only thinks in terms of underscoring the scene but also the architecture of the music itself. This is what differentiates him from seriously most of the composers working in Hollywood currently. They think only in reaction to what's happening visually (I honestly blame DAWs for this as barely anyone spots the film, takes timings then SHUTS OFF THEIR MONITOR and writes music away from the picture the way every composer did 20 years ago). Desplat works with MOTU DP but he must at some point divorce himself from the distractions of the visuals and exist in the domain of pure music, where that is the central focus. I don't think it's the tools in most cases. Desplat just thinks and operates the way classic film composers did. He writes music, not aural wallpaper. He uses expansive harmonies but contrasts them with simple motivic ideas or minimalist cellular approach and builds his music from there (but not "layering" it as so many do). The other thing I love about Desplat is that he's not afraid to write for exposed instruments. Unlike a MV string line which is doubled to hell with electronics, winds, brass, the kitchen sink (often but not always), Desplat's string line is so clear you can hear the rosin on the bows practically. For me, I like that sound. I love John Powell's HTTYD but parts of it really frustrate me because my ears get tired from all the density- there's barely any textural contrast. Desplat's approach never wears on my ears. There's balance. Hope this explains it.

I think it sounds terrific. The first track is a perfect example of why Desplat is on another level from most people working on Hollywood. Those repeating string figures have a certain Zimmerish (superficial) similarity but once the track develops, with Desplat modulating into unexpected keys and changing the texture and density in the orchestration, this is far above what Zimmer and co. could ever hope to produce. They just don't think in this way compositionally speaking (based on listening to a LOT of Zimmer BTW and liking a bit of it). I love Sky Battle. Reason is again that Desplat doesn't just do bombast for the entire track. He contrasts the thicker, meatier action sections with some woodwind phrases to give the cue extra dynamism. It's even ballsier than his previous action writing from other scores. Super stuff!

I prefer the theme in Harry's Wondrous World to be honest. I think Hedwig's Theme is flashy but Harry's theme has more heart.

Finally, the voice of reason! I laughed out loud after reading the post where someone actually assumes he knows what Desplat meant to do in his score from hearing these 30 second samples. Unless he interviewed the composer, that's a lot of audacity IMO.

The thing one has to remember is that because Desplat does largely work in the realm of minimalism or has a minimalist mentality, some of his work takes time to develop momentum and 30 seconds cannot begin to encompass the totality of his cue musically speaking. Williams is so adept at writing themes and capable of such contrapuntal energy that 1 bar of Hedwig's Theme has more notes in it than a whole cue of anyone else. It's not a fair comparison to be frank. Or in this my case, Dave.

Sorry but none of these examples sound like Zimmer. Most of them have Desplat's signature sound- just because he uses repeating string figures doesn't mean he's Zimmer. If he was, he would double them all to hell with every other instrument in the orchestra as well as his own private sample collection making the expressive hard work of the real musicians sound plastic and synthetic. Desplat's sound always retains the organic acoustic quality of the orchestra. I like some Zimmer stuff but honestly, speaking as a composer myself, it doesn't sound natural or real to my ears. It never has and never will- except maybe As Good As it Gets and smaller projects like that. Clearly, the epic tone of Desplat's effort should not be compared to a radically different style and approach. If you're concerned over the originator of such minimalist ideas, look to Philip Glass or perhaps John Adams for a fusion of minimalism and late Romantic harmonic marriage.

I love the examples save for the first track. Sky Battle sounds friggin awesome. I'm glad it sounds like Desplat and not half baked Williams. Only Williams can do Williams (we've heard so many inferior rip-offs over the years that proves this in spades). I love the energy and activity. I'm so excited about getting this. I pre-ordered the CD but I'll probably buy it off iTunes to satiate my need to hear this ASAP! What I really like about these examples is, once again. the clarity of the writing. You can hear very distinct detailed section writing, not just a mass of sound. I really tire of that layered sound approach. Desplat is doing what all of the classic composers did- Herrmann used colors so effectively, even when musically he was just riffing on a simple motif. He knew how to dress it up with terrific chords and interesting instrumentation. Desplat does the same thing, He uses minimalist ideas and develops upon those kernel ideas to achieve forward motion. Yes, it doesn't have that melodic flowing virtuosity that Williams can apply but Desplat can write themes and is capable of terrific linear writing when called for

really, then someone here needs to post reasonable arguments in favor of 2009 Star Trek. Despite the lengthy threads no one has managed to provide anything reasonable. I would listen, maybe. It might help if theat person wasn't a Giacchino fanatic, whose opinions are clearly blinded by JW2. Well, I cannot help you out with Star Trek because I really don't like that score by Giacchino. The main theme is a very basic one with the lead to the flat IV to I cadence that Horner used so much more effectively for his ST scores. Even Goldenthal used it to great effect in Interview with the Vampire and Demolition Man. I would give Let Me In a chance if you're open to a more textural score. There's some fascinating things Giacchino does and he also builds the score in terms of developing that simple childlike theme. I don't actually care much for Giacchino's harmonic language to be honest- a lot of it is very standard chords, broken piano arpeggiations, and sometimes an over-reliance on brass stingers, but he does represent a more classic approach to scoring and loves acoustic instruments. I can hear the orchestra in his recordings whereas in MV stuff because they engineer it a certain way or mix with synths, everything sounds very dense and superficial. I prefer John Powell's harmonic sensibilities but he still sometimes doesn't stray enough away from that R-C sound to bring out the richness of the orchestra. Basically I have issues with Giacchino although he does have some plusses on his side, just like Powell does. I still don't see Giacchino as well rounded as a John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, or even an Elliot Goldenthal but he still might get there. I know that Let Me In is ambitious and probably one of his most successful scores to date but it's still no Alien3 or Interview with the Vampire by a long stretch. It's much better than what passes for horror scores these days however.

Clearly Williams is a hack. Why would we even think of having a forum dedicated to such a phony-baloney? Seriously though, look at any major composer in the history of music and you will find that all of them took from what came before them. Perhaps not Bach but he was kind of almost at the beginning of its development but everyone else incorporated what they liked. And concert composers had the luxury of greater time frames with which to compose their music. Film composers have never really enjoyed a long deliberate composing period and are constrained by temp tracks, musically illiterate directors, focus groups, etc. Add all that up and it's amazing we got the quality of symphonic music we did from 1930-1990's. I'm still up in the air about most of what's come out from the past 10 years with a few notable exceptions, most of which are Williams' work.

I think a Woody Allen Superman would be freakin' cool. Supes and Lex could sit down and have out a philosophical debate. Or in this case, Supes and Zod.

I agree, David. In fact, I love how Snyder uses slow-motion in that jog wheel style. Also, it's a relief to me that he goes against the omnipresent fashion of filming too close to the action (combined with quick cuts). With Znyder, 'movement' is very graphic. Through the use of medium and long shots, we see the mind-blowing choreography in all its glory. He's one of my favorite directors working today, together with Paul Thomas Anderson and Andrew Dominik. Alex We might be the only ones on this forum with the same taste. PT Anderson is for me the last hope of a real American filmmaker and frankly blows everyone his age away. I frankly believe Chris Nolan is not half the director Anderson is. There Will be Blood is actually on my Top 10 all time greatest films right up there with Seven Samurai, Ivan the Terrible, Ran, Goodfellas, Jaws (yes, you read it right), and a few others that escape me at the moment. Snyder might not be PT Anderson but he's surely one of the most competent directors in his age bracket.

I actually like all of Snyder's films. Yes, he uses slow motion too much but I would rather watch that than Michael (shit) Bay's frenetic ADD catered (lack of) editing style where no shot is longer than 15 frames. Also, would someone tell that douche bag that he either uses dolly/tracking shots or handheld but have a long shot OR lock his camera down on static shots and use editing to keep the pace brisk? I mean shit, anyone from film school knows these things! As for Snyder, I do think he brings a style of his own to each project and he does do some things that I feel are reminiscent of the classic directors- ie balance close ups with long master shots, contrast hand held with dolly or tracking camera movements- in fact, he doesn't use a lot of hand held and God bless him for that. I won't be too excited of Tyler Bates does the score. Nothing against him but his music is more sound FX which adds something but not a lot to the films. If Snyder gets Hirschfelder, that wouldn't be terrible. Or he could go into a completely whacked direction and have Thom York and Jonny Greenwood score it. That might be rad. Anything but frickin Media Ventures. Unless he gets Henry Jackman. I thought he did a terrific job of a super hero score in Kick Ass.

I also liked Ginger Snaps if for anything because it was a pretty well done Canadian made film.

I agree. It was spooky and I prefer the psychological ones as opposed to the overtly gory ones. In fact, no gore horror film has ever scared me. Paranormal Activity was scary to me. Exorcist also very effective, especially the creepy stuff in the first half which struck me as almost documentary-like in its tone. The Shining is creepy but never scared me. John Carpenter's The Thing scared the shit out of me as a kid. The idea that a single cell of an alien could take me over was really chilling. I had nightmares after seeing Prince of Darkness (john Carpenter) when it first came out. I love the original The Haunting BTW. The score is also really good. 'Salem's Lot (Tobe Hooper) was also the scariest made for tv film I have ever seen. Now it's a little less scary although that first scene where Barlow appears in the jail cell is one of the best shockers I've seen. The kid floating at the window also scared the piss out of me as a kid. I didn't go near my window at night for like a year.

Thanks for the info. I ordered a copy last night. "Parting Sorrows" is one of Giacchino's best cues of late. It feels like a natural sum-up and high point of a dramatic arc which is something I have always been at odds with from Gia's scores. I haven't seen this film but I do feel that the music imparts a very descriptive journey. It feels very impassioned and I really love how he brings that simple theme out on this track. Happy to have a signed copy of this fine score. I played this score for a director friend of mine who isn't terribly into horror scores and he loved it. He thought it was a nice ode to The Shining. I would dare say this is one of the first Giacchino scores in recent memory that doesn't feel like pastiche but his own compositional stamp on it. I can hear his style coming through. As I always maintained, LOST brought out his originality while some of the bigger film projects seemed to feel forced and not as personal.

Here's my mini-review from FSM if anyone's interested: It's not secret that I have been rather lukewarm to say the least about Giacchino and his efforts of late. I almost didn't buy this score based on my obvious bias. but the samples intrigued me so I got it off iTunes. I'm glad that I did. While not a perfect score, at least its representation away from the film, there are more than a few tracks that have that "I need to listen to this again" quality to them. To begin with, there are no overt electronics used in this score. Everything seems natural and acoustic. Kudos. Second, the atonal and dissonant moments do NOT feel like re-hashed Corigliano, Goldenthal, Bartok or Penderecki. That's actually harder to accomplish than it sounds as the landscape of horror scores is a veritable minefield of these types of cliche. "Los Alamos" has this really terrific build where Giacchino introduces a figure that he builds on repeatedly to ominous effect. I've been exposed to a lot of 20th century concert writing and frankly have been less than impressed with the bulk of horror scores because they sound too derivative but this sounds fresh. I like his combination of quarter tones, string FX, and how he shapes this sound mass with dynamics. It's honestly one of the most striking cues I have heard in a while (I have to think back to Jonny Greenwood's There Will be Blood). In fact, I had to press REPEAT to hear it again since I just dug the overall tone of the piece. The other quality I respect is how Giacchino employs subtle orchestral devices like flutes in unison with no vibrato lending a "dead" quality to the music. I will be honest- I composed a concert work based on the book and I used similar devices so obviously it's gratifying to hear the composer use techniques that I feel suit the subject matter. String harmonics (that glassy tone in the upper register that Goldenthal used a lot) also works nicely as well as Giacchino's penchant for sul ponticello tremolo (that edgy steely sound in the celli in particular). I will say that, oddly enough, the eerie or scary moments of Let Me In work better than the tonal material which reprises the composer's interest in the i-flat II chord progression he used in LOST and as the main theme in ROAR. I think the composer sort of missed the mark on this one as "simple" and "childlike" doesn't always have to equate to minimal. This kind of compositional approach seems to stem from chordal based motion with a theme superimposed on top of it rather than a melodic shape dictating the course of the supporting harmonies. In LOST, it worked very well. Here, it seems a little basic and under-developed. However, I do very much like how Giacchino fleshes it out on "Parting Sorrows" which in the tradition of LOST reaches a soaring emotional crescendo without going over board into sappy territory. There are some choral moments which also sound reasonably convincing and original, again a difficult order to ask of anyone writing for the horror genre. The opening track "Hammertime" is a curious and interesting listen. At first, I thought it was a static sample of a falsetto but hearing it again it's apparent that there's staggered writing going on for boys choir, especially when the quarter tone descending secondary line comes in. It's impressive that Giacchino once again steers clear of Goldenthal Alien3 or Interview with the Vampire references. I give him high marks for that. Obviously, this is all based on a first listen while driving around for my job today. I'm eager to listen on headphones as I undoubtedly will get more from the sonic clarity of headphones that car noise and such presented me today. If it's worth anything (and it might not be), I haven't felt the need to articulate my thoughts this much about a film score in quite some time. For that reason, I have to give Giacchino high marks. 4 stars. BTW- how can I get a copy of the Giacchino signed Let Me In? I have it on iTunes but sonically I would prefer a real CD recording. I know DD has the CD for sale now but if I buy it before the signing date, I'm sure I would just receive a CD sans Gia's signature....

I like the idea of this box but $500?? You have got to be kidding. I could buy a VSL library with that money and while I really like Elfman, I would never pay that kind of money for his anthology. Perhaps a similar one of Williams/Spielberg but not Elfman/Burton...no way in hell.

Guys, Let Me In is a very good score. I went on about it on the FSM board so I don't want to get into too much detail here but it's a pretty striking work. It's subtle but not aural wallpaper. There are some very compelling tracks.

I think Voldemort or the Harry/Voldemort connection could do with a new theme. And maybe a new theme for the house elves Dobby and Kreacher. A waltz is a given. I think the only scene where a waltz would go really well is the wedding scene earlier in the film. I have a hard time picturing a Volturi-style waltz for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Yes, but then again, Goldsmith managed to make a nasty waltz in The Boys From Brazil- totally ominous B section to that. I tried a nasty aggressive waltz a while ago. Was only marginally successful. Sounded like 2nd rate Goldsmith (which is still better than nothing I suppose).