-
Posts
2,113 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by David Coscina
-
I remember when I first bought John Williams' Sleepers in 1997(?). I hated it. Thought it was lacking a good theme and didn't like his use of 4ths to build the theme. Then one day I just got it. And ever since I really love it. Other scores immediately pleasing to the ear sometimes wain in their affect on me while ones I have a harder tine getting into last much longer. It was that way for me and the music of Bartok and Stravinsky. Though don't want to imply Giacchino is quite at their level, I will say that I'm warming to Super8 more and more with every listen. Again, I haven't seen the film so this is quite a feat for the music to be able to generate emotion without a narrative or visual reference. It is the standard always put every film composer against since Williams is always so good at this. Looks like Giacchino is also getting there with Super 8 and parts of Let Me In.
-
Wow Thor, that was a pretty good post. I do agree with the Golden Age sounding violin at times because of it's heavy vibrato and close mic but I do think the busier sections as you say are harder to judge out context since Robin may have wanted to give us a hi-lite of the exciting big moments of the piece. Remember that this is a concert work and not a film score so the music has to do all the work to keep the audience involved. But I still think that your post is a good one for a self avowed non musician.
-
I don't know if Robin pointed out that these are "sections" from his complete work. It's a little suite-like because it's only various parts of the full concerto. It's a nice sound and very competently orchestrated. I don't know if Hollywood heavyweights can write like this any more, much less orchestrate it themselves.
-
I think this score demands headphone listening. I didn't appreciate it as much whilst driving around for work yesterday. There's a lot of subtlety there. Curiously enough, I also brought along Hp 7.2 and had a hard time getting into it after listening to Super 8. I love Desplat but it seems a little frantic at times....oh well, back to Super 8!
-
Listening to Super 8 more. I'm actually surprised at how many times the Love Theme (Alice's Theme) appears throughout the score. Sometimes it's just that Cmin to Fmin7th progression but I'm just happy as a clam that it's around so much. Based on initial reactions by other members here, it led me to believe that it wasn't used that much. I hear more of that than the main theme (which is fine with me). I'm listening to Creature Comforts and that low repeating figure is so Williams I love it! Giacchino is deliberate about how its developed much like Williams did in Jurassic Park or later scores. I'm also finding the use of harp in this score to be pure delight! Lots of exposed glissandi in key moments that also recall things like Jaws. There's quite a lot to like. Oh geez, now he's using tubas! Awesome, especially in contrast to that rising falling metered string tremolo in Letting Go.
-
I'm going through the score and I like Giacchinos use if thematic variation more than I expected. Really nice versions of Alice's theme in the earlier tracks. I hear Gia trying for new things in this score. It's much more melodic than his other recent fare and I'm liking the acoustic sound of this score with zero contemporary influences (MV-RC). Nice job. Glad I bought this.
-
I bought this on iTunes. The Alice theme is beautiful. Wish it was the main theme. It has that musical magic to it.
-
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
I also pre ordered the CD. -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
You can totally hear some of his CHIPS action music in Romancing the Stone with the funky drums in the background. I actually like The Abyss quite a bit too but you can hear a lot of Horner influence- I think Cameron wanted Horner but they were still pissed at one another after ALIENS. -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
Sky Captain is better than Predator, Back To The Future, and The Abyss? Now now, Mark is entitled to his opinions and he definitely articulated it as an opinion rather than one of fact. To be honest, Silvestri is one of those composers whose melodic and harmonic choices hasn't been my favorite but his more mature works like Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and especially Contact which is my fave of his are very good. I love that track "Okay to Go". It still uses minimalism really effectively. I do like parts of Judge Dredd quite a bit although I will never get over Goldsmith's amazing trailer music. Shearmur puzzles me because he's clearly demonstrated a knack for solid orchestral writing. It never feels clunky to my ears. Some composers really have a difficulty in threading ideas together seamlessly like Williams, goldsmith, Barry, Herrmann, etc. etc. It's actually a very fine art to be able to do this I believe. Silvestri resides in this camp. I read somewhere that Romancing the Stone was his first big film assignment and that Back to the Future was like his third orchestral score. Not too shabby! -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
Koray I was responding to gkgyver's post not yours. -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
Odd rationale- Shearmur isn't working anymore so he must stink. Perhaps he's not getting choice projects because his style isn't the same junk that passes for 80% of all film music these days. -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
I also think Shearmur is a wasted commodity. The guy has chops and between REIGN OF FIRE and Sky Captain, he's got some range. -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
Lets not get ahead of ourselves, but it does sound promising It's not a matter of getting ahead of myself. From the 10 minutes or whatever, it's clear that his writing chops are as solid as Williams' or the late Goldsmith's in that he creates a lot of ostinati but meshes them with fragments of his thematic material in the same deft manner. It's not slap and paste or cellular writing that is so prevalent in today's majority of scores where you don't have the melodicism or some repeating motivic idea to keep the music interesting. Also, he's using the orchestra to its full capacity never staying static in his orchestral colors. The action pieces balance the string choir with the brass choir and he refreshingly uses percussion as an accent rather than drum loops that carry the burden of communicating the propulsive forward momentum. If you want to invalidate my observations go ahead though. Your opinion of my assessment doesn't negate what is plain to hear. Lets not get ahead of ourselves, but it does sound promising Yes, let's apply that to the War Horse thread as well shall we. Just listened to the clips, there's the Silvestri I knew still existed. I knew Joe Johnston would bring the classic Silvestri out. Well put Mark! -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
This level of writing for action pieces is really on the Goldsmith/Williams level. I would dare say Silvestri can still deliver the goods. I hope this score knocks my socks off. The samples have done so thus far. Really looking forward to the film too! -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
Very true. Too bad they didn't release it on July 4th! -
Alan Silvestri scoring Captain America: The First Avenger
David Coscina replied to Ollie's topic in General Discussion
This is solid meaty stuff that does recall Silvestri's seminal works like Predator, some of that dymamism of action music from Back to the Future and Roger Rabbit except more muscular. Lots of pedal point piano string work with some really ballsy brass writing. The action writing to my ears is some of the best I've heard in years. There's a lot of diversity in the cues but they still are glued together by that main theme which also didn't grab me immediately but man it sounds great in the variations Silvestri puts them through. Totally looking forward to hearing this on CD (yeah, no crappy iTunes DL for me- CD all the way). Honeslty, the movie actually looks good to me. I grew up reading Cap America and it looks faithful. Not a big fan of Chris Evans but I like the tone that Joe Johnston sets even in the trailers. It looks earnest not contemporary and silly like so many comic book movies fall into the trap of being. I agree Michael. Although I love Desplat. Silvestri is a juggernaut when it comes to action writing. Probably one of the best composers for this kind of kinetic writing. Lots of colorful orchestration with different sections highlighted throughout. I would be surprised if Silvestri composed this using a DAW. It sounds like he wrote it all out because there's just so much variation going on. Thumbs way up. Love his brass voicings too. Solid. -
First War Horse teaser trailer includes Williams score
David Coscina replied to Jay's topic in General Discussion
I'm sort of with Thor on the film's subject- but not for the sane reasons. I love The Black Stallion and think its the finest film centering around a horse ever made (beautiful photography and score too). Like Mark O, I need to hear more of Williams' score to get a better idea. I find the music in the trailer okay but didn't resound with my like Confluence from Memoirs. But I'll take this any day over that Two Steps from Hell nonsense any day if the week! -
Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread
David Coscina replied to John Crichton's topic in General Discussion
I agree. I love Desplat's sound. For all the talk about the importance of melody in scores, for my money, it is Desplat who delivers more times than anyone else. He has completed melodic ideas rather than foundations of a theme that go nowhere. -
Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread
David Coscina replied to John Crichton's topic in General Discussion
I like how Desplat incorporated Hedwig's Theme -- he incorporated it in moments that emphasized elements of Harry's magical world fading away/changing in Part 1. It's almost like Harry's rites of passage musically -- and from what I hear in the samples for Part 2 he did it again. I actually like that, considering how drastically different the final films are compared to the first film. As for the action music, I have to say "Dragon Flight" and "In the Chamber of Secrets" sound great. But I said that for the samples for Part 1, and the whole score blew me away. Hey Matt, when the score finally comes out, at least you and I can extol the virtues of Desplat's music. We're clearly in the minority here though. -
Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread
David Coscina replied to John Crichton's topic in General Discussion
Mark O, no need to qualify your enjoyment of this score. I know you have good taste in composers. We've probably been listening to soundtracks about the same number of years (hmm, started collecting at 10 and I'm 43- yup about the same). I was totally hyped for Super8 make no mistake. I should reserve overall judgement until I hear the whole thing. I was just saying that based on the available clips, it's not too interesting to me compared to HP7.2 -
Transformers 3 will be the top grossing film but I have high hopes for Capt America. Looks like a good film. Probably one of the few I might actually go see in the theatre. Haven't been to a film in theatres since The Dark Knight. Saw Hancock at the drive-in with wifey a couple years back but that doesn't really count.
-
Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread
David Coscina replied to John Crichton's topic in General Discussion
Well if you enjoy it and it makes you happy, I say you shouldn't care what Joey or I think or anyone else. No one can tell you what to enjoy, that's ridiculous! As I mentioned before, I'm not really enjoying many if any film scores these days so people should take my views with a grain of salt. I'm happier listening to Herrmann's Mysterious Island to anything written these days. Heck, I put on How to Train Your Dragon today and had to shut that off too since it bothered me. Just my own mindset to be honest. But for whatever reason, I can listen to Desplat and still enjoy what he's doing. I don't think he's any better or worse than Giacchino from a compositional standpoint- just different. And I think I'm gonna pass out if I keep trying to qualify that I'm not a Gia-hater. I was a huge fan, he just disappoints me lately mostly because he's aligned himself with Abrams who I find to be a complete hack of a writer and filmmaker. But, I will assess both Super8 and HP7.2 properly when I can hear them fully. I probably will buy Super8 at least from iTunes. Mark and I normally have a lot of similar tastes in composers and if he really likes this, I have to believe there's something there I just haven't heard yet. And I will say context is very crucial to my appreciation of Gia's scores going all the way back to The Incredibles which I didn't care for initially but grew to love. Desplat is a little different. I can listen to his stuff without seeing the film and make some connection with the music. but I started out not being too impressed with him either (see my FSM review of Hostage). And I don't care for his Tree of Life score.... Bummer. It is a good theme. Just for the hell of it, I'll have another listen to the clip posted.... Edit- Back after going though the clip. Yup, still don;'t like that main theme. All you have got is this A-Bb-A-F motif with very basic chords underneath it. I mean c'mon, you guys roast Zimmer for more complicated harmonies than this! This is pretty generic stuff. I do like Giacchino's variation of the love theme though. That inspires a certain awe or suggests it. Sound FX really preclude me from commenting on the action stuff. Some low brass with mutes from what I can hear. And like Star Trek, Gia just luvs to have that "soaring" unison string/brass line doing some variation of the main theme with little else to support it... But don't worry, I'll apply the same music observations to Desplat too! I did so along with Mike West on the FSM forum for HP7.1 and here to at length. -
Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread
David Coscina replied to John Crichton's topic in General Discussion
Yeah but I'm sorry to say I really hate it. Truly. I don't want to but for some reason the harmonic scheme he's using makes it sound really trite to me....Obviously some people feel the same way about Desplat so this is obviously personal taste. Nothing I heard in that clip makes me at all interested in hearing the score which is why I still want to hear clips before making a final opinion. But thus far, aside from the Love Theme which is nice although that C maj chord to F min7 is totally out of John Barry's book. And then when he moves from Cmajor to Gmin that is vintage Horner- which I don't mind because at least he's channeling some good composers. But when I found out that's not the main theme, and then heard the main theme, I was bummed. I guess I just cannot swallow all these accolades about him....he's taken a few steps backwards compositionally in my mind since his Alias days...I hope Brad Bird gets him to repeat his quality of work from The Incredibles and Ratatouille because those were very good. -
Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread
David Coscina replied to John Crichton's topic in General Discussion
Well that is more than fair. Admittedly, I actually am starting to vehemently despise Giacchino when he works with Abrams. Those LOST sparse chords just frustrate the hell out of me. It's like the guy can't finish a thought. I know he has it in him because before LOST, ALIAS had tons of great music. I became a huge Gia fan because of ALIAS- he made a film score quality episode every week. But he seems to have settled on this LOST style for anything that Abrams touches or else very noisy action music that honestly sounds no better than MV-RC, except without the electronics. It's frustrating. Let Me In was okay and the more atmospheric stuff was good as well as Parting Sorrows where he actually comes up with a fully developed version of yet again another sparse theme group. But it was nowhere near as accomplished as many laud it to be. I was listening to Chris Gordon's Moby Dick and that main theme is so beautiful and Star Trek like- majestic and nautical. I keep wondering how Gordon doesn't get more work. He's a great composer and has melodic ideas that far exceed the ADHD generation of movie goers or soundtrack listeners...but maybe that is the problem. A Gordon HP would have been marvellous I have no doubt. But I do like what Desplat accomplished. Unlike so many composers, I hear him reaching for new things while marrying them with his own stylistic tendencies (which is unavoidable for any film composer given the time constraints imposed upon them)