ocelot

John Zimmer Goldsmith. Composer extra ordinaire

Is this post for real? You can't have the music at the same level.... That's the most ridiculous thing I have heard. What's the point of an orchestra if it doesn't go from ppp to fff??????????? That makes no sense at all..... When it's ultra soft, it's supposed to sound ultra soft. You can't have an alto flute playing softly yet being heard as loud as an action cue. Honestly! The mind boggles sometimes!

Where's Schindler's List? I voted for Angela's Ashes. First of all, all these scores have great moments in them, especially presumed innocent, Always and Stepmom, but out of them, Angela's Ashes shines out. However I was expecting one score that I would have voted on and that's Schindler's List.... THAT is his best small score and I can't believe it's not there on the list.

Imperial March I think

You had to remind me!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil: I am so pissed off at this news.... still.....

Figo and Morn, Thanks, I shall pick up the Herrmann adventure scores. As for Alex North, I don;t really know him all that well to pass judgement or recomend anything in particular, but I shall delve more into it and listen more to him.... So many CD's....

Hopefully Harrison Ford won't be completely stoned off his head for the production

Lawrence Kasdan did have a falling out with Lucas... However there are plenty of great screen writers he could draw upon... Even if the same guy is returning, just don't have ANYTHING written by Lucas. And for heavens sake, get a director to direct for this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Korngold all the way, Sea Hawk and Captain Blood, Robin Hood, and I don't know why no one has mentioned "Kings Row" - The main title is a mixture of Star Wars and Superman. Other scores to check out is a Korngold ballet suite of his score to Escape me Never. It's on a CD with the score to Another Dawn. Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex is great. I have the CD and the full orchestral written score too. It's amazing to listen to it and follow the score. The man was a genius. Raksin - Laura, Forever Amber and The Bad and The Beautiful. Steiner - Now Voyager (one of my alltime favorites) Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, King Kong (early lost world ) Waxman - Sunset Blvd Herrmann - Vertigo, Psycho, The Ghost and Mrs Muir, North by Northwest. He did a lot of the Sinbad scores too but I don't have them. Does anyone know how good they are? I prefer his thriller/cerebral scores to Hitchcocks films. I've never thought of him as an adventure scorer. Hugo Friedhoffer - he was Steiner and Korngolds orchestrator (I have The adventures of Robin Hood suite in his handwriting) but he is also one of the best composers out there. Check out "The Best Years of Our lives" by him. Don't forget about Alfred Newman too. ocelot

Oh God, I can't believe we are disscussing fear. OK..... I used to have a fear of crickets of all things but since my ex had tanks of bearded dragons and chameleons in my house when he moved in I have since gotten used to it. Now that he has gone I still have a tank of each. I never thought I would like reptiles, but hey.... Love them now. I am starting to hate flying so I understand. For me it's the two days before, I start getting sick with worry, but as soon as we take off, I am usually fine... ODD..... However a lot of times it's stops me from going places because I don't get to the day of the flight. I cancel it. Chris.... Panic Attacks I understand very well, but mine don't come from needles, they come from being in a confined space like elevators and subways. If they are moving I am fine but if they stop, or I feel like they are going to stop and I'm going to get stuck....... Trust me, I know the feeling, and you have my sympathy! It's not nice at all! However fear of heights doesn't translate to flying so I think you will be fine. As for Australia... A lot of my Australian friends loath, not hate, loath Steve Irwin. They think he is an embarrasment. He makes me laugh, but then it's no reflection on me so I understand fully. As for Imports, how about the ones you haven't mentioned like Cate Blanchet, Guy Pierce, Hugh Jackman...... And Moulin Rouge is one of my favorite films from last year. Baz Luhrman is a genius and was robbed at the oscars!

How can you strongly dissagree about Williams's writing not being more complex. I'm a composer too and his writing is ALOT more complex. His earlier works are very easy to transcribe, nowadays a lot of it is mind boggling to me. I'm not arguing with you about wether you like it more or less, that is your opinion, but his writing IS a lot more complex now than it ever has been. Minority Report, AOTC, TPM.... All of them have 10 times more complicated rhythms, chords, orchestrations, layering.... It's 10 fold what it used to be. The only score I can think of that has harder orchestrations out of his earlier ones is Hook. Not everyones favorite, but again, very difficult writing in there. Goldsmith and Horner have gotten a lot simpler, Williams has gotten a lot more complicated. Maybe that is why it doesn't grab you as much, he's using a lot of his experimantal classical chops in his film music now. It's not worse, and he is developing. And Morn, Schindlers List is exactly my point. You couldn't have said it better. The film inspired him to write one of his best works.

Oh my God, Korngold is incredible, and his adventure score are what Williams learnt from. Williams orchestrations are pure Korngold, with all the woodwind runs and brass spacings, string flourishes etc etc etc

That's the whole point. If you are talking about which Willianms style you prefer, it has only to do with taste not wether Williams is writing better scores or not. His style has changed and he has evolved as a composer. So it's all a question of which you prefer. Williams's writing is a lot more complex now but that is purely on a musical and academic level. That doesn't mean you have to prefer it. However, if you are talking about his scores affectness on the film, then you have to look at just that. How affective is his score, does it serve the purpose, etc etc etc..... On that level, yes, composers do get affected by the material in front of them. Williams can still punch you in the gut with incredible music either way, but he is still affected by the film and his score would be different depending on the footage in front of him.

All the composers I know personally including myself are very influenced by the picture put in front of us. You have no idea how many times we have said "Oh my God, how on earth am I supposed to put music to that?!" Until it is in front of you to do, don't think it is easy. William's as well as all the others have to contend with that. You do get inspired by a film, or on the other hand, you get disscouraged. We are all human and do get influenced. It isn't naive at all. For me it's easier to write the themes having read the script rather than seeing a badly acted and directed scene or film otherwise I keep thinking no matter what I put it's going to be ridiculous. One of my best friends composes for Power Rangers, he sometimes calls me and screams about the footage. He is an amazing composer too. Whatever you might think, it does affect what you write. Having said this, it doesn;t mean that it will be bad, just affected.

I hope not to make any errors on this post or Stefan will be out to get me.... :wow: OK, there is one thing no one has mentioned when it comes to comparing score to film. The composer has to watch the film before he writes the music. Has it not occured to anyone that the composer has to get inspired by a film and his or her compositions do get affected slightly in regards to said film?

OK... Out of all his recent works, I still say that TPM is one of the best scores he has ever written. Musically it is so complex, the writing style is more advanced than alot of his other works and it is so under-rated. I have no clue why I am saying this in this thread, but there you have it. Maybe I need to wake up before I type in the future!

HONESTLY!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I wasn't asked to be in the picture. It's disgusting and it shouldn't be allowed. That's it, I'm revolting!

heh heh What can I say, I stand corrected again !!!

I love AI but it's nothing compared to Harry Potter for me of course, not for anyone else!

First of all I got Harry Potter before most here and I put up a review. I thought and still think that it is one of Williams' best scores. I thought it should have taken the oscar way more than AI. It's so much more complex and a much harder score to write.

Better steefy than stiffy

Very much so, he always draws from people like Rach'

nothing I know of. There was a tape on ebay which had different things on it including some footage. It was some sort of a press package on John Williams. I should have bid on it but I didn't

What about the christmas song the ghosts were singing and of course Hogwarts forever.