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Genius_Gone_Insane

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Everything posted by Genius_Gone_Insane

  1. Agreed. The "backwards" part was nice to hear officially. Granted, he has hinted at this style of composition for a long time. This is interesting on a personal level as well. I am a hobbyist composer and I have found that working backwards creates much better results, at least in my case. Essentially, when you get a great riff or motif, you make it as grand as possible. And then you ask yourself, "well, what should come before this?" And then after you get that part settled, "what should come before that?" Now I'll get a little philosophical here. If remakes, cover songs, and sequels were the hallmarks of the 1990's through the 2000's then "What should come before this?" is the major theme of this next era. George Lucas started it with the Phantom Menace, one of the great underappreciated films in history. OK, that's why I am self-titled Genius Gone Insane, because I think of crazy shit like that. (Though I don't think it will sound so crazy in 50 years). Point being, I think CEOT3K is Williams' favorite score because it so clearly grows from beginning to end. Anyway.
  2. There is a chance Steven and the Maestro may have been talking about George Lucas. The reason I say this is that they whispered something between them and I remember Steven shrugging as is to say "I don't know". Then a short pause and then they both kind of looked out over the crowd, squinting their eyes. The first thing that occurred to me was that they were looking for George Lucas. Of course it is possible they were looking for someone else. I looked around a bit during the performance and did not see the Maker anywhere. Perhaps he was backstage. Good thing too. I might have passed out had George hopped on stage.
  3. There were two moments from last night that I will certainly never forget: 1. Watching John Williams quietly, privately, and casually chat with Steven Spielberg as the audience watched the scoreless version of Indy's First Adventure. 2. Watching John Williams conduct ET with Steven Spielberg sitting down next to him. Both instances were absolutely surreal. You would have to have been there to understand. Watching these two great artists together...I just do not have words that can describe it. The whole thing felt like a dream. We were about 20 feet away from them and I think that was the most starstruck I have ever been.
  4. I thought that the consensus was a little different. I thought the musical community generally respected JW for what he does. He is not a Mahler or a Tchaikovsky but he is great at creating fantastic film scores with musical viability. Something more than simple ear candy. I also thought the music community felt that if he has a weakness, it is definitely his conducting. I do not subscribe to that but I have heard that many times.
  5. According to the web site there are about 4 tickets left. Unbelievable.
  6. Dammit to hell. Well the server came up but I lost my perfect seats. I am fucking pissed. But I have pretty good seats so I can't complain too much. Still it is bittersweet. Yes I think I should have logged in first. Maybe that would have helped. I guess it is good to know this is common experience. But who are the lucky folks who got my tickets??
  7. I am going to have a fucking heart attack. Tickets went on sale 18 minutes ago. I had the two best seats in my cart. Ready to pay. And then the server crashed I think. The site is super slow and the phone lines are jammed. Anyone else have any luck getting tickets? I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pissed!!!!!
  8. It disappoints me when John Williams is criticized for ripping off Mahler. Mahler's pieces are amazing but they are spastic and very loosely tied together. Mahler's music was made to get ripped off. For that reason, I love it. JW is taking some of Mahler's motifs and writing entire scores from them, but with his own touch (the beauty of which cannot be undestated). That is the way of all good music -- imitation. You all should know that by now.
  9. Yes I have thoughts. First, thanks for posting that first video. Musically that was one of the best parts of Episode III. JW really nailed it. The music told the audience this: "Buckle your seatbelts. You've been waiting nearly 30 years for this. Shit is about to get crazy." And then there is that short fade to black. JW really did a great job. All hell breaks loose shortly after this. Love it.
  10. I am so happy JW is writing that I will not be too disappointed if it's recorded in hollywood. I wish they would use old school analog gear to get that Empire/Superman/ET/Raiders sound. And just crank it over the special effects. Anyone remember how great the horns were at the beginning of Battle of Yavin on the original Star Wars release? That was so awesome. No lasers or engines, just horns. Blasting. Movie magic lost forever. That being said I love the Special Editions.
  11. http://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2013-2014/John-Williams-Maestro-of-the-Movies?utm_medium=Story1&utm_campaign=DSH&utm_content=Williams&utm_source=Email-061813&fullsite=true&utm_source=Email-061813&fullsite=true Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  12. Thank you for posting this. It seems like every day we as a planet are getting closer to collapse. At what point do you and I try to save it?
  13. What great news!!! I am literally crying at work!!! What wonderful news...I couldn't be happier!!!
  14. I think it should be interesting. Nonconformity is good.
  15. I understand why you are asking these questions. However, if you had asked an audience-goer these questions he/she would have probably been confused. Very few people would have seen Star Wars more than a few times. And of those few viewings most people would have remembered the plot details and the heroics of Luke, that sort of thing. Maybe they would remember the scroll or the "A long time ago..." but those would have been minor details. During your ESB viewing, when you saw the Lucasfilm logo, the Fox Fanfare, and the scroll, and the opening music, you were not thinking "what woul the titles look like?" etc. Maybe a handful of nerds would have been concerned with that sort of thing. Most people were excited about snow and Luke Skywalker flying this weird looking space ship. Or whatever they remembered from the trailer. The point is -- and this is actually very important from a historical perspective -- when the titles, fanfare, and scroll came, you were thinking "OH, WOW, I REMEMBER THAT!! COOL, THEY ARE STARTING IT THE SAME WAY AS STAR WARS!" You have to remember that few people had VCRs at the time. And there were only a few TV channels. Each of your few viewings of Star Wars were a novelty. There was nothing like it. So when ESB came out, you really had no idea what to expect. There was no prescribed formula for how to make a sequel. This is George Lucas' genius. With ESB, he set a new standard for what a sequel should be (I am not sure there even was a standard at that point). And since then, George Lucas has gone on to set a standard for what a prequel should be. I wish this accomplishment was recognized more often. The magic you felt when the Lars homestead was visited in AOTC and when Hayden put on the Vader mask has become a new standard for prequels. You saw it in the recent Batman movie where Robin enters the Batcave and again with the Hobbit. At any rate, my point is that your questions are more pertinent now than they were back then. No one cared. They were too busy excited to see the new Star Wars movie.
  16. I gave up on this rather quickly. ESB is #1, SW is probably #2 but after that it is a free for all. Each one has something unique about it that warrants that 3rd spot.
  17. Reminder: Criticizing Star Wars for the acting is akin to criticizing the Green Bay Packers football team for having ugly uniforms.
  18. I just got this via mail on Friday. Generally, I am more of a fan of the adventure Williams stuff. For instance, I prefer Williams' Tintin queues over the War Horse queues. However, Lincoln was a great surprise. It's the slower Williams stuff, but I am really digging it. Wonderful music. I really hope JW can stay healthy so he can keep churning these puppies out. There is not much in the way of fine art these days. JW may be one of the few real artists out there. IMO at least.
  19. You guys, I am seriously traumatized. Is anyone else going through the same stunned feeling I am suffering right now? It is a neutral feeling, as if pure joy and utter devastation rammed into one another and spat out a bastard child that can only be described as "confused".
  20. I would definitely agree that Williams' fame will only increase with time. He is possibly the greatest musician in the past 50 years.
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