Simon McBride

It's magical

The Wind Rises
 
I loved this!
 
I actually have watched it twice now;  I watched it a while back at the end of my run of watching all his movies in order for this thread... then never wrote about it here, for whatever reason.  Then, so much time passed, I actually watched it again a little while ago so it would be fresh in my mind to write about it.  Well, that was months ago now, and I'm just finally writing about it now!  And for some reason, I can't find any of the notes I took during my last watch, so I'll probably forget to mention some clever observation I had back then.  Oh well!
 
This film is both very different, and very much the same as all Miyazaki's previous films!  All his prior films had major fantasy elements, either being historical fantasy stories, or about modern day people who find themselves in fantasy worlds or situations.  This is basically a biopic of a real person (Jiro Horikoshi who designed airplanes for the Imperial Army), but the brilliant angle Miyazaki takes to it is to feature these great dream sequences where Jiro imagines his and other creations, and has wonderful conversations with Italian plane designer Giovanni Battista Caproni (who is played to perfection by Stanley Tucci in the English dub).  These dream sequences are all the most fun sequences in the film, no surprise at all considering Miyazaki's love to aviation!
 
Another really fascinating sequence is the train derailment from the earthquake of 1923, there was so much detail in the animation, and it was clearly aided by computers, but in a good way (like his other 2000s films, he uses is to enhance the animation is the perfect subtle ways).
 
After these early sequences (Jiro's childhood, and meeting Nahoko), the rest of the film follows Jiro working for Mitsubishi, and the film follows a nice rhythm of juggling scenes of him at work, him with his wife, and more dream sequences.  I have a feeling a lot of viewers probably won't like the love story as much as everything else (in fact, some might only like the dream sequences and be bored my the main story perhaps), but for me, everything worked!  

I really enjoyed watching Jiro and Kiro as they work through problems, keep failing, but keep trying and eventually have success.  Their boss (played by Martin Short in the English dub) was SO funny!  I loved his character.  The love story was well-handled I thought.  The fact that she is sick and eventually dies isn't the most interesting part to me, it was more about the struggle Jiro faced of balancing his work life with home life ( I had a more profound thought on that at one point, but its gone now).  A lot of the side stories were near too, like the anti-Nazi German guy Jiro meets, when he had to hide from the Japanese police in his boss's house to do work, etc.

But the heart of the film is really Giovanni and his message of humanity being made better for having airplanes, despite their use in wars.  Clearly a depiction of Miyazaki's own ideals!
 
The score... I wish I could remember anything about it right now, but what I do remember is loving it within the film.  Perhaps more than any of all the Miyazaki scores, it most made me want to go listen to it outside the film.  I haven't yet, but now that I've finished watching all the movies, now's a good a time as any go check out all the scores!
 
 
So here's my final ranking!
 
1. Spirited Away
2. Princess Mononoke
3. The Wind Rises
4. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
5. My Neighbor Totoro
6. Castle In The Sky
7. Kiki's Delivery Service
8. Ponyo
9. Castle of Cagliostro
10. Porco Rosso
11. Howl's Moving Castle

"Steven, you need a better composer than me for this picture"
 
"I know, but he just died!"

I just watch TPM now. It was the only good one they ever made anyway.

Yes, the older the better I say!

Recently, the question of how much of the CoS score was done by William Ross came up, and I said I'd do an analysis basen on what we have. Well here it is! There are also a lot of misconceptions thrown around about how much of the score is just retreading the first one, I hope my final numbers can put an end to that. Any thoughts and corrections on calculating errors, typos and unnoticed references are most welcome! I'm using the leaked PS and CoS sessions, so the main analysis will only take into account the final intended version of every cue so far known to be recorded for the movie, no unused/not recorded music from leaked sheets and no tracked cues. I will assume satisfactory knowledge of the movies and all major themes at least.
 
I've also decided to have a look at the OST and recommend the best cues not on it, and also to break down the major tracked cues appearing in the cue list, just for completion's sake - look for the Appendix at the end of this post.
 
The Analysis
 
My custom terminology
 
OM - Old Material, used in PS, similar tempo, similar orchestration - will reference PS session cues, slates and timecodes if relevant, won't if unnecessary (I don't have to point out where Nimbus 2000 is in Hedwig's Theme)
AM - Adapted Material, themes/specific cues used in PS or other movies, but adapted/orchestration and tempo changed significantly enough (like Nimbus 2000 in Cakes for Crabbe and Goyle, for example)
NM - New Material, thematic and melodic material first heard in CoS 
 
From Reel 3 onwards, I'll be using contractions for frequently reappearing themes with long and tedious names :
3NL - 3-Note Loop (original Philosopher's Stone motif here repurposed as a generic danger/mystery theme)
HWWO - Harry's Wondrous World Opening
N2 - Nimbus 2000
 
Reel 1
 
 
Reel 1
Old Material: 05:52
Adapted Material: 03:19
New Material: 06:07
Complete: 15:18
 
 
 
Reel 2
 
 
Reel 2
Old Material: 5:56
Adapted Material: 3:22
New Material: 8:40
 Complete: 17:58
 
 
Reel 3
 
 
Reel 3
Old Material: 2:49
Adapted Material: 3:51
New Material: 5:43
Complete: 12:23
 
Here I must also stop to say the movie must have been criminally overspotted, because a lot of good and new bits have been left out. Normally, lots of bits and pieces go missing, because the picture gets trimmed after the recording takes place, so the music goes with them, but here most scenes are intact and the music is taken out from under them, for example the beginning of Transformation Class (I guess they wanted the 3NL to be more sudden and dramatic in its appearance?) or the Whomping Willow and some Spiders material (probably tension and "jumpscare" reasons). This could potentially be forgiven had most of Reel 8 not been tracked - a lot of important action score, mysteries and big revelations to never see the light of day because JW had to spend his time writing minutes of unrecorded music, and writing and recording several more minutes that were not used. Kind of like The Arena vs. The Battle of Geonosis all over again!
 
Reel 4
 
 
Reel 4
Old Material: 3:40
Adapted Material: 1:54
New Material: 8:46
Complete: 14:20
 
Reel 5
 
 
Reel 5
Old Material: 2:05
Adapted Material: 4:57
New Material: 7:20
Complete: 14:22
 
Reel 6
 
 
Reel 6
Old Material: 2:40
Adapted Material: 1:27
New Material: 3:31
Complete: 7:38
 
Reel 7
 
 
Reel 7
Old Material: 4:56
Adapted Material: 1:54
New Material: 9:58
Complete: 16:48
 
Reel 8
 
 
Reel 8
Old Material: 00:00
Adapted Material: 2:16
New Material: 9:35
Complete: 11:51
 
Reel 9
 
 
Reel 9
Old Material: 4:13
Adapted Material: 3:24
New Material: 4:14
Complete: 11:51
 
Conclusions
 
Standout NM cues: All Dobby material, Magical Household, all Lockhart material, all Flying Car material, all Fawkes material, Writing on the Wall, 
                                 Transformation Class, Petrified Colin, Dueling Club, The Spiders Pt.2, Ginny Gets Snatched, Reel 8
Standout OM cues: Escape from the Dursleys, Letters from Hogwarts, Harry meets Lucius, Introducing Colin / Mail, Flying Pixies, Dumbledore and Harry,
                                 Reunion of Friends
 
Total Numbers:
 
Complete: 2:02:29
Old Material: 32:11 (26.27%)
Adapted Material: 26:24 (21.55%)
New Material: 63:54 (52.17%)
 
Discrepancies between the final numbers and the cue list numbers can come down to podium changes, or the fact that I couldn't be bothered to count the seconds of silence on the beginning of every sessions track or in the middle of some cues. The final percentages would not be impacted in any significant way.
 
So on an expanded 2-disc release, counting with 78 min. max per disc, there would be at least 36:40 left for bonus material, probably a few minutes more, since the aforementioned silences and properly joined tracks would make the score shorter than my estimate. I believe we have no idea how many alternates exist/were recorded/were even written, if not many, this could probably house the Children's Suite (24:11 if we count Harry's Wondrous World as the finale, 18:50 if we don't). We'll 100% get HWW as the HP1 Credits, so on HP2 it'll either be the Credits or the Suite (and thus the CD2) finale, if the suite or even the HWW is on there, of course.
 
Appendices
 
Appendix A
Reel 10 (Additional material, I don't consider these part of the score)
 
 
Appendix B
The tracked cues - what do they consist of? (An editing guide)
 
 
Appendix C
A complete intended score editing guide
 
This includes every single sessions cue (even ones removed from the movie) and tracked cues.
 
Note: this is simply a guide to my preferred way of listening to the score, not an attempt at a complete film edit recreation with all edited out bits and pieces tracked down; that exceeds even my patiance and tolerance levels, it's work for another year - and probably another user. (A Remixed and Restored trilogy á la Jurassic Park based on the Black Friday John Williams Harry Potter Collection, perhaps? :P)
 
I consider two types of edits: hard and soft. A hard edit means two cues were written to be joined/overlapped, but recorded separately. Listening to them separate worsens the listening experience because you get a buildup to an unsatisfying climax, a few seconds of silence, then a sudden out-of-nowhere climax and continuation. Temple of Doom, for example, is filled with these types of transitions. A soft edit just means one cue is winding down/a note is held, while the other starts or winds up without there being a gap between these. Not joining these cues does not necessarily worsen the listening experience. 
 
Hard edits I always recreate, this means I had to split a few tracked cues in half in Reel 8 to avoid overstuffed, non-focused 15 minute tracks. Soft ones I'm more liberal with - if it makes sense musically and thematically as one track, I'll even join cues separated by seconds of silence in the movie. 
 
Since there are way more soft edits than hard ones, I'll only indicate hard edits (+ and +h instead of +s and +h).
 
The final track names are my own creations, sometimes I'd reference the edit I've listened to for years, sometimes an original session name since I like it better, sometimes it's completely made up.
 
 
 
Appendix D
So what is on the OST?
Personal comments incoming, feel free to ignore them if you happen to like inexplicably random and non-chronological presentations!
 
 
OST
Old Material: 22:26 (31.83%)
Adapted Material: 6:44 (9.55%)
New Material: 41:19 (58.62%)
Complete: 70:29
 
Appendix E
Which unreleased cues can I look forward to most in a future expansion if I don't touch bootlegs and session leaks?
(Personal favourites, recommendations)
 
 
Yes, I've got way too much free time.

You know what, we learned from each other.  It made us all better in that it was competitive.  At the time it felt manipulative and crude especially for me coming from a classical world but we did secretly try to impress each other too so ultimately it was a growth experience.  I truly loved my time at USC bruises and all.  I have one very sweet memory...maybe the first week into class, Austin and I had lunch at a place he introduced me to that became a favorite of mine and I've frequently had lunch there for networking purposes.  Our whole class was new to town so didn't know anyone in this big scary town called LA but all shared the same dream.  After lunch, we sat in my car for maybe an hour or two listening to each others demo CD and giving kind and supportive feedback like "oh cool, interesting harmonic choice there" or something like that. I loved the fact that he was into space as I was and his earliest demo music was space music which was all he had then plus we were totally geeking out to our mutual love of the greats like Horner, Goldsmith, and Williams.  We basically couldn't wait to talk music details and show each other our stuff.  Note Zimmer at the time wasn't known for Pirates or the super hero genre stuff but Austin absolutely loved Zimmer's quirky music like As Good as It Gets.  These were very nice memories to sit in the car and talk deeply about music for hours with a serious fan.  Austin was very young.  I believe 22 and was finishing his last year of undergrad while doing the grad program (which is why he studied with Morten since he still had an undergrad degree to finish and the grad program required the completion of undergrad to quality).  My time with Morten was limited to a masterclass and I frankly have had more time with John Williams than Morten.  I saw him frequently (probably weekly) and we had access to him but frankly, our focus was elsewhere.  Austin never doubted himself which was the complete opposite of me and my classical peers who constantly doubted ourselves.  Frankly, that wasn't an endearing quality when someone so young was so confident of their talent.  In music school, it gets tiring meeting people who believe they are the next Stravinsky.  But he did grow up over the years since and I now appreciate what originally frustrated me realizing these are just quirks which anyone has.  I think what made me appreciate him much more as a person was his response to the AFA fine.  He handled that with grace, courage and conviction and I believe grew from the experience which I think happened when he lost his father to heart failure.  I lost my dad to heart failure 17 years ago so found his courage through this endearing.  In 2016 we were both nominated for the same major award.  I had worked on the music team of a modest video game score but he had worked on a major brand's score (sorry I don't remember what it was!).  When they announced his name as a nominee, from the applause it was clear he would win and I was genuinely delighted for him.  We are no longer competitors, he has eclipsed me and I am thrilled for his success.  Frankly, he deserves it and is much more comfortable in the lime light.   He really is a very good guy and most people discovered this sooner than I did. I miss our talks in a car listening to each others stuff and talking about our shared love of music for hours.

@Docteur Qui You gotta remember that drax lives upside down. All the blood in his head makes him act weird.

@Docteur Qui You gotta remember that drax lives upside down. All the blood in his head makes him act weird.

Awesome

It's quite possible that Drax and I ruined the forum, but we did it with the best intentions. We're like the Rick Berman and Brannon Bragga of JWFan.

Eh? If you want free likes just call Drax names. It's one of the most widely known JWFan hacks.

The trailer looks alright. The book is light entertainment, it's pulp fiction I guess, it's fun and doesn't require any effort. It was a perfect palette cleanser at the time I read it. It isn't literature but I can picture it on screen. 
 
Picturing Spielberg's vision for it is difficult but I think he can make a fun, well made, entertaining film out of this. It won't be spectacular but there'll be little wrong with it. Aside from nitpicks. It's going to be a pop cultural, nostalgia trip. 

This is true.  At the 35th anniversary screening, they had many people involved in the TMP and the blaster beam player, David Newman (who played violin in the sessions), etc.  Star Trek was green lit to a big budget theatrical release BECAUSE of Star Wars.  There was tremendous pressure and hope from Paramount to get the success of SW with one of their properties so they gave it a budget twice as big, hired a classic director, etc.  Goldsmith struggled to make the music as thematic as Star Wars and asked to be fired when being very frustrated that none of his ideas were getting approved.  He scored the first reel or two and recorded it but Bob Wise hated it and the sessions stopped for him to restart the process.  So in a way, the need for these motific themes like the Enterprise or Iliea owe a lot to Leia and the sound of Star Wars but Goldsmith was such a substantial composer that he kept that style firmly his own and found the soul of the film too.  Interesting trivia...David Newman recalls a lanky young boy in the booth during the sessions.  That was a young James Horner who hadn't yet scored any film but would coincidentally score the sequel and not use any of Goldsmith's material.

Not the first time character posters for a movie are designed like that.
 
Oh, and...
 

I'm sure they'll give JW 25 seconds of screen time  to relay a Schindler's List anecdote!

"When Kathy Kennedy asked me if I would do the new film I immediately said yes, because I didn't want Giacc-- anybody else writing music for Daisy!"
- John Williams at Film Night (microedited in podcast)

Nah. Williams probably saw some footage from the film and said: "You need a better composer than me for this film", and Spielberg said "OK".

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that Williams won't do RPO. I had hoped for something pulsating in the style of MINORITY REPORT, perhaps (or at least PRESUMED INNOCENT, which isnt' too bad). I'm glad that he's doing THE PAPERS (any new Williams is appreciated), but I'm not excited about the project at all, and I can kinda already hear the score in my mind. Not the biggest canvas, nor the greatest opportunity for a fine textural score. I was far more excited for Williams' RPO than Williams' THE PAPERS.
 
All that being said, I'm curious about what Silvestri can deliver. I've not read the book, but something tells me "retro electronics" here. Silvestri was great with electronics in the 80s, and he proved that he still has that touch with certain tracks in the COSMOS soundtrack. So if he can delve into some of that, I'd be a happy camper.
 
Time will tell!

Guess what paper is made from.  I think I know the real reason behind Williams' choice...

Of course!
 
 

They prequels are so bad, how can they even be acknowledged to be in the same continuity as the others? Wouldn't characters notice that their worlds looked like bad CGI while everything evolved to look more natural in later episodes?

Fantastic Mr. Fox: Additional Music
 
Trains is super catchy