LSH

I haven't listened to this since it came out. It's really good but...
 
Three tracks in, it sounds like a fairly good impression of the John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams dynamic that we all love... but with less gusto. I have no doubt at all that portions of this film were temped with Chicken Run. Even without melodic references, the 'feel' is there.
 
It's a shame that they forced so many RC composers in to 'assist' Julian Nott (the original composer of the Wallace & Gromit universe) when he was clearly capable of doing it alone. Rupert Gregson-Williams and Lorne Balfe (one of his earliest appearances) share the bulk of the additional music credit.
 
It's pleasant enough overall.

I absolutely love this one! Thank you so much for reminding me of it Thor. In fact, I'm gonna listen to it right now.

I only came to this 1994 effort a few years ago, much too late. Don't know why it took me so long, because it's really my favourite kind of JNH. Moody, windswept Americana and some gorgeous electronic/piano textures.

Jesus, that took me some time to edit...and it badly needed it. 'Jumanji's main attraction is the collision of hard-edged modernist writing, standing in for the many threats that come out of the game, and the family-friendly Horner sentiment that brackets it. But the way the movie is built, there are so many cues that do not stand on its own that it's just no fun listening to it complete/chronological. Vulgo, Horner's own assembly was kinda neat, though my own edits of a few cues into 'First Move' and 'Store Mayhem', a cue that was absent from the Sony album, make it a bit more rounded. It's still a bit of an odd duck, but fair enough.

Well, yes, they are "completed" renders. Completed in the sense that they put a ton of work into it and, technically speaking, has all the bells and whistles as far as rendering goes and went through the whole process that a final shot would go through. They wouldn't include anything without all that effort and making it look as good as they can.
 
But sometimes VFX shots still have earlier versions that are "completed" prior to the final iteration of a shot will be, just for the trailer and they will still continue to tweak things as they go. The movie doesn't come out until December - I wouldn't be surprised if they continue to finesse some of these shots along the way to November at least.
 
Honestly - most of the time a trailer editor receives an entire copy of the film with primitive VFX in order to edit separately while the film is being worked on. They may have figured out the edit of the trailer prior to those shots being remotely presentable and specifically accelerated the timeline for those shots to get something nearly done for the trailer release. 
 
This sort of early iteration and tweaking after the trailer happens all the time. Even if they're considered finished right now, they will likely still come back to them and tweak some things.
 
I remember back whenThe Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was coming out. The big hero shot at the end of all the promo material of Aslan roaring (one of those "show-off" shots.) had several iterations during the marketing campaign. By the end, he was a fair bit bigger than when he started. Not to mention the color grading changes - Take a look:
 


 
I know Narnia isn't exactly Avatar - a film over 10 years in the making, but it happens. I won't be surprised at all if anything changes by the time of the final film. I honestly assume most of the time that material in trailers is not totally finalized material anyways.
 
We shall see! There's still time for additional detail and tweaking.
 
 
Oh yes absolutely, thats a beautiful shot.

Perhaps not. She's quite politically/culturally volatile though. I can just imagine something about this film turning her off, and I don't even know what that would be.     

MUSIC BY SIMON FRANGLEN
 
 
I thought I'd create a new thread for discussion of the score since, in time, it will become a huge talking point. Couple of things to start off with...
 
According to Vanity Fair, the music heard in the teaser is Simon Franglen's. Thoughts? I rather like it. I like that it just outlines the chords of Horner's theme in what is quite a dreamy (in synth, processed voices and organ from what I can hear) piece.  
I have no doubt that there will be another end credits song since that was one of Franglen's production tasks on the first score. I can't personally think of anybody (relevant at least) that I would like to be involved but then I am amazingly out of touch. So much time has passed since Avatar that hardly anybody remembers Leona Lewis; she hasn't released a record in seven years.  
Anyway I, for one, am holding out a lot of faith for this. I expect Franglen to honour Horner faithfully; I just hope that he provides enough new and arresting material to propel - what is expected to be a loooonngg franchise - forward. I care far more about Avatar music than Avatar films.
 
Discuss and argue about stuff now.

I haven't listened to this since it came out. It's really good but...
 
Three tracks in, it sounds like a fairly good impression of the John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams dynamic that we all love... but with less gusto. I have no doubt at all that portions of this film were temped with Chicken Run. Even without melodic references, the 'feel' is there.
 
It's a shame that they forced so many RC composers in to 'assist' Julian Nott (the original composer of the Wallace & Gromit universe) when he was clearly capable of doing it alone. Rupert Gregson-Williams and Lorne Balfe (one of his earliest appearances) share the bulk of the additional music credit.
 
It's pleasant enough overall.

MUSIC BY SIMON FRANGLEN
 
 
I thought I'd create a new thread for discussion of the score since, in time, it will become a huge talking point. Couple of things to start off with...
 
According to Vanity Fair, the music heard in the teaser is Simon Franglen's. Thoughts? I rather like it. I like that it just outlines the chords of Horner's theme in what is quite a dreamy (in synth, processed voices and organ from what I can hear) piece.  
I have no doubt that there will be another end credits song since that was one of Franglen's production tasks on the first score. I can't personally think of anybody (relevant at least) that I would like to be involved but then I am amazingly out of touch. So much time has passed since Avatar that hardly anybody remembers Leona Lewis; she hasn't released a record in seven years.  
Anyway I, for one, am holding out a lot of faith for this. I expect Franglen to honour Horner faithfully; I just hope that he provides enough new and arresting material to propel - what is expected to be a loooonngg franchise - forward. I care far more about Avatar music than Avatar films.
 
Discuss and argue about stuff now.

I haven't listened to this since it came out. It's really good but...
 
Three tracks in, it sounds like a fairly good impression of the John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams dynamic that we all love... but with less gusto. I have no doubt at all that portions of this film were temped with Chicken Run. Even without melodic references, the 'feel' is there.
 
It's a shame that they forced so many RC composers in to 'assist' Julian Nott (the original composer of the Wallace & Gromit universe) when he was clearly capable of doing it alone. Rupert Gregson-Williams and Lorne Balfe (one of his earliest appearances) share the bulk of the additional music credit.
 
It's pleasant enough overall.

I haven't listened to this since it came out. It's really good but...
 
Three tracks in, it sounds like a fairly good impression of the John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams dynamic that we all love... but with less gusto. I have no doubt at all that portions of this film were temped with Chicken Run. Even without melodic references, the 'feel' is there.
 
It's a shame that they forced so many RC composers in to 'assist' Julian Nott (the original composer of the Wallace & Gromit universe) when he was clearly capable of doing it alone. Rupert Gregson-Williams and Lorne Balfe (one of his earliest appearances) share the bulk of the additional music credit.
 
It's pleasant enough overall.

I truly believe that the shots in that trailer are completed renders. When teasers such as this come out - essentially a non-narrative compilation of images - it's a big show off. The production team, and more importantly WETA, knew that promotional material would need to rear up around this time. If this isn't finished material, nothing will be.
 
I have to say, though, that close-up shot of Neytiri at the beginning, with the light and shadow rippling across her face, is super gorgeous.

Crikey, with just 7 months till release after 12 years of production... you'd hope they have something complete by now.  

I didn't think I could see any improvement in the visuals... until I went and looked at some clips of the 2009 film. It definitely is much better. I think the problem, at the end of the day, is we're still looking at a fantasy world that we have very little point of reference for, so it's always going to feel somewhat artificial. You can't deny that the water/foliage/etc looks utterly real.

Got this lovely error when I tried to play the episode 
 

Yeah, it's not my favourite either, nor my most-listened to... I just consider Angels In America to be the most accomplished and complete endeavour of the 'Thomas Newman sound' all in one single work.
 
I'd be hard pressed to choose a favourite but my most listened to are Josh And S.A.M., The Green Mile, The Horse Whisperer... and perhaps The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
 
 

Yeah, that's lovely. Sounds effortless. Newman's so good at this shit.
 
The entire score I still consider to be his magnum opus but also the most 'complete' portfolio of his abilities; it features every single Newman-ism going.

A 'trailer' and a few little behind-the-scenes featurettes on the production of the Of Mice And Men ballet. The music in the background certainly sounds very Newman-esque from what I can make out. I really do hope we get to hear this recorded.
 
 
 
 
 

The best melody he's ever written
 
 

I like that your description still doesn't fully reveal the technical mind-fuck that the movie pulls! In fact, I was struggling to find out how they made it appear to be one long continous take, until I found out the truth.

Leaked trailer:
 
https://streamable.com/a1t9s4

I didn't think I could see any improvement in the visuals... until I went and looked at some clips of the 2009 film. It definitely is much better. I think the problem, at the end of the day, is we're still looking at a fantasy world that we have very little point of reference for, so it's always going to feel somewhat artificial. You can't deny that the water/foliage/etc looks utterly real.

Leaked trailer:
 
https://streamable.com/a1t9s4

I didn't think I could see any improvement in the visuals... until I went and looked at some clips of the 2009 film. It definitely is much better. I think the problem, at the end of the day, is we're still looking at a fantasy world that we have very little point of reference for, so it's always going to feel somewhat artificial. You can't deny that the water/foliage/etc looks utterly real.

Leaked trailer:
 
https://streamable.com/a1t9s4