bored

Not to mention the shill media still churning out articles and videos that unconditionally praise Disney/Lucasfilm and trash the naysayers.

@bored Thank you so much! And thank you for your passionate response! It means a lot that this project would spark such a great discussion. I will do my best to answer you comments so here we go: 

DH2 was by far the hardest score to do because it was a balance of “does this go in or that? There’s only 90 seconds so only one will work” when it came to reprising things. Not to mention it’s the longest and most active of the five scores despite it being the shortest movie. So I can both agree with you on Gryffindor Wins the House Cup working at the end, and also say it came down to which one I felt was best to put in given the score surrounding it as well. Lonely First Night doesn’t appear in the original Sorcerer’s Stone film either, so technically it’s not a reprise, which made me feel like I was getting away with something . And as far as Wondrous World representing the trio, I can meet you halfway on that one, but I think because the concert work (and JW) speak about it as Harry’s viewpoint into the world he comes to love so much, my brain has always strongly associated it with his perspective. 

When you say the bridge/flying theme from Hedwig’s Theme, I’m going to assume you mean the B theme of Nimbus 2000 material. (If you mean the literal bridge of Hedwig’s theme, we can discuss that too). As far as the Nimbus 2000 material goes, I personally always saw that as just part of “Mr. Longbottom Flies” within the context of a scene. I know it’s popular via the concert work, but it doesn’t get air time (pun intended) outside of that scene anyway. This is also a good example of how many different options were available during the project. Even at the outset, I knew that I had to just write what I felt might work best, knowing that there were plenty of options available, and that listeners were certainly chime in and give is their take. I appreciate this so much! 
 
The Voldemort 2 question is a good one because it’s both something I didn’t even recognize until you brought it up. I think, looking back, that I began shortening it regularly because harmonically it takes a lot of screen time to unfold. Additionally, the end of the full theme always cornered me harmonically, and I think leaving a theme open-ended allows for both a turn in a different direction, and more anticipation within the scene it appears. I’m going to have to go back and listen though. This is so interesting! 
 
Regarding the tone and orchestration of Hallows, I tried to stay away from my own writing as much as possible in this project (as you know of course) until I came to a scene where there really was no previous reference available. There was also a creative decision early on that Sorcerer’s Stone had to be the sound template for Deathly Hallows when it could be. That way, the nostalgic moments don’t feel like a random emotional grab like the tracked moments in the actual score for DH2. Desplat wrote an amazing DH2 score for example, but his style is so different from Williams that the moments of actual Williams in that score jolt the audience out of the mood and it feels like a cheap attempt at nostalgia. Here I did my best to smooth that out. Of course like you say, nothing’s perfect, but as an alternate version of what might have happened, I felt that this was my best swing for where my writing is right now. But I do appreciate all of the cues you mentioned, where you felt it was captured - those were all more my own writing style rather than being focused on adapting and tweaking.
 
This actually brings us to the use of Williams’ themes. The example you bring up from The Forest Again was actually completely on purpose since Harry has never known his parents, and therefore has never developed a real relationship with them. I didn’t feel that there was any different between this scene and the mirror scene where I took the material from in terms of emotional growth. Harry, of course, has grown immensely, but while talking to or seeing his parents, I imagine he’s still internally 11 years old, and just a boy. I used Window to the Past the same way here. Harry sees a relationship frozen in time, so it wouldn’t be able to grow beyond where it was. You make great points, and an alternate version of that scene for sure exists (obviously since this score is basically fan fiction). Hopefully my reasons can explain why I made my choices though! 
 
Thank you SO SO much for everything you mentioned though. I truly appreciate that someone would take the time to comment so thoroughly. Not just now, but through the years. Order of the Phoenix is Molly’s favorite too, haha. Personally I’m a HBP guy, but I’m gonna need some distance before I actually know which is my favorite. After doing all the research and writing them, I become attached to certain scenes or ideas and can’t step back really until it’s done and in the books. And we've still got end credits to finish!

BP

You think if you compare the brain waves of a George Lucas fundamentalist and a religious fundamentalist they'd be the same?

Less The Lord of the Rings, more The Hobbit.
 
I've seen no evidence that Lucas read The Lord of the Rings while working on the films. 1200-page books, fashioned as Medieval English romances, are frankly less his line of country. The Hobbit was much more suitable for him in terms of both the tone of it, and being far more digestible to a person who by all accounts is anything but a book-worm.
 
Virtually everything in these films (and in Lucas' larger filmography, e.g. Willow) that can be construed as coming from Tolkien, comes from The Hobbit, not from its big brother. Furthermore, those elements that ARE taken from the Hobbit, are overwhelmingly from the first few chapters at most.
 
We also have a paper-trail leading Lucas to The Hobbit - but not to The Lord of the Rings. Circa March 1975, George Lucas reads Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure (Third Edition). In it, author Richard Lupoff quotes from a correspondence he had with Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, which Lucas is subsequently inspired to pick up at some point before August that year, when he inserts close paraphrases off of that book into his next draft.

You think if you compare the brain waves of a George Lucas fundamentalist and a religious fundamentalist they'd be the same?

What “more” was it? Can somebody tell me the Big Secret? What more is Star Wars that none of us has yet realized? What more is it other than a classic hero’s journey that was influenced by Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Kurosawa, westerns, John Carter, Dune, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, even Star Trek?

You think if you compare the brain waves of a George Lucas fundamentalist and a religious fundamentalist they'd be the same?

You think if you compare the brain waves of a George Lucas fundamentalist and a religious fundamentalist they'd be the same?

I appreciate it, but you're not my type 
 
Only if Mattriss goes there too. But I don't think he cares about Indiana Jones as much as he does about Star Wars, does he?

Try sex.

Nah
 
Already seen it.
 
Too expensive.
 
Sorry, but this thread has amazing entertaining and comedic values. It's the funniest place on JWFan these days! Keep going 

Yeah there’s really no point in engaging anymore. Every time someone points out that George Lucas admitted to lying about having a master plan, Mattris just ignores it so he can keep playing pretend.

@bored wow, thanks so much for your really thoughtful review! I'll let Ben respond to the whole thing but it is great to read your thoughts. I'm still in awe that we've gotten to share it and have people listen, so this means a lot.
 
That's awesome to hear!  Also, just thinking as a listener myself, OotP is possibly my favorite too just because of how differently it made me see the film. 
 
This is so nice, thank you. A proper musical conclusion seemed like a huge impossible dream when we started this. It means a lot that it could actually happen! And nothing's perfect (plus of course we could never ever hope to be Williams, lol). But even with some of the newest JW scores, people discuss what themes could have gone where or some moments that didn't stick  so I'm thrilled, honestly.
 
I hope you've enjoyed listening as much as we have enjoyed your comments through the years! 
 
MS

I'm pretty sure if some fan made some kind of Adventures with Palpatine thing it would not look worse than that did. How did ANYONE think that looked OK? And why did they then stuff it into The Empire Strikes Back?

I thought that with every damn key I pressed to type that post. I don't know what's happening here, but its insidiousness is remarkable.
 

It's like when you trip in front of everybody and you say "I did it on purpose" to save face. 

Gimli: That was deliberate, it was deliberate!
 
(Wrong franchise, right analogy.)

Ah, you beat me to it! Sorry, we had to take some extra time with this one (even more than planned, haha). I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
 
We apologize for being late to the Sunday release, but it's all done! We made it! Here is the finale of the Deathly Hallows, Cues 52-57. The end credits will be released in two weeks - along with the other huge pieces at the end of Hallows here, the credits are hefty and we want to do a good job on them. We really hope you enjoy and feel as nostalgic as we do with this ending. It's hard to believe this is the last one.
 
Thank you all so so so much for listening over the years! We still have the usual stuff in store for the coming month, so this isn't done for good yet of course, but it's a big milestone today. Let us know what you think!

MS

So, best case scenario, the last Star Wars you saw was The Phantom Menace back in 1999?
 
Huh, it's not like you're missing much. 

Good luck!
 

What does it mean to you? And what doesn’t? And if it doesn’t, why? And why not? So just tell me. Why? And why not? That is the question. Star Wars. The Force. Force Wars. Star Force. The. Why. ?

Last year there was zero film that came from Hollywood that I found good or worth watching. I found Oppenheimer meh, didn’t care to watch Killers of the living room couch, Barbie a.k.a. Overrated film of the century or Dial of Dysentery. The only thing I remember seeing last year was Squid Game, which was one of the most depressing film experiences of my life. So yeah, I’m very disenchanted in pretty much everything Hollywood has been doing as “filmmaking”. Old and older guys trying to make “one more big hit”, young guys and gals trying to be the next old and older guy and gal wanting to make one more big hit. Pandering to minorities, insulting the majority, shoving dead on arrival political messages down the audience’s throat instead of telling great stories, which they can’t anymore. That’s Hollywood today in a nutshell. 

But what role does Greedo have in this master plan? Are the multiple Greedos just multiple versions who have been murdered by Han in various Maclunky shooting orders? Are the special editions really George's eventual plan for Star Wars multiverse? 
 
Only Mattris has the answers...

Directors' musical tastes.

But what role does Greedo have in this master plan? Are the multiple Greedos just multiple versions who have been murdered by Han in various Maclunky shooting orders? Are the special editions really George's eventual plan for Star Wars multiverse? 
 
Only Mattris has the answers...