MikeH

Oh yeah, give me the stories!! Having Ramiro Belgardt on as a guest would be super cool as well. I know the editing process isn't always ideal, but it would be really awesome to hear him talk about working close with John and the filmmakers.

This year is a prime example of the Academy not really caring about music. But just choosing the music that goes with the most popular/nominated films

Wow, this is one of the worst Original Score nominations lists I’ve ever seen. And Franglen’s Avatar 2 definitely deserved a spot on there.

Well, Williams gives a reponse to this below.
 
 

I wonder what he's saying.
 
"What are your hobbies, Johnny?"
 
"Music and girls,  and well, I've already written enough music today so..." 

“Adventures on Moon!”

“Adventures on Moon!”

He's a very private man.  I asked Jon Burlingame the question and his response was sobering...he doubts a biography will be written when he's alive.  Those closest to him respect his privacy and that's a big part of the dearth of literature.  I don't think there is anything salacious or scandalous just someone who deeply guards his privacy.  I also think part of that attitude is generational.  I worked with someone who performed on many of the scores I adored, and I kept on telling them how much their performances on scores like 1941, Close Encounters, Jurassic Park, etc. meant to me and I didn't catch how uncomfortable the accolades made them feel.  They got to the point where they said, "can we just focus on the music?" and I realized my adoration was deeply uncomfortable for them.  That makes so much more sense to me now.  It's literally the same thing I see in others of that generation like Apollo Astronauts to walked on the moon.  They freaking hated talking about it though it was such a momentous moment in history.  For instance, Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins (1930-2021) of the same generation was invited to talk about aerospace at MIT and the one condition he gave was as long as there are no questions about the moon landing.  From a normal persons point of view, that is the only reason he is famous.  And that is the one thing he's so tired of talking about because from his point of view, he's said all that can be said and he did a job that was requested of him at that time.  For the rest of us, that is insufficient.  To him, he's said all he has to say.  I think JW is like that. 
 
It's not to say they are hiding something or don't want to talk about it.  It's more about they aren't speaking the same language the rest of us are so think they've said it all already thousands of times and keep getting asked the same questions.  A good interviewer, like Burlingame, understands this and can draw truth from them in a way that makes them feel comfortable.  That is very rare and makes them reluctant.  

Is John Williams really such a genius as we think? 

I'd like to know JW's escape velocity when Hanz sneaks up on him at job events. 

Um... someone should tell JW they're just flying on Earth with the moon in the background. 

Not the better half…

It's the same as on the original poster, it's just uncropped.
 

 
I quite like the negative space on the new poster, I see a custom score cover in my future 🙂

The 3D bit isn't new - Cameron had it converted years ago. As far as conversion jobs go it was done exceptionally well.

In the 'collective unconscious' Williams's triumphant brass sound is so easily identifiable with American culture at this point, that if you put it over an American national sporting event, it appears to fit like a glove. As if it had always been there.

This is such exciting news! I don't often watch college football (prefer the NFL) but will make sure to tune in to this. 
 
3:30 of new, extroverted Williams fanfares is such a treat. What a wonderful surprise, totally out of the blue. The maestro never ceases to amaze.
 
 

You just never know when Williams is gonna blindside you with a new commission out of nowhere.
 
 
 
 

Wow!
 
 
Wow!!
 
 
Wow!!!
 
 
Wow!!!!
 
 
Wow!!!!!!

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/john-williams-writes-new-theme-for-espn-college-football-1235480841/
Legendary composer John Williams has written an original theme for ESPN’s College Football Playoff National Championship, airing at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Monday night prior to the TCU-Georgia game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Titled “Of Grit and Glory,” it runs three and a half minutes and will score a specially created series of visuals that convey “the feeling behind the night, fear and anticipation, triumph and failure,” ESPN co-director and producer Martin Khodabakhshian tells Variety.
Williams’ new theme – previewed for Variety late Thursday – plays like a joyful overture, opening with fanfares and shifting seamlessly from martial urgency to anthemic splendor, all richly orchestrated and instantly memorable.
Khodabakhshian and his co-director and editor Michael Sciallis of Victory Pictures had dreamed about getting the world’s most famous film composer to write music for their opening sequence. So three months ago, at the urging of lead game producer Bill Bonnell (who had worked with the composer on past Olympic events), they wrote what Khodabakhshian calls “a love letter” to Williams, outlining their thoughts and gently inquiring about the possibility of an original theme.
“There’s no better person on the planet to write about emotions and the things that come with the biggest night on ESPN’s biggest stage, our Super Bowl, than John Williams,” Khodabakhshian says. Adds Sciallis: “We wrote about the emotions of bringing people together, not just the competition side of it, but how audiences are affected.”
Two days later, word came back: “He’s started writing something.” The ESPN team jumped into action, conceiving a visual sequence that would feature “college football heroes and legends from all eras” but also add “the beauty of Hollywood and California,” where the game would take place, Khodabakhshian notes.
Williams conducted a 96-piece orchestra on the Sony scoring stage on Dec. 21. And ESPN was there with seven cameras, shooting the entire three-hour recording session, parts of which will be intertwined throughout the opening segment – “so you feel the energy of those orchestra members, and of John, playing this music for the first time, so the audience gets to feel that as well,” Sciallis says.
The “giddiness and excitement” associated with a new Williams anthem for their big college football game was palpable throughout the ESPN executive suites, Sciallis says. Yet it remained top secret until today. On Saturday, ESPN will tease the opening and the Williams score during its NFL Wild Card Doubleheader.
Williams’ new music will be heard throughout the TCU-Georgia matchup. He recorded several takes of the main piece as well as briefer excerpts, “a re-join piece and a vamp,” Sciallis reports; “cutdowns and stingers,” shorter pieces that could be useful during the game itself, were edited in the days following the Dec. 21 session.
“He captured the spirit of the night,” says Sciallis. Khodabakhshian confesses he broke down in tears after the recording session. “I’m so overwhelmed and grateful because he’s the GOAT!”
This is believed to be the largest-scale musical commission ever for the sports network. What will happen with the piece after Monday night is not clear. ESPN could theoretically use it in future college football broadcasts; no plans for a commercial release have apparently been discussed.
In terms of music for athletic competition, the five-time Oscar winner has written four Olympic fanfares, a gridiron march for NBC’s football coverage, and the score for Kobe Bryant’s Oscar-winning short “Dear Basketball.” He hasn’t written music for television since his “Great Performances” theme for PBS, which won a 2009 Emmy.
Williams, 90, was unavailable for comment. He is currently on the Oscar shortlist for his music for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” and has been working for the past several months on the score for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” slated for release June 30.

I’ve seen it twice so far but plan on a couple of more viewings but I haven’t been able to go again since before Christmas due to work and scheduling with friends.
 
I saw the regular frame rate version in 3d both times and it looked incredible so I’ll go to the same screening again probably. That cinema has amazing sound as well without the imax volume which is nice.

I’m so baffled as to how anyone can hear the end to this cue and think that Franglen’s music is the same old anodyne, ostinato-driven, derivative mediocrity that plagues so many modern film scores. This, to my ears at least, is thrilling scoring of a very high level. It perhaps doesn’t ascend to the absolute heights of the great action scores, but very few do. It’s certainly a good deal better than most, if not all, action music currently being written. 

Imagine the weight involved on his shoulders. He must have gone through the last few years thinking that he's got to nail this because not only is it one of the biggest films ever made, but it's taking over from one of the all-time greats and his own friend. I'm so happy for him that he's got the best outcome possible. People love the film and his music.

I love all the attention/accolades Franglen is getting for this score. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
 
 

The big payoff sequence in the film that’s underscored with the first minute of Na’vi Attack is absolutely thrilling. It’s pure Horner through and through and I loved every second of it. Can’t imagine any other composer coming close to that.