Docteur Qui

This series is going to be a trainwreck. There's so much that can go wrong with committing to a 7-season project like this, just look at what happened to Fantastic Beasts. Who's going to be the show-runner? As proven by shows like The Last of Us and Thrones, the quality and success of these kinds of shows rests on the passion and dedication of the people making it, and considering the state of affairs around Rowling at the moment I imagine the best candidates wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole. That announcement trailer says it all - this isn't a reimagining or a retelling of the story. Why else would they have Hedwig's Theme and an image of the film's Hogwarts Castle? Any creative working on this will not have the freedom to re-imagine the books the way they should. It just reeks of corporate desperation, and of Warner Bros trying to cash in on their biggest IP. 
 
Worst of all is that it'll tarnish the branding of HBO as a producer of prestige television because most people don't know the difference between HBO and HBO Max.

Exactly. This looks like it will be a souless product designed by algorithms in order to attract subscribers. Meanwhile, the same franchise has a lot of other great stories that could generate great TV.

I predict it will be cancelled after two seasons.

This series is going to be a trainwreck. There's so much that can go wrong with committing to a 7-season project like this, just look at what happened to Fantastic Beasts. Who's going to be the show-runner? As proven by shows like The Last of Us and Thrones, the quality and success of these kinds of shows rests on the passion and dedication of the people making it, and considering the state of affairs around Rowling at the moment I imagine the best candidates wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole. That announcement trailer says it all - this isn't a reimagining or a retelling of the story. Why else would they have Hedwig's Theme and an image of the film's Hogwarts Castle? Any creative working on this will not have the freedom to re-imagine the books the way they should. It just reeks of corporate desperation, and of Warner Bros trying to cash in on their biggest IP. 
 
Worst of all is that it'll tarnish the branding of HBO as a producer of prestige television because most people don't know the difference between HBO and HBO Max.

Pokemon Gold/Silver had the entire map from Red/Blue available after beating the Elite 4. Not all buildings were accessible but it was the same map using a new compression algorithm Iwata came up with before taking a leadership role in the company.
 

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” is literally just “Once upon a time,” you guys.  It’s an adventure serial.

naaaaaaaaaaaaaaah it's presented (or at least the OT) internally as a fairytale. legend at most. (i probably don't need to explain  the differences between myth, legend and tale). in "the galaxy" this is probably a story that people know.

There aren't enough words in the world to describe how excited this blurb makes me. I assumed the initial approach was going to be John writes a theme and someone else does the rest for a few reasons. Thought he wouldn't do it after Spielberg left and the fact he was coming off of 3 Star Wars movies which I'm sure aren't easy to score at his age. And it worked out incredibly well on Solo. 

But I'm glad he's doing the score himself. Helena's Theme is an amazing sign of things to come.

i don't think i'd have the guts to give JW a temp track, but if i did, yeah, very complicated or weird or old music

While on the topic of temp tracks but bringing it back to Indy, I hope the film wasn't just temped with only previous Indy scores (or worse, a generic "Williams-style" approach lifting from any of his scores). This terrific post by @Manakin Skywalkerperfectly sums up my issue with that approach for the sequel films:
 
 
Williams is always at his best when he's being challenged, and the best music he's ever written is when he's inspired by better composers than him. Giving him an edit scored with his own music and being told to just do what he would normally do, to me, is a waste of the man's talents. If I was Mangold and absolutely had to use a temp track... I'd look to who inspired Williams back in 1981 for Raiders: Maurice Jarre, Korngold etc. But looking at temp track options I'd also want to look outside of the box as much as possible and remind myself of some of JW's most inspired moments; like scoring a magical three-storey bus ride with an unhinged swing big band piece, or a ballet lightsaber battle with an epic vocal cantata.

In many ways, the work of a JWFan poster is easy. We risk very little and enjoy no position whatsoever compared those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we posters must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.
 
Not everyone can become a Jedi, but a great Jedi can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the kid sweeping the stable at Canto Bight, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest Jedi in Star Wars.

Maybe you're looking at it wrong? Watch Ratatouille and pay attention to the explanation of "anyone can cook".

While on the topic of temp tracks but bringing it back to Indy, I hope the film wasn't just temped with only previous Indy scores (or worse, a generic "Williams-style" approach lifting from any of his scores). This terrific post by @Manakin Skywalkerperfectly sums up my issue with that approach for the sequel films:
 
 
Williams is always at his best when he's being challenged, and the best music he's ever written is when he's inspired by better composers than him. Giving him an edit scored with his own music and being told to just do what he would normally do, to me, is a waste of the man's talents. If I was Mangold and absolutely had to use a temp track... I'd look to who inspired Williams back in 1981 for Raiders: Maurice Jarre, Korngold etc. But looking at temp track options I'd also want to look outside of the box as much as possible and remind myself of some of JW's most inspired moments; like scoring a magical three-storey bus ride with an unhinged swing big band piece, or a ballet lightsaber battle with an epic vocal cantata.

Every movie since the first one has been his send-off

It's always bothered me the way in which they temped the sequel films. For the original six films, they of course primarily used classical music accompanied sometimes by music from other films.
 
For the sequel trilogy on the other hand, as confirmed by Rian Johnson himself, about 95% of the temp music they used was John's, and mostly consisted of his Star Wars music specifically. Basically he had to keep rewriting music over and over again that he had already written years ago, without any new inspiration.
 
In fact, I've actually coined a term for this phenomenon: "Temp Incest"
 
This process typically results in physically deformed and intellectually impaired pieces of music.

I would ask him to write the action scenes like a ballet. He can go to town scoring the action and individual moments with flourishes, but I want a through-line - a musical idea that the entire set-piece revolves around. Like Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, The Asteroid Field etc. I've noticed it's something he does less and less nowadays but they're such joyous pieces. 
 
I would also spend time discussing new themes. Obvious ones like "who is this new character and how can we encapsulate them" but also more esoteric uses of themes and orchestration to create a unique but cohesive sound for the film. A great example is in The Lost World; synth choir is frequently used in a way that evokes an ethereal but unnatural beauty, a wonderful musical interpretation of the genetically-engineered dinosaurs. Another example is the recorder and other period instruments in Prisoner of Azkaban - it's truly a unique score that elevates the film in so many ways with its distinctiveness. 

I would ask him to write the action scenes like a ballet. He can go to town scoring the action and individual moments with flourishes, but I want a through-line - a musical idea that the entire set-piece revolves around. Like Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, The Asteroid Field etc. I've noticed it's something he does less and less nowadays but they're such joyous pieces. 
 
I would also spend time discussing new themes. Obvious ones like "who is this new character and how can we encapsulate them" but also more esoteric uses of themes and orchestration to create a unique but cohesive sound for the film. A great example is in The Lost World; synth choir is frequently used in a way that evokes an ethereal but unnatural beauty, a wonderful musical interpretation of the genetically-engineered dinosaurs. Another example is the recorder and other period instruments in Prisoner of Azkaban - it's truly a unique score that elevates the film in so many ways with its distinctiveness. 

I would ask him to write the action scenes like a ballet. He can go to town scoring the action and individual moments with flourishes, but I want a through-line - a musical idea that the entire set-piece revolves around. Like Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, The Asteroid Field etc. I've noticed it's something he does less and less nowadays but they're such joyous pieces. 
 
I would also spend time discussing new themes. Obvious ones like "who is this new character and how can we encapsulate them" but also more esoteric uses of themes and orchestration to create a unique but cohesive sound for the film. A great example is in The Lost World; synth choir is frequently used in a way that evokes an ethereal but unnatural beauty, a wonderful musical interpretation of the genetically-engineered dinosaurs. Another example is the recorder and other period instruments in Prisoner of Azkaban - it's truly a unique score that elevates the film in so many ways with its distinctiveness. 

I would ask him to write the action scenes like a ballet. He can go to town scoring the action and individual moments with flourishes, but I want a through-line - a musical idea that the entire set-piece revolves around. Like Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, The Asteroid Field etc. I've noticed it's something he does less and less nowadays but they're such joyous pieces. 
 
I would also spend time discussing new themes. Obvious ones like "who is this new character and how can we encapsulate them" but also more esoteric uses of themes and orchestration to create a unique but cohesive sound for the film. A great example is in The Lost World; synth choir is frequently used in a way that evokes an ethereal but unnatural beauty, a wonderful musical interpretation of the genetically-engineered dinosaurs. Another example is the recorder and other period instruments in Prisoner of Azkaban - it's truly a unique score that elevates the film in so many ways with its distinctiveness. 

I would ask him to write the action scenes like a ballet. He can go to town scoring the action and individual moments with flourishes, but I want a through-line - a musical idea that the entire set-piece revolves around. Like Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, The Asteroid Field etc. I've noticed it's something he does less and less nowadays but they're such joyous pieces. 
 
I would also spend time discussing new themes. Obvious ones like "who is this new character and how can we encapsulate them" but also more esoteric uses of themes and orchestration to create a unique but cohesive sound for the film. A great example is in The Lost World; synth choir is frequently used in a way that evokes an ethereal but unnatural beauty, a wonderful musical interpretation of the genetically-engineered dinosaurs. Another example is the recorder and other period instruments in Prisoner of Azkaban - it's truly a unique score that elevates the film in so many ways with its distinctiveness. 

I would ask him to write the action scenes like a ballet. He can go to town scoring the action and individual moments with flourishes, but I want a through-line - a musical idea that the entire set-piece revolves around. Like Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, The Asteroid Field etc. I've noticed it's something he does less and less nowadays but they're such joyous pieces. 
 
I would also spend time discussing new themes. Obvious ones like "who is this new character and how can we encapsulate them" but also more esoteric uses of themes and orchestration to create a unique but cohesive sound for the film. A great example is in The Lost World; synth choir is frequently used in a way that evokes an ethereal but unnatural beauty, a wonderful musical interpretation of the genetically-engineered dinosaurs. Another example is the recorder and other period instruments in Prisoner of Azkaban - it's truly a unique score that elevates the film in so many ways with its distinctiveness. 

yes, but were hearing the sound effects loud and clear. there's no reason the microphone would record the music lower

Well except the two exist on a different register and crappy phone microphones (probably being held against someone's clothes) have a bias towards the register of loud crashing metal over symphonic music.
 
If you played Beethoven's 5th symphony on speakers next to a freeway then recorded it with a phone inside your pocket, how clear do you think the music would sound?