Mr. Breathmask

I'm excited for this. Labyrinth gets all the love, but The Dark Crystal is the more ambitious and daring of Henson's non-Muppet films. I love it.

He (or more likely: his PR-person) also recently replied to a question I asked in response to him posting the sheet music of Flying with Mother from How to Train Your Dragon 2. Such honor. Much wow. Intriguing answer, too.

I'll tell them you sent me.

I'll be in Bruges next Wednesday and Thursday. Where are they giving away free beer now?

Fixed.

Han Solo and the Princess.

I see it. Hmm. The one time I don't watch a video beforehand. I'll have a look at it.

At least we're willing to admit we're a bunch of fanboys!

Oh, sure. But I can't judge that score's use in the film objectively anyway. I love the music too damn much and I've heard it so many times any time the music drops away in the film it feels off. It's a fanboy thing.

I guess. But whenever I watch The Empire Strikes Back, I can't help but hear the dropped music continue playing in my head. The score is just that familiar to me. And sometimes I really wish the music was there.

Oh, definitely. There would have been way too much music if all of it had been used in the film. But as standalone pieces accompanied by the appropriate images, they all work really well and I love what Williams does with them. But silence is a powerful tool in a filmmaker's toolkit and looking at the larger picture, some of this score was justifiably dropped.

I was wondering if that was the case. Good thing I prepared an alternate version then. Enjoy this as a little bonus. 18. Visitor in San Diego, part 2 */Ludlow's End */Tranquilizer Dart */The Lost World (alternate)/Jurassic Park Theme (End Credits) * 13M2 The Streets of San Diego 13M3/14M1 Ludlow’s End 14M2 The Saving Dart [unknown] Here is the finale again, but this time with The Lost World kicking off the end credits, before going into the Jurassic Park Theme.

When put back to film, the end of Ludlow's Speech is probably my favorite piece of unused music. Followed by the complete Ludlow's End. Followed by the second half of Up in a Basket. All these tension-building pieces really add to the film.

It has been a very, very busy day today. But here's a final treat for you guys before I'm off to bed! 17. Visitor in San Diego, part 2 */Ludlow's End */Tranquilizer Dart */Jurassic Park Theme (End Credits) */The Lost World (alternate) 13M2 The Streets of San Diego 13M3/14M1 Ludlow’s End 14M2 The Saving Dart [unknown] And here we come to our final video. The Streets of San Diego was written to start right on the smash cut to the screaming woman, but the first forty seconds of the track are dropped in favor of silence. Instead, in the final film the music starts as we cut inside the video store. The whole sequence is scored with appropriately wild action music, as if we're watching a circus gone wild. There's a small edit as the crowd of police cars comes across the T-Rex, before the percussion returns - heavier than ever - for Malcolm and Sarah's final chase. The Streets of San Diego goes straight into Ludlow's End, which is written to overlap. A huge part of this cue is unused. Only the first fifteen seconds are in the film. The atmospherics for Ludlow exploring the cargo hold are dropped in favor of silence. A big action piece was written for Ludlow's demise and Sarah and Malcolm's race across the ship's deck, but that was all scrapped and replaced with the concert version of the Lost World theme (including the alternate opening that was first released on the La-La Land set). It's one of the most noticeable tonal shifts between written score and final film mix. The written version extends the pulse-pounding action climax until the moment Sarah fires the tranquilizer dart, whereas the film version heralds the arrival of the adult rex as the start of the triumph. Using the adventurous main theme for a major character's death is a rather gleeful relishing in "punishing" the bad guy and I always felt it was an odd choice. But I guess Spielberg wanted one more rousing rendition of the theme to signal the action's end. In the final film, the Lost World theme feels like the main theme of the film, but listening to the written score, I'd argue the film's main theme is actually The Island's Voice (although it is not used here). Ludlow's End is supposed to flow straight into The Saving Dart. Of course, the end of Ludlow's End is unused and replaced by the Lost World theme. The first eight seconds of The Saving Dart are also unused. Instead, the T-Rex's roar plays over silence and the music fades in as we cut to Malcolm watching the hatch close. The final cue before the end credits then offers some relief after all the action as the film wraps up. The Lost World theme gets a gentle rendition as we see the Venture heading back to Isla Sorna. Jurassic Park's main theme is reprised as John Hammond makes his final appearance. In the film, the adventure theme from the first film follows this and takes us straight into the end credits, but this transition was created editorially. The score's original ending features an ending that is entirely different. Gentle violins and a ghostly synth voice take us back to Isla Sorna, where dinosaurs now live in the wild, completely out of man's control. It is a more downbeat ending that underscores the environmental message, but arguably not the tone you want the audience to leave the cinema with. The edit at the end of The Saving Dart leads straight into a rendition of the adventure theme for the start of the end credits. This is followed by the Lost World concert suite for the second part of the end credits. Because I have eliminated this edit by restoring the original ending of The Saving Dart, I have included tracks 13 and 14 of disc 4 of the La-La Land Records set for your listening pleasure to round out the experience. To facilitate this length, the end credits scroll has been slowed down to run about a third longer. So there it is. I hope you have all enjoyed these remixes. Researching, remixing and restoring The Lost World was certainly an undertaking, but I've really enjoyed the process. The Lost World: Jurassic Park as interpreted by John Williams appears to be a very different film. Overall, the final film mix favors silence in several places (not uncommon for a Jurassic Park movie as we saw last time) or the adventurous tones of the Lost World theme to soothe the audience and remind them they're watching a popcorn adventure film. What do you think of the differences? Do you have a favorite piece of dropped music? And what other score would you like to see remixed and restored?

I thought it was because it's boring as fuck.

Well, I can't fix everything!

Yeah, I'm pretty convinced this makes more sense. Even if it means cutting the opening few seconds of Monster on the Loose. I've updated the previous video accordingly.

Come on, guys. It's Star Wars Battlefront: The Movie and we all know it. Fan service bullshit.

Philosophical? What?

I moved the search of the ship around a bit and found it did indeed sync a bit bitter if we account for a cut somewhere around the time the Rex escapes. I first had a blank screen between the reaction shot of Ludlow and the Rex leaving the ship. It was long enough so that the start of Monster on the Loose started as the Rex bursted through the doors. But that meant the music that's there in the film is in the wrong place. The first two bars of Monster on the Loose - which is the part at the beginning that's unused - are marked "optional repeat" on the sheet music. So what if they were really recorded as an option and not necessarily meant to be there? Watch what happens when I trim those two bars and leave the footage intact. The music that's in the film for the Rex breaking free stays in place, but the footage of the search across the ship moves forward in relation to The Wrecked Ship by about eight seconds. And I think this actually works much better! Check it out (resynced material at 0:44-2:12):

Nobody seems to. It's out in a week in the US and it has no reviews yet. That's usually not a good sign.

I went to a Sneak Preview showing tonight (for those who don't know: it's when you buy a ticket and they don't tell you ahead of time what's playing - usually a film that isn't out for a few weeks). I ended up seeing Kidnap. So you don't have to. Shallow, overscored to within an inch of its life and poorly directed from a lousy script. Stars Halle Berry, but she appears to be in this just to get a producer's credit. Avoid this movie.

Well, that's what they did in the movie. The first part is unused.

16. Heading North */Ludlow’s Speech */The Wrecked Ship */Monster on the Loose */Visitor in San Diego (part 1) * 12M2 Heading North 12M3 Ludlow’s Speech 12M4 Wompi’s Wrench 12M5 Monster on the Loose 13M1 A Neighborhood Visitor NOTE: This video and the accompanying text have been updated to reflect new findings discussed below. Heading North is supposed to start soon after High Bar and Ceiling Tiles, right as we first see the captured Tyrannosaur. Contemplative strings underscore the sight of the captive T-Rex and Ludlow’s conversation with Roland. After Roland speaks his final line, the music swells. It’s here that the score comes in in the film. As our heroes fly over the site and spot the captive T-Rex, the Lost World theme plays. It’s one of many renditions in the film, but in the score as written, it’s only the second time we hear this theme and we won’t hear it again in this full setting until the end credits. Heading North goes straight into the next cue. The Island’s Voice is featured prominently in the start of Ludlow’s Speech. It’s set over repeating percussion and an interesting line that’s reminiscent of the synth percussion from Dennis Steals the Embryo. As the S.S. Venture approaches the shore, the music builds. After the dockworkers turn towards the sound of the oncoming boat, the music cuts out in the film, but there’s about another minute of pounding score written for the approach and eventual crash of the Venture. As The Wrecked Ship starts, The Island’s Voice is now dominating the score, even though we’re now off the island. The first part of this track features the motif in a setting similar to the opening of the film. This cue is entirely unused. Instead, the exploration of the S.S. Venture is mostly accentuated by the sound of the cargo door drive motor. There is also more music than there is film until the score re-enters the film mix. Because both the end of the previous cue and the start of the next are unused, and the track is longer than the scene it accompanies, it’s pretty hard to say for certain where this music goes. For this video, I have synced Ludlow’s Speech and Monster on the Loose to their respective latest and earliest sync points and put in this track so that the start of The Wrecked Ship overlaps with the end of Ludlow’s Speech and the final bars of The Wrecked Ship flow into the start of Monster on the Loose. The most likely trim point I found in this sequence is when Ludlow reaches the deck. Notice the change in the amount of people present when we cut to the wide shot, as well as the security guard standing next to Ludlow suddenly holding a large flashlight. The first two bars of Monster on the Loose are marked as an "optional repeat" and are not used in the film. The music starts right as the Rex bursts free at bar 3. The original version of this video contained the first two bars of Monster on the Loose with The Wrecked Ship ending right before it. After some discussion (which you can read below) I did some fiddling about and ended up cutting the first two bars of Monster on the Loose, letting The Wrecked Ship go straight into bar 3 of Monster on the Loose. The result of this change was that from the moment we cut back to the film after Ludlow has made his way to the deck, we are now eight seconds earlier in The Wrecked Ship and it lines up much better than the original video. When Malcolm tells Ludlow “now you’re John Hammond,” the adventure theme appears again - a callback to its use earlier in the score when Malcolm was telling Ludlow he wasn’t Hammond (this happened in The Trek, which was cut from the film and replaced with the Lost World concert sutie). Then, as the Rex crashes through immigration, the movie tracks in music from Visitor in San Diego, but Williams wrote a short fanfare for this moment that will be reprised soon. After the Rex roars into the night, the film returns to the written score for the following dialogue scene. The very first part of A Neighborhood Visitor, underscoring the Rex walking around a suburban area, is not used in the film. The music comes in as we cut inside. When syncing to this point, the end of Monster on the Loose goes straight into this cue. The "dinosaur in our backyard" scene has the score pretty much intact. Then there are some minor edits as Malcolm and Sarah reach Jurassic Park San Diego, where the deleted fanfare from Monster on the Loose is reprised, this time with the adventure theme overlaid. A Neighborhood Visitor was coupled with The Streets of San Diego on the original album and the La-La Land Release, but they are actually two separate cues with a few seconds of silence in between. This was originally the last unscored moment, although there is still a bunch of dropped and replaced music to come in our final video...

A Neighborhood Visitor and Streets of San Diego are two separate cues, so there's going to be a split there (as there also was between other cues that are separated by only a few seconds of silence). I also want to spare people having to stream over half an hour of the movie in one go. You'll have the final parts soon enough.