Longest Star Wars Stretches w/o Scoring

[Genius_Gone_Insane 5]

Fellas,

Anyone know what the longest space is in the Star Wars movies that have no scoring? I've never really thought about it but my initial guess would be Ep IV after they battle the TIE fighters up until "Standing By".

[John Crichton 4]

And I think you'd be correct.

[Ollie 690]

If it's not the longest it comes close but I believe it should be.

[robthehand 2]

How long is that un-scored part, roughly?

I seem to remember there's quite a long bit between "Imperial Attack" and "The Desert" with no music... but I could be wrong.

[Diego 21]

I'd say it's between the destruction of Alderaan and the Falcon arrival at the Death Star.

[rocnathan 0]

I believe it's between "Battle in the snow" and "The rebels escape". :-)

Nah, seriously, I think the bit about before "standing by" is right.

Actually, though, the bit in episode one where they sit around the table is around 10 minutes long, if I'm not mistaken - and if we go by subjective time, it feels like three hours...:-P

[tpigeon 2]

That scene in Episode I had score.

Ted

[Jim Ware 312]

That scene in Episode I had score.

The second half, yes.

[Richard Penna 1269]

Is there even a measureable stretch in any of the prequels?

[violin123 0]

What about that asteroid chase scene in episode 2?

[veggiemusician 0]

Theres a lot in EP3 at begining without music

[Datameister 963]

Yeah, but a lot of that was originally scored with "The Elevator Scene" and the cue known only as "2M1"--both of which can be heard at least partially on the OST. I don't believe anything was ever written for that huge stretch of time in ANH with no scoring whatsoever.

[deleted account 107]

The first half of the pod race in Ep 1 TPM is unscored, which is a decent stretch.

The first half of the asteroid chase in Ep II AOTC has no score - that's a pretty long stretch by prequel standards.

[Demodex 472]

The speeder bike chase in ROTJ has no score, too.

[tpigeon 2]

Qui-Gon Meets Jar-Jar is also unscored to nice effect in Episode I.

Ted

[deleted account 107]

Qui-Gon Meets Jar-Jar is also unscored to nice effect in Episode I.

Ted

However, this was spotted to have music and it was droppped during the dub.

Not to invalidate your statement, but we were discussing areas that were always spotted without music.

[Quintus 4967]

Qui-Gon Meets Jar-Jar is also unscored to nice effect in Episode I.

Ted

Nothing featuring Jar Jar is nice in effect.

[robthehand 2]

No, but it is to good effect - you can skip that scene without missing any JW music.

[Quintus 4967]

Good point

[tpigeon 2]

Qui-Gon Meets Jar-Jar is also unscored to nice effect in Episode I.

Ted

However, this was spotted to have music and it was droppped during the dub.

Not to invalidate your statement, but we were discussing areas that were always spotted without music.

I forgot. That cue is actually on the OST. And I didn't think it was too bad of a scene. It's too bad Jar-Jar is incredibly annoying but I like the atmosphere of it.

Ted

[Red 72]

The speeder bike chase in ROTJ has no score, too.

This reminds me of something that I've noticed alot in movies. Sometimes action scenes will be without score, to highten the emotional power of said scene (I'm just guessing on why this is used). Has anyone else noticed this?

[Demodex 472]

Not to invalidate your statement, but we were discussing areas that were always spotted without music.

That's never specified in the thread though, is it?

[John Crichton 4]

The speeder bike chase in ROTJ has no score, too.

This reminds me of something that I've noticed alot in movies. Sometimes action scenes will be without score, to highten the emotional power of said scene (I'm just guessing on why this is used). Has anyone else noticed this?

I think in a lot of instances you can replace "highten the emotional power" with "not having the SFX compete with anything".

[Ollie 690]

A good chase scene with vehicles doesn't always need music.

It was a wise decision not to score the speeder bike chase.

[Jediwashington 56]

I think Williams makes a habit of over-composing, that way he can't be surprised on the score stage when they say "Hey, maybe we should put something there."

He ends up being cut a lot, but most of the final outcomes are better that way. Music sometimes has the opposite effect we're going for of down playing feelings instead of emphasizing them, and it's more noticable for those not daily involved with film. Going without music for a scene sometimes can be perfect because sub-conciously we think "They are not alone, there's an orchestra there." Orchestras make up for the feeling of being alone. To push music out of the picture really stresses desolate situations. Not to say that it can't be done with music also, but it's more common to just throw out the music.

~JW

[deleted account 107]

I agree - I think it is always better as a composer to cover as many scenes as possible and dump the music in the dub, rather than be shorthanded and have to start editing other cues together to create new ones.

Some more examples of JW NOT scoring big sequences - (1) the T-Rex attacking the kids in JP, (2) the gunfight/fisfight/fire at Marion's bar in Nepal in ROTLA, (3) the middle segment of the attack on the Death Star in SW:ANH.

[Ollie 690]

I brought a similar idea up in a previous thread that I'd rather have the film over spotted and then make the choices during the dub. Although it didn't seem to go over too well.

I cited examples of Hitchcock wanting the shower sequence in Psycho unscored but Herrmann ended up writing for that scene and it worked out in the end.

[Red 72]

That shower scene would have been horrible without the music.

[Ollie 690]

True.

However the opposite effect is for Torn Curtain, I think the murder scene works well even though Herrmann wrote a fantastic cue, although in the end it didn't matter as Hitch parted ways with Herrmann. But Addison left it unscored per request.

[deleted account 107]

Yes, for another example, in my opinion, The Empire Strikes Back works the way they mixed the movie. Even though JW's score is masterfully written, all the extra, unused music just isn't necessary. I made a version of the movie with the score mixed as JW wrote it, and it's an interesting alternative to the actual film, but it really is superflous (again, IMHO)

[Datameister 963]

I've heard it said that when you're playing music, the rests are at least as important as the notes. It is true that a score is more effective if it doesn't play nonstop. The lack of music in the first T-rex attack in JP--brilliant. It would have been much less effective if there were action music playing. I have nothing whatsoever against "action music", but it's simply not always appropriate to the scene. The lack of music in the pre-Battle-of-Yavin section of ANH--not so brilliant. I don't think it detracts from the movie, but I certainly wouldn't mind a little underscoring in a few of those scenes.

I like the fact that "The Elevator Scene" was mostly cut out of ROTS. I happen to find that cue fairly enjoyable, but the movie works better without it, IMO. However, I feel that the unused sections of 2M1 (the first half of "Grievous and the Droids") should've been used. The quieter music written for the conversation between Grievous and the Jedi is actually somewhat humorous, especially with the Luke's theme reference as Anakin says "you're shorter than I expected."