Is Nicholas Hooper a slightly gifted third-grader?

[Josh500 1,616]

I finally watched OotP a few days ago, and I couldn't believe how bad the music was. Constantly I kept thinking: Is this the British idea of a joke? Is NH a slightly gifted third-grader?

Maybe I am being too harsh (although I doubt it), but I thought this is one of the very, very few instances where the score managed to make the movie even worse than it was already. Yes, OotP is arguably the worst movie of the Potter series, and the music is by far the worst. This can't even compare to Williams and Doyle. When I watched GotF for the first time I thought Doyle did a so-so job, but Hooper makes Doyle sound like John Williams. And that's saying something!

Does anyone else have the feeling that the HP franchise is going downhill so fast, it can only be rescued if JW returned to score the final movie?

P.S. To be fair, OotP had the best performance of Daniel Radcliffe so far, I thought. Watson and Grint had apparently been demoted to supporting characters, but they did a good job, too. But that's all that's good about this movie.

What do you think?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I thought it was a decent score, but I felt it didn't have the climactic pay-off it should have had in the final act.

I like the album much better than Goblet of Fire.

[King Mark 3,635]

Hey,I don't think the score is particularely good,but i thought it worked anyways in the film.And this film is better than CoS and much much better than GoF.

[Greg1138 3]

Personally? I heartily disagree......

I thought the score was infinitely better than Doyle's "effort" for GoF......and the film as a whole raised the bar on what I thought was becoming a very mundane franchise (Prisoner of Azkaban - still the franchise zenith - aside).

Half-Blood Prince had better be damn good......and they can bring back Hooper any day (unless JW is available, of course).

Greg's Rankings of the HP movies so far:

PoA

OoTP

PS

CoS

GoF

[Salacius 7]

I finally watched OotP a few days ago, and I couldn't believe how bad the music was. Constantly I kept thinking: Is this the British idea of a joke? Is NH a slightly gifted third-grader?

Maybe I am being too harsh (although I doubt it), but I thought this is one of the very, very few instances where the score managed to make the movie even worse than it was already. Yes, OotP is arguably the worst movie of the Potter series, and the music is by far the worst. This can't even compare to Williams and Doyle. When I watched GotF for the first time I thought Doyle did a so-so job, but Hooper makes Doyle sound like John Williams. And that's saying something!

Does anyone else have the feeling that the HP franchise is going downhill so fast, it can only be rescued if JW returned to score the final movie?

P.S. To be fair, OotP had the best performance of Daniel Radcliffe so far, I thought. Watson and Grint had apparently been demoted to supporting characters, but they did a good job, too. But that's all that's good about this movie.

What do you think?

I agree with you 100%. I wrote something about Hooper and my post got deleted, hope this time stays.

His music borders to amateur!

I cannot believe that there isn't a new gifted composer out there to write better that this British Drama series music that was put on the soundtrack here.

The end titles sounded like Midsummer Murder(UK TV Detective series) for Christ's Sake.

If the directors stumble upon this post. PLEASE GET A PROPPER COMPOSER NEXT TIME!!

Williams or not this score on it's own is simply terrible. There were some ques that worked but very...very few

[King Mark 3,635]

Personally? I heartily disagree......

I thought the score was infinitely better than Doyle's "effort" for GoF......and the film as a whole raised the bar on what I thought was becoming a very mundane franchise (Prisoner of Azkaban - still the franchise zenith - aside).

Half-Blood Prince had better be damn good......and they can bring back Hooper any day (unless JW is available, of course).

Greg's Rankings of the HP movies so far:

PoA

OoTP

PS

CoS

GoF

I'd say HPSS is now somekind of "classic" movie

[Josh500 1,616]

Someone said this on amazon.com:

After John Williams brilliant work on the first three Potter movies, and a rather average work of Patrick Doyle on "Goblet", Hooper's contribution is by far the worst Potter score, which accomplishes to make an average movie even worse.

That's exactly how I felt. Also:

Just like Patrick Doyle's work for the fourth film . . . the problem is that John Williams is an almost impossible act to follow and neither of the non-Williams scores quite captures the magic in the same way.

And this statement is so true, it made me laugh:

There are many unintended comical moments, which made me burst out in a good laugh, Hooper uses different musical elements in a way which rather create a sound like it would be the right music for a Laurel and Hardy remake, the Teletubbies or a british documentary on migratory birds.

My ranking of the movies:

PoA

PS

GoF

CoS

OotP

[King Mark 3,635]

Who wrote that,a fellow JWfan?

[Morlock 11]

I think that Hooper's score is effective and workman-like. Nothing special, but he does have some pleasant tracks. Certainly an unremarkable score. I'm not a big fan of Doyle's, but that was a real effort, with a certain amount of cohesion to it.

[Josh500 1,616]

I think that Hooper's score is effective and workman-like. Nothing special, but he does have some pleasant tracks. Certainly an unremarkable score. I'm not a big fan of Doyle's, but that was a real effort, with a certain amount of cohesion to it.

Yeah, I agree.

The Nicholas Hooper score is just music that's there . . . it doesn't add much to the movie, let alone uplift it. It's just there so the audience has SOME music. And that's basically it.

Doyle was thrice as better than Hooper.

And Williams was thrice as better than Doyle.

[Richard Penna 3,823]

Firstly, I really don't see what people have against OOtP the movie. I thought it was by far the most intelligent, grown-up movie of the series so far.

Hooper's score at first completely underwhelmed me. No new big themes, no concert pieces, an unmemorable payoff - just a very, very good TV score. But as I listened to it more I began to like some tracks more and they somehow felt more 'Potter' than most of Doyle's effort (although only because Doyle's style is so in-your-face).

I think he'll come up with something good for HBP, but what worries me is that in interviews he sounds to me like he genuinely believes he came up with a score almost in Williams' league - the defence he gave to those comments given by the Australian interviewer.

[Josh500 1,616]

Firstly, I really don't see what people have against OOtP the movie. I thought it was by far the most intelligent, grown-up movie of the series so far.

Hooper's score at first completely underwhelmed me. No new big themes, no concert pieces, an unmemorable payoff - just a very, very good TV score. But as I listened to it more I began to like some tracks more and they somehow felt more 'Potter' than most of Doyle's effort (although only because Doyle's style is so in-your-face).

I think he'll come up with something good for HBP, but what worries me is that in interviews he sounds to me like he genuinely believes he came up with a score almost in Williams' league - the defence he gave to those comments given by the Australian interviewer.

That's just it. If the score is so-so, EVERYTHING will start to look like a made for TV movie, albeit a good one.

Do you have a link to the NH interview? I'd be interested to know what he said exactly.

[Richard Penna 3,823]

http://www.harrypotterfanzone.com/fusion/f...ews.php?id=2069

[Morlock 11]

He gave one rather informative one to FSM, but that's only if you're a subscriber.

I personally thought the film was quite good. The only cue I felt was particularly effective was the 'Room of Requirment' montage.

[Josh500 1,616]

http://www.harrypotterfanzone.com/fusion/f...ews.php?id=2069

Thanks for the link.

I don't know, he doesn't seem like an arrogant or conceited "bloke" to me! But then again, he doesn't sound that humble, either!

[Richard Penna 3,823]

I think 'proud' might be the right word - he just seems very pleased with what he came up with (well I guess any composer should be), but it was particularly when the interviewer mentioned his friend complaining about lack of themes etc, that he really defended himself.

[Josh500 1,616]

I think 'proud' might be the right word - he just seems very pleased with what he came up with (well I guess any composer should be), but it was particularly when the interviewer mentioned his friend complaining about lack of themes etc, that he really defended himself.

Yeah, he might have been a bit of an ass (or arse) when he said:

There’s no way I would even wish to try and compete with Mr. Williams. I think he’s brilliant and at the top of his field, or my field, in fact.

If he'd said "There's no way I can compete with Mr. Williams," okay. But he doesn't even wish to try? What the hell does that mean? Then why'd he take on the job in the first place?

Also, at the top of his field or my field? Doesn't he realize they're both film composers and composing for the same franchise? So they're EXACTLY in the same field!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

[MSM 126]

My comment from the thread http://jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopi...&hl=hooper:

Music as such is mediocre, almost themeless but listenable. But in the movie it was terrible. It didn't express the onscreen emotions or made the movie better in any way. At least Patrick Doyle's score for GoF suited the scenes (e.g. the graveyard scene), although the music was not that memorable. But Doyle's score was functional. In OotP the music is often misplaced and even annoying at times (Umbridge's theme). The orchestrations are to thin to be hearable above action scenes and too overblown in other places. The scene transitions are badly scored. I was open minded and I enjoy the cd to some extent but I cannot see how you guys think it worked well in the film. I am convinced that it is this television-series-quality-soundtrack that made the movie feel flat and dreadful. David Yates shouldn't be allowed to choose his own composer. Some composers are just not well known for a reason. IMO. I give it a C, because I think Hooper gave his best.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

I see your point, but that still leaves the question on how much additional music William Ross composed for Chamber Of Secrets!

[MSM 126]

I see your point, but that still leaves the question on how much additional music William Ross composed for Chamber Of Secrets!

Good one! I have always wondered what an orchestrator actually does.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

John Williams writes the themes, and the the orchestrators take that and turn it into a full score.

Most of Williams best stuff were things he hummed into a tape recorder.

[MSM 126]

John Williams writes the themes, and the the orchestrators take that and turn it into a full score.

Most of Williams best stuff were things he hummed into a tape recorder.

I know what an orchestrator does, it was a joke actually (as is your latter comment of course)

[Unlucky Bastard 7,968]

P.S. To be fair, OotP had the best performance of Daniel Radcliffe so far, I thought. Watson and Grint had apparently been demoted to supporting characters, but they did a good job, too. But that's all that's good about this movie.

Dunno if you'll love or hate the next film since it's the one where Ron becomes the main character and Hermione is demoted to being his obedient dumbed-down bitch, while the Whore Weasley pops up as the epitome of absolute lustful and sexual perfection for Harry, who becomes a supporting character in his own story.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

Please, put some spoiler warning in there!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,968]

Please, put some spoiler warning in there!

Dumbledore is straight.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

Just like David Copperfield....

[Josh500 1,616]

My comment from the thread http://jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopi...&hl=hooper:

Music as such is mediocre, almost themeless but listenable. But in the movie it was terrible. It didn't express the onscreen emotions or made the movie better in any way. At least Patrick Doyle's score for GoF suited the scenes (e.g. the graveyard scene), although the music was not that memorable. But Doyle's score was functional. In OotP the music is often misplaced and even annoying at times (Umbridge's theme). The orchestrations are to thin to be hearable above action scenes and too overblown in other places. The scene transitions are badly scored. I was open minded and I enjoy the cd to some extent but I cannot see how you guys think it worked well in the film. I am convinced that it is this television-series-quality-soundtrack that made the movie feel flat and dreadful. David Yates shouldn't be allowed to choose his own composer. Some composers are just not well known for a reason. IMO. I give it a C, because I think Hooper gave his best.

I agree 99%!!! Well said!!!

The 1% deduction is for "I give it a C, because I think Hooper gave his best." I don't think he gave his best . . . and I'd give it a D.

[Richard Penna 3,823]

He seems to think he did. But then he constantly uses the words 'emotional', and thinks that there is a 'possession theme'. Sounds a little out of his depth.

[Josh500 1,616]

He seems to think he did. But then he constantly uses the words 'emotional', and thinks that there is a 'possession theme'. Sounds a little out of his depth.

Well, if what he produced is in fact his best, then he's worse than I thought . . .

MSM summed it up perfectly, IMO. The music doesn't fit the individual scenes (with a few exceptions, perhaps). It's just music in the background, nothing more . . .

[Red 75]

I like Order of the Phoenix, and it certainly didn't make the film worse.

Both the film and score are better than Goblet of Fire.

[John Crichton 4]

Now really, calling Hooper a third grader is really unfair. You've got to remember this was his first major film job ever. I still think the score works fine in the film, nothing special and nothing awful, and it's actually a decent listen on CD (unlike, say, GoF). Like GoF there's really no thematic structure per se, and Umbridge's theme is way to pleasant and jaunty, but other than that it's a decent effort.

[gkgyver 1,647]

NICHOLAS HOOPER: I, originally, was going to use quite a bit of the John Williams material, but as I was working with David Yates, it became apparent this film was going to be a bit different. So a lot of the themes that were in previous films weren’t really appropriate.

That's the usual, double-standard garbagee excuse to exclude previous ideas for completely making a film your own.

Hooper's score is nothing more than a collection of less than interesting ideas that are as much connected to the mood of OotP as Gustavo is worthy of two Oscars.

[Ollie 1,069]

EEEk Jon Williamz iz ssoooo kewll hes a god and greatest composer forverer :squeeee:

[gkgyver 1,647]

How long did you work on that post?

[KingPin 201]

OOTP was my least favorite of the Potter series. With the exception of Umbridge's Theme, I did not like the score one bit. I didn't think that it complemented the film very well. It seemed unstructured and too cartoonish (would the word "cheeky" be too distasteful?), especially for a series that is meant to become increasingly darker in tone. And the CD does not hold up well on its own as a pure listening experience. And while I have read all of the books in the series, the movie was done in a way that assumed that the audience had already read the book, which I'm sure either disappointed or maybe even confused people who follow the films but have never read the books. An example of this is that some of the newly introduced characters were barely given any screen time, nor were there introductions or relations to the other characters made absolutely clear (Tonks and Kreacher, for example).

The Voldemort vs. Dumbledore scene

was very lackluster - nowhere near as exciting as Rowling had described it in the book.

[Ollie 1,069]

How long did you work on that post?

As long as it took you to type yours.

[gkgyver 1,647]

The Voldemort vs. Dumbledore scene

Now there's a massive spoiler that needs to be blacked out ...

[Salacius 7]

All that aside, who do you think is going to do the next one?

[Josh500 1,616]

All that aside, who do you think is going to do the next one?

Nicholas Hooper! Duh!

[gkgyver 1,647]

Yup. Apparently the only demand from the studio is that the composer doesn't quite completely suck.

[Josh500 1,616]

Yup. And the emphasis is on completely. Coz NH does suck.

[Salacius 7]

All that aside, who do you think is going to do the next one?

Nicholas Hooper! Duh!

NNNNNNNNOoooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean why the hell not Williams? He could do the next two and finish the whole thing really nicely

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

Perhaps he doesn't want too.

[Strilo 0]

I think that Hooper's score is effective and workman-like. Nothing special, but he does have some pleasant tracks. Certainly an unremarkable score. I'm not a big fan of Doyle's, but that was a real effort, with a certain amount of cohesion to it.

I somewhat agree with this. It's not really effective but it is workman-like. It does work in some scenes in the movie, but it actively distracts from others. It's alright on CD and I will probably buy it eventually (especially if I can find it for $3 like I did the first Pirates score). I do think that GOF was somewhat better and more cohesive but all in all the music has gone downhill, and far more than it needed to, since Williams left the franchise.

[Ollie 1,069]

Perhaps he doesn't want too.

John Williams could hold a press conference and say that he doesn't want to score anymore HP films and people would still find ways to not believe it.

[indy4 155]

I finally watched OotP a few days ago, and I couldn't believe how bad the music was. Constantly I kept thinking: Is this the British idea of a joke? Is NH a slightly gifted third-grader?

Maybe I am being too harsh (although I doubt it), but I thought this is one of the very, very few instances where the score managed to make the movie even worse than it was already. Yes, OotP is arguably the worst movie of the Potter series, and the music is by far the worst. This can't even compare to Williams and Doyle. When I watched GotF for the first time I thought Doyle did a so-so job, but Hooper makes Doyle sound like John Williams. And that's saying something!

Does anyone else have the feeling that the HP franchise is going downhill so fast, it can only be rescued if JW returned to score the final movie?

I completely disagree. OotP was my favorite movie of the series (even though it left out tons of stuff, it still is good when viewed as a movie, and nothing more). The score was AMAZING!!!!! It is my second favorite Potter score. Room of Requirments, The Kiss, Proffessor Umbridge, Fireworkds, Flight of the Order of the Phoenix....

It is much better than Doyle's satisfactory compositions, which took awhile for me to even begin to like.

My Favorite Potter Scores:

1. PoA

2. OotP

3. SS

4. CoS

5. GoF

Please note that everything typed above has an invisibilbe "IMO" before or after it.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,071]

I still can't get my head around why people are such Doyle/Goblet bashers.

The guy created the second best and most unique soundscape for the series behind PoA.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,282]

Yes, but he is not John Williams.

Some people here think the Harry Potter films are as important as the Star Wars saga or the Indiana Jones films.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,071]

Well...they even elevate Hooper's Order above Goblet of Fire....which completely boggles my mind.