Melange 446 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Watching this YouTube video interviewing James Horner about the incredible time pressure (and it really was) he was under when scoring the movie Aliens (1986), yet managing to produce a profoundly memorable score that many of us love and worked very very well in the movie itself, it made me think about creative people in general and how sometimes their best works (be they art, movies, music, or whatever) can come when under great pressure and little time allowance. Under such conditions, some people do seem to excell. I think of Mozart with his . I understand that the ink was still wet on the score sheets he came running in with on the opening night for its first perfomance, and the work is a gem. I'm sure there are many examples that people can think of in regard to this, with music and movies. I know in my own life that sometimes my best results come when I've only got a few hours to do something. Suddenly all the scattered pieces of the puzzle come together and ideas come faster and more clearly with time hanging over my head. Give me plenty and plenty of time and sometimes you don't get the best out of me. To me, that is interesting because generally I'm not keen on time restraints and strict order in that way. Yet I keep seeing that I'm at my best under such circumstances. Are you the same? Can you think of classical composers,film composers,or film makers and works they have made at very short notice which have provided some of their best? I'm sure the opposite is also true. Others excell when given lots and lots of time. Put them under pressure and they just can't get it together and often take shortcuts that stand out like a sore thumb later on. But for now, it might be interesting to look at scores from our favourite composers who were given assignments at short notice and managed to produce gems nonetheless. I 'assume' that JW has been one of those film composers who has had the luxury of being given plenty of notice, especially because he works with Spielberg so often. But I'm not 100% sure about that. Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Star Wars was written in six weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent B 337 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Goldsmith and McNeely didn't have a lot of time to re-write Air Force One... not sure how long they had to rewrite it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maglorfin 196 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Probably Horner's experience on Aliens was a good training for the years to come, since he had extremely little time to score e. g. Troy after Yared's score was rejected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpigeon 3 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 James Newton Howard. King Kong.Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,253 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 No time Toulouse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,069 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Goldsmith and McNeely didn't have a lot of time to re-write Air Force One... not sure how long they had to rewrite it though.2 weeks I believe.Akira Ifukube mentioned he composed Godzilla vs Mecha-Godzilla (1993) in 3 to 4 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neimoidian 14 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 I remember John wrote ET in a very short time compared to his other scores, but I don't exactly know how long it took him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,775 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 I believe whoever rescored What Dreams May Come had something like 6 days. Marco Beltrami had 17 days to write I, Robot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SturgisPodmore 0 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 James Newton Howard. King Kong.Took the words right out of my mouth!~Sturgis, who totally "heart"s Ted, omg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,775 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Yeap, I think he did a stunning job given the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 He did do an admirable job. Though I still don't buy the Bug Scene cue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dole 17 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Gershwin wrote "Rhapsody in Blue" in a hurry after reading in the newspaper that he was supposed to be composing a new piece for a concert scheduled for the next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent B 337 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Goldsmith and McNeely didn't have a lot of time to re-write Air Force One... not sure how long they had to rewrite it though.2 weeks I believe.Ah well they did an outstanding job on the score for having such a short of a time to re-write the score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxbabe 28 Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 No, James Newton Howard and Waterworld.King Kong is very good for the amount of time he had, but Waterworld is just stunning. Still one of the best scores he's ever written... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,775 Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 He did do an admirable job. Though I still don't buy the Bug Scene cue.It wouldn't have been the same with Williams' wriggling string and woodwinds if that's what you're referring to.How long did JNH have for Waterworld? 6 weeks or something like that? And I agree, it's a stunning score, especially considering the utter tat the film was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitch 58 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Horner re-scored RANSOM at 2 weeks notice after Howard Shore's score was rejected at the final hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmo Bernstein 0 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Jerry Goldsmith scored Chinatown in ten days! These days, composers do have it a little easier when forced to write fast, with the advent of software like Sibelius 7, which enables them to use a music keyboard like a typewriter.There was no Sibelius 7 back when James Horner did Aliens, he had to do everything by hand. Even when sketching this still takes a lot of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Trevor Jones with The Last Of The Mohicans. They needed to bring in Crappy Edelman to help finish it in time, and his presence removed it from Oscar consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,069 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 No, James Newton Howard and Waterworld., but Waterworld is just stunning. Still one of the best scores he's ever written...I'm glad someone agrees with me on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,253 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 King Kong is very good for the amount of time he had, but Waterworld is just stunning. Still one of the best scores he's ever written...I much prefer Kong. Waterworld has a couple of cool moments, but overall it just seems like enjoyable MV material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,069 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 If they composed that good I might actually listen to their music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 They do compose that good, Waterworld ain't that great of a score. IF you actually listened to MV music, and not just form a biased opinion after hearing 1 score, you might actually like them.Oh no! They used a computer to write the music, like most composers today, and also someone else helped!!! Oh my God! Its too loud for my sensitive ears, I'll go cry and listen to John Williams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 You tell 'em! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,069 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Talk about biased opinions. You have no idea of what anyone listens to and given your comments lately about listening habits you're the last one to be talking about tht subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Crichton 4 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 I'm sorry, anyone who says they can't listen to complete SW or Indy scores has zero credibility in my book. That's just the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent B 337 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 I'm sorry, anyone who says they can't listen to complete SW or Indy scores has zero credibility in my book. That's just the way it is.I agree with that to a point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon R. 10 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Goldsmith and McNeely didn't have a lot of time to re-write Air Force One... not sure how long they had to rewrite it though.2 weeks I believe.Akira Ifukube mentioned he composed Godzilla vs Mecha-Godzilla (1993) in 3 to 4 days.And obviously when composers DO get these extreme working conditions, you should realize that they have a team of people working on the score, some doing ghost writing, some doing "additional music" etc.... But nevertheless it's incredible that it can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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