Man Of Steel (2013 Superman reboot directed by Zack Snyder)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

A slight tip of the hat to the Donner film in a few scenes perhaps?

Yeah, they seemed to have handpicked scenes that recall Superman The Movie.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

This is officially part of Zimmer's score.

From Facebook:

Hans Zimmer dishes on the score, which we got a taste of with the new Man of Steel trailer!

-----
From Variety:
“The risk is to do the same thing again,” says Hans Zimmer, composer of “Man of Steel,” one of three superhero movies in the pipeline for spring and summer. “You take far less risk by trying something new. You still stay in the confines of certain storytelling: Yes, heroic things happen. Yes, you have to find a human element and a sense of awe. Yes, you’re gonna have a bad guy. In that respect, you know what to write.”

Zimmer had already been down the comicbook road with three “Batman” movies, but those required a dark, minimalist musical style that reflected the complex psychology of the “Dark Knight” and the villains (Joker, Two-Face, Bane) he battled. This one — a reboot of the venerable Superman franchise, directed by Zack Snyder of “300″ and “Watchmen” fame — was different.

“If Batman is the way the world sees America, Superman is the way America sees itself,” Zimmer says. The score, he thought, should “celebrate everything that is good about America,” and he began to focus on the heartland where Clark Kent grew up, searching for a sound palette that might be the basis for a fresh approach.

He came up with eight pedal-steel guitar players and a 12-person drum circle. “I wanted to create a tone that wasn’t necessarily what you expected,” says Zimmer in what may be the understatement of the year. “I was lacking notes, but I wasn’t lacking ideas about the sonic landscape.”

Read the full article on Variety ---> http://bit.ly/YtXVJN
Hear a sampling of the new score in the freshly released trailer!http://youtu.be/T6DJcgm3wNY

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

“If Batman is the way the world sees America, Superman is the way America sees itself,”

Brilliant!

[BLUMENKOHL 1,070]

Another trailer and I'm still not feeling this movie. *yawn*

Good luck to the rest of ye!

[KK 3,307]

I'm not feeling some of the visual effects.

But colour me intrigued for the film (and surprisingly the score too).

[Brónach 1,303]

Three things.

-I love the line about the S.

-There's something about colours/camerawork/design that I find very estimulating. I have seen it several times in a row going completely "hmmmm". As for special effects, some look great, some look weird, some look bad, some are too fast and I can't say.

-The music. Well. I like it depending on the moment. I like the drums (but not all of them), or the part between 1:14-1.29, for example. Other parts also feel "undercooked" to me, as if the music wasn't reaching the full spectrum of sound and feeling that this style of music could have. This actually happens to me quite a lot with Zimmer, where I feel there's great starts somewhere but the music falls halfway through or reaching a full potential. So the music in the trailer feels like a half-cooked build up to something else that doesn't appear because the trailer ends (and might not even exist in the score.

I am really wondering what would happen if someone gave this film to, I don't know, Alexandre Desplat, or something. (Or even...John Williams. What would an older John Williams do with this very different film? I have no idea! A science-fiction sounding Lincoln-War Horse?).

[A24 4,371]

The trailer is already better than Superman II. Krypton, the villains and the action bits look pretty impressive. However, the music sounds as if it doesn't belong to those images. Zimmer could be the film's Achilles' heel.

Alex

[Brónach 1,303]

The trailer is already better than Superman II. Krypton, the villains and the action bits look pretty impressive. However, the music sounds as if it doesn't belong to those images. Zimmer could be the film's Achilles' heel.

In that case, that'd be sad because we would have been this close to awesomenes.

[filmmusic 1,910]

The music is exactly what I expected it to be.

Like the batman scores but in major.

[A24 4,371]

The trailer is already better than Superman II. Krypton, the villains and the action bits look pretty impressive. However, the music sounds as if it doesn't belong to those images. Zimmer could be the film's Achilles' heel.

In that case, that'd be sad because we would have been this close to awesomenes.

Maybe Zimmer's score might still be rejected? Well, one can hope ...

[Brónach 1,303]

The music is exactly what I expected it to be.

Like the batman scores but in major.

It's funny because it's true.

[Quintus 5,399]

Hmm, I wish Snyder would have laid off the severe high contrast and instead worked with the colour spectrum a bit more. Something doesn't sit well with the way it's shot. Why no colour, Zack? What's the big objection? There's so much black it could a meanly colourised Sin City minus the rich pictorial style; Snyder's film looks like a cgi heavy blockbuster noir, which is just weird for this character and the broad lore of the fiction.

I'm also disappointed that they appear to have gone all cgi with his flight - there's to be no substantial and complex wire work in this? Computer generated flight of the human form is proven to be dull, unexciting and unmemorable. This could be a problem, since Superman is mostly known for the majestic shapes and movements he makes across the sky. Yes Superman was always too fast for wires, but it's important that we see him fly, and not just dart. It's these aesthetic details which should be satisfying about the character - the same details which Singer failed to respect. His Superman was actually barely ever shown at all, in the air.

The CGI itself doesn't look too bad to me. At least this version appears to have plenty going on, plenty of action. Let's just hope it doesn't turn into The Avengers in the finale.

Zimmer's music, of what I've heard, is shit. He's all but morphed into a generic reboot of Vangelis at this point.

I'm still intrigued to see how it all pans out and remain fairly confident the film will at least be worthwhile, but I'm not exactly excited about it.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[A24 4,371]

The nagging about the lack of vibrant colors is getting tiresome. Directors, painters, visual artists will use the colors they think are appropriate. I don't understand why every movie needs to have the same saturated colors or the same look. It's seems to be the tic of the average JWfan.

Looking for a dark and gritty movie but with vibrant colors? Watch Watchmen!

Alex

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Quintus 5,399]

A rich saturation of colours wouldn't work for me here. That would risk recalling Donner too much, or even Singer. Somewhere in the middle would be preferable, instead of the clichéd heavy desaturation we are apparently getting. If this was Narc 2, I wouldn't even notice.

I have my preconceptions and expectations, but at the same time I haven't seen the film yet and so I'm keeping an open mind about the aesthetic as bound to the narrative, which might yet work.

People aren't just moaning or expressing misgivings for something to do, irritating as that may be to Snyder cronies.

[A24 4,371]

I don't understand why every movie needs to have the same saturated colors or the same look.

The norm today seems to be washed-out colors, not saturated colors.

And I used the word "vibrant", not "saturated", anyway. I'm not asking for a teal/orange fest.

Every Marvel movie has the vibrant colors you seek. Kick Ass and Watchmen too. Directors are after a certain mood and they use the colors that will accommodate that. The colors of Man Of Steel have a different look about them. It's not a trend. It's not vibrant as Marvel nor are they ultra realistic like District 9 or other movies in that style.

[Quintus 5,399]

Okay, I just watched it again, this time on my plasma screen. It appears that Snyder is employing strongly contrasting filters for the various different segments of the story, which could be quite good actually. He could be really going for vivid tonal mood in a big way here and that is very encouraging - especially considering we are likely unable to rely on the weak sauce score for powerful emotional connection to the main plot points of the story and the overall arc. Snyder's Superman might yet convince without memorable soundtrack, if he truly accomplishes his desire to emote a reaction through his visual alone. The richly framed Krypton scenes for eg look absolutely nothing like the scenes depicting Clarke's uncertainty, and again the almost sterile, cold presentation of the Lois interview at the end of the trailer looks starkly different to those other parts. Will Snyder introduce the colour once mankind has overcome its initial fear of the alien threat and proudly embraced its new heroic friend?

[Jonesy 55]

Is the music in the background Zimmer doing Zuperman?

Yep. Prepare yourself for people who will say: "This is way more epic than William's theme! I mean: drums, dude!"

That wouldn't be a surprise, you forget that his Batman theme is more epic than Elfman's

[KK 3,307]

The music is exactly what I expected it to be.

Like the batman scores but in major.

The fact that its major is as refreshing as one could hope Zimmer to be these days...

[crocodile 8,097]

I like it, I really do. And even the music sounds ok.

Karol

[Romão 2,276]

I actually quite like the music...

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[MSM 126]

Guys I am suprised as well It might turn out much more in the vein of the old movies then we think.

Clearly this new trailer was inspired by the old trailers, even the music reminds of "The Planet Krypton".

As to the music, I would never have thought it would be able to excite me, after JWs score, but yet it does!

It even sounds as an ode to JW's Superman March, with the key of C major, the rising 5th, the traditional trumpets.

Also the percussion works very well (reminds of the JW ostinato), as well as the 8/4 time signature.

I am positive this might work out after all!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Who says it's a theme, or anything significant in terms of score? Typical JWFan hears 90 seconds of Zimmer: AHHH THIS SCORE IS SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCKING ASSHOLE NEEDS TO DIE!

[KK 3,307]

I've actually been rather positive about it thank you very much!

Then there's stuff like this:

From what I can tell Zimmer's new main theme starting at 1:58 is based on a fifth rising to a minor sixth and finally to a major sixth. There's also a two-note motif that starts at :45 and louder at 1:29, but also can be heard in the piano at the beginning, that alternates between major fifth, major sixth, perfect fourth, minor third, major seventh, and finally an octave. These two themes seem to mirror the two motifs Williams wrote for the 1978 movie. The structure of the main theme is fine, and seems heroic and hopeful but also a bit tentative and cautious which I'm sure fits the writing of the new Superman. Interestingly it has more in common with Williams' theme for Lois Lane rather than his theme for Superman himself; the second half of that theme also centers around an uneasy progression from minor sixth to major sixth. The theme does get a bit repetitive and unlike Williams' theme never becomes a musical sentence, but instead more of a repeated mantra. If nothing else, the theme has much more inherent flexibility than Zimmer's Dark Knight theme which bodes well for the rest of the score. Now we'll have to wait and see what kinds of things Zimmer does with the theme and the underscore. I do have to mention the string performances seem awfully synthetic; it would have been nice to hear some vibrato and long bowed notes especially in the cellos and bass, which in the trailer sound almost completely synthetic. The brass could definitely have used some more complex orchestrations in this trailer. I'm having a hard time understanding Zimmer's intentions with the lone percussion heard at the very end of the trailer. It sounded primal rather than heroic and it was lacking in color. However the percussion that generally plays under the thematic statments was fine, although I don't think it was necessary to gather 12 famous drummers to produce it; that seems like more of a PR stunt, similar to what Zimmer did for Bane's theme for TDKR last year. Few more notes: Zimmer is writing in C major, which is a very nice break from the constant d minor of his Batman scores. There's a violin motif starting at 1:16 in the trailer that seems functionally and structurally identical to a similar motif from Inception in the track "Time" and others, albeit at a sped-up tempo. The major seventh progression that Zimmer recycles from Inception is particularly distracting. Finally there are several obvious similarities between this trailer music and the opening tracks from both Spider-Man 2002 and the Amazing Spider-Man 2012. I think this is shaping up to be a fun and good score but innovative it is not.

Talk about over-analysis. It's far too early to start calling "homage" and go into such "in-depth interpretation".

I am pleased that we're finally hearing something from Zimmer in the major key though.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[MSM 126]

Who says it's a theme, or anything significant in terms of score? Typical JWFan hears 90 seconds of Zimmer: AHHH THIS SCORE IS SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCKING ASSHOLE NEEDS TO DIE!

Was this a reply to my post?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I found nothing in the trailer that I could complain about, even if the music is Hanz Zimmer's it was not awful and it worked in the trailer quite well. Heart strings were tugged.

[MSM 126]

I've actually been rather positive about it thank you very much!

Then there's stuff like this:

From what I can tell Zimmer's new main theme starting at 1:58 is based on a fifth rising to a minor sixth and finally to a major sixth. There's also a two-note motif that starts at :45 and louder at 1:29, but also can be heard in the piano at the beginning, that alternates between major fifth, major sixth, perfect fourth, minor third, major seventh, and finally an octave. These two themes seem to mirror the two motifs Williams wrote for the 1978 movie. The structure of the main theme is fine, and seems heroic and hopeful but also a bit tentative and cautious which I'm sure fits the writing of the new Superman. Interestingly it has more in common with Williams' theme for Lois Lane rather than his theme for Superman himself; the second half of that theme also centers around an uneasy progression from minor sixth to major sixth. The theme does get a bit repetitive and unlike Williams' theme never becomes a musical sentence, but instead more of a repeated mantra. If nothing else, the theme has much more inherent flexibility than Zimmer's Dark Knight theme which bodes well for the rest of the score. Now we'll have to wait and see what kinds of things Zimmer does with the theme and the underscore. I do have to mention the string performances seem awfully synthetic; it would have been nice to hear some vibrato and long bowed notes especially in the cellos and bass, which in the trailer sound almost completely synthetic. The brass could definitely have used some more complex orchestrations in this trailer. I'm having a hard time understanding Zimmer's intentions with the lone percussion heard at the very end of the trailer. It sounded primal rather than heroic and it was lacking in color. However the percussion that generally plays under the thematic statments was fine, although I don't think it was necessary to gather 12 famous drummers to produce it; that seems like more of a PR stunt, similar to what Zimmer did for Bane's theme for TDKR last year. Few more notes: Zimmer is writing in C major, which is a very nice break from the constant d minor of his Batman scores. There's a violin motif starting at 1:16 in the trailer that seems functionally and structurally identical to a similar motif from Inception in the track "Time" and others, albeit at a sped-up tempo. The major seventh progression that Zimmer recycles from Inception is particularly distracting. Finally there are several obvious similarities between this trailer music and the opening tracks from both Spider-Man 2002 and the Amazing Spider-Man 2012. I think this is shaping up to be a fun and good score but innovative it is not.

Talk about over-analysis. It's far too early to start calling "homage" and go into such "in-depth interpretation".

I am pleased that we're finally hearing something from Zimmer in the major key though.

Well I completely agree with this analysis.

[KK 3,307]

It may have been spot on for all that matters, but it's just far too early to tell. We know almost nothing about this music and what it stands for aside from the fact that its written by Zimmer and we can hear.

[Jay 37,555]

Finally watched the trailer last night. Why didn't they release a trailer like this one first! (I know, the special effects weren't done yet, etc). I just mean after 2 mostly boring trailers and a ton of images that didn't do anything for me and made me less and less interested in the film with each one, this trailer actually got me excited!

Though I admit I was getting a bit bored by the end of the trailer, like they shoved too much in our faces at once by then. And I didn't get the Superman "joke" in the interrogation scene. Why did he cut them off from saying Superman?

So I'm more excited for the film now than I have been before, but it's still nowhere near my most anticipated film of the summer.

The score in the trailer, on the other hand, was absolute rubbish! Just really really bad, and DISTRACTING, like it was mixed too loud, or just the style of music used didn't go with the images, or just wasn't my kind of music, or both. Awful.

[A24 4,371]

I found nothing in the trailer that I could complain about, even if the music is Hanz Zimmer's it was not awful and it worked in the trailer quite well. Heart strings were tugged.

I don't know whether that's good or bad news.

Except for that music track, I can't find anything to complain about either.

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

Finally watched the trailer last night. Why didn't they release a trailer like this one first! (I know, the special effects weren't done yet, etc). I just mean after 2 mostly boring trailers and a ton of images that didn't do anything for me and made me less and less interested in the film with each one, this trailer actually got me excited!

Though I admit I was getting a bit bored by the end of the trailer, like they shoved too much in our faces at once by then. And I didn't get the Superman "joke" in the interrogation scene. Why did he cut them off from saying Superman?

So I'm more excited for the film now than I have been before, but it's still nowhere near my most anticipated film of the summer.

The score in the trailer, on the other hand, was absolute rubbish! Just really really bad, and DISTRACTING, like it was mixed too loud, or just the style of music used didn't go with the images, or just wasn't my kind of music, or both. Awful.

Sigh...

[A24 4,371]

Where's the iconic "I have faith in Snyder", Steef? Is it gone?

[Joe Brausam 216]

I liked the trailer. I liked the music, I think it further cements what sort of tone this score will have and if the final product ends up sounding like this I'll be very happy. It's very optimistic sounding, appropriate for the character.

[Jay 37,555]

I don't get what Stef's problem is with my post? I liked the trailer and want to see the film, I just thought the music was awful.

[A24 4,371]

He doesn't understand why you need a loud trailer that throws everything in yer face. Steef understood and enjoyed the subtleties of the previous trailers. That's why he sighs.

[Jay 37,555]

Who needs a loud trailer that throws everything in your face? I certainly don't, and in fact said the opposite in my post.

What's going on today, why is no one understanding me?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I found nothing in the trailer that I could complain about, even if the music is Hanz Zimmer's it was not awful and it worked in the trailer quite well. Heart strings were tugged.

I don't know whether that's good or bad news.

Except for that music track, I can't find anything to complain about either.

Alex

this just in, Marth Stewart says it's a Good Thing.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

Where's the iconic "I have faith in Snyder", Steef? Is it gone?

I thought the trailer was great!

I Have Faith In Snyder!

[Jay 37,555]

Then why did you sigh at my post? I don't get it.

[Matt C 456]

Finally watched the trailer last night. Why didn't they release a trailer like this one first! (I know, the special effects weren't done yet, etc). I just mean after 2 mostly boring trailers and a ton of images that didn't do anything for me and made me less and less interested in the film with each one, this trailer actually got me excited!

A good amount of the visual effects were already completed by the time the first teaser came out, considering a good number of scenes in Trailer #3 were in the Comic Con sizzle reel. The movie was virtually finished when the second trailer came around.

It's all a matter of keeping things close to the vest. You don't want to spoil most of the film before it comes out. WB did a smart thing by getting the film completed before showing off some of the CGI-heavy scenes. Unlike that other DC film that came out two years ago, and WB had to pay through the nose to get it done on time.

[Jay 37,555]

Even ignoring the action and special effects stuff, just the interactions between characters was drastically better in this trailer compared to the prior ones.

In the old trailer, Pa Kent saying that Clark "maybe" should have let a bus full of kids drown really rubbed me the wrong way, but in this trailer all of his lines, and Jor El's lines, were great! Also Lois got more to do, and we finally learned a little bit about the plot. There's still a lot that hasn't been explained, but those old trailers were just... boring to me.

[crocodile 8,097]

It's a typical marketing strategy for films with Nolan films attached to them. You just give a taste with not a lot of footage, and then show the same stuff with a bit more footage. And even more with the final trailer. You don't get bombarded right away. Worked three times before.

Karol

[Quintus 5,399]

AHHH THIS SCORE IS SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCKING ASSHOLE NEEDS TO DIE!

Yes, 9 times out of 10 this is rightly applicable. I don't see what would be odd about this reaction on the John Williams message board.

Lee - hot and cold with Zimmer but still foolishly hopeful that Zimmer delivers greatness somehow with this.

[MSM 126]

It's much better than this trailer was

Actually, I cannot stop watching it...

[Jay 37,555]

I like the way Superman's cape moves

[MSM 126]

I like the way Superman's cape moves

And the size of it

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,267]

I did a sigh because you dont seem to get how trailers work sometimes.