ComposerEthan 8 Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Planting the Charges..link please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter Boelen 740 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 You mean like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionelflon 1 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Hi all, I know I'm 6 year late on this thread. But, I have also been fascinated by Williams' action cues - be it his more thematic ones (E.T., Superman, Indy, the first trilogy of Star War movies, etc.) or more modern, chaotic stuff (JP, Minority Report, The War of the Worlds, etc.). I was wondering if any of you would know some composers (dead or alive) who have composed music similar to Williams's more modern action cues. I know a lot of his older action music is inspired by composers, like Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, but, as far I know, when it comes to modern stuff, I can't think of anyone with a similar style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Some of Michael Giacchino's action music is similar to Williams' modern action style. Also check out Gordy Haab's scores to Star Wars video games Joe Kraemer has some music in The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot that is similar to Attack of the Clones action style lionelflon and Will 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Hmm.. Nope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 For once, I agree with hornist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 There's nobody around in movies anymore who writes this way, no. Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 But he's not asking about Williams old action style, his question was specifically asking about Williams' modern action style Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 I kinda understood but still nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Quote I was wondering if any of you would know some composers (dead or alive) who have composed music similar to Williams's more modern action cues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 I can't think of anyone current or from the past that has delivered action music quite like JW, although there are occasionally some similarities to Goldsmith such as The Lost World and Escape From Naboo. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Does this do anything for you @lionelflon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 James Bond action BS, nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will 2,215 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Yeah, nobody these days of whom I'm aware writes action music similar to JW, unfortunately, although other composers (such as those Jay mentioned) occasionally succeed in making decent imitations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Yea, that's all I was trying to say - there's no one as inventive and interesting as Williams at this style, but there are some that are influenced by it and work it into their own style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montre 79 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Imagine sitting down and writing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 2,835 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 37 minutes ago, Montre said: Imagine sitting down and writing this. This was most definitely used as a temp track for the opening scene in TLJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,913 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 3 hours ago, lionelflon said: Hi all, I know I'm 6 year late on this thread. But, I have also been fascinated by Williams' action cues - be it his more thematic ones (E.T., Superman, Indy, the first trilogy of Star War movies, etc.) or more modern, chaotic stuff (JP, Minority Report, The War of the Worlds, etc.). I was wondering if any of you would know some composers (dead or alive) who have composed music similar to Williams's more modern action cues. I know a lot of his older action music is inspired by composers, like Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, but, as far I know, when it comes to modern stuff, I can't think of anyone with a similar style. Tons of composers compose in this action style. The question is what director asks for it. For example, Ed Shearmur told me personally that no director has ever cared for him to reproduce this "retro" action style he nailed and is fully capable of delivering. He said he thought this would be his big break into this style of scoring and "the number of times any director cared I wrote this type of score...zero". There are so many composers who can compose like this but aren't asked to. The question should be directed to directors for no longer asking for this style. Anytime it is asked for, it is usually pastiche like "Death of Stalin" which again, Christopher Willis truly nails but that is satire of the Shostakovich/Prokofiev Soviet style which he nails. To answer your question - start first with directors, not composers. lionelflon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montre 79 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 That sounds like JW’s older, more sing song style of action music. Composers can and have reproduced this sound, although JW is still the best. Where JW is really unique though is his modern style, and I still have heard no other composer really come close to that. lionelflon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 The biggest problem with today's film music is that there are very few directors with any kind of musical sensibilities. It seems like they actively push composers away from any interesting decisions in fear of it being too "manipulative". Though that's not to say that direct Williams pastiche is the answer either lionelflon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,913 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 13 minutes ago, Montre said: That sounds like JW’s older, more sing song style of action music. Composers can and have reproduced this sound, although JW is still the best. Where JW is really unique though is his modern style, and I still have heard no other composer really come close to that. Learn how to compose music then compose the kind of action music you wish others would compose. Montre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Just listen to “Break Out” from Solo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionelflon 1 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Thanks all! And, yes, I was listening to Joe Kraemer's Mission Impossible too earlier. The track "A Flight At The Opera" isn't bad either! As for Giacchino, for some reasons, to me, his music often appears to emulate that of the Masters but ends up being pale in comparison (the only score of his that I can listen to in its entirety is MI3). However, now I think about it, James Newton Howard did some good action cues for King Kong and Vertical Limit. Also, I should've specified that I wasn't only referring to film music. I remember, a few weeks ago, someone on Facebook, in a group about contemporary music, posted a John Williams' action cue (from Tintin, if memory serves me), asking for a similar type of music. And people came up with some really interesting composers, relatively unknown from the general public, who wrote some pretty dense, visceral orchestral music that somewhat reminds me of John Williams. I wish I had written their name down. Anyway, I shall ask again in that group and report here, if anyone is interested. Montre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montre 79 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 58 minutes ago, Disco Stu said: Just listen to “Break Out” from Solo “Into the Maw” came the closest for me. @lionelflon I’m interested to know more. I’m sure there are composers who can write in this style, but I guess it’s so rarely called for, and actually probably considered pretty out of style, in films and media today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 How could I forget Bill Conti's Masters of the Universe score. As you all know, MOTU has my highest recommendation. It was a score obviously done in the style of SW but not quite SW. JW himself later composed stuff that was actually pretty similar to MOTU for TFA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,448 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 We all know that John Williams' action style of the 1970s/80s is very different of his action style of the late 90s/2000s, which in turn is different to the style of today. They are all from the same composer, but they are also... different. However, in you guy's opinion, which are the "transformative" scores of Williams action music? I mean, which scores helped define the action music he would follow for the next few years? Maybe Star Wars for the late 70s/early 80s, then Jurassic Park/Lost World for the late 90s and Attack of the Clones for much of the 2000s? And do you think his action scores for his in-between period after his 80s classics and before JP (The Last Crusade and Hook) are more aligned with his 80s output or with his late 90s output? I think this is a very fascinating subject. Horner's action music for most of the 90s and 2000s was defined by Sneakers/Apollo 13 on one hand, and Braveheart/Revenge from Legends of the Fall, until Avatar came out and informed his music for Amazing Spider-Man. But what do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabulin 3,511 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 . Edmilson and SteveMc 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now