Composer Threads The Thomas Newman Thread

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

16 minutes ago, Mr. Who said:

That sucks. This movie would have been a good opportunity for Newman :/

Have we just missed out on Newman’s Cinema Paradiso?! It’s not like this kind of film feels like something that would benefit from a R&R score either. Oh well guess we just judge it on its own merits.*
 

*we won’t, obviously 😜

[DangerMotif 1,037]

Something clearly must have happened 

[HunterTech 989]

Orrrr he's been busy with the other commitments he has currently. Why does that never enter anyone's head?

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

Shame. The scores that have come out of the collaboration between Mendes and Newman always have been strong.

Dissapointing to hear

[Bespin 8,480]

I don't think that at 66, Newman is looking for "opportunities", I think he looks for an happy retirement.

[Drew 590]

Thomas Oldman

[Edmilson 7,427]

This movie could've been an amazing oportunity for an atmospheric, emotional Newman score

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

I've just had an apostrophe.

A bio-pic of Gary Numan, played by Gary Oldman, and scored by Thomas Newman.

[LSH 968]

Somebody on another forum has suggested that the award-winning potential of Reznor/Ross might be have been a persuasive move.

 

Though it's more likely scheduling, I'd be interested in knowing what got in the way.

I guess White Bird is imminent but The Last Voyage of the Demeter is still a full year away. Besides, depending on the development schedule of Empire Of Light, I'd have thought Mendes would have bagged Newman first chance he got. Unless things got moved around.

 

Could be anything but I am disappointed. Given that Empire Of Light is a self-penned period piece with cinema as a centre-piece, this is essentially Mendes' The Fabelmans.

[Richard Penna 3,683]

Given that Mendes wanted to work with Newman on Skyfall over Arnold, it would surprise me if he were to abandon his longtime collaborator so easily.

 

Unless it really is just scheduling, or if somehow Mendes didn't have a say. Perhaps all it takes is a producer or studio who's desperate for awards for a particular movie and tells Mendes to use R/R or the movie doesn't happen.

 

Someone at FSM suggested that Mendes had forced Newman to sound like Zimmer for 1917 (and some later bits do), but if that's true, who knows whether that was really him making some creative changes or someone higher up forcing his hand?

 

Who knows.

[DangerMotif 1,037]

Newman has nothing that would cause scheduling issues

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Producer call I’m sure. Marianelli was fired off of Pan. 

[Drew 590]

What does Pan (2015 film) have to do with this?

[DangerMotif 1,037]

1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

Producer call I’m sure. Marianelli was fired off of Pan. 

Highly doubt it

[Koray Savas 2,251]

2 hours ago, Drew said:

What does Pan (2015 film) have to do with this?

Just an example of a long running director-composer collaboration that was interrupted by a studio decision. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

3 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Just an example of a long running director-composer collaboration that was interrupted by a studio decision. 

... like THE COLOR PURPLE 

[DangerMotif 1,037]

https://bit.ly/3DfcwG2

[LSH 968]

Very good.

[WampaRat 1,105]

Brand New(man) interview. Nice hour long interview where he plays the piano occasionally. Love this man’s achingly beautiful work. Somebody please give him an Oscar? Lol

[LSH 968]

20 minutes ago, WampaRat said:

Brand New(man) interview. Nice hour long interview where he plays the piano occasionally. Love this man’s achingly beautiful work. Somebody please give him an Oscar? Lol

 

Excellent stuff. I enjoy Rick Beato's analytical videos of popular music so this was a nice surprise.

[WampaRat 1,105]

Yeah it was great to hear him get real granular with someone else who clearly understands music. It wasn’t just the usual broad overview of his filmography. 
 

Side note: I had a “world music” teacher who looked and sounded exactly Thomas Newman. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was him now😄

[Disco Stu 15,495]

It's very interesting to note the ways in which Thomas and David's personalities are quite similar, and the ways they are very different.  It seems to me that David is much more socially comfortable in an interview setting, that talking just comes more easily, but I would say (with respect) that Thomas is more insightful.

[Richard Penna 3,683]

Nice to see an interview that isn't just a fan asking questions that invite answers that people 'want' to hear. There's some nice musical analysis there that's accessible to those like me.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Listening to him lay out matter-of-factly what digital editing software, in combination with advances in sampling/mockup software, has done to the scoring process is very disheartening to me, even though he's not describing it in an overly negative way at all.

 

I don't mean how it's changed the actual composing process, or the musical sounds/techniques available to composers, but how it gives directors/producers heretofore unprecedented ability to micro-manage the score.

 

It makes so much sense, indeed it seems an inevitable consequence of what the process has become, that the number of scores that feel special or noteworthy has decreased considerably over the past 20 years.  This is all stuff I've heard and read before, but Thomas is just crystallizing some thoughts for me.

[pete 907]

This is simply the best video on YouTube..  82 minute interview with Thomas Newman. Words can't describe how great this is... And I'm not even a big fan, but that's due to not being all that familair with his scores. Well, I know who I'll be deep diving into this week. Whatever you're doing now, stop it, and watch. 

 

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

@pete the video was posted in this very thread above already and we were discussing it!

 

I'm glad Beato spent so much time with Shawshank.  It may be a bit obvious, but I think it certainly will always be the foundation of Newman's legacy.  Plus, I freakin' love it!

 

It made me wish that audio commentaries were still a thing and that Newman would do a bunch of them!

[LSH 968]

We need way more interviews like this, with playback and analysis. Beato has scrutinised other film composers work on his channel so hopefully he can arrange more interviews.

 

I would have liked to see Newman play that piano more however.

[Jay 37,340]

1 hour ago, pete said:

This is simply the best video on YouTube..  82 minute interview with Thomas Newman. Words can't describe how great this is... And I'm not even a big fan, but that's due to not being all that familair with his scores. Well, I know who I'll be deep diving into this week. Whatever you're doing now, stop it, and watch. 

 

Serious question: How did you arrive at this thread excited to post this video, and not notice that the 6 most recent posts in the thread were already discussing it?

[Foundling 11]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

Serious question: How did you arrive at this thread excited to post this video, and not notice that the 6 most recent posts in the thread were already discussing it?

Does it really matter

[pete 907]

7 hours ago, Jay said:

 

Serious question: How did you arrive at this thread excited to post this video, and not notice that the 6 most recent posts in the thread were already discussing it?

I must have just clicked on the first page because the most recent post I saw was a few years ago. Oops! 

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

I watched the interview this morning.

 

It's wonderful to see a film composer gets such an extended interview. You don't see that often. It's truly great to watch.

Newman seems very at ease and it looks like he really enjoys the questions (which are really good). As some have said, not just the 'usual' questions.

Wonderful stuff.

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

A new Pixar score by Newman. Wonderful news!!!

I'm immediately hoping for something good so they can finally give him the Oscar!

 

 

[Edmilson 7,427]

Great! Newman's Pixar scores are usually pretty good. Judging by the trailer I think his score will be very "quirky".

[LSH 968]

52 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

A new Pixar score by Newman. Wonderful news!!!

I'm immediately hoping for something good so they can finally give him the Oscar!

 

 

 

YES!

 

I became very doubtful that Newman would ever return to Pixar - after his involvement in The Good Dinosaur fell through and with the studio's recent diversifying in the composer department - so this is amazing news!

[Drew 590]

Great news!

[Jay 37,340]

Less Than Zero is back in stock 

 

https://lalalandrecords.com/less-than-zero-limited-edition/

[Trope 527]

So I realised that this year is the 20th anniversary of Finding Nemo, one of my childhood favourites and my earliest exposure to the music of Thomas Newman.

 

Is there any chance in the slightest that we could ever see an expansion for one of Newman's most popular scores? Would it have to be issued as a Legacy Collection edition? Would anyone here be interested in hearing the full score? I know I certainly would!

[JTN 2,002]

3 hours ago, Trope said:

Would it have to be issued as a Legacy Collection edition? Would anyone here be interested in hearing the full score?

Yes and yes.

[Edmilson 7,427]

Is there much music missing from the OST? Usually TN's OSTs contain almost everything. And also, according to some rumours, he apparently is against expanding his older scores for some reason.

 

Anyway, from the old Pixar scores I think some need the Legacy Collection treatment more urgently, like A Bug's Life. A terrific score that has an unfortunately dreadful OST and a lot of bootlegs with sound effects.

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

37 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Is there much music missing from the OST? Usually TN's OSTs contain almost everything. And also, according to some rumours, he apparently is against expanding his older scores for some reason.

 

There's a complete version of Finding Nemo floating around (as it were) which has just over another 10 minutes of score, but nothing of great import is missing from the OST.

 

38 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Anyway, from the old Pixar scores I think some need the Legacy Collection treatment more urgently, like A Bug's Life. A terrific score that has an unfortunately dreadful OST and a lot of bootlegs with sound effects.

I would quite agree, this still being my favourite Randy Newman Pixar score. I was lucky enough to actually acquire a copy of the FYC CD which fills in most (all?) of the gaps in the OST, notably the several cues which include a choir which are completely omitted from the OST (presumably for reasons of cost). Combining this with the OST gets you a 72 minute album which I assume constitutes the entire score. However, a Legacy release would be great, if they can avoid screwing it up... Then again, the Toy Story Legacy Edition has no issues that I can recall, although I'd have to say it has more historic value than being a crucial expansion - it's fun, but still quite bitty at times compared to A Bug's Life which is a much more cohesive listen. And so many great themes.

[Trope 527]

40 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Then again, the Toy Story Legacy Edition has no issues that I can recall, although I'd have to say it has more historic value than being a crucial expansion - it's fun, but still quite bitty at times compared to A Bug's Life which is a much more cohesive listen. And so many great themes.

Funny you should bring up the Legacy Edition of Toy Story. For my own interest, I did a deep dive comparison between the 1995 OST and the 2015 Legacy. 

 

Having recently watched the film, I can say that there is still some unreleased music. First (and most importantly) there is a cue that plays when Buzz first introduces himself to Andy's toys which is inexplicably absent from the 2015 release. It's a good cue too, continuing to develop the noble "Space Ranger" theme introduced in "Buzz Revealed".

 

Additionally, there are several "film versions" of pieces which are noticeably different in terms of density/orchestration which are omitted in favour of the "album versions" from the OST. Off the top of my head, I can think of the scene where the baby monitor falls to the ground and the toys struggle to re-insert the batteries ("Surprise Present"), as well as the finale when Buzz and Woody "fly" to catch up to Andy's car ("Infinity and Beyond"). There may be others I've missed.

 

Finally, all 3 songs are noticeably different takes/recordings when comparing the film to the 1995 album. The 2015 release keeps the album versions and doesn't even include the film versions as bonus tracks at the end.

 

ALSO, there are 2 little portions of music which are exclusive to the 1995 OST and don't appear on the 2015 release. The first is "Andy's Birthday" (1:23-1:29), which I assume is an alternate to the version heard on the Legacy Edition ("Opening" 1:23-1:28) that segues into "You've Got a Friend in Me". The second (and most interesting omission) is "On the Move" (3:42-4:03). I also assume this was an alternate section of some cue that ended up getting replaced and hence isn't on the Legacy Edition (although I can't remember if it is or isn't in the film 100%).

[LSH 968]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

Is there much music missing from the OST? Usually TN's OSTs contain almost everything. And also, according to some rumours, he apparently is against expanding his older scores for some reason.

 

Come to think of it, I don't think there's a single Newman score (certainly not among my most listened) that feels incomplete.

 

It was nice to hear the alternates and film versions of cues in the Shawshank expansion but it wasn't completely necessary. 

[DemonStar 57]

I really like the unreleased music from the angler fish and seagull chase scenes from Finding Nemo. Would be cool if they do release a Legacy Collection edition this year or sometime in the future. 

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

Newman has been replaced by Bear McCreary on The Last Voyage Of The Demeter.

 

https://twitter.com/moviescorewire/status/1671903638405382147

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

Wha'?! 

The world has gone mad.

[Thor 7,491]

Yikes! That's surprising. André (Øvredal) is a big film music buff, so I thought it would be a great, rare chance for him to work with a legend like Newman. But perhaps the decision didn't come from him.

[Trope 527]

This is a little out of the blue, but has anyone here listened to Newman's score for Oscar and Lucinda (1997), and if so, what are you thoughts on it? I recently purchased the CD as it is not available to stream digitally, and have had a really great time listening to it. I can't find much discourse about this score online, which leads me to believe it may be an underrated gem from the late 90s. Of note, it contains some great choral writing (a clear precursor to Angels in America), as well as some truly exciting orchestral flourishes/outbursts and, of course, a plethora of Newman's distinctive solo instruments, beautiful harmonies and inventive textures. 

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

I believe there was quite a long conversation about that in the "What's The Last Score You Listened To?" thread if I remember.

 

I found at least some conversation on it 

 

 

[Thor 7,491]

54 minutes ago, Trope said:

This is a little out of the blue, but has anyone here listened to Newman's score for Oscar and Lucinda (1997), and if so, what are you thoughts on it? 

 

Yes. Gorgeous score, top 3 Newman. We've talked about it earlier in the thread. In my latest posting about the score, I linked to this conversation article (Google translated), where we talk more about it.

[JNHFan2000 2,957]