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Howard Shore's The Desolation Of Smaug (Hobbit Part 2)


gkgyver

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Your insufferably overprotective fondling of these scores has become intolerable.

You should've seen me in the mid-2000s. I was biting peoples' heads off at any and each criticism (especially the ones who were lamenting that LotR hadn't been scored by John Williams or James Horner)!

Well back then I did consider The Fellowship of the Ring to be the greatest score (and my favourite film) of all time ;)

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Sorry if I'm not up to date on everything, but have we determined if there are as many differences between the film and album versions for DoS as there were for AUJ?

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I think the healing music just had more material put into it, rather than it being replaced by new material

it also depends on if you call a theme like 'Forest River' an alternate version when parts of it are silenced and new music is inserted

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Sorry if I'm not up to date on everything, but have we determined if there are as many differences between the film and album versions for DoS as there were for AUJ?

You look like a horse dude!!!!

It was a very confusing day at the hospital all those years ago, let me tell you. For once I wasn't the only one with a long face.

Anyway, thanks for all your input!

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Yes. I wish it wasn't. There were some cool Orc action. Doesn't make sense why they added the 10 second ending to the extended edition but couldn't add those unreleased bits.

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I only noticed 3 alternate versions

1. The cue I called "Captured", the one that closes the Special Edition version of "Durin's Folk". It's the cue that plays when the dwarves get captured after trying to steal weapons and get marched to meet the Master of Lake-town. The film version is different, though it sounds like it could be the same was the album version with extra instruments added, and not a completely different recording.

2. The scene for Kili's vision of Tauriel in her true elf form. Like the previous alternate, it was basically a more jazzed up version of the album cue, so again could be the same recording with extra stuff added and not a different recording.

3. Not sure about this one, but I think "My Armor Is Iron" has some earlier recordings than revisions heard in the film.

But yea, overall, the entire scoring process of DOS is just about as different from the AUJ situation as can be, which is a good thing.

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Yea. If the SE was the same as we have, but the Standard was a 1 disc, then it would make sense.

Or if the Standard was the same as we have but the Special Edition contains the complete version of every cue with no microedits, it would make sense.

But having two different two-disc versions, with the only difference being 13 minutes of music removed from one 10 seconds here, 40 seconds there, it doesn't make much sense to me. Or seemingly anyone except WaterTower Records execs.

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I only noticed 3 alternate versions

1. The cue I called "Captured", the one that closes the Special Edition version of "Durin's Folk". It's the cue that plays when the dwarves get captured after trying to steal weapons and get marched to meet the Master of Lake-town. The film version is different, though it sounds like it could be the same was the album version with extra instruments added, and not a completely different recording.

2. The scene for Kili's vision of Tauriel in her true elf form. Like the previous alternate, it was basically a more jazzed up version of the album cue, so again could be the same recording with extra stuff added and not a different recording.

3. Not sure about this one, but I think "My Armor Is Iron" has some earlier recordings than revisions heard in the film.

But yea, overall, the entire scoring process of DOS is just about as different from the AUJ situation as can be, which is a good thing.

Thanks, Jason! That will make any potential CR for this movie a little more manageable perhaps. And since I don't post much, thank you for all the wonderful analyses you do on these and other films.

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Oh, and "gazillion times it plays on the OST"? It appears in only two tracks (and has only six statements, going by LeBlanc's list)!

In the two tracks Wilderland and House Of Beorn (extended), I counted 12 statements, only counting the most obvious ones (taking the line from the booklet), and not some variations. I stand by my comment from mid-December, that these two tracks, especially taking the regular instead of the extended versions, are basically a Beorn suite.

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Finally got this from Amazon. It took a very long time, and viewing the film, for the score to make any major impact.

I've made a nice set that omits 40 minutes I just can't get into; all of which are from bits preceding the Smaug encounter. The climactic 35 mins is by far the most engaging.

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I've made a nice set that omits 40 minutes I just can't get into; all of which are from bits preceding the Smaug encounter. The climactic 35 mins is by far the most engaging.

I guess that's basically the first half of the second CD, right? Funny, I love that part. And unlike you (and most people around here), I just can't get into the Smaug material heard at the end of that disc. It just doesn't do it for me.

A little more spread out than that. If you look at it as one long CD, then I've kept around half the tracks from the first 2/3 of the score. Essentially the spiders, and 'Barrels....' do nothing for me, then pretty much everything covering Lake-Town except 'Thrice Welcome' is not for me.

Then the only track from 'In the Shadow of the Mountain' onwards I didn't keep was 'On the Doorstep', which has too many changes in mood for me.

Beyond the Forest is the track for which my response seems to be most out of sync with the general sentiment. I can't get into it at all.

First track I liked :)

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A track list without editing within tracks would sound something like this for me:

1. The Quest For Erebor

2. Wilderland

3. The House Of Beorn

4. Flies And Spiders

5. The Woodland Realm

6. A Feast Of Starlight

7. The Forest River

8. The High Fells

9. Protector of the Common Folk

10. Thrice Welcome

11. Girion, Lord of Dale

12. In The Shadow of the Mountain

13. On The Doorstep

14. Inside Information

15. Kingsfoil

16. Smaug

17. My Armour Is Iron

18. Beyond The Forest

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I've made a nice set that omits 40 minutes I just can't get into; all of which are from bits preceding the Smaug encounter. The climactic 35 mins is by far the most engaging.

I realized when I was doing my last complete listen of the score that I pretty much like everything on the two CDs up until The Courage Of Hobbits (even though there are some dull moments here and there), but after that, I kind of lose interest, except for a few moments (the middle section of The Hunters, Kingsfoil and of course Beyond The Forest).

I was pretty much the same way at first. I like the last several tracks a lot better though, now that I've actually seen the movie and made my chronological edit of the score.

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A track list without editing within tracks would sound something like this for me:

1. The Quest For Erebor

2. Wilderland

3. The House Of Beorn

4. Flies And Spiders

5. The Woodland Realm

6. A Feast Of Starlight

7. The Forest River

8. The High Fells

9. Protector of the Common Folk

10. Thrice Welcome

11. Girion, Lord of Dale

12. In The Shadow of the Mountain

13. On The Doorstep

14. Inside Information

15. Kingsfoil

16. Smaug

17. My Armour Is Iron

18. Beyond The Forest

?

Where are A Necromancer, Mirkwood, Bard A Man Of Laketown, The Hunters...?

WHERE'S ED SHEERAN?!?!?!?!?!

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A track list without editing within tracks would sound something like this for me: 1. The Quest For Erebor2. Wilderland3. The House Of Beorn4. Flies And Spiders5. The Woodland Realm6. A Feast Of Starlight7. The Forest River8. The High Fells9. Protector of the Common Folk10. Thrice Welcome11. Girion, Lord of Dale12. In The Shadow of the Mountain13. On The Doorstep14. Inside Information15. Kingsfoil16. Smaug17. My Armour Is Iron18. Beyond The Forest

? Where are A Necromancer, Mirkwood, Bard A Man Of Laketown, The Hunters...?

Where is "The Palantir" on the RotK OST?

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Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?

Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?

Where is the harp on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?

Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?

They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;

The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.

Who shall gather the smoke of the deadwood burning,

Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?

Answer me this Georg!

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GK was making a list of his personal shorter version of the DOS OST. Not that complicated.

But he is leaving out the best bits, the madman!

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He said "for me" in his post, indicating it was a personal edit, and not a chronological listing.

The OST is already basically the best chronological presentation w/o splitting within tracks.

Man, splitting the tracks up and reassembling things into order will make a fairly different presentation, I'm excited to try it.


Here's the list again for those who missed it on the earlier page.

Well I've finally gone through the entire movie and figured out the chronological order! And here it is:

(Track names in quotations marks are either my names for split cues, or better names for OST tracks where the existing title did not describe the scene it scored)

1-01 The Quest For Erebor (3:22)
1-02 Wilderland (4:56)
1-03 "War Is Coming" (2:54)
1-04 The House of Beorn (4:52)
1-05 Mirkwood (5:31)
1-06 Flies And Spiders (9:35)
1-07 The Woodland Realm (5:14)
1-08 Feast Of Starlight (2:48)
1-09 Barrels Out Of Bond (1:50)
1-10 The Forest River (5:10)
1-12 The High Fells (3:38)
1-11 Bard, A Man Of Lake-Town (3:18)
1-13 The Nature of Evil (3:20)
1-14 Protector Of The Common Folk (3:35)
2-01 "Entering Lake-town" (3:33)
2-02 "Girion / Part Of This World" (4:15)
2-03B [2:24-end] "Captured" (0:40)
2-03A [0:00-2:24] "All Will Share In The Wealth Of The Mountain" (2:24)
2-04 In The Shadow Of The Mountain (2:15)
2-05A [0:00-1:26] "A Spell Of Concealment / The Hidden Door" (1:26)
2-06 On The Doorstep (7:46)
2-11A [0:00-0:18] "We Feed It To The Pigs" (0:18)
2-07A [0:00-0:45] "The Courage Of Hobbits" (0:45)
2-05B [1:26-end] "Sauron" (1:55)
2-07B [0:45-end] "Smaug's Chamber" (2:15)
2-08 Inside Information (3:48)
2-12B [2:33-5:18] "Smaug The Stupendous" (2:45)
2-11B [0:18-3:12] "The Black Arrow" (2:54)
2-10 "Darkness Is Coming" (3:41)
2-12D [6:05-end] "Bilbo Escapes" (0:25)
2-11C [3:12-5:48] "Lake-town Attack" (2:36)
2-09A [0:00-0:38] "Athelas" (0:38)
2-12A [0:00-2:33] "The Arkenstone" (2:33)
2-09C [1:56-end] "Kili's Vision" (0:29)
2-12C [5:18-6:05] "Crossing The Bridge" (0:47)
2-09B [0:38-1:56] "She Walks In Starlight" (1:18)
2-11D [5:48-end] "Thorin's Plan / Legolas vs Bolg" (4:19)
2-13 "The Forges" (5:16)
2-14 I See Fire (5:00)
2-15 Beyond The Forest (5:25)
Two interesting things I learned while studying the movie so closely: One is that a LOT of music is dialed out, more than just the obvious "Flies and Spiders" and "The Forest River" bits. Almost every track had a section removed to have no score play instead! And second is that I found some tracked music in the score, not a lot but there absolutely is some!
I'm off to bed, hopefully I can provide more details tomorrow!
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eh its easier than you think if you know the tracks well

Hunters is clearly divided into at least three parts on the score for instance

(only the first 20 seconds threw me for a loop)

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Are you actually sitting in the theatre with a stop-watch and a notepad to compile these listings?!?

Of course not. Are you even serious with that question?

Hunters is clearly divided into at least three parts on the score for instance

(only the first 20 seconds threw me for a loop)

Well, it's always possible that when originally scored, that opening 20 second "Kingsfoil? It's a weed, we feed it to the pigs!" scene was actually just before the "Black Arrow" scene, and that only in the final cut of the theatrical film it got moved all the way up to before the Courage of Hobbits scene. Who knows.

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I am betting PJ got busy in the cutting room just days before he had to deliver the film.

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GK was making a list of his personal shorter version of the DOS OST. Not that complicated.

Well, the way he wrote his post, I thought he was talking about making a chronological edit without splitting tracks (basically, just moving tracks around). That's why I didn't understand why there were tracks missing.

I assumed you could follow the line of thought preceding my post.

I am betting PJ got busy in the cutting room just days before he had to deliver the film.

I bet he was.

How else do you think Lilly got that much screen time?

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I bet he was.

How else do you think Lilly got that much screen time?

So much screen time and accomplished nothing. Or at least adds nothing of depth to the story.

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