Been absent for awhile, have AOTC ???s

[Ozzel 0]

I used to check this forum almost daily just for reading, but I've been so busy lately I haven't been able to for a long time. Forgive me for not having the patience to check through the last seven or eight months worth of topics to find the answers to my questions, as I'm sure the subject has been beaten to death already, although buried deep in this forum. So please bear with me...

1. Has there been any 'official' reason given for why the music for the last third of AOTC borrowed so heavily from TPM's score? What has the official reaction been on this board for that reason?

3. Has Sony Classical announced any future release of the complete score for AOTC, and what date, if any, has been set?

Thanks in advance for your answers, and thanks for putting up with me. I will try to stay up to date from now on.

[Justin 2]

'Cause Lucas is a lazy bum.

Seriously though. I'm not sure if there is any "official" reason, I know that JW didn't write any original music for the scenes I believe that has been confirmed.

However because of the heavy visual effects in the scene it may have been finished late in the schedule and Williams was unable to score it before the May release date.

Justin -Getting ready for an AOTC debate.

[Jim Ware 526]

The second half of reel 6 of Clones apparently consisted of nothing more than animatics and vague script pages when Williams was writing his score. The only coherent sequence was the arena section.

Because of this, Williams only wrote a little over nine minutes of music for the whole reel.

[Guest]

Since we know from the the "Music" EPK featurette that Williams composed 2.5 hours of music for AOTC, a movie clocking in at 2 hours and 12 minutes, we can assume that Williams, from spotting the film to finishing the writing process, did not intend to use any of ep1's score. Was the full 2.5 hours performed and recorded? As one member of this board pointed out, the LSO says no. So the question now is, what exactly happened? Was the decision made prior to or during the recording sessions to throw away and not record certain cues (especially for reel six)? If this were so, I imagine the reason was because last minute edits to the film would have put the written music out of sync with the action. I realize studio time is staggeringly expensive, but Williams and his crew are brilliant and I'm sure they could have made adjustments and still recorded most of the original music. Wasn't this the situation during the TPM sessions? Or perhaps reel 6 was so different from the spotted version that adjustments would've been impossible -- given Williams' hectic schedule. A less plausible explanation would be that Lucas simply didn't like what Williams had written in certain spots and decided to just drop in TPM cues. In any case, it seems that a good deal of music was never recorded, which is truly a tragedy. :cry:

[Lurker 5]

Your numbers are a little off, "Guest". This is from John Takis' analysis, "Official media sources claim that Williams composed 125 minutes of music for a 140-minute film." According to the IMDB, it's actually 143 minutes. So there is almost 20 minutes of the film unscored, and I'm betting that most of that is from the "Clone War" sequence.

Neil

[Morn 8]

1. Has there been any 'official' reason given for why the music for the last third of AOTC borrowed so heavily from TPM's score? What has the official reaction been on this board for that reason?

No offical reason, only rumors that Williams decided to not score it because parts of the film were barely completed. I believe it was Thaxton who said that Wannaberg edited the TPM music to the film.

3. Has Sony Classical announced any future release of the complete score for AOTC, and what date, if any, has been set?

Sony Classical solidly said that there will not be an expanded release of the score. But never trust what a company says. Likely they don't want you to wait for the expanded release.

[Ozzel 0]

According to the petition to Sony Classical, the parts of the AOTC score replaced by TPM music in the movie were actually recorded. If this is true, the petition works and Sony does release the music the way JW wanted us to hear it in the first place, then I guess it really doesn't matter why it was butchered by Lucas. However, it does make you wonder if we'll have to go through all this again for ep3.

[ST-321 4]

However, it does make you wonder if we'll have to go through all this again for ep3.

I would say that is more than likely. Don't expect Lucas to change his style of filmmaking.

[Morn 8]

I hope he compromises by delaying the film release for a month or 2 for a quick rescoring session of a few scenes.

[Beowulf 4]

Let's just hope this major inconsistency (and my only gripe with AOTC) is fixed in the Ultimate-Archival-Super-Special Editions of the films. I don't see why it wouldn't be, especially if JW is reportedly going to be rescoring parts of ANH.

[Guest]

AOTC Supervising Sound Editor told me personally that there was never any intention of composing original music for the CLONE WAR section of "CLONES". At the spotting session in October of 2001, the scene was just a skeletal sequence of animatics and it was decided, perhaps based on the experience of all the music cutting done in the final battle scenes of Ep 1, to simply track the scenes with music from TPM.

Personally, I suspect that the "On the Conveyor Belt" track was also written more as a set-piece than a properly scored cue. If I recall correctly, that scene was also just an animatic sequence when Williams spotted the film, and the final timings may not have been accurate. Also, in AOTC DVD, it looks like it was intended to be "scored" with the sound effects of the machinery for at least part of the scene, which makes me wonder if the percussion sections of the cue on the cd have been shortened from their original length.

Finally, let's not forget, while the reused music in CLONES certainly accounts for the most music tracked from one film to another in the SW series, it's pretty much been modus operandi for the Star Wars films to alter some of the music between scoring and the final film mix. All the films have deleted or alternate cues, and Empire has more music that was just plain dumped than any of the other 5 films. As far as what he actually composed for the film, CLONES may not be that far off from JW's "original" intentions...

elvisjones

[Ozzel 0]

elvisjones, thanks for your testimonies from personal experience. Since I read that much of the action from the film's final battles was incomplete when JW spotted the film, I have always suspected that the decision was made not to compose any new music in certain areas -- and now I see I was correct. While the amount of music lifted from TPM probably amounts to only 10-15 minutes, it's still disappointing that we could not experience all new cues to accompany the action on Geonosis. That said, I remember feeling the same disappointment when I first saw 'Jedi' back in '83. Having already listened to ANH and ESB soundtracks a thousand times each, it was easy to recognize the regurgitated action cues during the Sarlaac/Jabba's death scenes and the final assault on the Death Star II. But at least they were re-written and re-recorded in order to weave together with new music.

One other thing, though -- and I hope someone may know. Get your AOTC DVDs out and watch the 'Clones' TV spot on disc 2. It starts out with the newer, more dramatic Trade Federation theme from TPM, but at about 00:14, you can hear a brand new, very exciting action cue which I don't remember ever hearing on the soundtrack album or in the movie. This music accompanies the action on Geonosis so well that it makes me wonder if JW did indeed compose and record original music for the clone war scenes -- if only just a few minutes' worth. I plan on 'listening' to the movie very carefully to see if I missed it, but meanwhile does anyone know the music I'm talking about, and where it may appear in the film?

[Justin 2]

I don't mean to change the subject but Beowulf. What is that thing in your signature? :?

Justin -Frightened of it.

[Markuz 0]

...could it be the concert arrangement of the "Battle on Endor" from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi? I remember music from this track being used in a trailer...

Regards

Markuz

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Let's just hope this major inconsistency (and my only gripe with AOTC) is fixed in the Ultimate-Archival-Super-Special Editions of the films.  I don't see why it wouldn't be, especially if JW is reportedly going to be rescoring parts of ANH.

Yeah, either that or George Lucas will have the great idea to use the same cues from ANH thoroughout the 6 movies -- "so as to provide more continuity to the saga"

[Guest]

Ozzel

The music you are referring to is the ending of the cue "On The Conveyor Belt", which was exclusively available as track 14 on the AOTC soundtrack CD at target stores in america. I don't know how it was made available in other countries.

That section of music is used at the climax of the conveyor belt scene in the film as Anakin is avoiding getting his arm chopped off by those big cutters but his lightsaber gets hacked in half.

elvisjones

[King Mark 3,631]

Ben Burt says on the DVD that HE "composed" some sounds with percussion instruments for the conveyor belt sequence,the used it in the Area and the Dooku duel.

K.M.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

'Cause Lucas is a lazy bum.

I wish he were even more lazy. They maybe he would not bother with finishing the Prequels.

As for AOTC Complete don't expect it anytime soon.

[Ozzel 0]

How many signatures do you all think it would take for Sony Classical to pay any attention to the petition? Last I checked the number was around 1,500.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

How many signatures do you all think it would take for Sony Classical to pay any attention to the petition?

Oh, it can go up to 10,000,000 for all they care. Internet petitions are usually looked over by big companies. Although that is more a personal opinion than a fact.

[Lurker 5]

How many signatures do you all think it would take for Sony Classical to pay any attention to the petition? Last I checked the number was around 1,500.

1,500 is nothing. It's a drop in the ocean, compared to what other albums sell. If the list only has 1,500 signatures in almost a year, that shows very little interest in this potential album.

I wouldn't worry about it that much. There are better CD's out there anyway.

Neil

[King Mark 3,631]

What if someone of us tried to land a job as an executive at Sony Classical,might help.

K.M.

[Ricard 2,245]

What if someone of us tried to land a job as an executive at Sony Classical,might help.

What a crazy and wonderful idea! LOL

[King Mark 3,631]

I'm a bit hyper thank you very much

K.M.Who lost his headphone adaptor

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Land a job at Sony Classical??

I would like to keep my soul thank you very much!

[Morn 8]

How many signatures do you all think it would take for Sony Classical to pay any attention to the petition? Last I checked the number was around 1,500.

1,500 is nothing. It's a drop in the ocean, compared to what other albums sell. If the list only has 1,500 signatures in almost a year, that shows very little interest in this potential album.

I wouldn't worry about it that much. There are better CD's out there anyway.

Neil

I dunno, aren't petitions for Cd's rather rare.... and there will be much more demand for it than the people who signed. I meant he simple fact that it has a petition shows that there is demand compared to other releases.