The Force Awakens Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams 2015)

[Bilbo 3,709]

3 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Listening George Lucas talk over talk over one.  Also, Ben Burtt.  

Would much rather listen to Lucas and Burtt talk over two films than Abrams over one. 

 

If caffeine had a sound it would be JJ's voice. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Lucas and Burtt are great for ASMR.

[SafeUnderHill 205]

[Faleel 5,348]

Unkar Plutt deleted scene preview:

 

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/10/18/star-wars-force-awakens-deleted-scene-unkar-plutt-chewbacca?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter

[mrbellamy 6,287]

Haha cool. I remember hearing that rumor that they might show Chewie finally do that to somebody.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

meh

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Hoo boy am I glad that wasn't included in the movie.

[Will 2,215]

1 hour ago, Fennel Ka said:

Unkar Plutt deleted scene preview:

 

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/10/18/star-wars-force-awakens-deleted-scene-unkar-plutt-chewbacca?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter

 

 

I was so excited when I got home from school just now to watch this because I hoped it would have new JW music. Instead it's Miranda/Abrams. 

 

Cool scene, though. Can't wait to see 

Spoiler

Chewie's true might for the first time. 

 

1 hour ago, mrbellamy said:

Haha cool. I remember hearing that rumor that they might show Chewie finally do that to somebody.

 

It was in the novelization so it's cool to get to see it on screen. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Sounds ghastly! More JJ fan service.

[Will 2,215]

http://makingstarwars.net/2016/10/a-clip-from-j-j-abrams-star-wars-the-force-awakens-3d-commentary/

 

Little clip of the Abrams commentary track in which he discusses how Jon Kasdan (Lawrence's son) helped write the Han and Ren on the bridge scene. 

 

Hopefully he says some things about the music. Like, "Well, for this scene John Williams actually wrote several versions of the music because we weren't sure what would fit." Little tid bits like that. 

[nightscape94 965]

Oh hell, I'll buy it.

[Will 2,215]

I don't know if I'll get this. I already bought the regular version, and I'd think most of the new stuff will be posted on YouTube...

[crumbs 14,316]

2 hours of JJ speaking will be great -- I too think there will be references to alternates in scenes where JJ and JW workshopped the score.

 

Rey Meets BB8 was meant to have the most alternates wasn't it? They couldn't work out the tone of the scene (and even now we don't know if the final version was actually tracked music from R2 Wakes Up or not).

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[crocodile 8,012]

You need to having said "and the notion that" a lot though.

 

Karol

[Will 2,215]

17 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

I think you should expect nothing more than JJ gushing about JW's music: "This scene was one that was really hard to get right. We had to work on it for a long time... Oh, by the way, the music Williams wrote for the film is absolutely brilliant. Rey's theme is gorgeous, Ren's theme is pure genius, the March Of The Resistance is tremendous... OK, so, to accomplish the special effects in this scene, what we did was blablabla..."

 

21 hours ago, crumbs said:

2 hours of JJ speaking will be great -- I too think there will be references to alternates in scenes where JJ and JW workshopped the score.

 

Rey Meets BB8 was meant to have the most alternates wasn't it? They couldn't work out the tone of the scene (and even now we don't know if the final version was actually tracked music from R2 Wakes Up or not).

 

Well, we don't know if it was the most, but JW did say there were several versions written because of tone questions.

[Jay 37,364]

Some news about the additional deleted scenes and other stuff on the new bonus disc

[Will 2,215]

Quote

"In the original script you saw the lightsaber falling through space and landing on the ground and a hand taking it," Abrams revealed. "You used to have this entire backstory where you learned what happened with Luke's lightsaber over the years and how it ended up finally in the hands of Maz Kanata. All that became backstory, and is in fact thrown away in one line later."

 

We've known this for a while, of course.

 

But this just reminded me that I'm still wondering whether some of JW's myriad "Starry Night" alternates, some of which seem to be scoring different scenes than the one that was in the final film, were written for an opening scene that had the lightsaber falling through space. Some of them seem like they would work with that scene. And then perhaps we'd see the troops headed to Jakku -- there are also alternates for that scene that are quite different from the final music, possibly because the lead-in is totally different. It's all very confusing. 

[Jay 37,364]

I wonder if Johnny Dubs scored the scene it talks about with Leia and the Resistance member

[Jay 37,364]

Lots more JJ Abrams commentary info

[mrbellamy 6,287]

That sand explosion does seem a very Spielbergian touch. 

[Will 2,215]

So.... the 3D Blu-ray is out now, right?

 

@Fennel Ka, you find anything yet? 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I'm watching with commentary right now

[Will 2,215]

3 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I'm watching with commentary right now

 

Tell me if there are any score comments!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I've been pausing it and starting again all evening, but I've gotten up to the "regroup at D'Qar after the battle at Takodana" scene and he's mentioned Williams a few times.  Twice just for your normal, "such amazing music" type compliments and once to mention that Williams requested not to write the source music for the cantina, which we already knew.

 

I'll edit this post if he mentions Williams again.

 

EDIT:

- When they were finished recording the score, Williams gifted Abrams a leatherbound printing of the sheet music for 'March of the Resistance'

[BloodBoal 7,538]

5 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I've been pausing it and starting again all evening, but I've gotten up to the "regroup at D'Qar after the battle at Takodana" scene and he's mentioned Williams a few times.  Twice just for your normal, "such amazing music" type compliments and once to mention that Williams requested not to write the source music for the cantina, which we already knew.

 

Told you so, Will!

[mrbellamy 6,287]

5 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Twice just for your normal, "such amazing music" type compliments

 

What were those?

[Bilbo 3,709]

Is it only out in the US now? It's been out weeks here!

[crumbs 14,316]

Yeah I heard the Abrams commentary was pretty much fluff praising various crew members without providing much insight.

 

Disappointing if there are just generic comments about Williams' music when he could be discussing their scoring process, spotting, revising cues, alternates, listening to new themes, etc.

[Bilbo 3,709]

JJ Abrams have never once said something interesting in his entire life. 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Disco Stu 15,495]

5 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

 

What were those?

 

The "I Can Fly Anything" sequence and when the Force Theme first gets played during Maz and Rey's conversation about the lightsaber I think.

 

There were a couple more instances of him mentioning Williams that I didn't get to post last night because the site went down again.

 

I definitely remember him saying that he was "surprised" when he first heard Williams' cue for the sequence of Rey, Chewie, and Artoo flying to Luke's planet at the end with "Rey's Theme" but that as soon as he heard he knew it was perfect because it reflected the music that introduced us to Rey at the beginning.

[Will 2,215]

18 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

EDIT:

- When they were finished recording the score, Williams gifted Abrams a leatherbound printing of the sheet music for 'March of the Resistance'

 

We knew that too, actually. 

 

10 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Did you honestly expect something like that? I mean, directors rarely (if ever) go into detail regarding the scoring process in audio commentaries. They generally always go back to the good ol' "We were so lucky to have [insert composer's name] on this project. The film simply wouldn't be the same without his/her music" catchphrase. Not sure why you (or other members, for that matter) expected anything different here. Because it's Abrams and he's a Williams fanboy? That may have been a good reason to expect something different, but even then, that was more of a fool's hope...

 

Well I've barely watched any movie commentaries, but for example in the Inside Out commentary there were several interesting score comments. For example, the director explained how for a certain scene he had asked Gia to change a cue from major to minor to better fit the mood of the scene. And he even called Gia to talk about the score -- but when they were taping the commentary Gia wasn't available on the phone, so we unfortunately didn't get to hear from him. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I just remembered he specifically mentioned the music being amazing during the scene where Rey force pulls the lightsaber past Kylo's face but makes NO mention of the edit to track in "Burning Homestead."  So...yeah.  Nothing notable at all in the commentary.

[Will 2,215]

7 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I definitely remember him saying that he was "surprised" when he first heard Williams' cue for the sequence of Rey, Chewie, and Artoo flying to Luke's planet at the end with "Rey's Theme" but that as soon as he heard he knew it was perfect because it reflected the music that introduced us to Rey at the beginning.

 

Huh... I wonder why that would be. Must have temped it very differently (which surprises me)? I'd like to know what he temped with!

 

In any case, it's nice that J.J. baby was open to keeping cues he was "surprised" by. 

4 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I just remembered he specifically mentioned the music being amazing during the scene where Rey force pulls the lightsaber past Kylo's face but makes NO mention of the edit to track in "Burning Homestead."  So...yeah.  Nothing notable at all in the commentary.

 

 

I love that he actually complimented the one little tracked bit of this scene!

 

By the way, @Disco Stu, were there any mentions of George Lucas' involvement in the story? Fat chance, I know, but just wondering.  

[Disco Stu 15,495]

5 minutes ago, Will said:

 

 

 

I love that he actually complimented the one little tracked bit of this scene!

 

It wasn't quite that targeted.  Like he wasn't "Oh this amazing use of the Force Theme right here."  More of a passing mention of the music being good for the sequence generally?  I dunno, Abrams is such a motormouth and can't stay focused on a thought for very long, it wasn't a very compelling commentary :/

 

Regarding your question about Lucas, he mentioned Lucas a few times but only as an effusive fanboy.  "We wouldn't be here if not for his genius" kind of comments.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 minute ago, BloodBoal said:

 

No comment about the Ring Theory?

 

No.  Although he did talk fairly extensively about structuring the story with all the callbacks to A New Hope as a way to use "old" Star Wars as a bridge to get to "new" Star Wars.  Sort of playing into the Ring Theory nonsense without using the phrase itself.

[crumbs 14,316]

It's funny to think he was surprised by 'Trip to the Island'. That's probably the best fitting, most "inevitable" musical storytelling cue of the score.

 

We finish our journey with Rey just as it began (Rey's Theme), but this is the most triumphant, confident rendition of her theme in the film. No longer the delicate, timid version of Rey's Theme we heard in The Scavenger. Just compare the first appearance of her melody over the downed Star Destroyer shot versus the rendition here as the Falcon enters lightspeed: Williams' musical storytelling at its finest.

 

All the feels in that wonderful long closeup of Rey staring out the cockpit, her theme accentuating so many emotions as Rey ponders what she's about to discover. It's so note-perfect for that scene, I can't even imagine an alternative approach. Perhaps JJ expected a brassy, prequel-esque Luke's Theme fanfare?

[Will 2,215]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Sort of playing into the Ring Theory nonsense without using the phrase itself.

 

I too am beginning to doubt a little that it was actually intended by Lucas ... although it would be a crazy coincidence! It just seems like something so elaborate and artistic would have been revealed to the public by Lucas himself or someone in the production. It's hard to imagine how/why it would have been kept entirely secret. That's one reason to think it's just another interesting but ultimately meaningless fan theory. 

 

Although I will say that parallels between ANH and TFA to bring the "old" and "new" together are very different than what is suggested by the ring theory, which is much more interesting. 

 

29 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It's funny to think he was surprised by 'Trip to the Island'. That's probably the best fitting, most "inevitable" musical storytelling cue of the score.

 

We finish our journey with Rey just as it began (Rey's Theme), but this is the most triumphant, confident rendition of her theme in the film. No longer the delicate, timid version of Rey's Theme we heard in The Scavenger. Just compare the first appearance of her melody over the downed Star Destroyer shot versus the rendition here as the Falcon enters lightspeed: Williams' musical storytelling at its finest.

 

All the feels in that wonderful long closeup of Rey staring out the cockpit, her theme accentuating so many emotions as Rey ponders what she's about to discover. It's so note-perfect for that scene, I can't even imagine an alternative approach. Perhaps JJ expected a brassy, prequel-esque Luke's Theme fanfare?

 

He was expecting this! It was probably the temp track!

 

 

J.J. must have been pissed that Johnny didn't use choir!

 

"John, you did it on the prequels, why the hell aren't you doing it now?! I should have hired Gia!"

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Will 2,215]

37 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

No one said the "ring theory" thing wasn't intended or anything. There are definitely parallels between the films, stuff repeated from one film to the next, etc. 

 

Well, of course, there are parallels, but the ring theory discusses a very specific set of parallels, and a very specific reason why Lucas likely put them there. 

 

You may not be arguing that the ring composition wasn't intended, but others are certainly arguing just that. (And their arguments actually may well have merit.)

[Will 2,215]

Apparently the only two new deleted scenes on the Blu-ray are the Leia-Kor conversation and the Unkar-Chewy bit. The beginning of the last one that was previewed online a while ago used the non-JW cantina source music, and I doubt the rest of it has any JW music. And the conversation scene is probably unscored. 

 

Hopefully the documentaries will at least have some new music. @Fennel Ka have you found anything yet? 

[crumbs 14,316]

I'm sure there's more deleted scenes they're withholding for the inevitable trilogy box set in 4 years.

 

Just in time for the inevitable Special Edition expanded soundtrack box set if John does all 3 scores. Will be far easier to coordinate now everything's under Disney's umbrella, as opposed to the other scores and their complex ownership rights (and varying degrees of restoration/remastering required).

[Arpy 4,145]

I saw this in stores the other day with its lenticular cover case. Is it worth picking up?

[Will 2,215]

6 minutes ago, crumbs said:

I'm sure there's more deleted scenes they're withholding for the inevitable trilogy box set in 4 years.

 

Oh, I'm sure there are a bunch, many of which probably have JW score (although we may already have heard a lot of that music in the BR docs). And many of which will never be released.

3 minutes ago, RPurton said:

I saw this in stores the other day with its lenticular cover case. Is it worth picking up?

 

The word is no. I didn't get it. Sounds like the commentary is boring, and all the Williams bits were summarized by @Disco Stu above, the deleted scenes will surely wind up on YouTube, and the additional documentaries are just on foley artists, sound effects, and costumes, I believe. Might be interesting, but not necessarily worth spending money on, at least in my opinion (especially given that I already bought the film!)

 

Disco Stu what do you think?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yeah a waste of a double dip.

[Wojo 2,453]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Yeah a waste of a double dip.

 

[Arpy 4,145]

It's $49 over here, so I might pass up on buying another TFA bluray until the complete 3 film set is released, or a Middle-earth ultimate edition type thingymabob comes out.

[BloodBoal 7,538]