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What to expect from Episode VIII's Score?


Unlucky Bastard

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On 10/4/2017 at 5:19 AM, Disco Stu said:

I had this very vivid dream last night that Rian Johnson had hired Stevie Wonder to write an original song for The Last Jedi that was played over a key sequence of the film.

 

I had one last night where I met JW during a session break (who, for some reason, was dressed like Mr. Monopoly) and the most interesting question I could think of to ask when presented with this awesome opportunity was, "So, do you write music every day?" :pat:

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1 hour ago, Not Mr. Big said:

I wonder if there'll be a theme for Rey and Luke (a bit like Luke & Leia) as their relationship is apparently pretty central to the movie.  

 

That's actually quite likely. He doesn't want to repeat themes from earlier episodes too often, so don't expect too much of Luke and Rey's existing themes. A new theme for their entire storyline would be a good way around that.

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4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 

That's actually quite likely. He doesn't want to repeat themes from earlier episodes too often, so don't expect too much of Luke and Rey's existing themes. A new theme for their entire storyline would be a good way around that.

Another torrid love theme in the books. 

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I'm thinking it will be a deconstruction of Rey's Theme and Luke's Theme, maybe even Jedi Steps.

 

Just as Luke & Leia was a deconstruction of Luke's Theme, and Anakin's Theme a deconstruction of the Imperial March.

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Could be related to the Force theme as well. I'm hoping he'll continue that connection to Rey's Theme since I seem to remember him saying he realized it pretty late in scoring TFA and seems like something he might be interested in expanding upon. It was even incorporated in the teaser music, not that that necessarily means anything but it would just be cool to see him making that a new hook for how he uses Rey's Theme in this movie, as she explores her connection to the Force.

 

I actually also think it'd be kind of neat if there was an opportunity to reprise that intertwining of Finn's motif and Poe's theme. I'm not expecting him to keep using that Finn motif (Poe's theme, I certainly hope comes back) but just like a one-off moment in an action sequence where they're together maybe. It's such a fun little musical idea.

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Well yeah, nobody can ever decide what to call it. As I said, I doubt that'll be something that recurs in this trilogy considering it was dropped midway through Force Awakens, but I also wouldn't say a fleeting reprisal of that motif is totally unlikely. Just depends. It's hard to say whether he'll end up doing a lot of little callbacks to TFA or hardly any.

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Williams doesn't do "a lot of callbacks." It's almost as if reprising themes too much feels to him like retreading musical grounds. For a score to feel "original" to him, he has to base it on new thematic material as much as possible.

 

As for that motif specifically, its for the more lighthearted action scenes (where there typically is humor to be had with Finn's scared-out-of-his-mind behavior, hence the tendency to associate the motif with him). As the action becomes more dire, this "driving" motif is left by the wayside as it would be out of place.

 

If the marketing is to be believed, this upcoming movie will have little room for the former kind of action. Still, I suppose the motif could recur once or twice.

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Yeah, we're yet to see if he pulls an Anakin's theme on us with Rey, or whether he will stick with his existing themes as per the original trilogy.

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I think he'll write a new theme for Rey and Luke but use it in tandem with their original themes, similar to how Leia got a new theme in Empire (arguably Han Solo's theme) but we still heard hints of her original theme throughout.

 

JW definitely prefers writing new music to repurposing old material. His public musings, "thinking about what I'll write next [for Rey]," possibly indicated he had a new theme swirling around his head since TFA, rather than thinking of new ways to present Rey's Theme.

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24 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It would be fun to see Ghost Yoda re-appear on Acht-To, but only in puppet form and voiced by Frank Oz. No CGI monstrosity, thanks!

Maybe Maz can replace him and Williams will give her a theme too. That's one thing I was disappointed by in TFA was that she wasn't given any musical identity.

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56 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It would be fun to see Ghost Yoda re-appear on Acht-To, but only in puppet form and voiced by Frank Oz. No CGI monstrosity, thanks!

 

I don't know about the puppet, but months ago, Frank Oz said he was asked not to talk about whether Yoda's in the film. Hmm...

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/will-yoda-star-wars-last-jedi-frank-oz-isnt-allowed-say/

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OK, next music to speculate about:

 

 

Probably Haab (doesn't really sound like modern JW), although you never know. 

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Oh, don't worry, they're saving Force Ghost Obi-Wan for the Obi-Wan standalone film where he'll be having a conversation with Force Ghost Anakin, narrating the plot of the film.

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That's clearly Gordy Haab, but it's really good! You can tell by the acoustics of the recording; it's imitating the recording style used on the prequels rather than the drier sound Williams is favouring for the sequels (well, so far anyway).

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Mostly just games and shorts. To score a big movie like that, they would probably ask more experienced composers who could give the score depth and its own identity while still fitting into Williams' sound. I don't want to talk bad about Gordy, I haven't heard much from him, but his Battlefront is all style, no substance. He imitates the orchestration and mannerisms of Williams, and that's about it. The first game had a main motif with a few nice variations that he carries over to the second one. It's perfectly adequate for a video game which only aims to put you back into the world of the movies while not doing anything really new, but that doesn't necessarily show he has the skill to carry an entire movie. He may be able to do that, but with his one most popular and well-known work, he hasn't shown it yet.

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2 hours ago, Holko said:

Mostly just games and shorts. To score a big movie like that, they would probably ask more experienced composers who could give the score depth and its own identity while still fitting into Williams' sound. I don't want to talk bad about Gordy, I haven't heard much from him, but his Battlefront is all style, no substance. He imitates the orchestration and mannerisms of Williams, and that's about it. The first game had a main motif with a few nice variations that he carries over to the second one. It's perfectly adequate for a video game which only aims to put you back into the world of the movies while not doing anything really new, but that doesn't necessarily show he has the skill to carry an entire movie. He may be able to do that, but with his one most popular and well-known work, he hasn't shown it yet.

I would much prefer this approach over new stuff that is crap.   

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In fairness to Gia, he only had 4 weeks to write Rogue One. With that in mind, it's really not a bad effort.

 

But it doesn't hold a candle to any of Williams' scores, obviously.

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I think everyone, including Gia understands that his score doesn't and can't stand shoulder to shoulder with Williams'. From what I've heard from Gia is that it was a great opportunity to write for a franchise that has been a big part of his life. 

 

In the case of Haab versus Giacchino, I'd take Giacchino's additions to his own repertoire within the franchise to Haab's imitations any day, but I respect both composers all the same.

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It's interesting that he was neither Disney's first nor second choice to score the next anthology film.

 

Well, unless he turned it down before either Powell or JNH were asked (unlikely -- he doesn't seem to turn anything down!)

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3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Other composers had only 4 weeks or so to score big films, and gave us much better scores than Rogue One. The 4 weeks excuse is bit shaky, methinks. I honestly don't think the score would have been vastly different, had he been given more time to work on it.

 

I agree with BloodBoal!

 

 

Rogue One is better than a lot of the live action stuff he's had time to spend on and it's not like this was a new universe he stepped into without any thought. He'd been waiting for this all his life. 

 

Rogue One is a good modern blockbuster score. It could have been a lot worse. It's exactly what I expected from Giacchino though. We got out Gia Star Wars score. I'd like to see them go through as many composers as possible. 

 

We're getting Powell. 

 

I want JNH. I want Shore. I want Desplat. Loads of others. 

 

I'd like to see Soule or Haab get a go. 

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27 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It's interesting that he was neither Disney's first nor second choice to score the next anthology film.

 

Well, unless he turned it down before either Powell or JNH were asked (unlikely -- he doesn't seem to turn anything down!)

If Lord/Miller were still attached, it wouldn't be too far fetched to suggest they would've chosen Mark Mothersbaugh to compose. 

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3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Given the right Star Wars film, Zimmer could be fine.

 

I agree but he would definitely need the right Star Wars film. 

 

I don't think he'd have done a good job on Rogue One. I don't think he'd do a good job on Hanthology but if something more appropriate came along (one of the standalones) I think he could do a fine job. Provided his heart was in it. 

 

It's his underlings like Balfe and Junkie that I want to avoid. 

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21 hours ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

 

I agree but he would definitely need the right Star Wars film. 

 

I don't think he'd have done a good job on Rogue One. I don't think he'd do a good job on Hanthology but if something more appropriate came along (one of the standalones) I think he could do a fine job. Provided his heart was in it. 

 

It's his underlings like Balfe and Junkie that I want to avoid. 

 

If anyone lets Zimmer near Star Wars, that's it for me.

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Tracklist:

1.  Scherzo for Rey and Orchestra  (3.30)

2.  Rey's Love Theme  (5.28)

3.  Cipher Theme for all characters not named Rey  (1.02)

4.  Rey and John's theme  (55.03)

 

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