Jump to content

Hans Zimmer Retires from Superhero Genre


crumbs

Recommended Posts

9 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Didn't he do that with The Book Thief, Memoirs Of A Geisha and several of his concert works?

Yes he did. But it obviously isn't the direction to where Alex wishes him to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a typical answer from fans who wants Williams to be doing the same old same old (only Star Wars and Raiders). To such a person, The Book Thief is like wildly going into unknown dangerous artistic territories. Nah, if Williams was more like Zimmer he would have made it clear that he no longer has an interest in the same old projects. I never understood why Williams, someone with unlimited posibilities, never was able to break the mold.

 

 

Alex The Great

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But the fact is that Williams is long past the stage where he feels like reinventing himself. If he ever even was.

 

Usually Williams project choices tend to be very safe and even a bit naff (Memoirs, The Book Thief, Stepmom etc). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Alexcremers said:

That's a typical answer from fans who wants Williams to be doing the same old same old (only Star Wars and Raiders). To such a person, The Book Thief is like wildly going into unknown dangerous artistic territories. Nah, if Williams was more like Zimmer he would have made it clear that he no longer has an interest in the same old projects. I never understood why Williams, someone with unlimited posibilities, never was able to break the mold.

 

 

Alex The Great

 

 

 

 

Do you reckon he would have made a great composer of electronic music, if he had the inclination to learn the technology?  I bet he could be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In all frankness Williams was never a huge innovator but rather one to refine the existing craft and tools. The renewal of his sound has been a subtler progress. I don't think it is not so much that he couldn't but rather that he preferred to write in certain way with certain tools.  I would say 1990's was the years when he took on new type projects perhaps in fear of being typecast as Mr. Bombast, focusing mainly on dramas like Presumed Innoncent, JFK, Sleepers etc., but he wasn't really pushing the envelope in terms of huge exprimentations so I see him as a traditionalist, adding slowly and often rather subtly to his palette, often answering to the demands of the film medium rather than himself being the originator of these more progressive ideas. Some of this catches on like the certain minimalistic techniques of the post 2000 scores which can be heard in his concert works as well.

 

Now at the age of 84 I don't think Williams is that keen to change but rather feels more introspective and focused on his concert hall output to sort out various musical ideas and challenges that interest him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

 

Do you reckon he would have made a great composer of electronic music, if he had the inclination to learn the technology?  I bet he could be.

 

To learn the technology? Wasn't he a synthesizer man in the beginning of his career? Your early first of April trickeries don't work on me, TGP!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

 

Do you reckon he would have made a great composer of electronic music, if he had the inclination to learn the technology?  I bet he could be.

I am sure Williams would have made a great composer of electronic music if that had taken his fancy and he had retooled over the years for that in mind. As it is these electronic tools for music making play a very peripheral role in his music, a second fiddle to the orchestra, which is the medium he so keenly loves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Williams a synth man?

 

Not really. He may have used the instrument on occasion but certainly never to the degree that it defined his music in any way.

 

The Conversation is undoubtably his most "famous" synth piece and its a bit of a fluke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I thought he was talking about Zimmer! I don't think Williams has ever shown much interest in synths so I don't think he would have been good with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As for Williams, which of his works has the most pronounced use of synths? I would assume it's Heartbeeps, and I'm guessing it's use there is hardly seen as innovative.

 

I've always figured his sensibilities and indeed own personal interest lay elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Stefancos said:

As for Williams, which of his works has the most pronounced use of synths? I would assume it's Heartbeeps, and I'm guessing it's use there is hardly seen as innovative.

 

I've always figured his sensibilities and indeed own personal interest lay elsewhere.

Quite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

To learn the technology? Wasn't he a synthesizer man in the beginning of his career? Your early first of April trickeries don't work on me, TGP!

 

No, no trickery!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't say Williams misunderstood synths. It's just not his thing, that's why he hires synth men. If Zimmer didn't become a composer, he would have been a synth man for Williams.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Williams understands synths far more than, say, Goldsmith ever did. At least Williams knows his limitations, which is why he usually uses them discretely in an orchestral idiom. I know people get upset when I say this, but I don't think Goldsmith ever really grasped electronics (despite his curiousity for them), which is why -- IMO -- they often stand out and sound grating.

 

But then, of course, you have "Training Montage" from SPACECAMP... :) 

 

[not sure how we came into this topic...]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Stefancos said:

 

Indeed!

 

Yeah, I'm aware it's a controversial statement. On FSM moreso than here, perhaps, since that's basically the Jerry Goldsmith Worship Board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Thor said:

[not sure how we came into this topic...]

It was inevitable. Zimmer VS Williams is where all such threads eventually arrive at.

 

On the topic of Zimmer doing something else than superhero scores I say go for it Hansu! It is time to let loose and put some of those girly woodwinds into your synthesizer banks and compose a pastoral film score full of wonder after all the doom and gloom of Dark Knights and Superman reboots!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Alexcremers said:

I thought his score for Instellar showed balls.

I can't remember it unfortunately. Have to give it another listen and see if it sticks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Drax said:

 

Inky's Law.

So it shall be known!

 

Also sounds like a killer title for a 1980's styled show where eccentric film score enthusiast lawyer solves tricky cases Matlock style and every episode has the classic ending laughs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

I thought his score for Instellar showed balls.

Same here. It's my favorite HZ score of his entire career. He really went into a new direction with Nolan. I can't wait for Dunkirk, which he is already working on!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

INTERSTELLAR is a stunning score -- one of the top 10 scores from two years ago. Proves that Zimmer continually re-defines himself and explores different directions if the project is inspiring enough. Which, sadly, BvS was not (although it has some 30 excellent minutes in there). So I can understand why Zimmer said what he said in that interview.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Incanus said:

I can't remember it unfortunately. Have to give it another listen and see if it sticks.

 

Sounds like you are talking about Williams' concertos. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Sounds like you are talking about Williams' concertos. ;)

Philistine!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Alexcremers said:

I thought his score for Instellar showed balls.

It is definitely among his finest works. And New Agey Krypton/Midwest parts of his Man of Steel are really pretty too. 

 

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have no idea why Alex though TGP's post was about Zimmer and not Williams, when it was a direct response to all the Williams talk happening right before it. How odd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Thor said:

I know people get upset when I say this, but I don't think Goldsmith ever really grasped electronics (despite his curiousity for them), which is why -- IMO -- they often stand out and sound grating.

 

According to whom? I'm the first to admit that JG had a lot of misses in that department, especially in the late 80's and early 90's - but that was more due to an increasingly populist approach that often applied pre-fabricated samples in a rather unimaginative fashion. I never got this flimsy argumentation of yours that there is a kind of international DIN norm of how to apply electronics.

 

As for Zimmer: why anyone would want to squander precious life time providing these films with 2 hour + of wallpapering that wanders off into the sound effects department realm most of the time is anyone's guess. Besides up-and-coming composers who need the money nobody seems to actually like these jobs so it's more a question why he's taking them all the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, publicist said:

 

According to whom?

 

According to me, of course. Hence the "IMO". You're not the first to disagree with the argument, nor -- I suspect -- the last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As for why he would take these jobs in the first place over and over, the cynical answer is money. The wiser, and correct, answer is that they're fun for the craftsman/tinkerer in a composer, regardless of how creative they allow you to be. I think Zimmer likes to just "do" music so much that he takes on more than many people might want him to.  Same as Jerry, who also showed his musical laziness at times in favor of simply being a tinkerer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always considered Goldsmith as someone with a similar work ethic as Christopher Walken or Rutger Hauer. Reputable actors who don't mind doing average material if the paycheck is good, or if there are aspects of interest to the project. Which could either be the role itself, working with a certain actor or director, or simply a paid holiday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Stefancos said:

I always considered Goldsmith as someone with a similar work ethic as Christopher Walken or Rutger Hauer. Reputable actors who don't mind doing average material if the paycheck is good, or if there are aspects of interest to the project. Which could either be the role itself, working with a certain actor or director, or simply a paid holiday.

 

And, to further with that analogy, they were/are usually always the best part within said average material. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

I think Zimmer likes to just "do" music so much that he takes on more than many people might want him to.

 

But, in contrast to the Goldsmith example, the recent blockbuster movies he was part of (see also: Transformers etc.) often contain so much 'un-musical' sound design (for so many hours of material) that i never understood why any pure musician at heart would want to be part of that.

 

Or he farms that out to the slaves, i don't know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.