The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection from La-La Land MUSIC Discussion

[JohnnyD 1,493]

I did an experiment of playing all of the unused music from both of the Maestro's scores for the respective scenes from each movie, and it REALLY makes a difference.

 

Jurassic Park -

 

The final few seconds of "Entrance of Mr. Hammond" would have scored the transition to San Jose, Costa Rica, as Dodgson's car pulls up. Some nice foreboding.

 

"Goat Bait" would have scored the first T-Rex paddock scene, where the goat is used to try and tempt the T-Rex to come out. Very eerie atmosphere, but ends the scene in an emotional let down as to say, "Another no-show."

 

"The Saboteur" would have scored the scene in the control room as everyone is getting out of the tour cars. It would have started as John Hammond tells the technicians to stop the tour program ( with Muldoon saying, "I told you how many times, we need locking mechanisms on the vehicle doors) and the music grows dark and for boding as the camera pans to Dennis and the shaving cream can.

 

The first few seconds of "Ailing Triceratops" add a nice sense of build up as to what Dr. Grant sees, as Tim goes ahead of everyone else to see as well.

 

The first unused seconds of "The Falling Car" to picture, all I can say is...WOW. Even without the picture, you can tell it was scoring the car itself and the impact with the tree. The unused sections of "The T-Rex Chase": again, WOW. Especially the ending.

 

The beginning minute and the last few seconds of "High Wire Stunts" adds nice tension to the sequence.

 

"Hungry Raptor" is VERY interesting in how it originally would have scored the scene of Ellie escaping the raptor in the shed, and Muldoon's death. Oh my gosh. Really terrifyingly awesome.

 

"The Raptor Attack" is an intense scene already, so having the unused sections synced with the scene as original intended adds much tension. I still get chills.

 

The unused section of "T-Rex Rescue and Finale" that was replaced with the island fanfare in the finished picture is also interesting to hear and see with the film.

 

The Lost World -

 

"Corporate Helicopters" has unused sections that I think scored more than what was in the finished film, so I could only imagine what the original sequence was like. Maybe some additional scene of the choppers landing on the island and unloading the vehicles?

 

"The Hunt" is unbelievable; how it really captures the intensity of the sequence, though it probably scored a different edit of the sequence than in the finished film, but it still plays out well. Awesome!

 

"Big Feet" has an unused middle section, but I matched with the finished picture anyway. Nice eerie atmosphere.

 

"Spilling Petrol and Horning In" has some unused sections. "Spilling Petrol" originally scored a longer scene, as I remember reading (in the liner notes) and seeing images of Sarah and Nick sneaking behind the vehicles in the camp, as well as emptying the fuel of the vehicles, hence the clever pun in the title of the cue. "Horning In" has some unused seconds, so maybe the triceratops crashing through the tent was slightly longer than what is seen in the finished film. Again, a nice pun in the title. I love that.

 

"Up In a Basket" is where it REALLY gets intense. The unused second half begins with Ian, Kelly, and Eddie reacting to the sudden sound of a T-Rex roar in the distance. The cue ends at the moment when Ian opens the door to the trailer, and that is when "In the Trailer" begins. "In the Trailer" ends with the baby Rex being returned to it's parents. WOW, the unused music REALLY adds tension to an already tense sequence. Amazing.

 

"Reading the Map" starts right after the cliff sequence, at the moment that we see everyone gathered at the wreaked hunters camp. I love how the tense strings score the emotions and tense reactions between the hunters and gatherers. The end then transitions into "The Trek." I love how it scores that entire sequence; I particularly love the moment when the island fanfare scores the moment Ian mentions Hammond to Ludlow. It ends right when Dieter impacts the ground after his big fall downhill.

 

"Ripples" is...REALLY phenomenal in adding tension, particularly the T-Rex sticking his head in the tent. Those tense combinations of strings, brass and timpani; indescribable.

 

The finale of "The Raptors Appear" adds great tension to the sequence and ends at the moment the raptor sticks it's head in the dug hole. It then transitions into "High Bar and Ceiling Tiles" with the first note scoring the same action. The unused climax is amazing, seeing the finished film with the music; what an impact!

 

The first half of "Heading North" would have begun with the shot of Roland sitting next to the sedated male T-Rex. It really scores his sadness at the lose of Ajay and him wondering if this was really worth it, with so many having died.

 

The unused build-up and climax of "Ludlow's Speech" needs no explanation. WOW!

 

"The Wreaked Ship" would have started immediately after "Ludlow's Speech" and the sudden stop of the crashed ship. I think the sequence was originally longer, as the brass hits and tense strings go on longer than in the finished film.

 

"Monster On the Loose" starts with the shot of one of the security personnel picking up the control panel. The unused build-up in the middle greatly captures the shot of the male Rex roaring with the city in the background.

 

The first 30 seconds of "Visitor In San Diego" would have scored the shot of the male Rex walking through the suburban neighborhood. I like how the timpani hits score the Rex's footfalls. The unused beginning of the second half of "Visitor In San Diego" scores the sequence of the cars crashing as the people are trying to escape from the rampaging T-Rex let loose on the streets; the bus sequence is greatly scored as well. 

 

"Ludlow's End" adds a great sense of action to the finished scene.

 

The first few seconds of "Tranquilizer Dart" would have scored the tranquilizer being shot into the male T-Rex. Nice. That original ending adds an interesting touch to the finished picture. Nice.

 

Phenomenal. Truly amazing.

[Luke Skywalker 2,140]

Just a note, the Rex in the tent is the male. The female pursues the people tobthe River fall.😉

[Brundlefly 2,400]

The Lost World score got a horrible treatment. Almost as bad as Goldsmith's Alien. (just realizing that those two scores are my favourite scores of each composer) But still some cues like for example In the Trailer were removed understandably.

[Jay 41,823]

Those of two of my favorite scores too. 

 

And thanks for the rundown, @JohnnyD!  

[JohnnyD 1,493]

On 12/17/2016 at 7:59 PM, Luke Skywalker said:

Just a note, the Rex in the tent is the male. The female pursues the people to the River fall.😉

 

You're right!

[Arpy 4,179]

Spent the last weeks commute from work listening to The Lost World in particular. JohnyD's descriptions above are spot on concerning the unreleased material, which are the tracks that I enjoy the most. The slow brass and drums in the opening of Up in the Basket is my favourite bit going into In the Trailer which is just amazing all the way through. Got them on repeat, but don't want to wear them out! 

[Luke Skywalker 2,140]

5 hours ago, JohnnyD said:

 

Actually, the T-Rex in the tent IS the female. When one of the hunters screams and everyone starts fleeing, she roars and starts to give chase. She does pursue the hunters and gatherers to the water fall. The other T-Rex is the male.

I'll have to re-check but i remember that when Carter screams, the Rex in the tent is 'scared' and breaks the tent and does not see as it is over its head. Then the female appears roaring from one side and pursuing the humans. The male remains on there sniffing on the tent and then Roland tries to shoot him.

 

But i Was just making an observation and i coul be wrong, i Hope my comentary didnt offend you 

[crumbs 15,409]

6 hours ago, JohnnyD said:

 

Actually, the T-Rex in the tent IS the female. When one of the hunters screams and everyone starts fleeing, she roars and starts to give chase. She does pursue the hunters and gatherers to the water fall. The other T-Rex is the male.

 

I would've thought the Rex breaking through the jungle roaring at the hunters and giving chase is the female (in that shot where Roland realises Nick put blanks in his gun). You see the other Rex sniffing around the tent in the background, which presumably is the same Rex who broke into it.

 

TLW is so murky and dark, it's hard to tell the difference between the animatronics but which is which?

 

 

As I understand it, they made a new mould for TLW for the male Rex. They used the older mould from JP for the female Rex and repainted it with a new colour scheme. So is the green Rex the female and the brown Rex the male?
 

FWIW, this website says the Rex with the scarred snout if the male (the green one) and it's the one that breaks into the tent. It appears to be the scarred animatronic Rex in the film.

http://www.scified.com/topic/39079

[Incanus 5,852]

22 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

 

Well the crescendo that ends Up In A Basket perfectly coincides with Malcolm bursting into the trailer (after lining up the cue with the music they didn't dial out in the film). Your suggestion doesn't line up with the film -- it does when Malcolm bursts into the trailer, though -- but so does starting it when the Rex nudges the trailer, due to sync points with the Kelly scene. I'm trying to work out if there's a sync point with the first Rex popping into view outside the trailer window; surely JW would've given that moment orchestral recognition? And surely the synths starting at 0:42 are meant to line up with something?

 

Of course, I'm happy to post a score restored example here but not going to post anything that gets the forum into trouble.

 

Still lining up music with the rest of the film, there's even more music in The Trek they dialled out than I thought. Even little things like Nick eyeing off Roland's shotgun, and Carter not hearing his friend as he disappears into the jungle.

Yes I checked the film and you are correct. The shuddering final crescendo of Up in a Basket coincides with the jeep rolling off the cliff face and the In the Trailer begins soon after. I actually just played the cues back to back and the first "animal howl" synthesizer sound at the start of In the Trailer perfectly lines up with the Rex looking through the trailer window. The cue lines up perfectly with the scene and ends when Eddie tells Ian that the tyrannosauri are returning to the jungle.

[Luke Skywalker 2,140]

53 minutes ago, crumbs said:

 

I would've thought the Rex breaking through the jungle roaring at the hunters and giving chase is the female (in that shot where Roland realises Nick put blanks in his gun). You see the other Rex sniffing around the tent in the background, which presumably is the same Rex who broke into it.

 

TLW is so murky and dark, it's hard to tell the difference between the animatronics but which is which?

 

 

As I understand it, they made a new mould for TLW for the male Rex. They used the older mould from JP for the female Rex and repainted it with a new colour scheme. So is the green Rex the female and the brown Rex the male?
 

FWIW, this website says the Rex with the scarred snout if the male (the green one) and it's the one that breaks into the tent. It appears to be the scarred animatronic Rex in the film.

http://www.scified.com/topic/39079

The male has Also a bulkier and Wrinkled neck. Yes male Green with bluetooth stripes, female Brown with purplish stripes. But its very difficult to see in the trailer and Camp.

[crumbs 15,409]

1 hour ago, Incanus said:

Yes I checked the film and you are correct. The shuddering final crescendo of Up in a Basket coincides with the jeep rolling across the cliff face and the In the Trailer begins soon after. I actually just played the cues back to back and the first "animal howl" synthesizer sound at the start of In the Trailer perfectly lines up with the Rex looking through the trailer window. The cue lines up perfectly with the scene and end when Eddie tells Ian that the tyrannosauri are returning to the jungle.

 

I've pushed Up in a Basket back about 6 seconds and you were spot on -- it's meant to crescendo at that loud wailing sound of the Rex slamming the Jeep off the cliff.

 

But starting In The Trailer so that weird animal sound accompanies the Rex's head popping into view means the cue starts midway through a static shot of Malcolm approaching the window/camera. A very odd creative decision by Williams, if that was his intention.

 

I thought maybe the synth section at 0:42 might have lined up with Sarah's dialogue about hunting behavior, but that doesn't fit with the start or end of the cue. Maybe the cue was meant to fade out The Hunt style?

[Pieter Boelen 950]

23 hours ago, Jay said:

 

See here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQVQ3-6XtN44Izw8DdfPboJ3UlFcCaRJLSd4IUkptki45UkHHYFMK65v59Wc5QhpIzsW_mTNCvTIXyd/pubhtml

Where is The Lost World in that overview? It seems to be doing a good job hiding from me....

[Jay 41,823]

There's 2 tabs, one for each score

[Brundlefly 2,400]

Is there somebody else who is that overwhelmed by the last 40 seconds of Tranquilizer Dart? I think it would have been a great choice to use them during the last shot, showing the island and its inhabitants. This halfway eerie, halfway enchanting music would have been a more pensive conclusion, instead of the repetition of the island fanfare. It's also the most conspicuous use of synth choires.

[Jay 41,823]

It's some of the strangest music I've heard from JW I think.  I still don't know how I feel about it.

[JohnnyD 1,493]

19 hours ago, Luke Skywalker said:

I'll have to re-check but i remember that when Carter screams, the Rex in the tent is 'scared' and breaks the tent and does not see as it is over its head. Then the female appears roaring from one side and pursuing the humans. The male remains on there sniffing on the tent and then Roland tries to shoot him.

 

But i Was just making an observation and i coul be wrong, i Hope my comentary didnt offend you 

 

Actually, the Rex hearing Carter's scream reacts by first shaking the tent off it's head and then roaring. It is the female T-Rex in that single shot.

 

The male T-Rex is not really sniffing the tent; he is drinking from pools of water on the ground.

 

No offense taken at all. You're fine.

 

18 hours ago, Incanus said:

Yes I checked the film and you are correct. The shuddering final crescendo of Up in a Basket coincides with the jeep rolling off the cliff face and the In the Trailer begins soon after. I actually just played the cues back to back and the first "animal howl" synthesizer sound at the start of In the Trailer perfectly lines up with the Rex looking through the trailer window. The cue lines up perfectly with the scene and ends when Eddie tells Ian that the tyrannosauri are returning to the jungle.

 

17 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

I've pushed Up in a Basket back about 6 seconds and you were spot on -- it's meant to crescendo at that loud wailing sound of the Rex slamming the Jeep off the cliff.

 

But starting In The Trailer so that weird animal sound accompanies the Rex's head popping into view means the cue starts midway through a static shot of Malcolm approaching the window/camera. A very odd creative decision by Williams, if that was his intention.

 

I thought maybe the synth section at 0:42 might have lined up with Sarah's dialogue about hunting behavior, but that doesn't fit with the start or end of the cue. Maybe the cue was meant to fade out The Hunt style?

 

On December 17, 2016 at 7:11 PM, JohnnyD said:

"Up In a Basket" is where it REALLY gets intense. The unused second half begins with Ian, Kelly, and Eddie reacting to the sudden sound of a T-Rex roar in the distance. The cue ends at the moment when Ian opens the door to the trailer, and that is when "In the Trailer" begins. "In the Trailer" ends with the baby Rex being returned to it's parents. WOW, the unused music REALLY adds tension to an already tense sequence. Amazing.

 

[crumbs 15,409]

I think the music fits better starting about six seconds after they hear the Rex's roar. It allows a little "breathing room" moment of silence between cues and I feel the cue lines up better finishing at the noise of the jeep being rammed, rather than Malcolm opening the door.

[Mr. Lovejoy 7,887]

This is nothing like the last score. We're in a completely different situation now.

[Pieter Boelen 950]

11 hours ago, Jay said:

There's 2 tabs, one for each score

For some reason, Firefox wasn't showing any tabs at all.

Very strange indeed.

[Luke Skywalker 2,140]

8 hours ago, JohnnyD said:

 

Actually, the Rex hearing Carter's scream reacts by first shaking the tent off it's head and then roaring. It is the female T-Rex in that single shot.

 

The male T-Rex is not really sniffing the tent; he is drinking from pools of water on the ground.

 

No offense taken at all. You're fine.

 

Man you just made me check the film

 

 You are correct in where the rex shakes off the tent and roars...but it is the male. When Roland goes to shoot it with its sabotaged-gun, It is sniffing the tent, and then the female appears roaring and pursues the humans. It doesnt make sense for the male to sit still after seeing the humans running and crying...but he must be really interested in the babys' scent. He is in the spot where was the tent and roland goes directly to him, the female appears as a surprise, she was not pursuing the humans untill now.

It could be an error from the film makers editing the film. But the Rex in the tent is the male (animatronic greenish with scars and think neck) and in the full body CGI shot (with the head inside the tent) you can see his engorgued neck skin and green color too. The rex that apprears later has a slimmer neck and brown color.

 

 

 

 

[crumbs 15,409]

It's the buck.

 

 

Here's the tent scene in 1080p, for further reference:

http://www.movieclips.com/videos/the-lost-world-jurassic-park-official-clip-t-rex-in-the-tent-409556035662

 

 

[Incanus 5,852]

Are we really spending all this effort on deciphering the sex of the T-Rexes? When we should be talking about the music! Come on guys! Snap out of it!

[Muad'Dib 1,911]

Does somebody go out into the park and pull up the dinosaurs' skirts?

[crumbs 15,409]

So how about that percussion?!

[Incanus 5,852]

It is pretty percussive. Rhythmic even.

[Datameister 2,402]

13 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

Is there somebody else who is that overwhelmed by the last 40 seconds of Tranquilizer Dart? I think it would have been a great choice to use them during the last shot, showing the island and its inhabitants. This halfway eerie, halfway enchanting music would have been a more pensive conclusion, instead of the repetition of the island fanfare. It's also the most conspicuous use of synth choires.

 

I love it. The "island's voice" motif is the true main theme of this score, and bringing it back to round out the score in a quiet, thoughtful way is a really cool concept. I totally get why they ended up going a different way and it doesn't bother me, but this will always be the "real" ending for me.

[Brundlefly 2,400]

The synth parts of Ripples that were replaced by repetitions of other parts are also very odd. Some parts of The Lost World ring like the music of a sinister horror film, but the gloomiest parts were mostly not used in the movie.

[Jay 41,823]

8 hours ago, Pieter_Boelen said:

For some reason, Firefox wasn't showing any tabs at all.

Very strange indeed.

 

Click on the link fresh and report back?

[Pieter Boelen 950]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

Click on the link fresh and report back?

The Lost World is back from the "Land of the Lost"!

 

In other words: The tabs are back. Thanks very much.

[JohnnyD 1,493]

On 12/19/2016 at 6:47 AM, Luke Skywalker said:

Man you just made me check the film

 

 You are correct in where the rex shakes off the tent and roars...but it is the male. When Roland goes to shoot it with its sabotaged-gun, It is sniffing the tent, and then the female appears roaring and pursues the humans. It doesnt make sense for the male to sit still after seeing the humans running and crying...but he must be really interested in the babys' scent. He is in the spot where was the tent and roland goes directly to him, the female appears as a surprise, she was not pursuing the humans untill now.

It could be an error from the film makers editing the film. But the Rex in the tent is the male (animatronic greenish with scars and think neck) and in the full body CGI shot (with the head inside the tent) you can see his engorgued neck skin and green color too. The rex that apprears later has a slimmer neck and brown color.

 

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/menmamazar/rex2.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/menmamazar/rex3.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/menmamazar/rex.jpg

 

 

 

 

Wow, and all these years, I thought it was the female T-Rex in the tent and in that shot where it shakes the tent off and roars. Looking at it again, I still can't believe I did not see those details. It goes to show the attention to detail in how they distinguished the male and female T-Rexes.

 

Speaking of the sequence, I love the percussion in that cue (as well as all the action cues).

[Luke Skywalker 2,140]

It is a shame the photography of the film does not really let the different colors be seen for the most part. And really, i had only seen the color, the true physical differences i did not see them in years seeing the film, it was reading the making off book....

[Richard P 4,677]

Anyone know which parts of Ripples were looped to make the film version? There seem to be very few parts which don't have extra orchestration or bangs.

[Incanus 5,852]

To tell you the truth I am enjoying the original version of the cue so much I haven't even thought about the film version.

[Jay 41,823]

Ditto.

[MedigoScan 357]

honestly the entire track was probably edited to hell in post

 

sounds like the drums were muted a lot

the bit from 2:55-3:05 seems to be lengthened, the bit from 3:05-3:10 was combined with some of the percussion and also looped a lot

I dont think you could recreate the film version with this version

 

[Docteur Qui 1,580]

On 12/19/2016 at 11:56 AM, Brundlefly said:

Is there somebody else who is that overwhelmed by the last 40 seconds of Tranquilizer Dart? I think it would have been a great choice to use them during the last shot, showing the island and its inhabitants. This halfway eerie, halfway enchanting music would have been a more pensive conclusion, instead of the repetition of the island fanfare. It's also the most conspicuous use of synth choires.

 

I think it's absolutely brilliant. Melancholic, slightly sinister and even a bit ethereal. I see why they went with the Island Fanfare but I really love the original ending.

[Incanus 5,852]

9 minutes ago, Docteur Qui said:

 

I think it's absolutely brilliant. Melancholic, slightly sinister and even a bit ethereal. I see why they went with the Island Fanfare but I really love the original ending.

I love it too. It is very unexpected and comes very much as a tonal surprise after the piano rendition of the hymn theme from JP.

 

Spielberg seems to have gone for the triumphant feel over Williams' original often dark, brooding and muted colours when he chose to revise the score editorially. I guess Johnny unleashed his inner darker beasts too boldly in one.

[publicist 4,647]

Also the Williams finish seems a bit uneventful to lead into the end credits. Spielberg's populist sentiments are not always agreeable but in a lot of cases he's on to something. I had the same reaction to a rescore in ''The Two Towers' (Samwise The Brave?) where the original seemed to hit almost none of the emotional high points of the rescore.. if the director knows what he's doing this meddling often leads to great results.

[crumbs 15,409]

I think the low-key ending works perfectly segueing into the Jurassic Park Theme concert arrangement (with the solo horn over Spielberg's credit). It's a delightfully understated finish for a score bursting at the seams with percussive power.

 

I can't get over how much I love this score upon revisiting it, it's such sinister and dark writing that I've never heard from Williams before or since. Seemingly it was too much for even Spielberg!

[Incanus 5,852]

13 minutes ago, publicist said:

Also the Williams finish seems a bit uneventful to lead into the end credits. Spielberg's populist sentiments are not always agreeable but in a lot of cases he's on to something. I had the same reaction to a rescore in ''The Two Towers' (Samwise The Brave?) where the original seemed to hit almost none of the emotional high points of the rescore.. if the director knows what he's doing this meddling often leads to great results.

I have to admit that even though I love the composer's original intentions Spielberg was indeed onto something with his edit tone-wise. Given more time I wager he would have asked a rescore from Williams for that moment.

[publicist 4,647]

1 minute ago, crumbs said:

Seemingly it was too much for even Spielberg!

 

No, it just is written for a different, more serious movie. Spielberg rightly decided that it was much too lofty for what had preceded it (Godzilla rampage through San Diego, for god's sake!!).

[crumbs 15,409]

43 minutes ago, publicist said:

 

No, it just is written for a different, more serious movie. Spielberg rightly decided that it was much too lofty for what had preceded it (Godzilla rampage through San Diego, for god's sake!!).

 

Well, after all the other tracking of the main theme, sure. But it's a fittingly restrained ending to the score as written and intended by Williams.

[Maurizio 5,635]

Let's take a moment to stand up and applaud the whole percussion section that played on The Lost World score. It's such an amazing feat. In an era where percussion is almost completely synthesised, electronically manipulated and managed through loops and synth patches, it's even more astounding to sit down and realise this is completely performed live on stage. 

[Jay 41,823]

Best percussion playing of all time!

[Brundlefly 2,400]

Just listened to Big Feet and got reminded of The Temple of Doom from 0:44 to 0:52. It sounds very similar to Slalom on Mt. Humol from 1:39 to 1:59. Doesn't it?

[Jay 41,823]

Yea it does

[artguy360 2,001]

Monster on the Loose is absolutely incredible. I love the unrestrained power of it.

[crumbs 15,409]

10 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

Just listened to Big Feet and got reminded of The Temple of Doom from 0:44 to 0:52. It sounds very similar to Slalom on Mt. Humol from 1:39 to 1:59. Doesn't it?

 

Yes, I immediately thought of TOD when I first heard that cue! Lots of very similar instrumentation in there, especially from that cue (and a few others that remain unreleased).

[Maurizio 5,635]

One of the things that struck me in listening TLW in this format is how peculiar is the overall dynamic range of the writing. Williams uses mostly low textures, low pitches and low sounds (it reminds me of an anecdote of Bernard Herrmann, where he said that the highest note he used was Middle C). Everything is often in the deep dark ranges of the orchestra, but there are bursts of very high-pitched sounds, like the piccolo jabs or high trumpet notes. In terms of colours, it's surely a very singular entry in Williams' canon and it's very distant from the score of the first film, where the register was quite often "brillante".

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,813]

Yes. Williams often mixes high registers with the low and rhythmic percussion. And he playd with moods. Listen how the percussion in Ludlow's Speech is steady but dark and relentless. But he then puts some quite whimsical woodwind playing on top of that.