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STAR WARS - Live To Projection Concerts


TownerFan

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Went to Empire last night and it was absolutely amazing.  The orchestra plays through long stretches and are to be commended.  It's really too bad, though, that all that music that was originally composed was not put back in.  I was hoping...but this is Star Wars. 

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On 9/26/2017 at 9:21 AM, Jay said:

For TFA, I wouldn't be surprised if they do the Snoke music the same way - there just is no choir - or if they have access to the full mulitrack and play the choir through the speakers.  Either way would probably be fine, its kind of inconsequential.

 

Than prepared to not be surprised.;)

 

The program has been published. No mention of choir.

 

Though, as you say, unlike Return of the Jedi, here it will likely go unnoticed.

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Oh, I forgot one other interesting tidbit about Empire - it opened with the 20th Century Fox fanfare, as opposed to the edited ESB finale music the Disney-owned versions use.

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23 minutes ago, rpvee said:

the edited ESB finale music the Disney-owned versions use.

 

I'm sorry, what?

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5 minutes ago, Holko said:

 

I'm sorry, what?

 

There hasn't been a new physical release of the original 6 Star Wars movies since Disney bought them, as far as I know, but the DIGITAL versions on iTunes have been changed to have a Disney logo instead of the 20th C. Fox logo.  The music that plays over them is a badly edited smash of the end of the ESB credits.  I'd share a video link, but YT is blocked from work, so I can't be sure which links are fanmade and which ones are real.

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Well that sucks. I'm glad they didn't do anything like that for the new movies. In that case, I hope a deal will be made with Fox for the inevitable OG OT release for the 100th anniversary, so that the original logos and music can be in the movies, completely unaltered.

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For some reason we missed this Sep. 12 article which includes a few quotes from Williams on the SW live performances:

http://www.playbill.com/article/five-time-oscar-winner-john-williams-talks-bringing-star-wars-scores-to-the-new-york-philharmonic

 

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Nye is one of many musicians and fans who have been inspired by John Williams majestic music. “Younger players on occasion have said to me that their enthusiasm for orchestral music started with scores that I’ve written,” says the composer. “Hearing this, of course, is immensely satisfying and is a very great honor.”

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“These live performances allow audiences to hear these scores in a new way,” says Williams. “The performance by a live symphony orchestra enables audiences to hear a lot of music that can go unnoticed in the cinema.”

 

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Williams is famed for his brass writing, and the Star Wars scores are particularly rich in electrifying parts for the horn section. Given that film music is recorded in short bursts, the composer acknowledges that it requires Jedi-like powers to play the full scores continuously along with the films. “The orchestra must play pretty relentlessly for two hours or more,” says Williams. “It’s very intense for the brass, particularly in many of the battle sequences that can be 15 or 20 minutes long.”

 

 

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Only Walt Disney earned more Oscar nominations than Williams, who, in fact, mentioned Mickey Mouse’s creator when reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the first Star Wars release. “George Lucas created something that seems to be timeless,” says the composer. “You’d have to look to Walt Disney or even Dickens to find a comparison for the longevity enjoyed by the fabulous characters George has conjured. Darth Vader, Yoda, and Luke Skywalker are very much still with us, and will continue to be for decades to come. Forty years is now looking like a very short time.”

 

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3 minutes ago, Ricard said:

“You’d have to look to Walt Disney or even Dickens to find a comparison for the longevity enjoyed by the fabulous characters George has conjured. Darth Vader, Yoda, and Luke Skywalker are very much still with us, and will continue to be for decades to come. Forty years is now looking like a very short time.”

 

Or Kirk, Spock, McCoy etc...

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6 hours ago, DigitalfreakNYC said:

when the Ewoks banged on drums or blew their horns, those weren't a part of the effects track. 

 

Drums I get, but how were the horns performed? I imagine they didn't bring blowing horns (nor does the program indicate that). 

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Man, I REALLY hope the Boston Pops do at least one of the Star Wars films live to projection next season!  Unfortunately I just can't make it to NYC for these...

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Jedi was fun!!  Seeing it so close to ANH and ESB really makes it clear how it's the weakest of the original films by farrrrr, but it was certainly still very enjoyable.  Also, it never hit me before how Luke believing there still being good in Vader comes literally out of nowhere during his talk with Obi-Wan on Dagobah, and then it's a driving plot in the film.

 

As for the performance itself, once again, it was incredible hearing the score live, though some moments weren't as loud or bombastic as expected (such as Light of the Force/Vader's pyre).  Other moments I thought might be at least partially tracked were done totally live (Victory Celebrarion, Ewok music in various scenes), which was a nice surprise.  The music during C3PO's story to the Ewoks was also a noteworthy fun moment to hear live.

 

Regarding the choir, I SWEAR it was present via track during the scene when Palpatine tells Vader to move the fleet to the far side of Endor, but that was the only time I heard it.  It sure sounded like it was there, though!

 

Lastly - I could feel the awkwardness in the room during Jedi Rocks, though people clapped when Ghost Hayden showed up, interestingly enough.

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Wow, with the former two films I was always thinking about the level of the performance and the music production. But with Return of the Jedi there is also the question of whether one is willing to sit throughout all the Ewok shenanigans in the name of one's appreciation of the score.

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22 hours ago, crumbs said:

@rpvee, how was all the source music handled? Jabba's Baroque Recital, all the Ewok source tracks, etc.

 

I'm guessing nothing from Jedi Rocks was performed live?

 

Jabba's stuff was all tracked. All Ewoks was live.

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Sorry for the late reply, but as Digital said, Jabba's stuff was tracked as far as I can remember (I certainly would have noticed if it was live).

 

Final film (for now) tonight - The Force Awakens!

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3 hours ago, crumbs said:

Let us know how TFA goes! I'm still holding off on buying tickets for the MSO performances in December.


I went last night.  Obviously I don't know that score as well as the OT but they did a great job.  My experience was marred by atrocious audience members around me.  It was like literally throwing $175 down the drain.  Truly awful experience.  I couldn't even concentrate on the movie.

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10 minutes ago, DigitalfreakNYC said:


I went last night.  Obviously I don't know that score as well as the OT but they did a great job.  My experience was marred by atrocious audience members around me.  It was like literally throwing $175 down the drain.  Truly awful experience.  I couldn't even concentrate on the movie.

 

What happened? I had a little girl next to me during the first half of Empire who kept shifting in her seat and whispering questions, but her Mom was cool and switched seats with her for the second half without me even asking her to - she understood.  Otherwise, the audience has been pretty good for me.

 

Also, too bad we didn't get to meet at any of these, would've been nice to meet another JW Fan!

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On 10/5/2017 at 3:02 AM, Ricard said:

For some reason we missed this Sep. 12 article which includes a few quotes from Williams on the SW live performances:

http://www.playbill.com/article/five-time-oscar-winner-john-williams-talks-bringing-star-wars-scores-to-the-new-york-philharmonic

 

At least Williams still has nice things to say about George Lucas.

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1 hour ago, rpvee said:

 

What happened? I had a little girl next to me during the first half of Empire who kept shifting in her seat and whispering questions, but her Mom was cool and switched seats with her for the second half without me even asking her to - she understood.  Otherwise, the audience has been pretty good for me.

 

Also, too bad we didn't get to meet at any of these, would've been nice to meet another JW Fan!

 

I don't mind kids and questions.  Kids are kids and there's really no way to shut them up.  This was a different animal.

 

I was on the aisle seat and there was no one seated next to me. Next to THAT seat was a woman who was there with her girlfriends. She was clearly excited and was clapping at all the right places in the beginning. But I noticed she had her phone out...and kept taking it out to text people. So right around the battle of Jakku, I leaned over and said "could you please put your phone away?"
She looked up at me slowly and said something that was clearly very nasty, judging from the look on her face. I said "I can't hear you." and she responded "well, I can hear you VERY well." I said "good. then please put your phone away."
So then she decided to keep her home screen on and shine the light up towards my face for as long as she could. I finally said "do you want me to get an usher? Because I will." She then shut it off.
THEN the gentleman sitting across the aisle from me decided to open his bag of candy. It was one of those crinkly wrapper bags and, although I couldn't see it, it must have been a huge bag because he kept digging...and digging...and digging. It must have been 30 minutes that he was eating. The guy in front of him literally turned around and just stared at him. He kept eating.
Then we went to intermission and I was ready to leave but i didn't want to waste the money.
When intermission ended and act 2 started, the girl next to me and her group were nowhere to be found. I prayed that they had just left. Nope. No such luck. They were late coming back into the 2nd half and all 5 of them had to come into the row at the earliest moment that the ushers could seat them. Then, the same woman decided to put her bag on the seat next to us and rummage through it throughout the second half. It started with her lotioning up her hands like crazy. Really fragrant lotion. Did that forever. Then was looking for her glasses....putting them on and taking them off...back and forth. Then, she started with the cell phone B.S. again - keeping her home screen on and pointing it to the side and up to my face. I finally put my backpack on TOP of hers to keep the light from shining in my face for the rest of the movie. And that was that.
Before I got up to leave, I looked over at her and simply said "Ghetto trash."
It sucks because the audience was phenomenal. It really was the most reactive audience of all 4 nights - they applauded for EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER, laughed constantly, applauded at appropriate major moments, etc. They were clearly very appreciative of TFA. I just wish I could have enjoyed it as much as everyone else seemed to. 😞





On a happier note, Here are some Jedi videos that a friend took.  The sound isn't the best (the right channel cuts out) but you'll certainly get an idea of what it was like!  Enjoy!

Jedi_intro.MP4

Jedi_Duel.MP4

Jedi_ending.MP4

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Wow! I actually think it's unfortunate that you have to listen to the movie as well. I want to hear that live performance, not the robot man with the sword.

 

Sounds like you had an awful experience, but it's what I would expect from a Star Wars crowd anyway. I mean, it's not like you were going to see Double Indemnity. Popcorn space movies for kids?

*ducks*

 

Sorry!

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8 hours ago, The Doctor said:

Wow! I actually think it's unfortunate that you have to listen to the movie as well. I want to hear that live performance, not the robot man with the sword.

 

Sounds like you had an awful experience, but it's what I would expect from a Star Wars crowd anyway. I mean, it's not like you were going to see Double Indemnity. Popcorn space movies for kids?

*ducks*

 

Sorry!

 

Are you having a stroke?  I have no idea what any of that means.

 

One note about TFA - they changed the end credits to the concert version.  That was a late change to the program.

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43 minutes ago, DigitalfreakNYC said:

Are you having a stroke?  I have no idea what any of that means.

 He means that the hardcore Star Wars fanbase may corelate more with people who are more prone to act like this in the theater.

 

An unproven assertion, yet not one that is without reason.

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1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 He means that the hardcore Star Wars fanbase may corelate more with people who are more prone to act like this in the theater.

 

An unproven assertion, yet not one that is without reason.

 

But the problem I had wasn't with a child. She was a grown woman and certainly not dressed like the fanboyish type. 

 

I would argue the opposite - anyone spending $175 on a ticket to be there and holds that much reverence for Star Wars would probably keep their mouth shut for those two hours.

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What I'm saying, obviously, is that Star Wars are space movies for adolescents. You should expect the accompanying riffraff when attending a screening. Not just cheering, but playing with toy glow sticks, showing obvious signs of being man-children and apparently woman-children now that Disney has made the series more trendy.

 

As an example, I chose to live in a place next to a big tree. I knew damn well going in that every morning when I woke up, it would be to the sound of a shitload of birds in said tree making a ruckus.

 

I wouldn't go to a Star Wars screening expecting normal, mature respectful people.

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3 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

What I'm saying, obviously, is that Star Wars are space movies for adolescents.

 

Originally, they were going for an even younger demographic. Until Revenge of the Sith they were very much being made for kids. 

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18 hours ago, DigitalfreakNYC said:

On a happier note, Here are some Jedi videos that a friend took.  The sound isn't the best (the right channel cuts out) but you'll certainly get an idea of what it was like!  Enjoy!

Jedi_intro.MP4

Jedi_Duel.MP4

Jedi_ending.MP4

 

Thanks!

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Review of the Return of the Jedi performance from YourClassical:
 

Quote

Seeing and hearing the music performed live in front of your eyes always enhances your appreciation of a film score, and such was certainly the case with Jedi. Three films into the series, Williams had already built a musical vocabulary of character and theme motifs, and the wonders he worked with them became remarkably clear under Newman’s carefully-calibrated baton. Having heard the score innumerable times, it was remarkable for me to be able to look over to stage right and see harpist Nancy Allen pluck out the poignant final reprise of the Imperial March as Darth Vader breathed his last.

 

Hearing the score live also served as a reminder that Jedi is set almost entirely off the grid of George Lucas’s Galactic Empire. Williams’s music was integral to evoking first the remote, treacherous palace of Jabba the Hutt and then the bucolic but threatened woodland of the Ewoks. Rustic percussion, meant to suggest the Ewoks’ own instruments (which ultimately include stormtrooper helmets), abounds. Some fudging was necessary to account for the absence of the men’s choir that intones wordlessly during the Emperor’s final scenes, but with the necessity of an expanded orchestra, there would hardly have been room for any more bodies on the stage.

 

 

Full review:

https://www.yourclassical.org/story/2017/10/08/star-wars-new-york-philharmonic

 

And here are DigitalfreakNYC's videos on YouTube:

 

Main Title

 

 

The Dark Side Beckons/The Emperor’s Death/Superstructure Chase/Darth Vader’s Death/The Main Reactor

 

 

Leia’s News/Light Of The Force/Victory Celebration

 

 

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On 10/8/2017 at 9:44 PM, Baby Jane Hudson said:

Fortunately Australian audiences generally don't muck up.

 

It was an appropriate time to applaud, but I'm still kind of annoyed that the audience drowned out the short march starting at ~7:30 of Journey to the Island during the MSO's performance of Jurassic Park. That's one of my favourite moments from the score!

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10 hours ago, Jay said:

I just wanted to thank @DigitalfreakNYC and @rpvee for attending the TESB, ROTJ, and TFA concerts and sharing their thoughts!

I absolutely loved attending SW and I really really wanted to trek back out for TESB, ROTJ, and TFA, but it just wasn't in the cards to happen.  

 

The concerts all sound great and I really hope they come to New England at some point so I can see the other films.


Thanks again guys!

No problemo. I actually went to all four movies and got to see Empire twice. I worked with the 501st at the event. 

 

Totally worth it, my awful experience with TFA aside.  I really, really wish they would do the first three Indy movies.

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4 hours ago, Jay said:

I've seen Raiders live, and it's excellent indeed!

 

This was the first time I've ever been to any of them. I know it will never happen but I'd pay more to JUST hear the orchestra.  Play the film without the dialogue and effects.

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