I kept hearing this JW snippet in my head, but I couldn't place it for the life of me. Can you?

[Josh500 1,615]

So for about a week I kept hearing this very short snippet in my head... but I couldn't place it for the life of me. It was very short--maybe 5 seconds--and the only thing I knew with any certainty was that it was from a JW score! Maybe from one of the 8 Star Wars scores we know so far, the two Jurassic Park scores, or maybe even Minority Report, A.I. - Artificial Intelligence, or War of the Worlds! (Or something entirely different.) 

 

At first this snippet starts out very dark, sinister, somewhat mysterious and frightening--with low strings and woodwinds, as well as a flurry of somewhat disconcerting and fluttering flutes. There's definitely something very wrong in this scene. And then, suddenly, bam!--this quiet music erupts in sudden chaos and sheer panic. The low strings go up and down, frantically, the brass section chimes in with abrupt force, it gets very loud and it is madness! Whatever bad thing was going to happen, it just did, and with a vengeance! 

 

What is it? Can anybody guess? I have figured it out now, and what a relief it is! The first person to guess it correctly gets a "Thank You!" like from me. 

[Bellosh 3,382]

Somewhere In My Memory

[Josh500 1,615]

1 minute ago, Bellosh said:

Somewhere In My Memory

 

😂

 

Yes, the name of this track was lost somewhere in my memory and I couldn't find it... 

[Sandor 796]

 

[Josh500 1,615]

@Sandor

 

Good guess, but no, this wasn't it. Besides, this isn't really so much about sheer panic but more about comic madness. 

[BrotherSound 2,242]

@Josh500 This bit from ESB perhaps?

 

 

[Josh500 1,615]

@BrotherSound

 

Yes, it's very close (the strings here do go up and down, with abruptly brass punctuations, and it does get very loud), but this isn't it, either. 

 

Gotta relisten to ESB again sometime... 

[Faleel 5,330]

Whatever it is, I bet only an intelligent person will get it right.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Sounds like something from Close Encounters. 

[Bespin 8,475]

BUM—BUM—ba-ba-ba-BAH-BAH.

 

THAT'S SO GREAT, thanks John Wiliams for this!

[Josh500 1,615]

32 minutes ago, Fal J. M. Skywalker said:

Whatever it is, I bet only an intelligent person will get it right.

 

So not you?

 

4 minutes ago, gkgyver said:

Sounds like something from Close Encounters. 

 

Yes, that's what I kept thinking too! Which specific moment, though? 

[Faleel 5,330]

 

[gkgyver 1,645]

The Mothership Appears? 

[Faleel 5,330]

 

[Josh500 1,615]

It's getting very close... No pun intended.

 

But that's not it. Not exactly. 

[Faleel 5,330]

 

[Josh500 1,615]

Nope. Where exactly do you hear sheer panic? 

 

When I said it's getting very close, I meant sound-wise. The one I had in mind sounds very similar to that one Close Encounters cue. 

[Sandor 796]

Maybe it’s a portion from The Miracle Of The Ark?

[Josh500 1,615]

5 minutes ago, Sandor said:

Maybe it’s a portion from The Miracle Of The Ark?

 

Which one? 

[Loert 2,510]

 

[Sandor 796]

The part that starts at 3:25? Probably not, but this is such a great cue anyway. 😉

[Josh500 1,615]

12 minutes ago, Sandor said:

The part that starts at 3:25? Probably not, but this is such a great cue anyway. 😉

 

I agree on both counts. It's not what I kept hearing in my head, but it's an awesome cue! 

 

16 minutes ago, Loert said:

 

 

Great one! I hear great similarities between this cue and the one I had in mind.... The sheer panic, chaos, and madness are palpable here as well! 

[Drew 590]

This came to mind. Probably not it though. It's quite longer than 5 seconds...

 

 

[Alex 2,833]

Around 1.30?

[Josh500 1,615]

3 minutes ago, Drew said:

This came to mind. Probably not it though. It's quite longer than 5 seconds...

 

 

 

I forgot all about this cue. This  section sounds kinda like WotW... 

 

But that's not it. 

2 minutes ago, Alex said:

Around 1.30?

 

Nope. 

[Drew 590]

Like I've said in previous posts, try to only post videos from "John Williams - Topic", if possible, to avoid videos getting deleted later and wrecking the treads.

[Josh500 1,615]

______

 

By the way, the answer is so obvious and deceptively simple, you'll all very likely slap your own foreheads when you learn it. 

 

Like I did, almost! 😅 

[Drew 590]

Tell us!

[Edmilson 7,384]

From your description, the first thing that came to my mind is Jurassic Park. Maybe the raptors chasing the kids on the kitchen?

[Drew 590]

 

[Oomoog the Ecstatic 314]

[SteveMc 2,674]

 

It's Goldsmith, not Williams! 

[Josh500 1,615]

Remember what I said about that brief snippet... I marked the important parts. 

 

At first this it starts out very dark, sinister, somewhat frightening--with low strings and woodwinds, as well as a flurry of somewhat disconcerting and fluttering flutes. And then, suddenly, bam!--this quiet music erupts in sudden chaos and sheer panic. The low strings go up and down, frantically, the brass section chimes in with abrupt force, it gets very loud and it is madness! 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,890]

 

 

[Drew 590]

Can you tell us what decade the score is from?

 

No strings here, but oh well (the unless string bass counts)

 

 

[Josh500 1,615]

Another hint. There is one motif, or small theme, playing over and over throughout this piece. Obviously, when I heard the small 5-second snippet in my head, I didn't realise it (otherwise I would have known from which score it is right away)... What had stuck in my mind was the music suddenly escalating and a the low urgent strings, accentuated by brass, going up and down frantically... In sheer, breathtaking, agonised panic and terror, as it were. 

 

Indeed masterful writing from JW, relatively early in his career! 

[Drew 590]

Give us a decade...aka, the earlier scores aren't my best expertise.

[Josh500 1,615]

6 minutes ago, Drew said:

Give us a decade...aka, the earlier scores aren't my best expertise.

 

Okay, last hint.

 

This is post-Jaws, but pre-Schindler's List! 

[Drew 590]

That's almost two decades. 

[Incanus 5,713]

I am not going to dignify this silly charade with an answer! I just stopped by to say this. Ta ta!

[Josh500 1,615]

9 minutes ago, Drew said:

That's almost two decades. 

 

You can only consider one post at a time, can you? Why don't you take all the hints I posted, and put them together?

[Bowie 45]

Is it the B-section in the Imperial March?

[Drew 590]

1 minute ago, Bowie said:

Is it the B-section in the Imperial March?

 

That went by me too but I didn't think it exactly matched the descriptions.

[Josh500 1,615]

16 minutes ago, Bowie said:

Is it the B-section in the Imperial March?

 

Sheer panic and chaos? 

13 minutes ago, Drew said:

 

That went by me too but I didn't think it exactly matched the descriptions.

 

You almost got it, I think. Just go through all the obvious choices... 

 

Like I said, it's not some obscure cue. It's a very obvious and simple one... Pretty much every JW fan has heard it and knows it! 

[Drew 590]

 

[Josh500 1,615]

Bingo! Bravo! 

 

 

Of course not. You kidding? At this point, you're not even trying anymore, are you? 😂 

[Drew 590]

First you tell me it's an obvious choice, and now I'm "not even trying anymore" for going with an obvious choice, huh?

Is it from a Spielberg film?

[Josh500 1,615]

It doesn't match all the descriptions I gave, does it? 

 

Oh well. I'm starting to doubt now that anybody will get it. Maybe it's not so obvious, after all. It took myself about a week to figure it out, after all.

 

Anyway, I'll reveal the answer in about 1 hour! 12 hours after I started this thread.

________

 

Here's the answer. It was "Far from Home" from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial! Specifically at around 4:00 - 5:00.

 

From 4:00...

 

This is what I wrote about it:

Quote

At first this snippet starts out very dark, sinister, somewhat mysterious and frightening--with low strings and woodwinds, as well as a flurry of somewhat disconcerting and fluttering flutes. There's definitely something very wrong in this scene. And then, suddenly, bam!--this quiet music erupts in sudden chaos and sheer panic. The low strings go up and down, frantically, the brass section chimes in with abrupt force, it gets very loud and it is madness! Whatever bad thing was going to happen, it just did, and with a vengeance! 

 

Quote

Another hint. There is one motif, or small theme, playing over and over throughout this piece. Obviously, when I heard the small 5-second snippet in my head, I didn't realise it (otherwise I would have known from which score it is right away)... What had stuck in my mind was the music suddenly escalating and a the low urgent strings, accentuated by brass, going up and down frantically... In sheer, breathtaking, agonised panic and terror, as it were. 

 

Indeed masterful writing from JW, relatively early in his career! 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

Is it THE HELICOPTER EXPLOSION?

[Josh500 1,615]

26 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Is it THE HELICOPTER EXPLOSION?

 

Yes!!! 

 

Timmy got it right again! Now go get your cookies with milk...