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New Project: John Williams Potter Scoring


Potter Scoring Project

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Okay, I've nearly finished HP6. And I feel a bit disappointed. Lots of little good and even outstanding bits, but I am somehow left wanting more. More themes, maybe, or just a different kind of approach. Looking forward to DH.

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  • 2 months later...
1 hour ago, Potter Scoring Project said:

And yes we did give him a flash drive with GOF, OOTP, and HBP on it. 

 

Did he have any thoughts on the project?

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Thats awesome! Just out of curiosity, which cues do you gave him? I'm sure not all 6 hours of your rescore. And more important, does he has a way to contact you back? I would like to know what he thinks about your work.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I've been following this project for a year and just now decided to make a profile to actually comment here. This is amazing and I've made private edits of the movies with 90% of your score instead :P is everything alright given no update for so long? From what I've seen on Patreon, seems like GOF is now being remastered with the new soundfont?

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6 hours ago, Dave said:

What software(s) did you use for your edits?

and how did you remove the original score?

I can't rip straight from my blurays so I look for versions of the movies that have 5.1 audio. Once I got it, I use MKVToolNix to rip the audio from the mkv file. I edit with my native language (Italian) dub so once the audio is extracted, I use ffmpeg to split the channels and mainly focus on the front_center channel that has all the dialogue without score. The downside though is that some bits of the dialogue are in other channels too, and almost all the sound effects, so there are awkward situations where certain characters' voices (i.e. Frank and Kreacher) are so low they're difficult to hear.

 

Later I move the whole movie on my phone to split it into sections and use Film Maker Pro to first mute the whole section, add my preferred score and then lipsync carefully. Given it's a private edit, sometimes I mix bits of the original score that I prefer with Ravendor's (i.e. I love Doyle's Goblet theme so that section stayed like in theatrical while the surrounding events have Ravendor's score) or sometimes I pull a Frankenstein and mix older tracks in scenes that are mostly unscored (like the whole scene at the lake where Hermione shouts "I'm not your owl!", my edit had Hagrid the Professor to present the setting with Harry and Neville then switched sections of Cakes for Crabbe and Goyle to highlight the comedic effect of what Ron pulled in order to not speak to Harry directly and then ending with the original score Doyle composed for the final section. It surely doesn't sound pleasant to somebody but it has been fun to make and experiment on :P Given you lose a slight bit of picture quality when processing the edit, I split the movie in smaller clips. It's a good placeholder until I actually learn to edit properly on PC and with higher quality softwares. 

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18 minutes ago, Dave said:

Thank you. I really want to put the rescore into the original film but I noticed that all 6 channels (at least in 5) have score. I'll try just keep channels 3 and 4 and hope that Ben's music can compete against Hooper's :D

You're welcome. Perhaps I can DM you my source? It has English, if you're interested in it. I have edited 5 as well and the ripped dialogue was decent. 

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12 hours ago, Light00 said:

You're welcome. Perhaps I can DM you my source? It has English, if you're interested in it. I have edited 5 as well and the ripped dialogue was decent. 

Thanks but my edit (surprisingly) worked just well. Only using channels 3 & 4 did the job for the most time. I added a tiny bit of reverb to make channel 3 it stereo again everytime when the others are muted. Here the german version of the Sirius death rescore:

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3 hours ago, Dave said:

Thanks but my edit (surprisingly) worked just well. Only using channels 3 & 4 did the job for the most time. I added a tiny bit of reverb to make channel 3 it stereo again everytime when the others are muted. Here the german version of the Sirius death rescore:

Splendid job! I love HP5's rescore so much and its themes are now what come to my head when I think about OOTP's score. The full Window to the Past in this scene always hits me in the feels. It is a farewell to THE Prisoner of Azkaban, after all.

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On 30/06/2022 at 3:46 PM, Light00 said:

I've been following this project for a year and just now decided to make a profile to actually comment here. This is amazing and I've made private edits of the movies with 90% of your score instead :P is everything alright given no update for so long? From what I've seen on Patreon, seems like GOF is now being remastered with the new soundfont?

 

Thanks for making an account just to reach out! Makes us feel great to know people other than us are watching the films with a ‘fan-fic’ score. And yes we feel the gap between announcements as well! There will be one very soon though! We are figuring out our schedule and logistics in prep. But count on it dropping in the next 10 days or so. 

 

Also, love these edits you discussed @Dave and @Light00! We have not spent much time trying to dub them in because of the channel overlap frustrations, etc. If either of you are willing to share more we'd love to see it.

 

Thank you for bearing with us, and for your project enthusiasm :)

 

BP & MS

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You're welcome! Not only I'm grateful for what this project is trying to do but it also made me discover this site :D I should hunt the old recording sessions to check the alternates, it's so fun to play with these movies' music,  arranging the CD soundtracks and sneaking in your scores! Can't wait for the future announcement.

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Amazing news, so proud of you for this, you deserve it! :D

It's funny how this musical journey started with GOF and now you got to play POA in full for an even stronger musical continuity ;) 

Can't wait for DH1! I can guess what themes to bring back for DH2 but I'm very curious about the "bookend" feel for DH1, so many surprises are on the way.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally! My monday morning tradition returned. First off, "Obliviate" is one of my favorite Desplat cues and I didn't expect you to top that but you somehow did. I really like how only the first half of Hermione's theme is used to represent the loss of her parents memories. But I expected a more full version later on but a reverse pensieve theme is also brilliant.

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We're off to a KICKASS start!! I'm like Dave, "Obliviate" is also one of my favorite cues but this is also so good that I genuinely can't decide now. Just like in HP5, where Hedwig's Theme turned into the Chamber, I got chills when this Hedwig's Theme returned from the very beginning and transitioned into the Deathly Hallows theme :D this also made me realize we never really had a general Hallows theme so I can't wait to listen more of this theme.

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Awww yeeeah! Great to have you back.

 

Once again I’m astounded at your approach. This doesn’t sound like a “Williams imitator”. It really sounds like the maestro himself got to score all of these in some parallel universe (and with the foreknowledge of the story’s end similar to Shore and his LOTR scores;) 

 

I guess the biggest compliment I can give is when themes return that you’ve written my ears perk up (“Hey! That’s the Half Blood Prince theme! Hey that’s a snatch of dumbledors death motif” etc.) 

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@Dave That’s so awesome to hear that this is a Monday morning tradition for you! Means a lot to us. With the Hermione theme not coming back, I have to say this far into the series, so many moments lend themselves to so many different thematic options that sometimes it’s hard to pick. Ultimately I try to go for the one that veers away from too much repetition.

 

@Light00 Dude I still remember when I put Hedwig and COS together for that cue in OOTP and it was so fun as a fan to just mesh them together like that! Glad you felt the same way! My initial idea for the opening credits in DH1 was to re-use the opening of SS, and was a little apprehensive, but had the same reaction you did. Once I threw it over the title and it worked I just got chills and was like yeah I gotta use it. A lot of the process of writing really comes from me also being a huge fan, and doing my best to stand outside of the work and see if it’s something I would have enjoyed had I not done it.

 

Thanks @WampaRat! And thank you so much for saying that. Especially about the themes I ended up writing for the series. The goal was always to try and get them to “fit in” so it makes me happy to hear that you feel that way.

 

And to @Dave and @Light00. As to the replacement of “Obliviate”, I avoided writing this opening until l absolutely had to because Desplat’s opening for DH1 is also one of my all-time favorites. What I found was tuning out the Desplat and receiving the scene as if it were a Spielberg or Lucas opening really helped me see it through a JW lens. Molly actually temp scored it several times with different JW moments, and one that hit me was Shmi’s funeral from AOTC. That was the jumping off point, and then I just bookended it with the Logo and SS Main title and bam it existed suddenly. I’m so happy it went over well with you guys!

 

More to come!

 

BP

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6 hours ago, Potter Scoring Project said:

@Light00 Dude I still remember when I put Hedwig and COS together for that cue in OOTP and it was so fun as a fan to just mesh them together like that! Glad you felt the same way!

Forever thankful you thought of doing this :D not only it was great thematically and it would sound godly if it had the opportunity to be played on a real orchestra, I would genuinely think it could've been used in alternate universe HP5 (and beyond) concert suites, as an alternative to the usual Hedwig's Theme opening, as it now represents Voldemort's return and his contrast with Harry.

 

6 hours ago, Potter Scoring Project said:

 

As to the replacement of “Obliviate”, I avoided writing this opening until l absolutely had to because Desplat’s opening for DH1 is also one of my all-time favorites. What I found was tuning out the Desplat and receiving the scene as if it were a Spielberg or Lucas opening really helped me see it through a JW lens. Molly actually temp scored it several times with different JW moments, and one that hit me was Shmi’s funeral from AOTC. That was the jumping off point, and then I just bookended it with the Logo and SS Main title and bam it existed suddenly. I’m so happy it went over well with you guys!

A very cool insight! I consider Desplat's score to have shown the sadness for their old lives but then quickly prepared them for the upcoming war while your approach intensified the sadness and lament for their pasts, like with the saddest Family theme ever while pulling a twist on memories with Pensieve. I was also shocked you even brought back Call of the Prince given how the official score didn't thematically follow up on HP6 stuff so that was a great surprise. I'm eagerly waiting for more and next week can't come soon enough.

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Finally have a reason to post again! Wonderful work on these first 2 cues! I'm incredibly impressed at how realistic you guys' MIDI work sounds now! The celeste in particular sounds flawless at this point, straight out of the movies. Really surprising and interesting thematic choices for these scenes, and I too am surprised how well you differentiated yourselves from Desplat's opening cue. The ending of the first Voldemort scene was pitch perfect as well! Easily one of the best uses of Voldemort's themes. I greatly anticipate the first appearance of the Order theme in your next cue!

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I don't have access to cue 6 because of google drive  but 7 and especially 4 are great. The usage of the Hedwig's Theme moment in particular. I still have hope that you'll find a way to sneak the "Mr. Longbottom Flies" segment from Hedwig's Theme somewhere into DH2. I think it could work in the "Panic Inside Hogwarts" scene.

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5 hours ago, Dave said:

I don't have access to cue 6 because of google drive  but 7 and especially 4 are great. The usage of the Hedwig's Theme moment in particular. I still have hope that you'll find a way to sneak the "Mr. Longbottom Flies" segment from Hedwig's Theme somewhere into DH2. I think it could work in the Panic Inside Hogwarts" scene.


It's fixed! Sorry about that! And thanks so much for your thoughts on 4 and 7! I've wanted to use that particular part of Hedwig over their flight from Privet Drive for years now, and it's awesome to finally get to do it. Sneaking in as much SS as possible without overdoing it is the goal especially at the front of the film. It gives it a bookend feel.

 

BP

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@Potter Scoring Project - I just discovered this. This is unbelievably cool and I am immediately downloading everything to listen to it. I just commented the other day about how, in light of how the Lord of the Rings scores were handled, the Harry Potter films were a missed opportunity the size of a truck, and I am so excited to see the immense amount of thought you folks are putting into this.

 

I noticed on your site that you credit Doug Adams' book - and your own liner notes reflect a level of care and thought that reminds me of Doug/Shore's own work on the Lord of the Rings theme relationships and structures. Do you write about this anywhere? I would absolutely love to read about how Doug/Shore's approach to scoring has impacted your work on these films.

 

I'll begin listening just as soon as I finish uploading the files to my Plex server . . .

 

Bravo!

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@Gollum Cat - Amazing to see people are still stumbling upon the project! Welcome! I'm so glad you also appreciate the Doug Adams book on LOTR. I got my copy the day it was released back in 2010 (I think it was 2010), and have loved reading it over the years. Thank you also for reading the liner notes! Those exist for the sole purpose of showing people that, in the process of writing these, I've tried my best to step out of the way and let the JW style come forward. That and it's an account of what themes show up where so people can follow along. 

 

I haven't written anywhere about the project other than here (neither has Molly), but we've discussed possible ways of answering questions about the creative process other than just on this thread. It wasn't actually until recently that we've started getting enough questions to even consider making a space to discuss all of this over the years. 

 

Thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoy the journey through! 

BP

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Definitely agree with @WampaRat! Though something has been bugging me throughout this score. Why so little of the Order of the Phoenix theme? I was surprised when it didn't play at all for cues 4-6, as I was expecting some action variations on it in cue 4, and some reprises for when (almost) everyone in the order reunites after the sequence. I still like the other thematic choices you made, but the lack of this theme was very confusing to me. 

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@WampaRat Thank you! This last movie (or 2 depending how you see it) has been a joy so far cause it's mostly payoff. 

 

@bored It's so funny you say that. Firstly, thank you for wanting to hear more of a theme JW didn't write. That means a lot haha. I will say that at this point in the series, there are so many options in every scene with regards to what themes are usable. This is mostly because it's the finale of the series but also because so many characters are on screen at any given time. In the end, I treated the opening of this last movie with a lot of SS/COS/POA reverence, and used the OOTP theme just once for reprisal purposes when the group arrives in Cue 3. In the end, I'd say it's just coming down to not over-cluttering the cues with too many theme reprises. They ended up cancelling each other out when I tried that. Thanks as always for your comments! 

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Hello everyone! Our big-scale plot gets abruptly underway in today's post. After 8 cues of setup, we finally have the trio being forced to begin their Horcrux hunt early due to the fall of the Ministry of Magic. Enjoy Cue No. 9: "They Are Coming" and Cue No. 10: Cafe Fight and A Place to Hide.

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It's always a delight to listen! I don't know if it's my imagination but I noticed the whole Ministry section has an underscore that reminded me of the removed clock sounds of "Forward to Time Past", which would make sense in-context too given it is a race against time for the Trio.

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11 hours ago, Potter Scoring Project said:

Today we've got the next part of the Ministry break-in, Cue No. 13: Umbridge's Office. There's some colorful comedic orchestration for the Detonators and some throwbacks to OOTP (which were fun to work on with some better sound). Thanks for listening!

 

MS

Love the playful comedic “ticking” vibe with the distractions. Gives me some  “ Hook’s Madness” vibes :)

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Alright - it's time to escape the Ministry and get thrown into the middle of the film! There are some fun callbacks as the trio gets the Horcrux and runs for the floo network. We hope you enjoy Cue No. 14: Escaping the Ministry!

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Alright the next phase of the trio's final journey has begun! We are not out of the woods yet (both literally and metaphorically now). 

 

Here's Cue No. 15: Vision of Grindelwald and Cue No. 16: The Snatchers

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2 hours ago, Potter Scoring Project said:

Two short cues provide some emotions today. Most is non-thematic as the trio move in new directions. Here is Cue No. 17: Three Wanderers and Cue No. 18: Ron's Departure!

These are really really lovely. Three Wanderers in particular was great. The way the cue builds from that single harp line - Isolating, desperate, uncertain. Bravo!

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