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The BFG appreciation thread


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It's a bit lightweight perhaps, but I enjoy the album. It has some adventurous passages and some good themes. The suite has been a welcome addition to Williams' concert repertoire... it's a generous amount of music, it cycles deftly through several moods and makes a good showcase.

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I think there is a recent thread on this.  

I think the concert suite is a top twenty Williams piece.  Excellent main melody, though childlike (but not childish).  The string and flute runs are delightful throughout.  My only complaint is that Williams leaves out a key theme from the concert version that is on the album.  

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8 minutes ago, Tom said:

My only complaint is that Williams leaves out a key theme from the concert version that is on the album.  

 

Can we discuss why we think he might have done that?

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5 minutes ago, blondheim said:

I think it is likely the same reason the theme in High-Wire Stunts isn't part of Jurassic Park's concert suite.

 

What, what?

How is a leitmotif used throughout an entire score not being included in a suite or themes in any way like not using a melody that appears in one cue in a suite?

 

Apples and oranges

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The point is that there was never a recorded Jurassic Park suite that featured the High Wire Stunt melody and which he later removed in concert lol

 

We're talking about this in the BFG suite on album which he's since nixed in performances

 

 

It does bum me out because it's my favorite of the score and one of my favorite JW themes of the decade. I don't know why he felt like cutting it, must just be one of those things where he felt like it was a spot he could tighten it up. Could be he just doesn't think it's interesting enough or interrupts the more propulsive whimsical stuff.

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7 minutes ago, blondheim said:

I was under the impression it is used twice: in the car scene and High-Wire Stunts. Are there more variations I am unaware of?

 

Heh, I forgot that melody was used in three cues (it's also at the end of To The Maintenance Shed); People have come to refer to it as the electric fence theme


Touche!

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1 minute ago, Jay said:

 

Heh, I forgot that melody was used in three cues (it's also at the end of To The Maintenance Shed); People have come to refer to it as the electric fence theme


Touche!

 

I guess that is true. I concede. I am still so used to the original album. I like the original album arrangement making it part of Incident at Isla Nublar. I like having it that early in the listening experience, I like that the name works for both cues. Imo the title could work for High-Wire Stunts as well, considering everything. So I have always referred to it by that name. Although, like Horner's danger motif, we could call it Jurassic Park's danger motif. It is used to heighten excitement.

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6 minutes ago, Falstaft said:

It's one of Williams's most colorful scores from the past 20-30 years, for sure, particularly in terms of orchestration. The whole thing is a glorious listen for the simply unparalleled flute writing if nothing else. Not sure of any other film score, Williams or not, that features such exuberant or technically impressive flute material, both solo and choir. Particularly in comparison to the Star Wars sequels, which, for all their riches in other areas, are decidedly less showy or inventive when it comes to instrumentation (a few exceptional moments notwithstanding, of course).

 

 Prisoner of Az has some great flute work. Not as much but still.

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11 minutes ago, blondheim said:

No. Throughout the score I think all the flute work is excellent including the period sounding stuff, but I was thinking of the bird flight solo in particular.

 

Oh for sure, though in HP:POA the flute is an impressive special effect in that one cue, and there's some other odds & ends, like the end of the alternate Saving Buckbeak. And maybe it stands out more as a result. But I wouldn't describe it as a flute showcase in the way the whole BFG score is.

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2 minutes ago, Falstaft said:

Oh for sure, though in HP:POA the flute is an impressive special effect in that one cue, and there's some other odds & ends, like the end of the alternate Saving Buckbeak. And maybe it stands out more as a result. But I wouldn't describe it as a flute showcase in the way the whole BFG score is.

 

I wouldn't call it a showcase and didn't. I acknowledged that there wasn't as much. I just thought it was a good recommendation for where to look next.

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15 hours ago, Taikomochi said:

I think it’s one of the mostly purely “Williams” scores in his oeuvre, his musical essence and personality distilled into this little film score.

 

Yes!

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It's funny because when I first heard it, I sort of rolled my eyes but now that is my favorite quality of the score. One of these days, when there is only the back catalog to explore, people will finally come around to our side of thinking about it. It happened with Horner's work.

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1 hour ago, Jay said:

I think it will only go up in people's estimations too; An expanded release would help too

 

Do we know how much is actually missing? I barely even watched the film, only to hear the score in context.

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I've never sat down and calculated or anything.  There's also been a sheet music leak that reveals more music exists than is heard in the film.  Maybe overall, 30 more minutes that aren't on the OST might exist?

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10 minutes ago, Jay said:

I've never sat down and calculated or anything.  There's also been a sheet music leak that reveals more music exists than is heard in the film.  Maybe overall, 30 more minutes that aren't on the OST might exist?

 

Wow, I hope that is true. That is a lot of music. I am always curious how much music Williams has written and never recorded for his scores. I hope someone gets access to all that someday. Maybe he will bequeath it to a University and I can make a pilgrimage.

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I'm sure at some point the weird contract that makes post-2005 scores too expensive for the specialty labels will change, and then they'll be able to expand those too like all the pre-2005 scores

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I dunno, other than the John Williams scores, I don't find there was a lot of great film music after Return of the King and before The Hobbit.  Feels like grand orchestral scores made a bit of a comeback in the 2010s after taking a step back for a bit

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1 minute ago, Jay said:

....  Feels like grand orchestral scores made a bit of a comeback in the 2010s after taking a step back for a bit

Is that the only kind of score you like? The only kind that can be " great"?

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I don't only enjoy grand, orchestral scores so bear that in mind but off the top of my head besides the Williams: two great Elfmans, King Kong, Batman Begins, Goblet of Fire, Robots, Sahara, Harry Gregson had a decent year. That's at least 11 right there for me.

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19 minutes ago, Jay said:

I'm sure at some point the weird contract that makes post-2005 scores too expensive for the specialty labels will change, and then they'll be able to expand those too like all the pre-2005 scores

 

Those musicians must be screaming out for income right now. Shame they made their fees so prohibitive that the labels can't even expand their scores. I wonder if it also hastened the industry's move towards electronic and sample-library scoring, because studios don't have to worry about the heavy reuse fees? 

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This score grew on my a lot. My only problem is the main themes don't really get exciting renditions in the underscore .at some point it sounded like sophie's Theme was going to get an Over the Moon moment but it just stops dead in it's track

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I hate all quotes of the Queen's theme, it remembers me that the story was made for little children, it have no sense at all.

 

I don't know the BFG books, but I'm sure the meeting with the Queen was just one of the stories...   I think this was an error to transpose that specific story in the movie. And the fart jokes... well...

 

There are great classics like E.T. and there are hits&misses like the BFG.

 

That's life!

 

Btw, which tracks do we need to remove from the OST to avoid the Queen's theme?

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The BFG was a lovely movie and score. It’s a spiritual counterpart to Hook (or ever Potter 1), just as Tintin was to Raiders. As such, they’re entirely inessential, but it’s nice to see two masters revisit previous genres with some new tricks up their sleeves. If the movie was released in the 90’s (animation style notwithstanding - the score and storytelling I mean), it would be considered a classic.

 

 

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I have a story that goes with this.

 

I was in Cannes when the film had its premiere there, but it was the only film for which I didn't get an accredited ticket. Nonetheless, I dressed up in a smoking, and placed myself in the 'rush ticket' line a couple of hours early, comfortably standing under an umbrella (it was raining). Not a lot of people there in the beginning. Then, I heard notes emanating from the speakers near the red carpet. I thought it sounded like LINCOLN, but it wasn't that. But it was clearly Williams, so I immediately thought it was from the score -- which it was (I was probably one of the first people to hear the score). Bizarre, I thought, that such a quintessential British movie had such an Americana-sounding score. But anyways, the premiere drew nearer. I watched Spielberg & co. stroll up the red carpet, but I never got in and went for a beer instead.

 

When listening to the score later on, I thought back on this moment. My 'lukewarm' response at the time still held true when listening comfortably to the CD from home, not only because of the Americana stuff, but because of its whimsical, directionless quality in many of the tracks.

 

It's not a bad score by any stretch of the imagination, but it leaves me relatively cold like most of Williams' post-2005 efforts. Maybe it will grow on me at some point. Williams himself certainly likes it enough to perform it in concerts. But I had expected another HOOK, more or less, with hints of his gorgeous pastoral/British sound, even if his recent track record had shown that he was not "there" anymore.

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4 minutes ago, Remco said:

I find there's something deeply touching about many short passages in the score. It's the kind of magic when you have music associated with children's stories but it could only have been written by a very wise (old) man. I feel that Ravel has this quality too.

 

What about women?

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Just now, Remco said:

I find there's something deeply touching about many short passages in the score. It's the kind of magic when you have music associated with children's stories but it could only have been written by a very wise (old) man. I feel that Ravel has this quality too.


Williams has always had a way of succinctly channeling the innocence and accompanying darkness of childhood stories, particularly in the past 20 years. Even when the films themselves fail to do so.  

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