Restored Isolated Score: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

[Holko 9,526]

 

Everyone knew this had to be coming too, right?

 

Methodology is pretty much the same - difference is, here the tracked cues were not an afterthought or a replacement for original cues, but as we can see from an August summary sheet, were spotted with the rest, then decided to be tracked before the proper sessions took place. They score some throwaway and some absolutely narratively and (musically) thematically crucial sequences that must have been still fluid in the editing room and likely weren't expected to be properly completed before the sessions were over. Since the proper score cues also quote lots of HP1 material directly, they don't stand out at all, in fact some of them may be considered better assembled than some of those copycues (like Eat Slugs, which just repeats the opening of Norwegian Ridgeback twice). So, LLL + tracked cues, picture fit to them, plus the more significant alternates. Coming in 4 batches later this week!

 

 

Oh, all right, here's a teaser:

 

[Holko 9,526]

Movement I - The Magic Continues

 

 

Prologue holds no great mysteries but fun to see it synced up - the harp for turning the page, the clear separation of the Family and Friends themes, the deflation as Vernon's voice enters.

 

 

Nor does Vernon Gathers Family - Enter Dobby, however, is a really weird beast, there must have been a major miscommunication since it's clear you're supposed to feel sorry for Dobby while this cue makes light of all his misery and slavehood.

 

 

It works better in mysterioso form, but then it becomes too light again.

 

 

Now HERE it fits great when he's caught in mischief! The cake flying had to be extended, but only by a little bit, not by far by enough to reasonably fit any of the released deleted material. I tried something different than the movie for syncing up the car escape and I think it works well. Magical Household fits well enough.

 

 

I stretched the silence before the end of the floo powder bit. The rest fit nicely enough without the deleted scenes.

 

 

Oh dear, what's going on here? The Lucius bit is straightforward in its blandly dark understatedness. I have no idea what's happened with the Platform 9 3/4 reprise, Flying Car being a VFX-heavy chase scene is expected to have been edited down. I included the deleted clock bit but it still wasn't enough to fill one of the gaps Thankfully it's better by the second half. Whomping Willow's good enough like this, Car Escapes is straightforward again, as is Filch's Warning.

 

 

Now this is interesting: the theatrical was too short, the EE scene was too long, but when removing the stupid, drawn-out and completely superfluous Filch/Kwikspell part, it all fits great. I guess they came to their senses, edited it to be reasonable, scored it, then unfortunately cut it down some more.

[JohnnyD 1,223]

Cool! After Chamber of Secrets, will you post Prisoner of Azkaban?

[Holko 9,526]

Oh I don't think I have the strength for that mess after these. I do know someone may be planning on doing it. I absolutely do plan on doing GoF though when Warner allows LLL to do it.

[Skelly 261]

I did an "isolated score" for Azkaban a while ago (all three actually) to get a better look at how the movie was scored dramatically compared to the first two. Editorially I don't remember anything very interesting dropped out, mostly it just seemed like fat was trimmed from busy fx sequences. According to one anecdote Williams got an outdated cut of the movie to begin with.

[Bespin 8,483]

Listening to an isolated score in this covid-19 times... that's depressing.

[Holko 9,526]

Movement II - A Coming Darkness

 

 

Not much to say, fits. The first tracked cue, Howler Letter for Ron, is here, though since the CG Howler only enters after it's over, I'm really not sure why it wasn't just scored.

 

 

Obviously used the extended scene for the second half of the Lockhart cue. Had to cut a shot to make the pixie reveal fit.

 

 

When syncing up the opening, the slug cue plays for much longer than in the film, but it fits so it's all right.

 

 

Everything fits well except for more Ron/Scabbers cup antics. I decided to play the "alternate" Transformation Class ending here instead of keeping it for the last post, since it's not necessarily a terribly obvious difference, thought it'd be handier to compare them one after the other. It works around the dialogue a whole lot better but makes for worse listening IMO. If we're allowed more Bill Ross confusion/speculation: I could definitely imagine that this cue did not go back all the way to JW for a rewrite of this kind, Ross deleted some bars and repeated some others in what amounts to a podium change, and JW insisted on still giving him credit for these.

 

 

Library is presented in its intended place (the LLL puts it before Transformation Class), and Quidditch is a giant mess as expected, much sweat went into it.

 

 

Colin probably had some longer ominous dialogue; I'm presenting the alternate's relevant section afterwards again for comparison - it doesn't feel right, though, maybe it originally had more establishing shots before going into the toilet?

 

 

Had to shorten a shot in Dueling Club since things went out of sync after Harry first gets hit. Harry is a Parselmouth is a weird deal: The summary sheet references 5m1/5m2, 1:12 of underscore; the film has roughly 1:02 of tracked music; the LLL includes a :53 long cue (actually shorter than that without the short silences before and after) clearly not written for the scene with the tracked music but more likely for the deleted scene afterwards. So here I just play the whole sequence including the deleted scene, play the tracked music then the LLL cue.

 

 

Straightforward.

[Holko 9,526]

Movement III - Developments

 

 

The long Christmas Break is obviously for this version - but I still had to extend the footage.

 

 

The short one fits as expected, practically the opening and end of the long one mashed together. The rest fit fine.

 

 

After the used diary piece, the Myrtle bit must've been for deleted footage. Then we get our first real big important tracked cue, and I can understand that this was being edited a lot - hard to nail down the pacing of a conversation with CG letters in a book in time. Meeting Tom mostly fits, as does Ransacked Dormitory.

 

 

Petrified Hermione and Dad's Cloak fit - I tried to fit the latter onto the deleted scene but it misses the flourishes Williams consistently applies when the cloak is being taken on or off, so I just went with the theatrical. Hagrid's Arrest fits again, as does Spiders (the alternate is nicer musically but since it's only the final phrases echoing again, I saw no good point in including it here) and Meeting Aragog. The spider chase being an action scene is a mess again as can be expected. I'm capping this "movement finale" with the alternate Car Drives Off.

[Holko 9,526]

Movement IV - Finale

 

 

 

Staightforward.

 

 

After Myrtle's Tale, we get an interesting bit - an insert for a tracked cue, with additional instrumentation. Another crucial bit of tracking, the insert on its own as on the LLL doesn't have a satisfying ending. Pit of Bones fits.

 

 

After the last bit of cue (Harry Goes to Find Ginny) we get a massive load of tracking for the chamber reveal and the conversation with Tom. I feel the Fawkes statement in Fawkes Delivers the Hat is much much more triumphant when bursting out of minutes of this repeating low muddy soundscape. Note: the LLL replicates the OST joining of Fawkes Delivers the Hat and Harry Battles Basilisk, I had to use the leaked sessions to get a clean ending. Tracking was also planned between the two cues but it didn't end up in the final film, I had nothing to work with so I skipped it.

 

 

Note: the LLL replicates the OST joining of Fawkes Delivers the Hat and Harry Battles Basilisk, I had to use the leaked sessions to get a clean opening. After the expectedly edited down Harry-Basilisk duel, we get our final and perhaps most narratively important bit of tracking: the major climax of the story with the destruction of a Horcrux and Voldemort's themes actually being back in full force. I was surprised to find I had to stretch the footage for Fawkes Heals Harry.

 

 

These thankfully all fit nicely.

 

 

Whew. That's it. I've gotta say, I listened to my slightly reduced CoS edit (which gets rid of uninteresting/redundant material early on, like Harry Meets Lucius, Eat Slugs, Flying Pixies, or later like Dueling Club, causing it to get to the point more quickly and focus a bit more on the new material) before I started this one and I absolutely loved it - but actually doing the syncing and looking at the movie was way less fun than doing the first one for whatever reason.

[Holko 9,526]

And the obligatory assessment again.

 

Spoiler

1m1/1m2 Prologue Book II - intact

1m3A Vernon Gathers Family - intact

1m3 introducing Dobby - wholly dialed out

1m4 Dobby Warns Harry - intact

1m5 Unsent Letters/Cake - microedited

1m7 Escape from Dursley's - microedited

1m8 Magical Household - intact

1m9 Insert Errol Delivers Mail - intact

1m9 Letters from Hogwarts - intact enough

1m10 Borgin and Burkes - intact

1m11/2m0 Knockturn Alley - intact

2m1A Flourish and Blotts - microedited

2m1B Harry Meets Lucius - intact

2m2 The Train Station - microedited

2m3 The Flying Car - microedited

2m4 Whomping Willow - wholly dialed out

2m4A Car Escapes - intact

2m5 Filches Warning - intact

2m6 Boys Receive Detention - microedited

2m8/2m8A Introducing Colin/Mail - intact

2m10 Gilderoy Lockhart - half deleted

2m11A Cornish Pixies - looped

2m11B/3mA Flying Pixies - intact

3m1 Eat Slugs - microedited

3m2 Hermione & Hagrid - intact

3m3 The Writing on the Wall - opening dialed out

3m4/3m5 Dumbledore's Caution - intact

3m6 Transformation Class - microedited, partially dialed out

3m7 Library - intact

4m1pt1 Quidditch Stadium - microedited

4m1pt2 Bludger Attack - microedited

4m1pt3 Chasing the Snitch - microedited

4m1pt4 Harry Chases the Snitch - microedited

4m2 Petrified Colin - microedited

4m3 Moaning Myrtle - microedited

4m4/4m5A Dueling Club - partially looped

5m1/5m2 Harry is a Parselmouth - repaced with tracking (?)

5m4 Petrified Justin - intact

5m4A Introduction of Fawkes - intact

5m5 Fawkes is Reborn - intact

5m6/5m7 Christmas Break - intact

5m8 Cakes for Crabbe and Goyle - intact

5m9 Polyjuice Potion - intact

5m10/6mA Worse than Dumbledore - very opening dialed out

6m2 The Diary - half deleted

6m4B Meeting Tom Riddle - microedited

6m5 Ransacked Dormitory - intact

6m6 Petrified Hermione - intact

6m7/7mA Time to Get Dad's Cloak - opening dialed out, microedited

7m1 Hagrid's Arrest - intact

7m2 The Spiders I - intact

7m3 Aragog - opening dialed out

7m4 The Spiders II - microedited, partially dialed out

7m5A/7m5B Car Drives Off/Basilisk - intact

7m6/8mA Ginny Gets Snatched - intact

8m2 Myrtles Tale - intact

8m2Bpt1 Pit of Bones - intact

8m2Bpt2 Harry goes to Find Ginny - intact

8m3 Fawkes Delivers the Hat - microedited

8m5 Harry Battles Basilisk - microedited

8m7/9m1 Fawkes Heals Harry - microedited

9m2 Harry Talks with Dumbledore - intact

9m3 Lucius Visits Dumbledore - intact

9m4 A Reunion of Friends - intact

I count 75 cues, 34 intact - 45%, seems a major improvement over HP1's meager 28%, but do take into account that even when a cue's intact, the music is mixed so low it's practically inaudible sometimes, certainly never loud enough to really help hear the subtleties or allow it to be the driving force, HP1 was much much better on this front.

[JohnnyD 1,223]

I love that you take the time to showcase the films with just the music; very well done!