The Fabelmans - score in the film

[Sandor 830]

The very first glimpse of the score can be heard from 5:55-6:01. 

 

 

[Jay 38,812]

3:34-3:44 could be from the score 

 

5:18-5:22 has got to be one of the piano solos on the OST

 

5:58-6:04 sounds like score

 

Huh. They say his parent's divorce and how it affected him isn't a part of the film. Didn't see that coming. 

[Disco Stu 15,501]

28 minutes ago, Jay said:

3:34-3:44 could be from the score 

 

That's the music from the trailer, which if sources are to be believed, was not composed by Williams.  I suppose it's possible that whoever got that information (I can't remember who it came from) might not have known enough to say that, while he didn't directly score it, the trailer house composer was using Williams' theme.

 

 

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,357]

31 minutes ago, Jay said:

3:34-3:44 could be from the score 

 

Nope! As Stu said, that's from the trailer music, which does not reference Williams' score.

 

32 minutes ago, Jay said:

5:18-5:22 has got to be one of the piano solos on the OST

 

Yep, although I think there are more piano solos in the film than there are on the album, so maybe not necessarily this one.

 

33 minutes ago, Jay said:

5:58-6:04 sounds like score

 

There we go! You can hear the celeste playing the reflective, melancholy theme for all of three seconds. I'm pretty sure this is track 11, The Letter.

 

35 minutes ago, Jay said:

Huh. They say his parent's divorce and how it affected him isn't a part of the film. Didn't see that coming. 

 

I didn't watch the whole featurette but that's not really the case at all. His parents' separation is the film's major conflict, albeit secondary to Stevie's filmmaking! I think it's just a more interesting perspective because it focuses on his relationship with his parents individually during the family drama, rather than the relationship between the parents themselves. We understand everything through Steven's perspective.

[Jay 38,812]

Huh, I guess I misunderstood what she said! 

[mrbellamy 6,634]

I think she's saying specifically the aftermath of the divorce and the estrangement he had with his dad isn't in the movie. 

[BB-8 3,819]

JW: Steven, you need a greater composer for this.

 

SS: I know, so please use pieces by Bach, Haydn, Clementi, and Kuhlau!

[Jay 38,812]

18 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

I think she's saying specifically the aftermath of the divorce and the estrangement he had with his dad isn't in the movie. 

 

Yea, I clearly watched it too fast. Also the Bluetooth headphones I had on must have a crazy delay since all my timestamps are off

[The Great Gonzales 6,041]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

Yea, I clearly watched it too fast. Also the Bluetooth headphones I had on must have a crazy delay since all my timestamps are off

Yeah, most BT stuff has latency IIRC.

[TheUlyssesian 2,538]

Apparently he leaves out the fact that it was his mother who cheated and ended her marriage. 

[Not Mr. Big 4,719]

23 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

Apparently he leaves out the fact that it was his mother who cheated and ended her marriage. 

Not true.  Multiple critics have talked about the specific scene when he discovers this.  

In fact I'm pretty sure it's in the synopsis 

[mstrox 6,808]

Getting really worried at this point that the title might stick.

[Bayesian 1,422]

5 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Getting really worried at this point that the title might stick.

Funniest thing I read all week!

[Not Mr. Big 4,719]

24 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Getting really worried at this point that the title might stick.

There's still time to change it 

[mrbellamy 6,634]

1 hour ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Not true.  Multiple critics have talked about the specific scene when he discovers this.  

In fact I'm pretty sure it's in the synopsis 

 

By all accounts the Bach Adagio scores that moment 

[Sandor 830]

Clip with score:

 

 

[Not Mr. Big 4,719]

On 10/11/2022 at 10:47 AM, Sandor said:

Clip with score:

 

 

That's the opening of The Journey Begins 

[MaxMovieMan 293]

I just saw the film. I absolutely loved it. And seriously I thought the score was perfect in it. It’s used in just the right scenes which makes it’s appearances all the more impactful. The scene towards the end with the dad and the letter as well as the scene where they move to the new house are a couple major examples where the original music added a whole other level to the film. Gonna miss this as I swear I really only get this kind of feeling in film scores from John Williams.

[Trumpeteer 302]

I've finally watched "The Fabelmans" and I am able to return to this forum so nothing could be spoiled for me. (I don't listen to JW scores before I hear them in the film.)

 

I think the score fits the tone of the film, and this is why I don't listen to the scores first. If I heard the music first, I would have been disappointed that it wasn't going to be some major theatrical film memoir about Spielberg's life. It's a very intimate portrait of his family and the "struggles" he endured (all of them pretty much expected), and the score, as John Williams has said, is a tribute to his parents. It was a good choice to make it an actors' film and not a director's film. The performances sell the movie, and everyone else is exercising great restraint, including John Williams. That also goes for cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who didn't do too many "look at me" camera tricks (except the really funny one in the last shot).

 

I'm going to take a day or two to digest the film and score, then get to work on returning to my podcast "The Baton" for an in-depth episode. I'm really looking forward to returning to the show after two years away.

[DangerMotif 1,086]

 

[Jay 38,812]

Wow seeing JW play the theme on the piano in his house was awesome

 

Here's the same video on youtube, might be better quality than twitter

 

 

[BB-8 3,819]

17 hours ago, Jay said:

Wow seeing JW play the theme on the piano in his house was awesome

 

Here's the same video on youtube, might be better quality than twitter

 

 

But why on earth does the trailer music still pop up at the end? Or is this by JW?

[bigjimwilson 268]

20 hours ago, Jay said:

Wow seeing JW play the theme on the piano in his house was awesome

 

Here's the same video on youtube, might be better quality than twitter

 

 

That shot of him lifting his hands at the end is fantastic! 
 

As if to say “and that’s how I’m still smashing it out 48 years later” 😄

[Jay 38,812]

1 hour ago, bigjimwilson said:

That shot of him lifting his hands at the end is fantastic! 
 

As if to say “and that’s how I’m still smashing it out 48 years later” 😄

 

YES!

[Tallguy 4,122]

1 hour ago, bigjimwilson said:

That shot of him lifting his hands at the end is fantastic! 

 

I just realized how much I'm going to miss him.

[tomsmoviemadness 3,422]

 

[Jay 38,812]

Great video!

[CGCJ 458]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnSf6qbyLkt/

 

Some cue titles!

3m6 Mom's Dance (with JW fixes 02/25/22)

8m8 Kitchen Talk (with JW fixes 02/17/22)

9m2 v3 Dance Reprise (with JW fixes 02/25/22)

 

Also seen in the photo of John at the piano:

[Illegible] Alt End

Mom's Dance

And another Illegible title

 

Sorry if this isn't the right thread for this, I coudn't find a general score thread.

[Jay 38,812]

Preserving them here forever

 

[MrJosh 895]

Nice! So 9M2 has 3 versions, and there's a cue with an 'alt end', so....room for expansion some day!

[Luke Skywalker 1,929]

In our next lives….

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Only just learned that the beautiful Bach Adagio that's so pivotal in the film is actually a very faithful arrangement of a piece by another composer: an Oboe Concerto by Alessandro Marcello

 

Lovely

 

 

[thx99 1,783]

 

 

[filmmusic 2,134]

I want to love this theme, but I don't know... I have heard it so many times, but still I wouldn't put it in my top 20-30 Williams themes. Oh well...

[MrJosh 895]

1 hour ago, thx99 said:

 

So nice to hear Williams playing.

 

I really do love the theme. Something about it spoke to me on first listen. Tugs at my heartstrings in a way.

[Jay 38,812]

I saw the film at the cinema this afternoon.

 

It's funny, for all the talk about how little score there is both in the score and on the album, after seeing it, my thought is;  If anything, the film is actually overscored!

 

Other than Mitzi's campsite dance, the late-night "phone call", and Sam's jubilant studio walk after talking to Ford, I'm not sure if any other scenes in the film actually needed to have original score in them.  One scene in particular, when Sam and Mitzi have a conversation in the kitchen, I actually found the score to be distracting.

 

All the existing, non-JW music was used perfectly throughout the picture.

[JohnnyD 1,275]

32 minutes ago, Jay said:

One scene in particular, when Sam and Mitzi have a fight in the kitchen, I actually found the score to be distracting.

Um, when she slapped him? That scene had no music in it. Aside from that, there is no scene like what you described. The only other scene of Sam and Mitzi in the kitchen is when they reconcile with each other; that scene was scored.

[Disco Stu 15,501]

13 minutes ago, JohnnyD said:

The only other scene of Sam and Mitzi in the kitchen is when they reconcile with each other; that scene was scored.

 

Such a nice scene too and perfectly scored by the second half of "Mother and Son" from the OST (if memory serves, or at least something similar to it).

 

EDIT: double-checked and actually I think that scene's score is actually represented in the end credits on the OST?

[JohnnyD 1,275]

Indeed.

[Jay 38,812]

13 minutes ago, JohnnyD said:

Um, when she slapped him? That scene had no music in it.

 

I know it didn't.  I wasn't talking about that scene.

 

13 minutes ago, JohnnyD said:

The only other scene of Sam and Mitzi in the kitchen is when they reconcile with each other; that scene was scored.

 

Yes, that is the scene I was referring too - I found the score distracting in that scene.

[JohnnyD 1,275]

 

That scene, like the rest of the film, was perfectly scored.

[Disco Stu 15,501]

I thought it was perfect.  After the emotionally complex prom sequence, for Sam to be able to again find relief in the warmth and support of his mother in that kitchen scene, it definitely called for the comfort of the main theme.

[Jay 38,812]

I'm sure this has been pointed out already, but:
 

The first score cue heard in the film is not on the OST album.  This cue:

 

 

 

And, the piano piece Mitzi is playing when she has the long fingernails is not on the OST album either

 

The end credits identifies it as "Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op.2 No. 1: I. Allegro" by Ludwig Van Beethoven. 

 

 

 

I have to assume that Joanne Pierce Martin recorded it for the film, like all of Mitzi's performances, since a specific performance isn't called out in the end credits.

 

It's baffling to me that both of these pieces would not be on the soundtrack album!

[Disco Stu 15,501]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

The first score cue heard in the film is not on the OST album.  This cue:

 

Yes, although the beginning of "The Journey Begins" is similar enough that I'm not too cut up about it.

[Jay 38,812]

I think it's pretty different

 

Mitzi's Dance is also different (and longer) in the film.  Midnight Call is different too (the whole scene is shorter than the OST track length)

[King Mark 3,666]

On 13/01/2023 at 2:22 PM, MrJosh said:

So nice to hear Williams playing.

 

I really do love the theme. Something about it spoke to me on first listen. Tugs at my heartstrings in a way.

 I think it sort of sounds like a less catchy version of  the theme from Contact

[Jay 38,812]

There's another non-JW composition recorded for the film that isn't on the OST album:

 

"Walk On By", music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, written for Dionne Warwick

 

 

 

 

In the film, it is diagetic music played by an on-screen band at the prom; The end credits has these 3 in the cast list, so I guess they are the vocalists of the recording:

• Singer #1 Mary Flynn
• Singer #2 Adriel Porter
• Singer #3 Tia Nalls

 

And then later in the music section, some performers are credited

• Violin by Amritha Vaz
• Trumpet by Jon Lewis
• Background Vocals by Stephanie Alexander

[Jay 38,812]

There's 1:01:55 of music in the final film (which runs 2:30:46)

 

38:12 of that is source music

 

23:43 is original John Williams score

 

And those 24 minutes of score don't exactly match with the music on the OST album.  It seems the film used different takes than the OST album for most cues (maybe all cues). 

 

Outside of those performances differences, there's still music in the film that isn't on the album, and music on the album that isn't in the film.  Weird.

 

[Jay 38,812]

There's a total of 4 compositions in the film that were not written by Williams, but were definitely recorded specifically for the film, and are not on the OST album:

1. "Elite Syncopations" by Scott Joplin
2. "Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op.2 No. 1: I. Allegro" by Ludwig van Beethoven
3. "3 Gymnopédies No. 2" by Erik Satie
4. "Walk On By" by Burt Bacharach & Hal David

 

And there's 2 score cues in the film that are not on the OST album at all.

 

The first one is already mentioned and its scene is embedded a few posts above.

 

The second one, I assumed was something needed-dropped in from an old western score, however there is nothing that covers it in the end credits.  So it must be a Williams original!  It's an awesome western guitar piece that gives way to a string passage that culminates in a nice horn solo.  It's a great cue!  I want it!

[Edmilson 8,520]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

There's of 1:01:55 of music in the final film (which runs 2:30:46)

 

38:12 of that is source music

 

23:43 is original John Williams score

 

And those 24 minutes of score don't exactly match with the music on the OST album.  It seems the film used different takes than the OST album for most cues (maybe all cues). 

 

Outside of those performances differences, there's still music in the film that isn't on the album, and music on the album that isn't in the film.  Weird.

 

Is there a FYC for the score? And, if there is, does it have the film versions of cues? It would be weird since the movie has been campaigning so hard for this awards season if they didn't prepare a FYC.