Popular Post ConorPower 148 Posted July 7, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/07/opinion/indiana-jones-movie-john-williams-music.html Wonderful article just published in the NY Times, and written by @Falstaft! Check it out! PokeDocMatt, Loert, Cerebral Cortex and 20 others 6 1 10 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,167 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 Paywall. BB-8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 7, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2023 10 minutes ago, Tydirium said: Paywall. Try it this way pete, Tydirium, Raiders of the SoundtrArk and 18 others 1 8 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,167 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 7 minutes ago, Falstaft said: Try it this way Thank you! Wonderful article; congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_grig 472 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 My sincere appreciation to the website layouter and, of course, to the author. What an interactive article! artguy360 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Datameister 2,044 Posted July 7, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2023 I discovered this during my morning NYT read. Great article, @Falstaft! Tough to describe this stuff in a way that's both detailed and accessible. Love the way you've threaded the needle. I hope it opens some people's eyes and ears! Edmilson, BrotherSound and ConorPower 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy 4,143 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 That was absolutely brilliant in every way. I really enjoyed the experience. That must've taken a lot of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,211 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Falstaft said: Try it this way Excellent article. And a great way to include example clips. The way you lined up the Berlin Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra with the film scene is particularly impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinland 360 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 Just marvellous ... made me smile multiple times ... and happy. Thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post igger6 894 Posted July 7, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2023 Unbelievable, @Falstaft! This is a dream-come-true article presented in a dream-come-true format and, in a better world, would found a genre unto itself. You’ve found your true medium. I hope this leads to more opportunities like this for you, and I’m proud, in my mediated, anonymous, digital way, to know you. Loert, Tydirium and Andy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 7, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2023 Thanks everyone. I actually wrote this well before Dial came out, but was glad I was able to sneak in a last minute edit about "The Battle of Syracuse." My secret hope is that some Disney exec sees this article and realizes a score-only presentation of Indy 5 would be a good idea! Marian Schedenig, enderdrag64, igger6 and 18 others 15 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeltington 1,441 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 Wonderful article! Beautifully written. And great selections of music to illustrate your points. It was fun and illuminating to examine all these moments under the microscope, with your insights to accompany them. BrotherSound 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 Thanks for this great article BrotherSound 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTN 2,047 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 8 hours ago, Falstaft said: Try it this way Nice article, Frank and it being interactive for average readers to actually being able to listen to the cues you’re talking about was a great idea. BrotherSound 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,915 Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 9 hours ago, Falstaft said: Try it this way That was an excellent article! Way to go, Frank! BrotherSound 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Loert 2,515 Posted July 7, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2023 Fantastic article! What I particularly love about it is how you draw the lens towards underscore/action music specifically. Usually when Williams is mentioned in articles, it's almost always in reference to his pretty themes, his use of leitmotif etc...but not much on the actual underscore per se. But for me, the underscore can be just as rewarding to listen to, if not more. So it's great to see this "subgenre" getting some love, no less in a newspaper as high profile as the NYT. ChrisAfonso, Andy, BrotherSound and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post igger6 894 Posted July 8, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 8, 2023 I'm actually curious how this piece came together, @Falstaft. Did you cold-email the Times with a proposal? Did they come to you as a relevant expert, wanting something to pin to the release of the film? Was it always going to be a multimedia project? Did you have to give them specific timestamps for the music and video embeds? Let's hear the DVD extras on this! enderdrag64, TheUlyssesian, BrotherSound and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Know 326 Posted July 8, 2023 Share Posted July 8, 2023 Outstanding article! BrotherSound 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GerateWohl 4,373 Posted July 8, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 8, 2023 That's really a brillant article. I am just afraid it comes about 20 to 30 years too late as John Williams is the last of the dinosaurs who still write filmmusic at that complexity and who can stand the comparison with Strawinsky etc. and he declared some time ago Dial of Destiny his last score. If now a movie goer reads this and thinks, interesting, next time I go to a movie I will pay more attention to the music, he or she might be disappointed experiencing the music just as another kind of sound effect. So, maybe just one sentence missing in this otherwise great article. "This is how they used to do it but don't anymore." Martinland, Edmilson, Brónach and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 8, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 8, 2023 10 hours ago, igger6 said: I'm actually curious how this piece came together, @Falstaft. Did you cold-email the Times with a proposal? Did they come to you as a relevant expert, wanting something to pin to the release of the film? Was it always going to be a multimedia project? Did you have to give them specific timestamps for the music and video embeds? It was a long and complicated process, though it started very simply with me pitching the idea with a cold-email back in early May. The thrust of what I wrote initially was more academic in tone, and I had a few more examples in mind: the theme from Slalom on Mt. Humol; the key changes from Bug Tunnel/Death Trap; the rhythms of Ants!; that brass canon Belly of the Steel Beast; and even a mention of Falcon Flight from TROS (as proof that JW "still got it" when it comes to action scoring). But during editing, everything was, quite logically, focused down onto more to a few key examples. The biggest editorial note I received was to make it all more autobiographical and assertive in its opinion, which was a tone I was not used to writing in. But I think it worked out -- the personal touch in particular (anyone else have that Kid Stuff album?; it really was formative to me!). Once everything got going -- after Dial came out, primarily -- the editing process was really supportive and pleasant. As far as the multimedia element, I can only point to the incredible design team at the Times. I just specified the timestamps and they worked their magic behind the scenes. I was super lucky that they had access to that high quality, recent video of JW conducting the Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra with Berlin, that was a real coup. Tom Guernsey, Holko, Martinland and 17 others 16 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobaMike 17 Posted July 8, 2023 Share Posted July 8, 2023 This is a wonderful article! I expected another run of the mill Williams article that we always get when he has a new movie, but the look at the less known aspects of his scores was a surprise! Excellent use of video/sound to prove your points, which is almost demanded when writing about music in this way. You should be proud of this article! artguy360 and GerateWohl 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePenitentMan1 744 Posted July 10, 2023 Share Posted July 10, 2023 I've been afraid to bring this up since I first noticed it but... I noticed that for the Desert Chase clip, you used the OST/Concord version of Desert Chase instead of the uncut/correct film take DCC version. Considering that it was supposed to synchronize with the video, I would've gone with the DCC version for that bit, but is there a particular reason you went with the OST/Concord version instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 10, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 10, 2023 4 hours ago, ThePenitentMan1 said: I noticed that for the Desert Chase clip, you used the OST/Concord version of Desert Chase instead of the uncut/correct film take DCC version. Considering that it was supposed to synchronize with the video, I would've gone with the DCC version for that bit, but is there a particular reason you went with the OST/Concord version instead? Ha! I was wondering when someone would notice that. It's one of two goofs, the other being the "stretto" music is actually the ~10 seconds that precede the clear stretto in Crystal Skull. The design team picked out and synched all the music clips themselves, and I didn't want to bug them with little corrections, since so few people would notice the issue and they don't make much of a difference to the argument. So both of those slightly suboptimal clips will remain. Oh well! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Jurassic Shark, ThePenitentMan1, Brando and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schilkeman 964 Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 This was a really terrific article. Thanks so much for taking the time to write and share it. So much music criticism is about the people making the music, not the music itself. It’s always great to see music talked about in an intelligent (but not academic) manner. A layperson could really get something out of this, and, I suspect, so could any number of people who should know better, but have dismissed film music out of hand. Good job! Andy and Loert 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post igger6 894 Posted July 12, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2023 Thumbs up if you think @Falstaft has the germ of an amazing podcast in this article. Imagine a primer on musical techniques of film scoring, with examples from Williams and others, illustrating elements of composition for the musically uninitiated. Rather than doing episodes on individual film scores like so many podcasts have, you could explore tools of the trade like stretto, fugue, ostinato, etc. The Underscore podcast feinted in this direction a bit before it fizzled, but your knowledge base could really make it soar. Think it over! Tydirium, Brando, Andy and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 13, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 13, 2023 On 12/7/2023 at 1:15 AM, igger6 said: Thumbs up if you think @Falstaft has the germ of an amazing podcast in this article. Imagine a primer on musical techniques of film scoring, with examples from Williams and others, illustrating elements of composition for the musically uninitiated. Rather than doing episodes on individual film scores like so many podcasts have, you could explore tools of the trade like stretto, fugue, ostinato, etc. The Underscore podcast feinted in this direction a bit before it fizzled, but your knowledge base could really make it soar. Think it over! That sounds like a podcast I'd love to listen to! Alas, time is finite, and I'm more of a writer than a talker anyway. It's not exactly what you're talking about, but Chrysanthe Tan and Dominic Sewell's respective channels are both at that extremely high musical level you're interested in. Speaking of stretto, the clip is now accurate in my article. Hooray! Tydirium, igger6, ConorPower and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igger6 894 Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 Brilliant! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePenitentMan1 744 Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 21 hours ago, Falstaft said: Speaking of stretto, the clip is now accurate in my article. Hooray! Great! (But Desert Chase is still the cut-down version... ah well... Can't win 'em all, I suppose.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 37,374 Posted July 30, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 30, 2023 OK, WOW!!! This article came out while I was away on vacation, and I only just now had the time to actually circle back and read it. "Read" may be a bit of an understatement, since the inclusion of the terrifically selected audio and video clips make this so much more than "just" an article! I LOVED the way you managed to - somehow - take a bunch of complex musical terms, explain them, showcase them off with clear examples, and do all that without making me feel like I was being forced to learn something - it was all so smooth! The clips make the "reader" to engage directly with the whole article, which makes the whole thing so fulfilling! One thing I took away was the notion that John Williams actually does more mickey-mousing than I had realized, but not in a bad way at all - the way he does it is so graceful, you don't even realize he's doing it. It is sad that this article stands as a testament to the elegant way John has scored films all his years as that has almost completely fallen out of favor in Hollywood. If only more of today's directors and producers had articles like this in their formative years, maybe movie music could have gone in a different direction than it is. Regardless, this all makes our Johnny stand out as even more of a legend than we already thought he was. Great work Frank, and great advice your editor gave you about making it more autobiographical. I was not family with the "Kids Stuff" compilation, but just seeing the tracklist I can imagine the effect it had on you based on your description. Great work! enderdrag64, Falstaft, ConorPower and 1 other 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,915 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Great interview on NPR too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,374 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 31, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 31, 2023 15 hours ago, Jay said: OK, WOW!!! This article came out while I was away on vacation, and I only just now had the time to actually circle back and read it. "Read" may be a bit of an understatement, since the inclusion of the terrifically selected audio and video clips make this so much more than "just" an article! Thanks so much @Jay, that means a lot to me! I do hope this article will, in some small way, make a case for a more respectful treatment of symphonic film scoring. Judging from the comments, I think audiences are eager for a return. The NPR segment I did was with Think! and should be streamable here: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/478859728/think. We cover some of the same ideas from the NYT article but also touch on Williams's career more generally (including Daddy-O!). DomSewell, enderdrag64, Jay and 2 others 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,374 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Fantastic, thanks! Falstaft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,915 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 39 minutes ago, Falstaft said: Thanks so much @Jay, that means a lot to me! I do hope this article will, in some small way, make a case for a more respectful treatment of symphonic film scoring. Judging from the comments, I think audiences are eager for a return. The NPR segment I did was with Think! and should be streamable here: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/478859728/think. We cover some of the same ideas from the NYT article but also touch on Williams's career more generally (including Daddy-O!). It's a nicely curated traversal. I heard it on NPR and thought "what the!@?@?! But that's Falstaft!" Great job! DomSewell and Falstaft 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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