Super 8 by Michael Giacchino - Complete Score Analysis

[Faleel 5,362]

Notice that Air Force Train Cars is the cue we got from that site earlier?

[Jay 37,374]

No its not, its the same version as the film/album.

[Faleel 5,362]

Oh, well the title is the same, so..

[Jay 37,374]

But the length is not.

[Faleel 5,362]

I understand that.

[Jay 37,374]

FYC CDs are stipulated by the academy to contain the film versions, and not unused alternates

It looks like almost every cue has at least 2 names, and Air Force Train Cars / Train Of Thought is no different.

[Admiral Holdo 16]

It's possible those FYC titles were created to make it clearer where the music goes in the film. I can understand Academy voters getting turned of by some of the more cutesy puns.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Gia's tracktitles are the worst in the entire industry!

[Jay 37,374]

It's possible those FYC titles were created to make it clearer where the music goes in the film. I can understand Academy voters getting turned of by some of the more cutesy puns.

I agree

[Luke Skywalker 1,796]

FYC CDs are stipulated by the academy to contain the film versions, and not unused alternates

It looks like almost every cue has at least 2 names, and Air Force Train Cars / Train Of Thought is no different.

Giacchino names and His editior names.

I think some giacchino names make into the OST (i suppose when his jokes are better than what his editor can do). And i think the FYC-pixar promos contain mostly if not all giacchinos names.

[Faleel 5,362]

When does your promo for Super 8 arrive again Jason?

[Jay 37,374]

I believe it's already at my house

[Faleel 5,362]

Cool!

[Luke Skywalker 1,796]

but he is not, so we have to wait still

[Jay 37,374]

Here's exactly what is on the FYC disc:

1. Super 8 1:49

= OST 01 Super 8 (1:44) slightly extended (No idea if the OST is shortened, or if the FYC version is looped. Compare 0:48-0:56 of OST to 0:48-0:59 of FYC)

2. Street Crossing 0:38

= OST 02 Family Matters (0:29) with a longer ending (I never noticed the OST version fades out early)

3. Model Painting 0:41

= OST 03 Model Painting (0:41)

4. Aftermath Class 1:43

= OST 05 Aftermath Class [0:00-1:41] with a proper clean ending (the album track improperly crossfades to the next cue)

5. Thoughts of Cubism 0:45

= OST 06 Thoughts of Cubism (0:48) slightly extended (No idea if the OST is shortened, or if the FYC version is looped. Compare 0:07-0:15 of OST to 0:07-0:15 of FYC) and with an abrupt, cut-off early ending.

6. To the Camera Store 0:37

= The FILM VERSION of OST 07 We'll Fix It In Poste-Haste!!

7. Alice Says Yes 0:42

= OST 08 Production Woes (0:34)(The extra time is due to extra silence at the beginning and end)

8. Air Force Train Cars 0:35

= OST 09 Train Of Thought (0:35)

9. Gas and Go 1:16

= OST 10 Circle Gets The Cube (1:06) with that extended opening as heard in the film (no idea if its an insert, or tracked music), and really horrible film-looping (Compare 0:34-0:48 of OST to 0:40-0:56 of FYC)

10. Breen Attacked 1:12

= OST 11 Breen There, Ate That (1:12)

11. Zombie Alice 0:43

= OST 12 Dead Over Heels (0:48) with film edits (compare 0:26-0:33 of OST to 0:26-0:31 of FYC), and the ending fades out early as well.

12. Looking for Lucy 2:22

= OST 13 Gas & Go (1:34) with film loops (Compare 0:23-0:27 of OST to 0:23-0:30 of FYC)

AND

OST 14 Looking For Lucy (0:49) with an extended ending (I never noticed that the OST track fades out early)

(properly overlapped like in the film)

13. Radio Haze 1:10

= OST 15 Radio Haze (1:08)

14. Shootus Interuptus 0:41

= OST 14 Shootus Interuptus [0:00-0:41] with what I assume is a faked clean ending from the film, not a true clean ending of a cue

15. Thoughts of Mom, Home and Garages 1:15

= OST 18 Thoughts of Mom [0:00-1:13] with the fake clean ending heard in the film (as the end of the cue was dropped)

16. Woodward Bites It 1:55

= OST 19 Woodward Bites It (1:54) Sounds like a SLIGHTLY different mix (listen to the synths at the beginning)

17. Alice Projects on Joe 2:41

= OST 20 Alice Projects On Joe (2:29) Compare 0:00-0:53 of OST to 0:00-1:04 of FYC its either an alternate, slower performance, or has been artificially slowed down

18. The Abduction of Alice 1:02

= OST 21 Neighborhood Watch - Fail [0:00-0:58] Incorrect, faked ending since they dialed out the middle of the cue in the film). Bad title too because all this music happens before she is abducted.

19. Who's Gonna Feed the Dog 3:32

= OST 22 The Evacuation Of Lillian (3:40)

20. Jack's Escape 2:32

= OST 24 Lambs On The Lam (2:40) with film edits (Compare OST 0:44-0:54 to FYC 0:44-0:48) and a faked, earlier ending

21. Woodward's Home Movies 2:05

= OST 25 [0:00-1:58] with the proper clean ending (the album track incorrectly crossfades to the next cue)

22. Donnie Calls for Help 1:52

= OST 25 "The Boys Are Captured" [1:58-end] (With a proper clean opening, AND a small section of music micro-edited out of the OST [0:05-0:07])

AND

OST 26 Spotted Lambs [0:00-1:12] with a faked clean ending (because the end of the cue was dropped in the final film

(overlapped like in the film)

23. World's Worst Field Trip 2:51

= OST 28 World's Worst Field Trip [0:38-end] I think this is a fake opening because the opening was dialed out; Not the true start of a cue, but there's no way to be sure.

24. The Siege of Lillian 4:05

= OST 29 The Seige Of Lillian (2:57) The first half is either sped up or heavily edited)

AND

OST 30 "Entering The Garage" [0:00-1:02] with a proper clean ending (the album track incorrectly crossfades to the next cue)

(overlapped like in the film)

25. Tunnel of Love (Part 1) 2:22

= OST 30 Creature Comforts [3:16-5:44] It's unknown if this is a true clean opening of a faked one (the music on the OST from 1:37-3:16 does not appear in the film), with a section edited/artificially slowed down (compare OST 4:48-5:15 to 1:31-1:56 FYC). Unsure if proper clean ending or just a result of a pause during the cue

26. Tunnel of Love (Part 2) 1:05

= OST 30 Creature Comforts [5:44-6:45] Unsure if proper clean opening or just a result of a pause during the cue; Proper clean ending. Cue is looped multiple times and seems to play at the wrong speed for most of it.

27. Tunnel of Love (Part 3) 3:06

= OST 30 "6m55 Tunnel Of Love" [6:45-end] with a proper clean opening and film edits (Compare 6:53-7:13 OST to 0:09-0:14 FYC). There's also a weird error where the first note of Letting Go is heard after its done fading.

28. Letting Go 5:13

= OST 31 Letting Go (5:18) slightly edited down.

Overall, I find the sound quality of the FYC disc to be BETTER than that of the OST. That might just be because its overall quieter compared to the OST - like the OST was cranked up too high, and the background noise got amped up with it. The FYC disc sounds "cleaner". I'm no audophile, so I'd love to hear other's opinions on this.

[scallenger 483]

So from my understanding the FYC disc has a lot of faults (loops, speed-ups, edits) although at the same time does have some exclusive stuff here and there. Overall, which do you think is a better presentation? FYC or OST?

[Jay 37,374]

Um I think you answered your own question lol

The FYC disc is literally an (incomplete) isolated score of the film on CD, and contains all edits, loops, speed changes, sudden drops in music, etc.

It's only "needed" for the following pieces:

2. Street Crossing 0:38 for the extended ending

4. Aftermath Class 1:43 for the clean ending

6. To the Camera Store 0:37 completely unreleased film version

9. Gas and Go 1:16 for the extended opening

12. Looking for Lucy 2:22 for the extended ending

21. Woodward's Home Movies 2:05 for the clean ending

22. Donnie Calls for Help 1:52 for the clean opening and the small bit of music microedited out of the OST

24. The Siege of Lillian 4:05 for the clean ending of "Into The Garage"

26. Tunnel of Love (Part 2) 1:05 for clean ending of Creature Comforts

27. Tunnel of Love (Part 3) 3:06 for the clean opening of "6m55 Tunnel of Love"

Unless the sound quality truly is better than the OST, in which case it would be a lot of work to undo all the edits and replace with OST material, etc.

BTW, still unavailable is the clean opening of "Dr. Woodward" and the clean opening of Creature Comforts. And also the Alternate of Air Force Train Cars aka Train of Thought in lossless.

[Jonesy 55]

The FYC disc sounds interesting, but is the first time I'm happy with the OST

[scallenger 483]

Gotchya, thanks for the response, Jason. You forgot to add that the promo doesn't include any of the music from "The Case", and the OST is missing a couple cues from it that were available from that website (and also offered a couple clean openings/endings for parts of it).

[Jay 37,374]

What do you mean forgot?

[scallenger 483]

Meaning it wasn't mentioned in your above description.

[Jay 37,374]

I don't understand. There's lot's of music not included on the FYC, not just those pieces. I didn't single any of them out, I just talked about what IS on it.

[Admiral Holdo 16]

Little tidbit for y'all: I compared 'Super 8' (the main title) in the film to the album track; the string sustain is a little longer in the film, which explains why the FYC track as slightly longer. I suspect it was two pieces recorded separately.

[Jay 37,374]

It could be that, or the film version could be looped, or the OST version could be edited down. No real way to tell.

[Jay 37,374]

I can't believe I totally forgot to post the pictures I took today!

[Jonesy 55]

Wow!

[Jay 37,374]

If anyone wants a physical copy, there's an ebay auction ending in 10 hours for one! It's currently at $31!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180786955298

As a reminder, the last two ones on ebay ended at $21.50 and then $34.

[Jay 37,374]

Holy CRAP!!! The FYC promo sold for $107.67!!!

Good thing I bought mine when I did! So we now have:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120832045990 (Closed 2011-12-25 4:59pm EST) $21.50

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310369487355 (Closed 2012-01-03 6:44pm EST) $34.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180786955298 (Closed 2012-01-10 7:50pm EST) $107.67

I wonder how much the next one will go for?

[scallenger 483]

It's probably selling for more now because now people know what it actually contains and now a lot more people are interested in it. No joke, lol.

[Jay 37,374]

There's been almost no discussion of it. What do you guys think of it? Favorite bits of new or different music? Worst edits? Any other differences compared to the OST that I missed above?

Discuss!

[Admiral Holdo 16]

I'm comparing Creature Comforts (the film cue, not the 10 minute album track) and its FYC counterpart. Seems the latter has removed a synthesizer sound at the end.

EDIT: I take that back. The last bit of Creature (the quiet bit with the love theme) was replaced by tracked music from 'Production Woes'. How about that?

[Jay 37,374]

Mr. Movies, I must commend you. The plethora of alternates you've been able to uncover from the Super 8 blu ray is out of this world!

Some of them are utterly fascinating. Its interesting to see the score finds its voice by revising some of the cues. Some of the earlier ones were fairly different! Great, great work sir!

[Admiral Holdo 16]

Thanks! Hopefully it'll be rendered obsolete soon, I'd love to have them in higher quality, and without pieces missing (that Letting Go alternate in particular is gorgeous, but it's hard to appreciate when bridging bits are absent. Ah well...).

[fommes 153]

Could you make an editing guide too, Mr Movies?

[Jay 37,374]

My post on page 2 should tell you everything you need to know

[Admiral Holdo 16]

Honestly, I don't remember where everything came from, a lot of them were scattered across featurettes and I didn't keep track, just edited stuff together. I do recall that Model Painting (Alternate) came mostly from Giacchino's segment, but you'll need a few seconds from the OST version to bridge a gap early on.

[Luke Skywalker 1,796]

the complete cue list does not include the 'case' music from the official site.

i think the tracks that feature more music are:

'tough cop investigation' is like an extened version of the OST countermant

opening of 'suspense'

zombie attack is completely unreleased, i think.

[Incanus 5,716]

37. The Case - 3:28 - OST 33

The score to Charles’ film is by Giacchino, though in the universe of the film it was done by Charles himself (at least according to the back of the CD cover. The version on CD is arranged as a suite that doesn’t exactly line up with the version shown in the film’s end credits.

I resurrect Jason's excellent analysis as I was taking another listen of this score again and remembered one thing I should have mentioned about the Case music before. The music itself is not infact attributed to Charles Kaznyk but rather the film is. It says on the CD cover Original Music from the film by Charles Kaznyk meaning that the film is by Charles not the score. Took a while for me to read that the right way.

[Jay 37,374]

I think it could be interpreted either way

[Incanus 5,716]

I think it could be interpreted either way

Well I think it is more logical to assume that Giacchino, no matter how funny guy he is, wouldn't attribute his own music to a fictional character when he clearly has composed the music. The sentence following the track title just clarifies the movie it was composed for and who created the film, though the director is a fictional character.

[ZackR 95]

Then JJ Abrams must be pissed to have a fictional character credited with a short film that Abrams obviously directed.

[Incanus 5,716]

Then JJ Abrams must be pissed to have a fictional character credited with a short film that Abrams obviously directed.

Yeah there is always that as well.

However I will stick with my interpretation of the credit of the Case music.

[Offline 29]

Incredible work you guys! Is there anyway to listen to the FYC or the Blu-Ray Alternates? I've been attempting to duplicate the film versions, but to no avail. My faked endings don't work for some of these