The Film Score Thread

I agree.

Where's Harms when you need him?

He's gone. Said the conversation had become top heavy.

I'll bring out the depilatories, just in case. Play around with the filter cutoff.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Thank fuck.

Schrader's script is a mess, make no mistake. Too long, too convoluted. But his final section does develop a thematic strand that is more interesting than anything in the finished film. Schrader latches on to the moment in VERTIGO where Scottie recreates the tragedies that have defined his life to conquer them and creates a story about the necessity of fictions and artifice to combat the past (the original title, DEJA VU, focuses our attention on the repetition of events). It's a compelling notion, particularly for a film, and suggests all sorts of interesting formal possibilities, particularly for De Palma, whose body of work demonstrates a consistent fascination with artifice and illusion.

Thanks to De Palma we got the finest film score of Herrmann's illustrious career. For that alone De Palma should be lionised as a patron of the arts. The fact that Obsession is actually a very moving film in its own right makes me think you're way off beam on this one. Putting Tux off one of the great films of our time is not something you should be proud of.

See, I can be a sanctimonious prat if I try.

Tux, don't listen to evil skullface. Watch it, preferably with some big speakers. You won't regret it.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Thanks to De Palma we got the finest film score of Herrmann's illustrious career.

Nah. I quite like Herrmann's score for OBSESSION, but it privileges bombast over nuance (it pushes Herrmann's signature style so far that it almost becomes self-parody). VERTIGO remains the great score of Herrmann's career.

Erica Ambler wrote:

The fact that Obsession is actually a very moving film in its own right makes me think you're way off beam on this one.

You act as though OBSESSION has had a universal effect on its audience, save for yours truly. But the truth is that even many of De Palma's most ardent advocates don't care for it all that much. I'll be the first to admit that I may be missing something when it comes to OBSESSION, but if so, I'm hardly alone.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Putting Tux off one of the great films of our time is not something you should be proud of.

I'm not proud of scaring Tux away from OBSESSION. I'm actually quite eager to see what he makes of it.

I'm not put off from it. I just didn't buy the damn thing. I'm gonna rent it on DVD soon. It won't be as pretty as a Blu-ray, of course.

And it won't sound anywhere near as good, which is the most important thing about OBSESSION.

Harmsway wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Thanks to De Palma we got the finest film score of Herrmann's illustrious career.

Nah. I quite like Herrmann's score for OBSESSION, but it privileges bombast over nuance.

Nonsense. It isn't all sound and fury, there are many delicate, hypnotic moments. Check your PMs.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I'm not put off from it. I just didn't buy the damn thing. I'm gonna rent it on DVD soon. It won't be as pretty as a Blu-ray, of course.

I realise that, Tux. I just wanted to give Harms a good kicking. This provided the ideal opportunity.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Me playing around. Mute THE ENFORCER.

http://youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DN81rHwIQa-I&start1=75&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DW249YKlU4N4&start2=00&authorName=Skruller

In other news, I went searching for this after looking for some more Schifrin on the YouTubes. Nobody thought it was a good fit?

It has it's moments. Something kinda funky.

Sharky wrote:

Tux, don't listen to evil skullface. Watch it, preferably with some big speakers. You won't regret it.

A must. I watched it on Netflix HD with the stereo system on and boy did it sound great having the speakers blast some Herrmann.

Besides that, I finally got John Williams' The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. For awhile I fell out of love for his music, I always liked them but for awhile didn't appreciate them on the same level as say Goldsmith or Barry. Now I'm falling right back and digging them as I listen. His Star Wars and the score for Superman are the only ones I've got at the moment.

I got the soundtracks in 1997. By far my favorite thing about those films. Well, I like a lot of the design work too.

But the '97 versions had the Death Star on the discs for the first film, the Imperial symbol for EMPIRE, and the Rebel symbol of JEDI.

Didn't get them on CD, but that sounds cool. I have very few soundtracks on discs, mostly John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith.

I love JEDI . My favourite STAR WARS score. The most brooding, intimate and expressionist of the lot. Some parts even remind me of Berg's Wozzeck and Prokofiev's Canto Sinfonico.







As far as Williams purchases go, I strongly recommend CLOSE COUNTERS, IMAGES, THE FURY and E.T..: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL.

I think I might agree with you on Jedi, of all the scores in the original three films it has it all. Also, I prefer the revised Ewok celebration Williams made in 1997 over the original "Nub-Nub". That was one of the few changes I agreed with. "Jedi Rocks", however, is balls.

Having listened to Empire I was completely unaware of the amount of music that was left unused. Incredible, at the same time I think it was probably appropriate to keep those certain scenes without music to really emphasize the loneliness. Having Han enter the Rebel base with the music almost gives it the impression of it being triumphant but these people are supposed to be in a tough spot busting their asses in the cold, especially the outdoor scenes with the only ambiance being the ice storm. Still, it's good music on its own.

I wish the prequel scores would get these treatments. Williams arranged the albums as if they were compilations blending two pieces that didn't have much to do with eachother, I'd like to hear the music as they would have originally been sequenced in the actual films before Lucas decided to fuck around in post production like always. I remember how grating it came off with one track ("Panaka and the Queen's Protectors") in a scene starting right in the middle of the track and then looping right back to the beginning of it making it come off nonsensical. How did Williams tolerate that kind of shit?

The closest I've seen to the prequels being sequenced is the Sith bootleg/expanded score. Be decent to get some proper release of Clones/Sith perhaps like they did Phantom.

For some reason Clash of Lightsabers is still my favourite track from Star Wars and in particular a certain stretch of it. Then Williams goes and uses huge chunks for I think it's "Enter Lord Vader" and the Emperor/Yoda fight portion of "Anakin vs Obi-Wan">

Hilly wrote:

The closest I've seen to the prequels being sequenced is the Sith bootleg/expanded score. Be decent to get some proper release of Clones/Sith perhaps like they did Phantom.

Did they? I heard the Ultimate Edition of The Phantom Menace was simply the tracks as heard in the actual film, edited and looped as Lucas demanded in post-production. I would like to to get a score of that film just like how The Empire Strikes Back got the 1997 soundtrack with all the music as originally sequenced by Williams.

Admittedly I didn't twig that about Phanton, being as heard in the film. On that I guess the bootleg Sith score is the same thing. It's in sequence track-wise, i.e as it happens in film but otherwise I don't know.

To my mind musically the prequels aren't much compared to the original trilogy. Sith in particular seems to make up of original trilogy tracks and stuff from the first two films whereas all three films have individual good pieces -Duel of the Fates/Across the Stars/Battle of the Heroes. Probably have to wait for the 40th anniversary for anything to happen if at all.

The best complete prequel bootleg scores available are those by ggtuk. He hasn't got round to CLONES yet, but that's due to the huge wads of material not yet released. Most of what he's got is from the two FORCE UNLEASHED games.

I was kind of hoping that Lucas would re-release all six scores (using Eric Tomlinson's original master tapes. Not the hotchpotch from various dodgily mixed vinyls and laser discs that the 97 editions were compiled from) to coincide with the blurays. Maybe if the 3D TPM goes down well, he'll consider it?.

See here:

http://www.malonedigital.com/starwars.pdf

Sharky wrote:

Check your PMs.

Nothing there.

Harmsway wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Check your PMs.

Nothing there.

Perhaps he meant PMS.

Sharky wrote:

I think I just had an orgasm.

Santa wrote:

I think I just had an orgasm.

If you're not sure then it's probably wind.



Chaz Jankel, one of film's scoring's great lost talents. Anyone here got the OST to DOA?