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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeNov 22nd 2009 edited
    Since filming the pilot of HBO´s upcoming adaptation of George R.R. Martin´s fantasy epos "A Song of Ice & Fire" is done and postproduction beginning, all I´m waiting for is the announcement of a composer for the pilot and the - hopefully - coming series.

    So if anyone hears anything, please let me know. I´m currently reading "A Game of Thrones", the first novel (which will give the TV series its name), and I feel massively entertained by what I´m reading. If this is done right, we´ll get the best fantasy series that´s ever been on TV. The actual choices for casting have been nothing but brilliant, so I hope they choose as wisely for the music.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeNov 23rd 2009
    As much as Fantasy epics tend out to be duds rather than hits (especially on TV), HBO has been very impressive in reviving and rejuvenating a number of genres in the last few years, so I will be keeping a keen eye out!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeNov 23rd 2009 edited
    My thought exactly.

    I mean, I enjoyed BBC´s cheesy Robin Hood series, have a lot of fun watching Merlin, and also think that Legend of the Seeker is the best fantasy series that´s currently on TV. But that doesn´t mean that I´m happy about the condition of the fantasy genre as it is on TV right now. When was the last time that fantasy was treated with respect and honesty? Hell, was it ever?

    Now, A Song of Ice & Fire is serious business. It is set in a grim world, there´s lots of intrigue, violence, sex, and some rather harsh combinations of those aspects. We all know how networks treat this genre and what would survive of all that if it would be taken on by someone like, swell, Disney.

    I think HBO is probably the best place for a production like this. They´ve brought us very great stuff in the past, and I can´t wait to see what they will make of this.
  1. After Stephen Warbeck was hired for Game of Thrones, but quoted shortly after with something along the lines of "I am doing this little fantasy thing for HBO", I was seriously in doubt about Warbeck´s personal interest in the project and his ability to understand what a massive and creatively challenging task he actually was involved in.

    I hoped for the best.

    Now I hear that Stephen Warbeck is out.

    Ramin Djawadi is in.

    I know a lot of people won´t be happy with this choice, but for me, the one thing that bothered me about this project just vanished. I actually believe that GoT will profit massively from this change. I think the RC stuff works fantastically with historical fantasy of the kind we´re about to see, and even if there´s not much time left for Djawadi to do the ten episodes, he has the right kind of family at hand to help him out.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    What an inspiring choice. rolleyes

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011 edited
    I´m just happy they didn´t hire Trevor Morris, who seemed to be an obvious choice. GoT deserves to get a scoring style of its own, a bit different from Tudors and Pillars (I love those, but Trevor should get something else to do for a while, and GoT needs to distance itself from that stuff). A bit more force. THAT is something Ramin WILL deliver, whether one likes the style or not.

    I had always hoped we´d get Bear McCreary, but he was either never considered, uninterested, or just too busy.

    After listening again to Shakespeare in Love after Warbeck was hired, I really believe they did the right thing to let him go. GoT might have a historical mood, but couldn´t be more different from the light-hearted SiL. It is a dark and brutal story, and Ramin might be the man to bring that across.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    You know what you'll get: synthesised hard rock guitar riffs and percussion, and functional but unmemorable action cues.
    Seems like a very safe and inoffensive choice that'll please the producers pricewise and not alienate any casual viewers.

    Trevor Morris would have been an interesting choice, but was he ever even considered?
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011 edited
    Djawadi delivering a score with a style of his own? Not possible. I hope he proves me wrong but, IMHO, Djawadi is the lowest comment denominator when it comes to film music.

    Warbeck meanwhile was an inspired choice - giving a composer a project in a genre he has never worked in before. It reminded me a lot of Peter Jackson's inspired and ballsy choice of use Howard Shore for the Lord of the Rings.

    I would have given this to a young up and comer... let him or her cut their teeth in the television world. Colin O'Malley, Chad Seiter, Scott Glasgow, James Peterson, Ryan Shore, Alfons Conde, just to name a few, are far better choices than Djawadi.

    As for McCreary ... isn't he work on like 125 separate TV, film and game projects.

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011 edited
    Martijn wrote
    You know what you'll get: synthesised hard rock guitar riffs and percussion, and functional but unmemorable action cues.
    Seems like a very safe and inoffensive choice that'll please the producers pricewise and not alienate any casual viewers.

    Yes, I know we will most likely get that. And you know what? I will cheer.
    GoT as a story is incredible enough. I´d rather have a safe score for it than a wrong score.
    And to succeed, GoT will NEED casual viewers. It´s an expensive series, and with Camelot and The Borgias coming up as well, in the same month, it NEEDS viewers to survive.

    Trevor Morris would have been an interesting choice, but was he ever even considered?

    I LOVE Trevor Morris´ music for the Tudors, but Pillars of the Earth already seemed a bit uninspired, and he should take a break from historical drama.

    Erik Woods wrote
    Djawadi delivering a score with a style of his own? Not possible.

    No, I meant different than what seems to be the current norm for history TV series (aka Trevor Morris). GoT should differenciate itself from it to get its own identity as a history series. I will readily admit that Djawadi probably won´t reinvent the wheel, but he has a diffent voice than Morris.

    I hope he proves me wrong but, IMHO, Djawadi is the lowest comment denominator when it comes to film music.

    Warbeck meanwhile was an inspired choice - giving a composer a project in a genre he has never worked in before. It reminded me a lot of Peter Jackson's inspired and ballsy choice of use Howard Shore for the Lord of the Rings.

    I would have agreed to that if Warbeck hadn´t already said that he wasn´t nearly as involved in this project as Shore was with LOTR. Otherwise... who knows?

    I would have given this to a young up and comer... let him or her cut their teeth in the television world. Colin O'Malley, Chad Seiter, Scott Glasgow, James Peterson, Ryan Shore, Alfons Conde, just to name a few, are far better choices than Djawadi.
    Maybe Djawadi was the right choice to deliver the score for ten hour-long episodes in ten weeks, I don´t know. I don´t say he´s the perfect choice, but for me, he´s a better choice than Warbeck.

    As for McCreary ... isn't he work on like 125 separate TV, film and game projects.

    No he´s not. He is involved in a lot of stuff, but he always did what was best for the given assignment, and a lot of the more challenging series are now either off the air or have ended. With The Cape being axed very soon (probably), he´s have had all the time in the world.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Seems to me that if a producer would want a stand out series, yiu'd go for stand out production. Not merely a safe one. Going for 'safe' surely will bring in safe revenue, but not yield great output. That's simply a given.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
  2. Obviously, Warbeck could not, or wanted not, deliever that stand out score.

    Now the producers have to take the safe road.

    I suggest we have to wait how this turns out.

    One more thing, though. GoT will need a lot of ambient music, up to complete medieval ballads written and composed. I doubt they would have hired Djawadi if he couldn´t prove to them he´d be able to do that, somehow. Maybe there´s something about him we just don´t know yet.

    Hope dies last, as we say.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011 edited
    We'll see.

    That said, whatever happened to A Song of Ice & Fire?
    Did that completely drop off the radar screen?

    EDIT: never mind. That's the overarching name of the saga of which Game Of Thrones is part one, isn't it?
    Damn...so it's been in post-production for over a year?
    Hm.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    So bad they shelved it!

    I'm kidding, I have no idea but it's been a long time now.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    ^see that comment

    forget about it!
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011 edited
    1) A Song of Ice and Fire is the overarching name of the books, that´s right, but it takes time to realise why (up to Book 3, for slow thinkers), and the producers obviously wanted to go with a catchier name that included what is going on from Day 1. It´s not a bad choice at all, since the actual game of thrones lasts a lot longer than book one, and is even referred to in dialogue across all the books.

    2) The pilot was finished. After they reviewed it, HBO ordered the series, which went into production then. It made a lot of sense not to air the pilot beforehand, since it´s actually not so much a pilot but just episode one of a very long story. Plus, they changed some roles and reshoot the scenes with the new actors. It is neither taking them too long nor is anything that´s happening there a bad sign at all.

    If you´re interested, you can always go here and enjoy the progress made, though I really would avoid most of the interviews with Sean Bean and Emilia Clarke, because they spoil around as if everyone had read the books. Well, obviously, a lot of people have, but still.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Erik Woods wrote
    Ralph Kruhm wrote
    As for McCreary ... isn't he work on like 125 separate TV, film and game projects.

    No he´s not. He is involved in a lot of stuff, but he always did what was best for the given assignment, and a lot of the more challenging series are now either off the air or have ended. With The Cape being axed very soon (probably), he´s have had all the time in the world.


    He's working on The Walking Dead, Knights of Badassdom, The Cape (which hasn't been canceled), SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs, Eureka... busy, BUSY man!

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011 edited
    The Walking Dead was six episodes, and now it´s off till they made the next ones. The Cape was just reduced from 13 to 10 episodes, so we can consider it axed. There´s Eureka and the other stuff you mention, of course, but until recently, he had Caprica and Human Target to care for, too. And he did all of that exceptionally well, even with lots of stuff happening at the same time. With them off now (he no longer scores HT), he´s probably already looking for new stuff to do. ^^ It´s like he was born busy. He can deal with it.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    And if I were the producers... especially of a very expensive HBO series I would want to a composer who would work on my project exclusively.

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Ralph Kruhm wrote
    I´m just happy they didn´t hire Trevor Morris, who seemed to be an obvious choice. GoT deserves to get a scoring style of its own, a bit different from Tudors and Pillars (I love those, but Trevor should get something else to do for a while, and GoT needs to distance itself from that stuff). A bit more force. THAT is something Ramin WILL deliver, whether one likes the style or not.

    I had always hoped we´d get Bear McCreary, but he was either never considered, uninterested, or just too busy.

    After listening again to Shakespeare in Love after Warbeck was hired, I really believe they did the right thing to let him go. GoT might have a historical mood, but couldn´t be more different from the light-hearted SiL. It is a dark and brutal story, and Ramin might be the man to bring that across.


    Only Trevor Morris writes better than Djawadi, most of the time.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    So did Alfred Newman, but he was never considered either, oddly enough.


    (why are we talking complete and utter hypotheticals? confused )
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Don't know, Ralph started it wink
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Blaming the Germans is SO last century!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Nazi's... I hate these guys.

    :whip:

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    applause
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Ralph Kruhm wrote
    I´m just happy they didn´t hire Trevor Morris, who seemed to be an obvious choice.


    Bloody hell, so am I. Pillars of the Earth was laughably bad.
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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    There seems to be precious little good tv music around these days. The budgets don't seem to be there. Maybe it was ever thus, I don't know, but nothing is grabbing me right now.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Southall wrote
    Ralph Kruhm wrote
    I´m just happy they didn´t hire Trevor Morris, who seemed to be an obvious choice.


    Bloody hell, so am I. Pillars of the Earth was laughably bad.


    The series, sadly, yes. Waste of a relatively decent cast and truly stunning production. But I did rather like Morris'. Score.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    I didn't! But maybe I was just so annoyed that the series itself was so bad.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Southall wrote
    There seems to be precious little good tv music around these days. The budgets don't seem to be there. Maybe it was ever thus, I don't know, but nothing is grabbing me right now.


    Wow! I completely disagree!
    I find there is so much more excellent tv work in the last ten years or so then in decades before! The Walking With Dinosaur series and spin-offs, Alias, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, The Tudors, The Sarah Connor Chronicles...and that's just off the top of my head!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2011
    Southall wrote
    There seems to be precious little good tv music around these days. The budgets don't seem to be there. Maybe it was ever thus, I don't know, but nothing is grabbing me right now.


    HUMAN TARGET! BTW, the budget wasn't there so they let poor McCreary go and brought someone else in for Season 2. sad Anywho, season 1 rocks and La La Land's 3CD set is amazing!

    Also, watch an episode of Family Guy. Ron Jones is doing some FANTASTIC work especially on this latest seasons opening episode.

    Fringe has some excellent music.

    There's some excellent synth orchestra music in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But once Kiner heads down the middle eastern Gladiator route or the techno route (tencho in Star Wars??? vomit) it's pretty fucking unbearable.

    Murray Gold is writing excellent music for Doctor Who.

    Those are just a few examples off the top of my head.

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!