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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014
    MUSIC - Original Score

    The Book Thief
    John Williams

    Gravity
    Steven Price

    Her
    William Butler and Owen Pallett

    Philomena
    Alexandre Desplat

    Saving Mr. Banks
    Thomas Newman

    MUSIC - Original Song

    "Alone Yet Not Alone" from ALONE YET NOT ALONE
    Music by Bruce Broughton punk ; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel

    "Happy" from DESPICABLE ME 2
    Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

    "Let it Go" from FROZEN
    Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

    "The Moon Song" from HER
    Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

    "Ordinary Love" from MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
    Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014 edited
    I'm very surprised to see that 12 YEARS A SLAVE isn't in the nominations. "worthy" films near as always get an Oscar nom for score regardless of the music quality.

    As for the song noms I vote Pharrell Williams for the win. Brilliant and catchy song. Love it!!
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014
    Southall wrote
    Some reaction from Film Music Purée:

    http://www.movie-wave.net/film-music-pu … -reaction/


    lol
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014
    I'm guessing Her is the least of the scores, so I'm betting this will win.
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      CommentAuthorBregt
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014
    Haven't heard Her. It's by Arcade Fire right? Should not be nice I think.
    Kazoo
  1. HER is actually the film that ties its score into the story in the most interesting way. The placement and development of the music is written into the story, to a degree that only SAVING MR BANKS rivals. (And there its the poppins score, not newman's, that is the most inventively applied element.)

    Don't be thrown by the idiom of the music. HER may he closer to ambient pop than romanticism, but those guys know how to tell an interesting story in music.
    A butterfly thinks therefore I am
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      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014
    From the films I've seen, I thought Gravity used its score best. Mind you, Gravity is the only one of those films that I've seen.
  2. Of the 4 I've seen (BOOK THIEF not yet), I think they're all worthy scores. All of them do a good job in the film. GRAVITY is the most commanding presence in its film - wearing a lot of hats and covering a lot of ground. HER is smaller, simpler, but clever. Not saying I'd give it the award, but I can well understand why a group of film composers would pick it over... well, a number of those left out... as a stronger example of musical storytelling.
    A butterfly thinks therefore I am
    •  
      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeJan 16th 2014
    I understand why... 4 of the 5 films are critical hits and the other was composed by John Williams. It's that simple.

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
  3. What he said!
    A butterfly thinks therefore I am
  4. Southall wrote
    From the films I've seen, I thought Gravity used its score best. Mind you, Gravity is the only one of those films that I've seen.


    Same here, but I'll be rooting for it all the way. I just hope that voters will recognise it's a musical score; and won't dismiss it as sound design (and subsequently award the Oscar to Sound Editing instead - which it probably deserves in its own right).

    Can't help but feel that Williams is there, because he's Williams. Totally lovely score, but Oscar material? Nah.
    Probably the same for Newman, though I do really dig that score. But... it's not winning material. We all want Newman to have an Oscar, but we want him to have it for Shawshank. Should be looking at the merit of the score itself, not who wrote it. (Easier said than done, I know.)
    Philomena doesn't do it for me. It's good, clever and everything else, but it simply doesn't float my boat. Her may have a shockingly good chance of winning, because it's a cross over from pop. I do love Arcade Fire and can't wait to hear this (if they agree to release it).
    Gravity, imho, is a stellar job. To turn sound design into music the way Price did deserves respect. It's incredibly difficult working with sounds that aren't (necessarily) harmonious. It's easy to write a melody. And once you've got that, you can add chords, and the rest. There are musical/harmonic rules and structures you can apply (not saying the result is instantly gratifying, but there are clear ways into a musical composition). Starting with pure, non-harmonic sounds AND then turning it into a mesmerising soundscape that tells a story.... wow, he's got my vote*. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, and I understand that. It is mine though.

    *please note, I don't actually get to vote as I'm not a member of ASCAP.

    <s>
    www.synchrotones.wordpress.com | www.synchrotones.co.uk | @Synchrotones | facebook | soundcloud | youtube
  5. I really hope this will be Newman's year. He is BEYOND overdue. No other win would matter nearly as much.
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014
    So, although i agree with the general notion, still i find it a bit odd that we're discussing whether BOOK OF THIEF is Oscar material or not, no matter how simplistic and by the books it might sound, while still nobody objects to something like Gravity being nominated and hyped as such.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014
    Synchrotones wrote
    Can't help but feel that Williams is there, because he's Williams. Totally lovely score, but Oscar material? Nah.


    Of course it's Oscar material. But then again, what EXACTLY is the definition of "Oscar material?"

    -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
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014 edited
    While everyone in the meantime considers Gravity's sfx-named-score as Oscar worthy material. rolleyes
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014
    Demetris wrote
    So, although i agree with the general notion, still i find it a bit odd that we're discussing whether BOOK OF THIEF is Oscar material or not, no matter how simplistic and by the books it might sound, while still nobody objects to something like Gravity being nominated and hyped as such.


    It doesn't matter. It's only an award ceremony. But still, I don't really know what you find so objectionable about Gravity. It's not SFX as you keep saying, it's music, it's integral to the film, it's up-front in the sound mix - the sort of score that everyone notices. We could argue whether it's a good score or not, but I don't think it's at all surprising that it's being nominated for all these awards.
  6. To be honest, the fact that it's you snubbing out Gravity of all people, D., strikes as somehow shocking to me.

    Gravity is very musical in terms of structure and actually also in melodic terms. Maybe except for Williams it has the best structure in this year's film music (had the action music been much better, I'd gladly give that award to Man of Steel, though). You don't seem to notice how Price develops the main metaphor of the movie (driving) through his introduction of ostinati. Having praised Why So Serious you haven't noticed how similar conceptually the danger/debris motif from that score is (the first track, most notably Debris, Don't Let Go, Parachute). In terms of storytelling what Price did by combining onomatopoeic techniques (the fact that at some point Price goes length to sonically represent tinnitus) with melodic writing and very musical ambience in the vein of Brian Eno (some cues remind me of An Ending - Ascent). There is so much going on there on a structural level that the music, I kid you not, very much tells the story in terms of a proper three-act structure by just the careful distribution of thematic material (the anthem, before it becomes one, is a small theme cropping up on solo vocals at times). In terms of understanding the film's core and narrative, Gravity is some of the best Hollywood film music I've heard in years. And I am really NOT kidding here.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
  7. Can't see or hear the issue of GRAVITY. I know film music fans have a bit of a conservative streak when it comes to idiom and form, but its odd to think that in their bias to critically acclaimed films, the academy is actually MORE inclusive than many here. wink
    A butterfly thinks therefore I am
  8. Demetris thinks it's mostly sound effects, not proper music. Ironically, he also likes the new Batman music, which many people put in the same category whatsoever smile .
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
  9. Reading the comments about Gravity, I am reminded about the score Remember Me. You could argue that the latter score is also a mix of music and "sound effects": sound effects in that there's a significant manipulation of the music away from pure music and to a more sound effect styled property (to my ears anyway.)

    There's heaps of praise for Remember Me but not so much for Gravity. But I think that the scores are very similar in terms of challenging what is music, sound design, noise and how they are all brought together to a soundtrack/score.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014
    The majority of Price's score clearly relies more on ambient effects to create emotions, whereas Deriviere's music is far more melodic. They may both use a significant amount of audio manipulation, but these are clearly two very different scores. This is not to detract from Gravity, I'm sure it's very good in its respective film (bearing in mind I haven't seen it), and objectively I understand why it's so popular, but purely as music in its own right, for me Remember Me wins hands down.
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      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014
    yeah
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    •  
      CommentAuthorScribe
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014
    Erik Woods wrote
    yeah

    yeah
    I love you all. Never change. Well, unless you want to!
    •  
      CommentAuthorBobdH
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014 edited
    Scribe wrote
    Erik Woods wrote
    yeah

    yeah


    stupid
  10. BobdH wrote
    Scribe wrote
    Erik Woods wrote
    yeah

    yeah


    stupid


    applause
    Bach's music is vibrant and inspired.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014 edited
    Steven wrote
    The majority of Price's score clearly relies more on ambient effects to create emotions, whereas Deriviere's music is far more melodic. They may both use a significant amount of audio manipulation, but these are clearly two very different scores. This is not to detract from Gravity, I'm sure it's very good in its respective film (bearing in mind I haven't seen it), and objectively I understand why it's so popular, but purely as music in its own right, for me Remember Me wins hands down.


    Exactly, I don't know whether to laugh or cry when i read comparisons between Gravity and Remember me above; just because they use audio manipulation they're the same scores? Come on people!

    As for Gravity, it IS sfx, no matter how you present it; if it wasn't for the film, nobody would ever, ever notice 'cause scores like that get released under the radar each yet. The fact that we are talking about the actual merits of such a score (not the overall natural and expected hype of it due to the film's success) when 2013 has seen the release of SO MANY FUCKING GREAT SCORES is sad enough, imo. Which two scores attracted the largest discussions this year? This and the other snooze-fest, the mediocre Hobbit 2 score. In a year when actually limiting the great scores to top 10 has been an incredibly difficult task. In a year which has been perhaps the best for film music for long now. Now, yeah, that's sad.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
  11. I think you're right that we wouldn't necessarily pay much attention to the Gravity score if it was for a lesser film...but it isn't, and we've all had the chance to experience it in context, and a lot of people think it works really well, so why ignore that? I don't enjoy the score much on album but, unusually for a sound-design-based score, I can appreciate the choices made in it and the structure that it follows, unlike your average Trent Reznor score.

    And any score that features over two dozen themes, no matter what your personal opinions on it, is resolutely not mediocre. And just because you don't think Desolation of Smaug is worthy of discussion doesn't make it "sad" if others do. Stop assuming that your opinion is the only correct one. slant
    •  
      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014 edited
    Edmund Meinerts wrote
    And any score that features over two dozen themes, no matter what your personal opinions on it, is resolutely not mediocre.


    And on the flip side two dozens themes doesn't make a score the greatest thing on the planet. Just because a film score has themes and/or melody doesn't automatically mean those themes are good or that the score surrounding those themes are any good.

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    •  
      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeJan 17th 2014 edited
    Demetris wrote
    As for Gravity, it IS sfx, no matter how you present it;


    You are correct. The score does stand in as the sound design of the picture but it is also VERY musical. It's a proper film score and to say that it isn't is just plain ole wrong.

    Now is the score good or not... well, that's all a matter of opinion.

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