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- CommentTimeFeb 27th 2014
You never cease to amaze. -
- CommentTimeFeb 27th 2014 edited
It doesn't help that I haven't really played any computer games since the 90s (except the odd Telltale adventure game). I've always hated those games where you run around and shoot stuff.
Speaking of which, one of my favourite computer game scores is from that period -- Michael Land's THE DIG.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentAuthorEdmund Meinerts
- CommentTimeFeb 27th 2014
You know, I can see Thor's point. Quite a few game scores can get a little samey and tiring and "static" on album because of the medium's lack of dramatic synch points and narrative flow (for the in-game cues, anyways...cinematics are a different matter entirely). I think one of the great challenge for game scores...well, action game scores anyways...is to somehow deliver action music that feels like it's progressing from a to b and saying something, but still serves its purpose as general mood music that will match whatever the player is doing at any given moment. Not an easy tightrope to walk by any means, and not everyone manages it. On the other hand, there are of course plenty of excellent scores that do. And even the ones that don't can still be enjoyable. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Thor wrote
Steven wrote
You're not a fan of videogame scores? In this day and age? Have you heard many videogame scores?
Yeah, quite a lot. Very few manage to impress me these days. Most of it -- regardless of musical style -- seems awfully "static" as far as listening pleasure is concerned.
Weird; i think the video game genre pulls some amazing gems each year. You want a list from 2013?Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Edmund Meinerts wrote
You know, I can see Thor's point. Quite a few game scores can get a little samey and tiring and "static" on album because of the medium's lack of dramatic synch points and narrative flow (for the in-game cues, anyways...cinematics are a different matter entirely). I think one of the great challenge for game scores...well, action game scores anyways...is to somehow deliver action music that feels like it's progressing from a to b and saying something, but still serves its purpose as general mood music that will match whatever the player is doing at any given moment. Not an easy tightrope to walk by any means, and not everyone manages it. On the other hand, there are of course plenty of excellent scores that do. And even the ones that don't can still be enjoyable.
Ed, a good game score today contains much more orchestral punch and themes than the average film score, sad truth.Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Demetris wrote
Thor wrote
Steven wrote
You're not a fan of videogame scores? In this day and age? Have you heard many videogame scores?
Yeah, quite a lot. Very few manage to impress me these days. Most of it -- regardless of musical style -- seems awfully "static" as far as listening pleasure is concerned.
Weird; i think the video game genre pulls some amazing gems each year. You want a list from 2013?
As we're both IFMCA members, D, I think I've heard most of that. Even the much-lauded REMEMBER ME failed to make much of an impression on me.
Every once in a while, though, a game score comes along that also works as an album. But just because they're bigger and more expensive these days; just because the SOUND is more rounded, doesn't automatically mean there's been much development in terms of, well....development.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Thor, please excuse me, but when you accuse Remember me for lack of development, whilst Pain and Gain is score of the year, it's a bit too weird for me. When i say game scores are getting better and better i don't just mean the sound; the themes are more prominent and well-incorporated than most drone film scores these days.Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014 edited
Well, for me an album is more than just themes. There has to be some form of development, a sort of 'inner' storytelling. Even those that are more centered on mood and ambiance. And while there are individual tracks that I can like, there is rarely anything that keeps the motion going forward, for the reasons that Edmund mentions above. Many games move through environments, with story being a secondary priority. So the music will reflect that. Appropriate for the games, of course, but not always appropriate in terms of making interesting concept albums.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Remember me is very tight to the game's stoyline. If you don't play the games though, its' the same as not experiencing the movie for the score, i believe.Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentAuthorPawelStroinski
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
To play the devil's advocate and stick to Lorne Balfe to an extent, I must say that the combination of the Hollywood-like themes (in the modern environment, of course) with the principle of keeping things more ambient to fit a game atmosphere and gameplay is one of the biggest reasons why Modern Warfare 2 fails so miserably on all levels.
Ironically, composers doing games and having film experience praise not only the raising budgets of game scores but also the fact that, due to the non-linear character of games, they have to fit what is called the general mood music, they can write much more free-flowing piece that fitting the synchronization points of a film score.
I haven't asked much about game music process, but I don't think that composers deal much with the proper music editing and spotting and that's left pretty much to the post-production or even *programming* of the game itself. I'd like to find out more about that. Generally speaking though, I must say that it's a totally different scoring methodology and Thor does raise some interesting points about how it translates to a listening experience. Brian Tyler has spoken very interestingly about this. Hans Zimmer on the other hand, who wrote themes to a couple of games already, still admits that he doesn't understand the medium at all.http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
PawelStroinski wrote
Hans Zimmer on the other hand, who wrote themes to a couple of games already, still admits that he doesn't understand the medium at all.
It's evident.
When i talk great game scores, i mean
Chris Velasco
Kevin Riepl
Brian Tyler
Olivier Deriviere
Jason Graves
Jeremy Soule
etc
Notice how they're game composers, they know the medium very well and not film composers who occasionally venture into unknown grounds.
Apparently Zimmer, is a very bad game composer.Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Thor wrote
Every once in a while, though, a game score comes along that also works as an album. But just because they're bigger and more expensive these days; just because the SOUND is more rounded, doesn't automatically mean there's been much development in terms of, well....development.
Rubbish! Listen to Journey by Austin Wintory. Game scores are becoming more varied than ever, because games are becoming more cinematic. Games are so much more than killing bad guys and jumping over things these days (although, thankfully, those games still exist). -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Demetris wrote
Remember me is very tight to the game's stoyline. If you don't play the games though, its' the same as not experiencing the movie for the score, i believe.
Absolutely. Note that I'm not talking about how they work in context, though, only about how they appear on album, as a listening experience. For me, these are two separate worlds.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Steven wrote
Thor wrote
Every once in a while, though, a game score comes along that also works as an album. But just because they're bigger and more expensive these days; just because the SOUND is more rounded, doesn't automatically mean there's been much development in terms of, well....development.
Rubbish! Listen to Journey by Austin Wintory. Game scores are becoming more varied than ever, because games are becoming more cinematic. Games are so much more than killing bad guys and jumping over things these days (although, thankfully, those games still exist).
You probably know more about games than I. I can also see the point about the cut scenes having a more pronounced cinematic vibe (they had cut scenes in the 90s too, btw). But I still stand firm on my experience of the music alone, which does NOT -- as a whole -- provide that concept album feel that most film soundtracks do, at least those that have been carefully designed for listening.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
I'd say that game scores become more and more cinematic in core, and major hollywood film scores become the opposite.Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Depending on how one defines 'cinematic' (are you talking about sound or structure?), we'll have to agree to disagree on that one, I think.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
As games are becoming more and more movie-like (story and visuals), so is their music, mainly sound-wise but also structure-wise. As for film music, mainly its structure, at least in hollywood, is more and more sound design and constantly playing below visuals , thanks to the Z school of things these days, a completely non-cinematic approach in core, at least as 'cinematic' is traditionally defined.Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014 edited
Yeah, but I think you conflate sound and structure here.
Sound isn't really that important for me in this case, nor thematic material. It's about the total 'journey' from when you press play to when the album finishes. Computer games, despite the changes in sound and despite the more cinematic production values (cut-scenes etc.), still operate with realtime in the gameplay.
So it's a temporal question, really. Film has to operate within given timeframes (carefully edited scenes and sequences) and have to get to the emotional point more quickly. This gives it an advantage when you're assembling cues for an album later on -- each track has a definite structure, and then it's a question of combining those tracks into a coherent whole. I have yet to hear a single computer game score that can offer the same, despite some fine individual tracks and/or pleasing soundscapes. Not even my beloved THE DIG, which I'm more into because of sound.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Thor wrote
I have yet to hear a single computer game score that can offer the same, despite some fine individual tracks and/or pleasing soundscapes. Not even my beloved THE DIG, which I'm more into because of sound.
I'm curious, when you listened to Remember Me, did you have earplugs in your ears? -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
No, but I was tempted to adjust my stereo when I first heard it. The loop effect is cool and everything, but comes off as a bit too gimmicky for my taste.I am extremely serious. -
- CommentTimeFeb 28th 2014
Steven wrote
Rubbish! Listen to Journey by Austin Wintory. Game scores are becoming more varied than ever, because games are becoming more cinematic. Games are so much more than killing bad guys and jumping over things these days (although, thankfully, those games still exist).
I find it almost inconceivable that Thor would not enjoy Journey by Austin Wintory. Another one that might be entertaining would be Element4l by Mind Tree, although it might be a bit TOO eclectic and ambient.I love you all. Never change. Well, unless you want to! -
- CommentTimeMar 1st 2014
I didn't like Journey either, i found it very overrated.Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentAuthorEdmund Meinerts
- CommentTimeMar 1st 2014
I thought it was overrated as well, but I did like it. -
- CommentTimeMar 1st 2014
You guys obviously haven't played the game! It's art. -
- CommentTimeOct 2nd 2014
THE DRIVER, info and sound clips
http://filmmusicreporter.com/2014/10/01 … eleased-2/Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders. -
- CommentTimeJun 30th 2015
Review of Terminator Genisys:
http://www.movie-wave.net/terminator-genisys/ -
- CommentTimeNov 17th 2016
Have to say, one of his best creations. Wonderful score = Beyond Two Soulswaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Where's my nut? arrrghhhhhhh -
- CommentTimeNov 18th 2016
We had a press release of that score a while ago. I am so glad it is finally fully released!Editor-in-chief at http://soundtrackworld.com / http://soundtrackwereld.nl -
- CommentTimeFeb 18th 2017
My review of THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE, for anyone who's interested:
https://moviemusicuk.us/2017/02/17/the- … rne-balfe/
JonMovie Music UK http://www.moviemusicuk.us