# And the Winner is.....



## gsilbers (Feb 27, 2011)

Social network for best score. 

interesting, it sounded like library music to me. 

then again.. i didnt see it. just heard it.


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## poseur (Feb 27, 2011)

thom newman has never won an oscar.

still, i'm glad for atticus & trent, somehow.....
i kinda dig the score, though i don't feel it's nearly as "original" as hollywood
is now likely to self-congratulatorily & loudly tout.

dt


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## Ashermusic (Feb 27, 2011)

If I did not maintain a strict policy of not publicly criticizing fellow working composers, oh boy, would I have something to say about this.


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## dcoscina (Feb 27, 2011)

luckily I have no such policy. This news sucks. Elfman has also been busting his balls and has given us many fine works over the past 20 years and nothing. Powell has been working since the mid '90s as well and how to Train Your Dragon was a great score that worked equally well in and away from the film. It's been ages since I can recall a score that did this. 

If the Academy HAD to give another statuette to a rocker, why couldn't it have been Jonny Greenwood for There Will be Blood, an infinitely BETTER score than Social Network. What a crock of sheet.


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## bigdog (Feb 27, 2011)

I must agree with what Jay did not say
OTOH I thought the band and the arrangements were great - esp "Smile"
old school...always works for me


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## mverta (Feb 27, 2011)

Jay, I think you and bigdog are being unnecessarily harsh. I thought Mussorgsky's _Night on Bald Mountain_ made for a really nice cue in that one place where it was, there, where it was.


_Mike


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## noiseboyuk (Feb 27, 2011)

I'd feel remiss if I didn't publicly whinge too. Tell me, is this one of the categories where the voting is by composers, or the entire academy?

FWIW, I thought the Social Network really added to the picture, great job. But Dragon should win soundtrack of the decade, not just year.


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## lux (Feb 28, 2011)

poseur @ Sun Feb 27 said:


> still, i'm glad for atticus & trent, somehow.....
> i kinda dig the score, though i don't feel it's nearly as "original" as hollywood
> is now likely to self-congratulatorily & loudly tout.
> 
> dt



yup, same here. Score was good, feels "safe" most of times but it has quirky ideas expecially wth the 8bit analog synths inserts.


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## Brian Ralston (Feb 28, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Sun Feb 27 said:


> I'd feel remiss if I didn't publicly whinge too. Tell me, is this one of the categories where the voting is by composers, or the entire academy?



Nominees are determined solely by the music branch...which consists entirely of individuals who have either won oscars for a music category in the past...or some who have been nominated before and been around a long while, then invited to join. 

The winners are then voted off of that nomination list by the entire academy membership, musician and non-musician alike.


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## bryla (Feb 28, 2011)

What I've been saying since Social Network was nominated for the Golden Globe for best music: It's a real bad example of applying music to picture.

BTW: Way to go Susanne Bier!!


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## BoulderBrow (Feb 28, 2011)

Seen the film but can' t recall the music - I guess that says something.. I do remember the rowing race; think it must have been 'night on bald mountain' - seemed like a re-recorded temp track, didn't overwhelm me


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## noiseboyuk (Feb 28, 2011)

Brian Ralston @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> noiseboyuk @ Sun Feb 27 said:
> 
> 
> > I'd feel remiss if I didn't publicly whinge too. Tell me, is this one of the categories where the voting is by composers, or the entire academy?
> ...



Thanks Brian - I suspect if the composers had actually chosen the winner, the result would have been different.

Don't agree with the other posters that Social Network is bad putting music to film though, quite the opposite. I think a conventional score would have made it far less effective as a movie. It's just not Dragon-good.


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## bryla (Feb 28, 2011)

It was Grieg's 'In the hall of the mountain king' - and yes, it was clearly a temp track they cut that race to, and electronized it.... My girlfriend looked at me after the race and said: "that was really bad, wasn't it?". Grieg isn't even credited.

Guy, it's not about the sound/orchestration/genre of the music. It just doesn't follow the energy or pace of the story in any way. Just look at the Main Title sequence.


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## rayinstirling (Feb 28, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> I think a conventional score would have made it far less effective as a movie.



Now,............ what defines a conventional score?
Something we all wish we'd written or something we all wish we'd got paid to do?


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## Patch666 (Feb 28, 2011)

Should have gone to Powell No questions.

I'm Gutted at the result.


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## Patch666 (Feb 28, 2011)

Should have gone to Powell No questions.

I'm Gutted at the result.


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## noiseboyuk (Feb 28, 2011)

bryla @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> Guy, it's not about the sound/orchestration/genre of the music. It just doesn't follow the energy or pace of the story in any way. Just look at the Main Title sequence.



I disagree. I think the word (if it's not too pretentious) is juxtaposition. I was aware several times that the music wasn't doing what I would have expected at all, which is why I call it unconventional. It was going against the grain often. However, it did very much work, it helped elevate the film from what could have just been a TV movie. I'd need to watch it again (which I very much want to do) to analyse it better. All personal opinion of course, but I did find it a refreshing take.

Can't believe I'm defending it so much though cos I promised violence if Dragon didn't win!


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## Rob Elliott (Feb 28, 2011)

Look on the bright side - we will all see 'temp tracks' on our projects over the next 12-18 months that our kids can plunk out for us. o. It will be good to produce 20-25 mins/day.


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## Ashermusic (Feb 28, 2011)

Rob Elliott @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> Look on the bright side - we will all see 'temp tracks' on our projects over the next 12-18 months that our kids can plunk out for us. o. It will be good to produce 20-25 mins/day.



ROTFL!


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## lux (Feb 28, 2011)

i suspect real problem will be that Omnisphere wont have a patch for that.


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## Rob Elliott (Feb 28, 2011)

lux @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> i suspect real problem will be that Omnisphere wont have a patch for that.




Eric - can you help? 1.5.1?


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## MacQ (Feb 28, 2011)

I'm surprised A.R. Rahman didn't win again. They seem to love the "it" guy ... that's the only reason I can think that Santaolalla won twice in a row.

I hate popularity contests disguised as achievement awards.

~Stu


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## David Story (Feb 28, 2011)

"I thought Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain made for a really nice cue in that one place where it was, there, where it was."

LOL!!

Overheard walking out of a guild screening of SN:
"You knew it was gonna be good when you hear that music"

I've been asked to do NIN, it's hardware synths and a brand of dissonance that was tricky to do. In part because it's smart programing and full of negative emotions, like the Eisenberg character.

That score really helped the picture, and was the top selling soundtrack for weeks.

I wonder if JP and AD split the vote, giving R&R a chance.


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## Brian Ralston (Feb 28, 2011)

The problem I think some have with the Social Network score is that it was never scored to picture and is not entirely original to the film. Rezner has been open about this process. The music was based off of a 2 year old album of already released music that was then re-arranged and music edited into the movie. This seems to violate the Academy's own rules about the eligible score needing to be composed "original" and for the movie at hand...and scored "to picture". And yet...there is no category for music editing in a film. But that is what this score was. Music edited from mostly pre-existing material not originally composed for this movie. 

So...either music editing existing material into a film is eligible now for best score...or it isn't. 

The music branch (which consists of some of our peers) drastically needs to take a look at the their nominating standards. I don't blame the general Academy populous. Once the nominations are up there, that is the only list they can choose from. And lots of things are in play as to what makes someone vote for a score. Politics, campaigning, quality of film, etc...But the music branch is the stewart of making sure these nominated scores adhere to their own written qualifications and it is their responsibility to ensure each score nominated is truly original and scored to picture. That is why a score like Moulin Rouge can win a Golden Globe for best score and yet be ruled ineligible for an oscar in the same year...because it was not original to the film. There are rules that Academy scores must follow and that is the standard. Nothing else.

If True Grit is ruled ineligible because a large percentage of its score is based on age old folk songs that are not original compositions to the film, Black Swan is ruled ineligible for the same reason...then Social Network should also not be eligible since it is also largely based on old "commercially released" music not original to its film.


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## David Story (Feb 28, 2011)

Brian Ralston @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> The problem I think some have with the Social Network score is that it was never scored to picture and is not entirely original to the film. Rezner has been open about this process. The music was based off of a 32 year old album of already released music that was then re-arranged and music edited into the movie. This seems to violate the Academy's own rules about the eligible score needing to be composed "original" and for the movie at hand...and scored "to picture". And yet...there is no category for music editing in a film. But that is what this score was. Music edited from mostly pre-existing material not originally composed for this movie.



True, well said. Except maybe 2 years 

There could be a category for music editing, the Golden Reels work fine. Music editors save a lot of scenes with 11th hour adjustments. But that'd make the show longer...maybe a tech award.

On the subject of following rules, I liked Randy Newman's line "You could have found a fifth song."

The Oscars have to walk a line between integrity and PR. The Best Score was a big deal in some eras. Maybe because Mancini and Williams are stars with integrity.


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## Brian Ralston (Feb 28, 2011)

David Story @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> True, well said. Except maybe 2 years



Doh..yeah...how did that 3 AND 2 get in there. Must have hit both and not caught it. I guess Rezner would have been 13 then. LOL. 

Yes...2008 album. I will correct it.


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## midphase (Feb 28, 2011)

Plus 1 on what Brian said.


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## David Story (Feb 28, 2011)

This is from a facebook friend. They're a fan, commenting on a thread similar to this one:

"I don't know precisely how the industry works and it sounds like there may indeed be a legitimate complaint regarding the process of how this particular score made it to the screen, so I can't comment on that. All I can comment on is how this whole thing looks to an outsider and I can tell you honestly that it's not good. On wonders if you guys can ever just be happy for someone who won and not turn it into yet another opportunity to complain. "

!


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## David Story (Feb 28, 2011)

spectrum @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> After all, how many other scores were popular enough to be parodied like this:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2yD4yDsiP4



ROTFL!

@David, the intent of the quote was to focus back on the cool electronic sounds, and the crazy fun luck of winning. I love film music, and learning how to do it better. Sorry if it came off as too negative itself!


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Feb 28, 2011)

An electronic score won best score? Trent Reznor?




























You'll get your chance next year, Desplat et al.

And yeah, Inception was an amazing score, as were others, of course. But for now, synths are on top!! o-[][]-o


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## Ashermusic (Feb 28, 2011)

lux @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> seriously tho, guys, better some of you get more familiar with different styles
> 
> It couldnt be that every time someone achieves a success without putting together dozens people and a lot of wood and metal in a same room, then its a scandal and everyone of you feel he can achieve the same result in a couple minutes.
> 
> Really, its time for a human software update.



I love some electronic scores. I do not love others.

I love some orchestral scores. I do not love others.

I love some hybrid scores. I do not love others.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Feb 28, 2011)

Ha! Trent Reznor is a LOT more than a rock star!! 

In the early to mid-90s, he composed music that will outlast most of that which was written in that decade. WAY ahead of his time, and clearly able to write memorable melodies by the bucket (see The Downward Spiral). He's like the Prince of industrial electronic music - a great thing, in my book.


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## Ashermusic (Feb 28, 2011)

Ned Bouhalassa @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> Ha! Trent Reznor is a LOT more than a rock star!!
> 
> In the early to mid-90s, he composed music that will outlast most of that which was written in that decade. WAY ahead of his time, and clearly able to write memorable melodies by the bucket (see The Downward Spiral). He's like the Prince of industrial electronic music - a great thing, in my book.



Here we will have to disagree but history will indeed make its judgement.

And even if he IS "a LOT more than a rock star" IMHO, he won because he was a rock star. The same score by Sam Applebaum would not have won IMHO.

There I said it!


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Feb 28, 2011)

Actually, one could argue that many of the finest actors in the USA will not get an oscar because they are not famous, beautiful, etc. And what about Gwyneth Paltrow getting to sing?I bet Gwyneth would not make American Idol's top 24. I'm not a fan of Celine's, but she's a singer's singer. Anyhow, it's the Oscars, after all...


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## givemenoughrope (Feb 28, 2011)

I get pissed whenever something wins that doesn't sound exactly like John Williams or Hans Zimmer, b/c, cleary, that is the sound of film and storytelling. In fact, the more that screenplays, actors, arcs, sound and music can all converge into one monolith of sameness, to serve the music of course, the better off we'll be. It'll all be one big non-event for which we can re-arrange The Planets. Can't wait!

Seriously, this forum is called VI-control. Two guys who used software/hardware synths, guitars and percussion,etc. wrote a score which very much DID add to a drama/story and they did it with their own approach and won an Oscar. You guys should be jumping for joy. I was never a NIN fan but did really enjoy the Ghosts album and the track for Tetsuo the Bullet Man (both instrumental). 

I actually really did enjoy Inception and thought HZ should have won. I'm not usually a fan of his stuff but there were just some great moments there. For me and my tastes it was the culmination of his style/approach and the best that it could be. It rules. 

Where was Let Me In? A unique score choked to death and lost under another horrible American remake I guess.


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## Ashermusic (Feb 28, 2011)

givemenoughrope @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> I get pissed whenever something wins that doesn't sound exactly like John Williams or Hans Zimmer, b/c, cleary, that is the sound of film and storytelling. In fact, the more that screenplays, actors, arcs, sound and music can all converge into one monolith of sameness, to serve the music of course, the better off we'll be. It'll all be one big non-event for which we can re-arrange The Planets. Can't wait!
> 
> Seriously, this forum is called VI-control. Two guys who used software/hardware horrible American remake I guess.



Baloney. 

The award is supposed to be about how well the score works with the picture, not whether when we listen to it on iTunes how cool it is. For me, it was high tech wallpaper, did not particularly help the film or hurt it. I am not going to applaud it simply because it is different from the kind of score you mentioned if I do not believe it served the film well.


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## givemenoughrope (Feb 28, 2011)

Well, it worked for David Fincher, easily one of Hollywood's best storytellers. It worked for me too. To be honest, the music doesn't sound that 'cool' to me as much as it helps tell the story/create a 'world' for a story to exist in.


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## lux (Feb 28, 2011)

Ashermusic @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> lux @ Mon Feb 28 said:
> 
> 
> > seriously tho, guys, better some of you get more familiar with different styles
> ...



thing is, i rarely hear on this board something like "i disagree with the prize, but it should be said that i dont like, or expecially know the style".

Reading on Vicontrol it looks like everyone here has a complete mastership of every style and knows a lot of it. 

Which is probably not. Not for me at least.


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## Ashermusic (Feb 28, 2011)

givemenoughrope @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> Well, it worked for David Fincher, easily one of Hollywood's best storytellers. It worked for me too. To be honest, the music doesn't sound that 'cool' to me as much as it helps tell the story/create a 'world' for a story to exist in.



I totally respect that you and some others disagree with me. It is subjective and I am not under the illusion that I am the ultimate arbiter.

And Luca I do not dislike the style, I just don't think it served the picture. And while I would not claim "mastery" of it I am certainly quite familiar with it as it is not exactly new or cutting edge.


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## poseur (Feb 28, 2011)

Ashermusic @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> The same score by Sam Applebaum would not have won IMHO.



wow!
¿ i didn't realise that sam was still working on films ?
???

dt


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## givemenoughrope (Feb 28, 2011)

I can understand how it could be seen as a case of a famous rockstar making library tracks for a film that probably already works on it's own. At the same time, I highly doubt that many composers could put their hands on a Swarmatron and a room full of synths and create sounds meaningful enough for this film. 

I like it for the same reasons that I like the scores for Zodiac, Se7en, Alien 3, Fight Club; b/c they work with the film and make them feel and sound like their own world to me.


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## Andrew Christie (Feb 28, 2011)

I was rooting for HTTYD and Inception


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## poseur (Feb 28, 2011)

because i'm some kinda idiot, i've never seen the film;
too busy, really.
currently co-composing a score with little sammy apfelbaumengartnerbergsteinawiczki.

dt


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## antoniopandrade (Feb 28, 2011)

Am I the only one who thought that The King's Speech should've won? I thought the spotting in that movie was absolutely brilliant, not alot of music, but incredibly well placed, very effective.

Compositionally, by itself, HTTYD is a clear winner, Powell really blew our socks off with that one. HZ did a great job on Inception imo. But I don't think the spotting was as well done and the score as well developed as the others. The main theme is killer though.

In my opinion, Reznor and Ross did a good job on the movie, it very much captures the right emotions. Very appropriate, but it would definitely not have won if the movie hadn't been the phenomenon that it was. Really, it's great story telling, but it's not an above average score. I didn't feel one moment in the movie where the music genuinely upped the storytelling. I felt like they just wanted to give TSN a couple of consolation prizes for not winning best picture.

And the sad part is, there are never great scores nominated for not-so-great movies. I hated Alice in Wonderland, but Danny Elfman did an outstanding job in the score. The main theme is one of the coolest I've heard in recent years! James Newton Howard blew me off my seat (especially the "Earthbender" cue on the album... wow!) with the Last Airbender, although the movie was admittedly lacking. Alas, I liked the FilmTracks.net nomination list better than the Oscar one, and there was one score for a japanese live action movie that was REALLY surprising.

my 2cents, anyway!


Antonio


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## midphase (Feb 28, 2011)

"Where was Let Me In? A unique score choked to death and lost under another horrible American remake I guess."

Where was Let the Right One In the year before???


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## givemenoughrope (Feb 28, 2011)

Totally. And why did LTROI play in 2 theatres for a week? The remakes was laughable. It's all backwards.


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## Lunatique (Mar 1, 2011)

I can't really remember the score to Social Network. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, since it could mean that the music wasn't intrusive and simply was blended into the overall experience seamlessly, or maybe that it was just bland background wallpaper. 

As far as Trent's stuff goes, I haven't really been blown away by him for a long time now. I actually like him better when he's doing more accessible and structured songs, and less so when he's doing abstract noise and soundscape experiments. But then again I don't care much for that entire genre anyway, since they tend to sound meandering and aimless. I think it's much better when that mentality is combined with more melodic compositional ideas, like how Vangelis composed the Bladerunner score--that's the kind of approach that has more emotional resonance to me. 

I think the decision to use Trent for Social Network was a good one in theory, because it is a movie about a quiet revolution in information technology and social trends, as well as the dark side of human nature--these are themes often focused on by industrial music. Among the industrial acts, Trent is one of the most cinematic sounding, so it made sense to hire him. Also, it's no coincidence that the age and social group of the characters in the movie are the typical listeners of Trent's music. I can totally see one of them coding late into the night, desk littered with empty Mountain Dew cans and pizza boxes, with headphones on, while listening some of Trent's ambient/soundscape tracks, or when they are angry and frustrated, they'd turn up one of his angry tracks. Some members here probably can't relate to that, but those of us who grew up with Trent's music understand how that "feels," not just how it sounds to the logical mind of a composer. It's just like when the older members here listen to music from the 60's, your emotional response to them will be different from guys like us who grew up in the 80's or 90's.

Part of me is glad Trent won, because my background is in electronic music, and I have a soft spot for it. Also, electronic music has always been snubbed, and it feels a bit like a gleeful revenge. But at the same time, I've grown a lot as a composer since my early electronic days, so objectively, I'm always in awe of John Powell's scores, and Inception was certainly a landmark score for this current generation of movies.

As for Let Me In, I disagree that it was bad. I absolutely adored the original film and have read the novel, and I'm a hyper-critical mofo, yet I thought the remake was really tight and slick, focusing on the most essential aspect of the story, and got rid of some of the clumsier aspects of the original as well as the book. This isn't to say that the remake didn't have problems. If anyone wants to read a detailed review of the remake I wrote, it's towards the bottom of this blog entry:
http://www.ethereality.info/ethereality ... ss/?p=1173


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## Ashermusic (Mar 2, 2011)

Lunatique @ Tue Mar 01 said:


> Also, it's no coincidence that the age and social group of the characters in the movie are the typical listeners of Trent's music. I can totally see one of them coding late into the night, desk littered with empty Mountain Dew cans and pizza boxes, with headphones on, while listening some of Trent's ambient/soundscape tracks, or when they are angry and frustrated, they'd turn up one of his angry tracks. Some members here probably can't relate to that, but those of us who grew up with Trent's music understand how that "feels," not just how it sounds to the logical mind of a composer. It's just like when the older members here listen to music from the 60's, your emotional response to them will be different from guys like us who grew up in the 80's or 90's.



Darn you Lunatique, you have made an excellent point that I did not even consider! Now I need to watch the film again and re-think my attitude towards the score.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 2, 2011)

Trent has always been my favourite musician. Unfortunately his score for Social Network is just more of his lazy canoodling around. He's probably got hundreds of hours of this stuff just laying around his studio. You could probably vacuum the carpets in there and fill a dozen garbage bags full of fragmented Minimoog bass lines and guitar riffs run through Reaktor.


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## Ed (Mar 2, 2011)

I remember the score to the Social Network being good however the most memorable track for me was the cool remix of the Hall of the Mountain King... Its a shame it got the award because it means people now judge it much more harshly. It was a nice score but others were better and I think in any other film would have gone totally unnoticed. Blah.


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## Ed (Mar 2, 2011)

Evan Gamble @ Wed Mar 02 said:


> Would have liked Daft Punk to be nominated though. But who gives a [email protected]#t anyway.



I don't, they had so much help who knows who wrote what.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 3, 2011)

http://www.slashfilm.com/oscarwinning-c ... re-hunter/

Looks like the Oscar winner is sparing no time in getting more gigs.


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## Lunatique (Mar 4, 2011)

Here's the backstage interview with Trent and Atticus regarding their win, and how they feel about it:
http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-q-a-i ... emy-awards

I agree with what Trent says at the end--that them winning opens up possibilities for what kind of sonic palette becomes more accepted in the film scoring world, and helps film scoring be more experimental and different, as opposed to the dominating conservative stuff. 

As for all the people fuming about this win, I think you sort of have to see it from a different perspective. Could a more traditional orchestral score be as suitable to tell the story of a revolution in information technology and high-tech social trend, started by a college kid who programed computer with a passion, is part of the video game generation, probably grew up on NIN, and whose dark side of vanity, greed, sense of alienation, loneliness, self-hatred, and selfishness fits perfectly with the kind of lyrics that Trent would write in one of his songs? NIN's music has always been the anthem of kids just like him, and I think Fincher understood that very well when he originally used NIN's Ghost album as the temp music, before he even approached Trent and Atticus to score the film. The choice of composer and musical genre for the film took the socio-political aspect of music and what that generation listens to into consideration, and that goes beyond just how "sophisticated" orchestral scores are.

Rock and roll. Punk. Electronic. Rap. Pop. Industrial. Goth. It's never going to end, guys. For all the rebellious types--this was a win for all of us, the ones who love chip tunes, the demo scene, underground electronic music, IDM, industrial/goth, experimental noise/soundscape...etc. Regardless whether that score is objectively "better" than the other scores, this should be something we celebrated and cheered, because it's about f-cking time something like this happened. I for one, think this is a good thing in the long run. When things get shaken up, it only gets more interesting.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 4, 2011)

I don't think anyone has a problem with the fact that the music for Social Network is electronic. The problem is it was lazy, boring music that seemingly doesn't fit to picture.

Perhaps that's the new trend. It has one big upside which would be making a composer's job a lot easier. Got any stuff you noodled around with and decided to hit "save"? Well hang onto it, it'll come in handy next Oscar season.


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## givemenoughrope (Mar 4, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Fri Mar 04 said:


> I don't think anyone has a problem with the fact that the music for Social Network is electronic. The problem is it was lazy, boring music that seemingly doesn't fit to picture.
> 
> Perhaps that's the new trend. It has one big upside which would be making a composer's job a lot easier. Got any stuff you noodled around with and decided to hit "save"? Well hang onto it, it'll come in handy next Oscar season.



The (harmonic, etc.) language of the music in that score is limited but it totally fits the picture for me emotionally which is no simple task. It IS the task. There aren't any stings, end-of-scene hits or 'scoring tempos' (that I remember) but i think those things make scoring easier. It's a limitation. Getting into what the film means and what the characters are feeling is whole different level. It seems like most scores these days just hit a button and it turns scary, sad or triumphant or really the watered-down movie version of those emotions. I've read that Goldenthal refers to his Heat score as being more of a "European style of scoring." I think that could also be said for Let The Right One In, Broken Embraces, A Single Man and the Social Network; they're scores that really just get the sound of this story and these characters more than anything else. If it sounds like another score then it has failed realy. 

Seriously, imagine even one violin in this score. It would have been a comedy. Imagine hits and Stylus rhythms perfectly cut to edits. You'd tune out after 10 minutes or once you start to see the plot unfold.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 4, 2011)

givemenoughrope @ Fri Mar 04 said:


> choc0thrax @ Fri Mar 04 said:
> 
> 
> > I don't think anyone has a problem with the fact that the music for Social Network is electronic. The problem is it was lazy, boring music that seemingly doesn't fit to picture.
> ...



The problem is the music is distracting. It takes you out of the movie. Same thing happened to me when watching There Will be Blood. Shutter Island had some horribly annoying, distracting music too. Maybe distracting isn't so bad in this case because who wants to sit around watching rich kids whine about Facebook for a couple hours anyways.

Heat is amazing. It's in a whole other league than Social Network. Movie and score. Steel Cello Lament FTW. God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters at the end worked amazingly.


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## givemenoughrope (Mar 4, 2011)

Of course it's in another league but I think that it essentially functions the same. I think there is a fine and subjective line between distracting and simply noticeable. Maybe you/we/everyone is just too used to hearing music fitting too tightly with edits and in between dialog. That seems like the kind of scoring that eventually be totally done by a piece of software. 

Yea, the Penderecki opening in Shutter Island started off great and then soon turned back into temp music. Scorsese is usually better than that with music like in Goodfellas and Casino.


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## spectrum (Mar 4, 2011)

David Story @ Wed Mar 02 said:


> Eric, more industrial please!


Next tuesday...check the site.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 4, 2011)

spectrum @ Fri Mar 04 said:


> David Story @ Wed Mar 02 said:
> 
> 
> > Eric, more industrial please!
> ...



Nice!


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## David Story (Mar 4, 2011)

spectrum @ Fri Mar 04 said:


> David Story @ Wed Mar 02 said:
> 
> 
> > Eric, more industrial please!
> ...



Wow, someone read my post! Thank you Eric. 
It's great to know someone listens.
Next tuesday is pretty good timing


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## noiseboyuk (Mar 6, 2011)

Eric - WOW!

ChocO - trouble is you're making very subjective comments in a way that sounds as if you're trying to be definitive and impartial. You found the score intrusive - I didn't, and neither it seems to millions of others. It's not an objective reality. It was unconventional, but for me it TOTALLY worked, really brought something to the characters. I've rarely seen a film that's made me think so much afterwards, and - this is just a wild theory - music and use of music might very well have played a part in that overall experience.

I was totally gunning for Dragon, still wish it had won cos it's the best orchestral blockbuster score in many, many years imho - seriously back to the 80's I'd say to equal or better it. But this is a really interesting piece of work that - in my view - totally served picture, in an unusual way.

And +1 to "imagine this score with violins / Stylus"!


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## choc0thrax (Mar 6, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Sun Mar 06 said:


> ChocO - trouble is you're making very subjective comments in a way that sounds as if you're trying to be definitive and impartial.



Any post on this forum is just someone's opinion obviously. If it sounds like I'm trying to present my opinion as fact, well, just ignore that. That is how I talk because I always think I'm right and actually always am but yeah there's always an invisible IMO at the end of any post.

























I'm right.


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## EnTaroAdun (Mar 7, 2011)

Just saw the film.

The main-theme (this music with the calm piano-melodie) fits the picture perfectly and really contributes to the atmosphere.
The rest of the music is sometimes fitting/ok but sometimes rather distracting. Some parts were also technically weak.

All in all the score was ok. Some parts were really good, some were not so good.
Something like that does not deserve an oscar.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 8, 2011)

spectrum @ Fri Mar 04 said:


> David Story @ Wed Mar 02 said:
> 
> 
> > Eric, more industrial please!
> ...



Checking.... checking....


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## A.C.Edwards (Mar 8, 2011)

Here's what I wrote straight after I found out about the oscars

http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/aaron- ... 5370626744 sry if you dÛ ¾   ï7š ¾   ïV˜ ¾   ïV¿ ¾   ïg ¾   ïg ¾   ïqG ¾   ïqR ¾   ï†À ¾   ï†Û ¾   ïˆå ¾   ïˆü ¾   ï”– ¾   ï”Î ¾   ïšM ¾   ïš› ¿    ¬ ¿    ­ ¿    zó ¿    zô ¿    ö ¿    ö ¿   I ¿   I ¿   I ¿   I ¿   I ¿   T“ ¿   Wá ¿   Wâ ¿   Wã ¿   Wä ¿   Wæ ¿   ;¼ ¿   Av ¿   A


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## bryla (Mar 8, 2011)

Can you fix the link?


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## choc0thrax (Mar 8, 2011)

Eric! It's Tuesday!


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## A.C.Edwards (Mar 8, 2011)

Sorry, I'm not sure what happened to the link, it wouldn't work. You can always just copy and paste


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## bryla (Mar 8, 2011)

no I couldn't. That's why I asked you to fix it


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## A.C.Edwards (Mar 8, 2011)

Ohhh I see, there was a space, the URL feature is playin funny buggers with the link for some reason & whever I paste the link it's automatically putting a space in there randomly. Must be an anti spam feature. Anyways, here's what I wrote.

"prepare for an epic rage.

I'm so sick of the Academy choosing dropkicks for the damn Best Score!. Seriously!!! What the hell are they thinking?!?!?!? You've got scores like Inception and How to Train Your Dragon - amazing orchestration, amazing scoring techniques. They perfectly create a sonic landscape for the film that ACTUALLY SUITS THE FILM. Then the academy chooses The Social Network score. Yeah the music is nice, but IT DOESN'T SUIT THE FILM. ITS A FILM ABOUT FACEBOOK!!!!! the music is all contemplative and deep. ITS ABOUT FACEBOOK!!!! As far as I'm concerned the Academy don't count for shit anymore. They just choose the Best Score from the most popular films.

For anyone who wants to know, good scores are about creating music that sits well and reflects the story. Like you wouldn't have a heavy metal score for a movie about a retirment home would you? So why the hell have a deep reflective score about the birth of a social network movie??? And WHY give that film the award for being inventive????



The oscars have officially lost their original point. And that was to award technical and progressive achievements in film. But now its ALL about popularity over substance.



Over it. Don't care. Never watching the Oscars again. Ever."

Again, that was written in a moment of epic rage, but my general point remains valid (IMO), that the scores are all about whats popular, not whats progressive now. Thoughts?


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## poseur (Mar 8, 2011)

i don't understand;
who cares?
it's a freaking award, a consensus arrived-at by a select (&, somewhat random)
group of peeps.
sometimes you'll "agree"; sometimes, you won't.

go write some more music; go do something great:
the greatest you can do, _while you have time to do so_ò Â   îq Â   îl* Â   îl¤ Â   î[email protected] Â   îq= Â   îsF Â   îtz 


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## bryla (Mar 8, 2011)

AC: That's exactly what I've been saying all the time, and what I believe to read from chocotrax.


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## tripit (Mar 16, 2011)

After I heard about the win, I was wondering how long it would take for a thread like this to show up here. I knew the win wouldn't be well received for a number of reasons, and rightly so. That score wasn't stellar by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it did the one job it had to do, which was give the film a constant but not too over bearing tension, which was important in making that film work better. Making a film about some computer geeks making a network isn't exactly exciting material to begin with. DF did an amazing job working with the subject matter. 

At least the score didn't take me completely out of the film like There Will Be Blood did. That score went for the same thing and overshot by a mile. But, I don't think it deserved the oscar.


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## charlieclouser (Mar 16, 2011)

In two different meetings this past week the folks I was meeting with made sure to mention that they voted for Social Network for best score. It was clearly the "cool" thing to do....


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## JJP (Mar 16, 2011)

charlieclouser @ Wed Mar 16 said:


> In two different meetings this past week the folks I was meeting with made sure to mention that they voted for Social Network for best score. It was clearly the "cool" thing to do....


Oh, this is soooooo much the case! o[])


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## givemenoughrope (Mar 16, 2011)

charlieclouser @ Wed Mar 16 said:


> In two different meetings this past week the folks I was meeting with made sure to mention that they voted for Social Network for best score. It was clearly the "cool" thing to do....



Don't take this the wrong way, but don't you think that they may have just told you that considering your background? How many times has John Williams been nominated b/c it was the 'right' choice...? Like 50 times? It doesn't surprise anyone that the name recognition comes before evaluating the actual score.


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## charlieclouser (Mar 16, 2011)

givemenoughrope @ Wed Mar 16 said:


> charlieclouser @ Wed Mar 16 said:
> 
> 
> > In two different meetings this past week the folks I was meeting with made sure to mention that they voted for Social Network for best score. It was clearly the "cool" thing to do....
> ...



Well, I'm sure that had something to do with it.... a sideways compliment I guess.


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## Aaron Marshall (Mar 16, 2011)

Ned Bouhalassa @ Mon Feb 28 said:


> Ha! Trent Reznor is a LOT more than a rock star!!
> 
> In the early to mid-90s, he composed music that will outlast most of that which was written in that decade. WAY ahead of his time, and clearly able to write memorable melodies by the bucket (see The Downward Spiral). He's like the Prince of industrial electronic music - a great thing, in my book.



Exactly. I agree. Although, I'd have to argue; I don't think 1990's NIN was ever electronic music. I would not describe it as that myself. He used synths but the main body of the sound was more related to rock and metal than electronic music. That's a good thing. It was definitely a hybrid sound. He did whatever worked.

I love that you compared Trent Reznor to Prince. I just did that the other day when I was talking to my girlfriend. There aren't too many people with that kind of musical genius in production, and the ability to play instruments. Buddy Holly, Trent Reznor, Prince, the list could go on but it's definitely a short one.

As for The Social Network score, I wasn't impressed at all. Am I glad it won? Yeah kind of. Well to be honest I'm glad Inception did not win. If for that fact alone. One thing that really chapped my ass was why in the hell wasn't Tron: Legacy at least nominated? I would have liked to have seen that win over The Social Network. It should have at the very least, been nominated. That score wasn't the best thematically, but it glued to the screen in a way I haven't seen/heard in years.

Ultimately if I could've picked the winner, even if Tron:Legacy had been in the running, it would have been "How to Train Your Dragon". But come'on at least put Tron up there to show respect.


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