# 9 months ago the score for Tron and the trailer music for Inception...



## choc0thrax (Nov 11, 2011)

... had sexual relations in the coat room at your party and now we have this:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/univ ... ehuntsman/


I sometimes wonder which out of Tron and Inception has had more influence on advertising these days.


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## Lex (Nov 11, 2011)

Actually if you listen to the track in isolation, you'll clearly hear that Hemsey's Inception track was used as a blueprint. 

alex


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## midphase (Nov 11, 2011)

Crap...that's one of my tracks!


Actually I'm joking, but I can tell you that music libraries, especially many of the ones who specialize in trailer music can be pretty heavy handed with their "guide tracks" when they ask composers to create new cues.


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## midphase (Nov 11, 2011)

BTW, this cliched rip-off of a movie that someone obviously vomited onto a studio executive's floor kinda deserves a music bed that is just as cliched and derivative. (in my very very humble opinion of course).


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## noiseboyuk (Nov 11, 2011)

Personally, something clicked over for me many months ago - Big Trailer Music is just sooooo dull. Is this really so much like those specific tracks - pretty much everything sounds like that now? I mean, the basic recipe for the past 12 months is the old bombastic stuff + some hard synths + an ostinato or 10. I think that Battle LA thing trailer woke me up to just how boring it has all got. Ironically of course, the Battle LA film was - apparently - so hopelessly derivative itself, it's a mystery why it deserved such an interesting trailer, but there we are.

Time to reign it in - there's more impact to be had from less. All out of our hands of course.


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## dedersen (Nov 11, 2011)

I was too focused on the seemingly bizarre mishmash of a movie to even notice the music.


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## choc0thrax (Nov 11, 2011)

midphase @ Fri Nov 11 said:


> BTW, this cliched rip-off of a movie that someone obviously vomited onto a studio executive's floor kinda deserves a music bed that is just as cliched and derivative. (in my very very humble opinion of course).



The person that vomited the script onto an exec's floor is one lucky man though. The script actually resulted in a 5 studio bidding war and eventually sold for 3.2 million with guaranteed greenlight.


(o)


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## Lex (Nov 11, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Fri Nov 11 said:


> midphase @ Fri Nov 11 said:
> 
> 
> > BTW, this cliched rip-off of a movie that someone obviously vomited onto a studio executive's floor kinda deserves a music bed that is just as cliched and derivative. (in my very very humble opinion of course).
> ...



Yeah yeah yeah....but it sucks, and those studios suck, and the marketing for it sucks, and the trailer music sucks, and the score will suck for sure and wont have a theme, and visuals suck...

Unless of course anyone involved in any of the above is actually present on this forum, or I get offered serious money to be some part of it. Then it will be a fun, modern cool movie that's at least better then Twilight.

        

alex


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## Brobdingnagian (Nov 11, 2011)

I thought the trailer was riveting, but then again, I am friend of the director. He is a very passionate and talented fellow who works just as hard as all of us. I am SO happy for him that he was able to jump from advertising to this.

Well done, Rupert. Can't wait to see it on the big screen.


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## choc0thrax (Nov 11, 2011)

Lex @ Fri Nov 11 said:


> choc0thrax @ Fri Nov 11 said:
> 
> 
> > midphase @ Fri Nov 11 said:
> ...



Hehe, yes! It's weird but I actually don't mind this trailer. Once in a while a film comes along that I figure could be ok as a brainless apple TV rental. This could be one of them but I usually let the Tomatometer percentage be the deciding factor.


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## Justus (Nov 11, 2011)

Bella and Thor meet in Middle Earth and Charlize tries to speak like Kate Blanchet.
Seriously?


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## Lex (Nov 11, 2011)

It would be so fukin funny if a director contacted composer to score this film, and after hearing about the script over a nice brunch, the composer went:

"..Bella and Thor meet in Middle Earth and Charlize tries to speak like Kate Blanchet. 
Seriously? Yeah I'm in all the way!"


ts ts ts ts....

alex


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## Lex (Nov 11, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Fri Nov 11 said:


> Lex @ Fri Nov 11 said:
> 
> 
> > choc0thrax @ Fri Nov 11 said:
> ...



I like the trailer...good pace, and at least it doesn't use bits and pieces of 3987 music tracks, but has one, from beginning to end...so good for Cocke, good placement, good trailer.

And I'm looking forward to see Snow white....but then again I watch everything..so..

alex


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## poseur (Nov 11, 2011)

Lex @ Fri Nov 11 said:


> Yeah yeah yeah....but it sucks, and those studios suck, and the marketing for it sucks, and the trailer music sucks, and the score will suck for sure and wont have a theme, and visuals suck...
> 
> Unless of course anyone involved in any of the above is actually present on this forum, or I get offered serious money to be some part of it. Then it will be a fun, modern cool movie that's at least better then Twilight.



well, just to be clear:
at least one of us, here, worked on twilight.....


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## midphase (Nov 11, 2011)

"I usually let the Tomatometer percentage be the deciding factor."

I'll be surprised if it gets above 30% on RT. But I'm sure the studio will blast the public with a $40mil advertising campaign and any review won't matter because people will flock to see it anyway.


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## Dan Mott (Nov 11, 2011)

Wow. Hello Tron.


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## choc0thrax (Nov 11, 2011)

midphase @ Sat Nov 12 said:


> "I usually let the Tomatometer percentage be the deciding factor."
> 
> I'll be surprised if it gets above 30% on RT. But I'm sure the studio will blast the public with a $40mil advertising campaign and any review won't matter because people will flock to see it anyway.



This is definitely going to make tons of cash. Hard to predict the tomatometer on this one since the director is untested. You never know how these guys from advertising or music videos will end up. Will he turn out to be a Fincher or a McG? A Blomkamp or a Kosinski? Likely somewhere in the middle of those extremes.

Not a good sign that they had to bring in some writers to fix up the script but at least one of them is Hossein Amini(Drive). I only read the first page of the script because I have ADD.

Not to derail my own amazing thread but I just reminded myself that the score for Drive kinda harmed that movie... well that and a plot that vanishes and Gosling walking around like a piece of cardboard. I have to admit I've tried the whole cold serial killer stare and lack of conversational skills thing on women and it doesn't work for me as well as it does for Gosling in that flick. I guess I don't have the required amount of abdominal muscles to pull it off.


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## MichaelJM (Nov 12, 2011)

Honestly, I'm quite impressed with this trailer. Listen to the track on it's own, and this trailer _really_ brings it to life; the sound design helps a ton as well. I never imagined an editor could use this track effectively, so my hat's off to them.

I really can't bemoan bad movies anymore, as they all help pay my rent.  But the trailer for this one surprised and intrigued me; look forward to learning more about it.


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## NYC Composer (Nov 12, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Sat Nov 12 said:


> midphase @ Sat Nov 12 said:
> 
> 
> > "I usually let the Tomatometer percentage be the deciding factor."
> ...



Hire a hot babe to gaze at you adoringly as you stare off into your own personal thousand yards and say very little. Or maybe hire two hot babes. The more hot babes, the more likely you will be described in the press as "cool and laconic" instead of "dull witted, torpid, possibly brain-damaged.".


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## Ed (Nov 12, 2011)

How has no one said this yet???

ZACK'S GONNA BE PISSED .... AGAIN


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## Lex (Nov 12, 2011)

Ed @ Sat Nov 12 said:


> How has no one said this yet???
> 
> ZACK'S GONNA BE PISSED .... AGAIN



Just till next year, then new Batman comes out and we'll all rip that off.....until Tron2 i guess..

(o) o=< :oops: :mrgreen: ooooooooops o/~


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## midphase (Nov 12, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Fri Nov 11 said:


> This is definitely going to make tons of cash. Hard to predict the tomatometer on this one since the director is untested. You never know how these guys from advertising or music videos will end up. Will he turn out to be a Fincher or a McG? A Blomkamp or a Kosinski? Likely somewhere in the middle of those extremes.



One of us is an optimist!


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## Mike Greene (Nov 12, 2011)

MichaelJM @ Sat Nov 12 said:


> Honestly, I'm quite impressed with this trailer.


Me too. I like this trailer a lot.

I doubt I'll see the movie, mind you, because these things usually wind up being tedious. In fact, it's probably because I _don't_ usually see movies like this that the trailer doesn't annoy me. Heck, I never saw Tron, and only saw Inception once, and haven't listened to the score since. Probably should, though because if that trailer ripped them off, then I need to rip them off, too. :mrgreen:


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## choc0thrax (Nov 12, 2011)

You haven't listened to Inception since then? That's one of the few scores from 2010 I still listen to. Scores from 2010 that still get regular rotation on my IPOD are Black Swan, Inception, Tron and How to train your dragon.

Not sure if there's any scores from this year that I listen to.


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## nickhmusic (Nov 12, 2011)

My 2 quid's worth...

John Powell's score for How To Train Your Dragon was the score that gave me hope - after Tron, Inception, The Dark Knight (and all the ostinato scores!) - which themselves had a lot of qualities.

Powell's score (to my humble ears) had elegance and harked back to traditional movie scores that I loved - where themes were important.

I thought Tron had some excellent moments - particularly the way Daft Punk had fused their tried and tested electronic sounds with orchestral music - with a fair amount of help from the Hollywood composer community too (according to the liner notes.)

Time - from Inception - is an unbelievably simple piece of music, arranged in a way like a pop song where the choruses just get bigger and bigger until something has to break...such a hypnotic and engaging piece. 

I also thought Desplat's score for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was fantastic - particularly 'Obliviate' - even with the use of the ostinatos. 

2010 was an inspiring year for film music I'd say...


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## snowleopard (Nov 13, 2011)

Agree with Noiseboyuk. This is starting to sound canned to me. Like people have been writing the same trailer music over and over and over, even though the Media Venture guys stopped doing it a decade ago. 

As to Snow White, I would normally give them props for using synths, as I'm big on synths when used with passion and contain appropriate tones and themes. But even this sounded canned. (Giorgio Moroder where are you?!)


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## noiseboyuk (Nov 13, 2011)

A bit tangential, but Nick h - agree with all your post.

I think trailer music has gone down a road that is parallel to the loudness wars in mastering. I'm going to call it the Biggest-Moodiest-Bad-Ass-Wars. Catchy, huh? No-one can be the first person to say "perhaps we shouldn't go quite so OTT on this one". Someone needs to step back from the brink - the self-parody line was crossed a long time ago - but what brave leader will rise to do so... in marketing, of all places?


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## Kralc (Nov 13, 2011)

Guys, guys, guys, it's a semitone higher than mind heist, so it's all cool. Totally different. 
And that note for note ripped off ostinati, is a staccato not a pizzicato, so again, all cool.


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## mverta (Nov 13, 2011)

I either wrote the music, did the motion graphics, or mixed (usually all 3) the trailers and commercials for _City of Angels, Practical Magic, Soldier, You've Got Mail, The Matrix, Lost & Found, Deep Blue Sea, The Iron Giant, House on Haunted Hill, Pokemon: The First Movie, The Green Mile, Any Given Sunday, Pokemon: The Movie 2000, The Art of War, Into the Arms of Strangers, Pay it Forward, Red Planet, Valentine, Pokemon 3: The Movie, Cats & Dogs, Osmosis Jones, Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone, Ocean's Eleven, The Majestic, Queen of the Damned, Murder by Numbers, Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, Femme Fatale, Two Weeks Notice, Blue Collar Comedy Tour, The Matrix Reloaded, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Exorcist: The Beginning, Batman Begins, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Superman Returns_, before I couldn't stand doing the exact same trailer over and over and over again anymore. Pulled up stakes in 2006.

It was endless, mindless repetition, and it still is. Absolutely nothing has changed. I used big drums and choirs on _Soldier,_ for Chrissakes. That's 1998. The drums have gotten bigger, the choirs have gotten choir-y-er, and the music has somehow gotten even less substantive. How this has become its own industry, with full-on "trailer composers" is completely beyond me. It's a great place to start, good exercises to do while you're waiting for the microwave to ding, but... man....


_Mike


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## whinecellar (Nov 13, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Sun Nov 13 said:


> I think trailer music has gone down a road that is parallel to the loudness wars in mastering...



Couldn't have said it better. Trailer music has become a caricature of itself, to the point where I literally chuckle most of the time. How much bigger can it get? I've been waiting for some time for the catalyst that will change it all but I have yet to hear it.

The form itself isn't bad when well-executed (and it obviously works) but it's been THOROUGHLY executed by now!


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## Ed (Nov 13, 2011)

Theres lots of different kinds of trailer music and not all of it sounds the same. Check out The Devil Wears Nada disc from Two Steps. You gonna tell me that sounds like *this* music?

Now, of course lot of it is trying to do the same thing all the time, but you could say the same thing about pop music. The bottom line about the kind of trailer music you are talking about is that its evidently popular and apparently people cant get enough of it, thats *why *theres such a big industry now. Its also worth remembering that not all the action and adventure trailer music is equal either. 

Oh and the main reason this track in this Snow White trailer sounds so much like Mind Heist is because of the part from 54 seconds which is just a complete rip off in almost every way.


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## noiseboyuk (Nov 13, 2011)

Ed, I've had a closer listen and yeah I do hear a stretch that is damn near identical, but other parts are obviously different (ie rips off something else, as Choco says in the thread title). This has probably been linked here before and I missed it, but I must admit this is pretty shocking... it's an edit of Mind Heist and It's Our Fight from Transformers 3. Initially I'm thinking "ok, similar but not a rip off", but then as it goes on... sheesh.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC-HtQqQYgI .

Of course there is trailer music that is different, and occasionally (like Battle LA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAdm9ssE6gk ) even a blockbuster gets a different aesthetic. But it seems awfully rare these days. And when everything has impact... nothing has impact.

What's depressing though is that it's so out of our hands. Fair play to Mike V - that's one helluva CV, and as he says it was happening back then, and it's just getting BIGGER and BIGGER now. The only people who can change direction are the producers of the trailers themselves. That Battle LA was a pre-existing piece of music, it wasn't commissioned, it just required an imaginative leap to use it to creative effect. An unimagintive brief ain't the composer's fault


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## choc0thrax (Nov 13, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Sun Nov 13 said:


> Ed, I've had a closer listen and yeah I do hear a stretch that is damn near identical, but other parts are obviously different (ie rips off something else, as Choco says in the thread title). This has probably been linked here before and I missed it, but I must admit this is pretty shocking... it's an edit of Mind Heist and It's Our Fight from Transformers 3. Initially I'm thinking "ok, similar but not a rip off", but then as it goes on... sheesh.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC-HtQqQYgI .
> 
> Of course there is trailer music that is different, and occasionally (like Battle LA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAdm9ssE6gk ) even a blockbuster gets a different aesthetic. But it seems awfully rare these days. And when everything has impact... nothing has impact.
> 
> What's depressing though is that it's so out of our hands. Fair play to Mike V - that's one helluva CV, and as he says it was happening back then, and it's just getting BIGGER and BIGGER now. The only people who can change direction are the producers of the trailers themselves. That Battle LA was a pre-existing piece of music, it wasn't commissioned, it just required an imaginative leap to use it to creative effect. An unimagintive brief ain't the composer's fault



Yeah, there was a thread about the Inception/Transformers thing already. Think that's when Hemsey called Jablonsky a parasite or something.

I've mentioned them before but at least we have these guys making trailers: 

http://www.markwoollen.com/

You can scroll along all the trailers they've done at the bottom. Not much apocalyptic choir garbage to be found.


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## noiseboyuk (Nov 13, 2011)

Good for them - they seem to do much less mainstream fayre though (except for Super 8... an interesting choice, given that the film itself is consciously retro in its blockbuster aesthetic). And even they have ostinatos and bassy blaaaams in Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy!


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## choc0thrax (Nov 13, 2011)

Well at least Tinker tailor soldier spy has a nice piece at the beginning by Wojciech Ki-- I mean, uh, Danny Elfman.


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## Ed (Nov 13, 2011)

You're very picky Guy  How many of their tracks on there have "ostinatos"? And whats necessarily wrong with that?


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## snowleopard (Nov 13, 2011)

mverta @ Sun Nov 13 said:


> I either wrote the music, did the motion graphics, or mixed (usually all 3) the trailers and commercials for...
> 
> ...It was endless, mindless repetition, and it still is. Absolutely nothing has changed. I used big drums and choirs on _Soldier,_ for Chrissakes...


Thanks for the candid post Mike.


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## noiseboyuk (Nov 13, 2011)

Ed @ Sun Nov 13 said:


> You're very picky Guy  How many of their tracks on there have "ostinatos"? And whats necessarily wrong with that?



I've used 'em too. It was only in context of "different" trailer music, and it's such a staple of mainstream stuff.


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## NYC Composer (Nov 13, 2011)

mverta @ Sun Nov 13 said:


> I either wrote the music, did the motion graphics, or mixed (usually all 3) the trailers and commercials for _City of Angels, Practical Magic, Soldier, You've Got Mail, The Matrix, Lost & Found, Deep Blue Sea, The Iron Giant, House on Haunted Hill, Pokemon: The First Movie, The Green Mile, Any Given Sunday, Pokemon: The Movie 2000, The Art of War, Into the Arms of Strangers, Pay it Forward, Red Planet, Valentine, Pokemon 3: The Movie, Cats & Dogs, Osmosis Jones, Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone, Ocean's Eleven, The Majestic, Queen of the Damned, Murder by Numbers, Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, Femme Fatale, Two Weeks Notice, Blue Collar Comedy Tour, The Matrix Reloaded, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Exorcist: The Beginning, Batman Begins, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Superman Returns_, before I couldn't stand doing the exact same trailer over and over and over again anymore. Pulled up stakes in 2006.
> 
> It was endless, mindless repetition, and it still is. Absolutely nothing has changed. I used big drums and choirs on _Soldier,_ for Chrissakes. That's 1998. The drums have gotten bigger, the choirs have gotten choir-y-er, and the music has somehow gotten even less substantive. How this has become its own industry, with full-on "trailer composers" is completely beyond me. It's a great place to start, good exercises to do while you're waiting for the microwave to ding, but... man....
> 
> ...



Impressive trailer CV for sure. Did you use any actual choirs or musicians on any of them? (curiosity, nothing else)


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## mverta (Nov 13, 2011)

For trailers and such, only a handful of times. During the same period, I was hiring orchestras mainly for things like the studio's ShoWest reels and Consumer Product commercials and theme park rides. Trailers almost always had too fast a turnaround and were a moving target; the Creative Directors would change their minds 200x a day, randomly, and usually liked the power of giving you a weekend of changes to do as they walked out the door at 5pm on a Friday for a relaxing weekend.

But however you cut it, I knew in the end I could write the "trailer score" in about 30 minutes at the 11th hour, because it was virtually all the same. There were maybe 3 templates to draw from, repeated ad infinitum. I used to do my damndest to make them increasingly musical pieces, and not just Faux-Intensity-Ramps, but it was always shot down. And in the end, I'd say 95% of my action movie trailers had sound effects built into them, like jet engines revving up and explosions in reverse.

About the "Loudness/Intensity Wars" that's nothing new, either. TASA eventually had to come in and give us maximum db measurement guidelines because it got so out of hand. _Godzilla _was the movie that broke that particular camel's back. 


_Mike


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## snowleopard (Nov 13, 2011)

Another good post Mike. Thanks for the insight. 

FWIW, I will never again criticize James Horner, Hans Zimmer or anyone else for writing scores that repeat themselves.


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## Mike Connelly (Nov 14, 2011)

Enough with the trailer music talk...I want to know who's going to be playing Sneezy.


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## Kralc (Nov 14, 2011)

I don't get why the studio would pay for a rip-off, why not just go to Zack Hemsey himself, and get something else, I wouldn't mind hearing stuff from his latest album on trailers.

It would be a lot better than hearing a derivative of mind heist over and over and over.....



Mike Connelly @ Mon Nov 14 said:


> Enough with the trailer music talk...I want to know who's going to be playing Sneezy.



If you want more of the 7 dwarves maybe this is more up your alley http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1667353/ (Talk about repetition :lol


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## Marius Masalar (Nov 15, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Sun Nov 13 said:


> Well at least Tinker tailor soldier spy has a nice piece at the beginning by Wojciech Ki-- I mean, uh, Danny Elfman.


I quite enjoyed the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy trailer; the Wolfman material was well-placed and that Audiomachine track works surprisingly well too. 

I'm not surprised that you imply Elfman was "inspired" by Kilar for that piece since it is rather familiar, but I would love to know which piece it's close to — I adore Kilar's work and am less familiar with the breadth of his output than I'd like to be. Always wanting to discover new gems.

Thanks!


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## choc0thrax (Nov 15, 2011)

Mathazzar @ Tue Nov 15 said:


> choc0thrax @ Sun Nov 13 said:
> 
> 
> > Well at least Tinker tailor soldier spy has a nice piece at the beginning by Wojciech Ki-- I mean, uh, Danny Elfman.
> ...



Well not sure if you'll find any gem here since you've likely heard this score before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCn--HQj ... re=related

Danny is a big fan of Kilar and why come up with a unique sound when there's already good music composed for similar monster movies.


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## choc0thrax (Nov 15, 2011)

And now for the runt of the litter: http://collider.com/mirror-mirror-trailer/123142/

The first trailer for Mirror, Mirror which is yet another Snow White film. No inception music here, just a giant mustache over Lily Collins' eyes and Armie Hammer struggling with the dawning realization of a career altering mistake.


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## NYC Composer (Nov 15, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Tue Nov 15 said:


> And now for the runt of the litter: http://collider.com/mirror-mirror-trailer/123142/
> 
> The first trailer for Mirror, Mirror which is yet another Snow White film. No inception music here, just a giant mustache over Lily Collins' eyes and Armie Hammer struggling with the dawning realization of a career altering mistake.



When you're 6'5", perfect looking, and presumably the heir to a gigantic fortune, there are no career mistakes-only amusing mishaps along the way.


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## choc0thrax (Nov 15, 2011)

NYC Composer @ Tue Nov 15 said:


> choc0thrax @ Tue Nov 15 said:
> 
> 
> > And now for the runt of the litter: http://collider.com/mirror-mirror-trailer/123142/
> ...



That's true. I was assuming no one here knew who was anyway.  I remember back in the day when Armie was training all day to play Batman in the now defunct Justice League movie. He was just your average run of the mill young, handsome, unknown millionaire named after baking soda... now I guess everyone knows him.


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## NYC Composer (Nov 15, 2011)

choc0thrax @ Tue Nov 15 said:


> NYC Composer @ Tue Nov 15 said:
> 
> 
> > choc0thrax @ Tue Nov 15 said:
> ...



The numerous articles about J. Edgar probably didn't hurt his profile, not to mention his well thought of turn as the WinkleVi..


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## choc0thrax (Nov 15, 2011)

NYC Composer @ Tue Nov 15 said:


> choc0thrax @ Tue Nov 15 said:
> 
> 
> > NYC Composer @ Tue Nov 15 said:
> ...



I know Facebook did a lot for him but isn't J. Edgar turning out to be a huge turkey? Bad box office... terrible reviews... a trailer that puts me to sleep and Dicaprio looks like an old baby in a lot of it. Maybe if they retitled it Old baby goes to Washington I'd be more interested.


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## NYC Composer (Nov 17, 2011)

I'm sure that Leo DiCaprio would be the first actor in a lot of peoples' minds when considering who to play J. Edgar Hoover (huh???)

It saddens me to see great directors like Scorsese and pretty good if inconsistent directors like Eastwood pimping out DiCaprio to sell their movies and do some decent box office. I guess Hollywood has ever been thus, but I didn't like DiCaprio in Gangs of New York, The Aviator,or Inception. I thought they were all good movies, but watching Leo D emote with a perpetual pout through two hrs is a trial for me. I loved him in Catch Me if you Can-I think he's like Tom Cruise-he should play boyish roles no matter what age he is.


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## Ed (Nov 18, 2011)

I dunno J.Edgar looks really interesting to me.


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## NYC Composer (Nov 18, 2011)

Ed @ Fri Nov 18 said:


> I dunno J.Edgar looks really interesting to me.




I agree, it's very interesting subject matter. Of all the actors in the world, though, would you have cast Leo in that role?


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## Ed (Nov 18, 2011)

NYC Composer @ Fri Nov 18 said:


> I agree, it's very interesting subject matter. Of all the actors in the world, though, would you have cast Leo in that role?



Well I like Leo and think in the clips he looks like he did a great job!


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## NYC Composer (Nov 18, 2011)

I don't (except in boyish roles), but that doesn't really answer my question.


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## choc0thrax (Nov 18, 2011)

Yup, he was miscast. It'll be interesting to see how well Leo's J Edgar does in comparison to young Leo's Titanic 3D. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvPV0F2-xi8

My money's on Titanic. We all know it's "The world's most beloved and acclaimed film" apparently. 

I'm sure Billy Zane already has tickets for friends and family on pre-order.


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## rJames (Nov 27, 2011)

These trailer music bashing threads always amuse me. The composers do not select the music. As you all know, the music is selected by an army of creatives from editor, thru creative directors, music supervisors, ad agency executives up to and stopping at the movie studios who want so badly to be loved.

The composers who write this stuff are playing an age old game of writing the best music they can while also trying to make a buck and feed their families or put their kids thru private school.

Is it really any different today than it ever has been?

Think of it as pop music. It needs to appeal to the masses. Ever hear a new popular song that sounds a little like another?


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## noiseboyuk (Nov 28, 2011)

rJames @ Mon Nov 28 said:


> These trailer music bashing threads always amuse me. The composers do not select the music. As you all know, the music is selected by an army of creatives from editor, thru creative directors, music supervisors, ad agency executives up to and stopping at the movie studios who want so badly to be loved.
> 
> The composers who write this stuff are playing an age old game of writing the best music they can while also trying to make a buck and feed their families or put their kids thru private school.
> 
> ...



I've critisised trailer music here, but I also totally agree with your post - there's absolutely nothing a composer can do, unless he or she is at a very high level working alongside editors and the ad creatives, and have their ear.

There are similarities and differences in pop music actually. I think both require a high level of craft and skill. The pioneers who created the first examples that come to be ubiquitous were geniuses. Ever tried making a modern R n B record? It's HARD! But in the end, if you do it and have never done it before, chances are it'll take you months of blood sweat and tears and you'll end up with something bland that can't be distinguished from anything else. If the marketing is right and the singer is sexy / outrageous enough, you'll have a hit too, probably. The effort that goes into vocal production in particular is staggering... and all R n B singers now sound the same as a result, it seems. It's the tyranny of "the sound".

Trailers are similar - it's easy to get close, actually much harder to get to the 2 Steps level. But the end result is often the same - blandness. The difference is that with pop music, anyone CAN make anything and sell it to the public - if you make a strikingly original record that is also a cracking song and it captures the public's ear, you are in business. It is possible to break the genre chains. However, with trailers you can't - you have no power to be able to do that. You have to have a brief first that says "we are looking for strikingly original music", and that doesn't happen too often.


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## noiseboyuk (Nov 30, 2011)

Breaking news - went to the pictures tonight to see In Time (reveiw - "meh"). Saw several trailers. And I think I'm correct is saying... not one single choir among any of them. Whoa. Maybe the times they are-a-changin'.


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## dedersen (Dec 2, 2011)

Were there any really monstrous sounding low brass hits though?


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## noiseboyuk (Dec 2, 2011)

dedersen @ Fri Dec 02 said:


> Were there any really monstrous sounding low brass hits though?



Ummm.... struggling to remember... huge percussion hits yes... don't know about brass. It was mostly electronica, really.


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## choc0thrax (Dec 8, 2011)

Due to these troubling trailer days it appears that the creator of the trailer has died. 

http://www.slashfilm.com/joseph-farrell ... iler-died/


Many will likely argue that the timing of his death coinciding with the release of one of the worst trailers of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4IoUo_ZJkY

...was no coincidence.


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## schatzus (Dec 8, 2011)

> Many will likely argue that the timing of his death coinciding with the release of one of the worst trailers of all time:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4IoUo_ZJkY
> 
> ...was no coincidence.



Oh God no. Please God no....


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## adg21 (Dec 13, 2011)

nickhmusic @ Sun Nov 13 said:


> I thought Tron had some excellent moments - particularly the way Daft Punk had fused their tried and tested electronic sounds with orchestral music - with a fair amount of help from the Hollywood composer community too (according to the liner notes.)



I heard this track from 1989's Black Rain today and was struck by how similar the end was to something out of Tron. Uncanny I think


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## choc0thrax (Jan 19, 2012)

Looks like little tronception is finally taking his first steps. He's teamed with Sony to bring the world a trailer for a "movie".


http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/watch- ... t-trailer/

So far my favourite character is Yumiko. I think with the help of trusted sony handheld devices she will find a way to defeat the T-Virus. Also we've got Mila Jovovich as presumably herself. Tasked with defeating CG at every turn and surviving the blandness of Toronto.

John is first to go. We all know what happens to NY in these scenarios.


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## Ed (Jan 19, 2012)

haha I thought it was an ad I was being forced to watch at first :D

The last Residant Evil was HORRIBLY STUPID, one of the dumbest nonsensical movies Ive ever seen, like they intentionally did it on purpose just to be ridiculous.


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