Comments | glenniebun: The Last Son of Krypton: The Musical Saga of Superman

glenniebun

The Last Son of Krypton: The Musical Saga of Superman

Jun 18, 2008 16:21

After going back and tweaking a couple of the edits (as well has isolating some sequences for my general-listening playlist), delaying things for a little while, I'm finally prepared to unleash my Superman mix upon the world. swashbuckler332, yours will be in the mail as soon as I make up a printable tracklist; I'm not sure anyone else will be interested, but if ( Read more... )

finished mixes, pride, film scores, geekgasms

Comments 6

swashbuckler332 June 18 2008, 22:06:58 UTC

This is well-timed, I just mailed off your copy of You'll Believe A Man Can Fly yesterday, you should get it tomorrow or Friday.

I like how you built suites out of music from the various films. I'm quite eager to hear this. And I totally understand your reservations about actually sitting down to watch Superman IV again. I have still to this day not been able to get through the entire film (although I did listen to the commentary, does that count?).

I attempted the same thing with "Krypton Destroyed," I tried both Williams takes of "The Planet Krypton" and Thorne's "Preface," but there was nothing I could do to make the brass synch up... I decided that I preferred the brass to the choir in the end. This is, in fact, why that is the only case on my version where two tracks from the same score abut one another; I felt that I could get away with it because "Prelude and Main Title March" was more of an 'overture' than part of the score proper.

Just a quick aside... you need to proofread explanation of track 23. ;)

glenniebun June 19 2008, 04:36:51 UTC

I just mailed off your copy of You'll Believe A Man Can Fly yesterday, you should get it tomorrow or Friday.

Excellent! This whole thing has finally forced me to settle my printer issues, so your copy of The Last Son of Krypton is ready to go into the mail tomorrow.

I'm happy with the way the internal suites came out--originally I had isolated the March of the Villains snippets to be spread throughout the disc, but then I figured they'd fit better together. Likewise, most of the climactic pieces from Superman II needed to be placed together and the pieces from the other films found their way in as I listened to the scores over and over thinking of new linking points.

Trust me, the commentary is more than enough of Superman IV. I tried to watch it again last weekend; I got through the opening credits and switched to II.

I tried both Williams takes of "The Planet Krypton" and Thorne's "Preface," but there was nothing I could do to make the brass synch up...Yeah, that was rather frustrating. I guess if I'd wanted to spend hours on it ( ... )

swashbuckler332 June 19 2008, 10:28:15 UTC

Just the credits are enough to want to turn the damn movie off. Don't get me wrong, there is a distinct lowering of production values in the credits of II and III from the first film, but II had the montage and III had a comedy sequence. IV's credits looked like somebody had to make a "Superman-like credit sequence" at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. The score is just about the only aspect of that production that doesn't scream "tacky."

You mean the bit about "Ottman's orchestra," yes? That's referring to the Returns piece Thorne's fanfare was (partially) placed on top of.

Oh, I see what you mean. You're referring to the previous track which segues into the Zod Krypton fanfare (we actually used a lot of the same cues).

glenniebun June 22 2008, 02:37:23 UTC

The whole thing looks like someone had to throw together a "Superman-like movie" at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. From the idea to get Superman involved in political issues to the VFX to the hacksaw-style editing...oh well, there's been enough Sturm und Drang about the movie already. Perhaps the horror stories about the German score recordings are overstated, but it sounds like that aspect of the film would've been similarly bungled had Cannon not spent the extra money to move the sessions.

(we actually used a lot of the same cues)

Indeed. Great minds? To be honest, when you posted the notes for your revision I was happy to see that we didn't have any Nuclear Man material in common. Also, after I finished the edit I realized that placing "Return of the Green Crystal" after "You're Not One of Them" could be seen as a nod of sorts to your placement of "The Fortress of Solitude" after that piece.

swashbuckler332 June 27 2008, 15:16:40 UTC

You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Red crystal vandalism is a serious crime. Making light of it only encourages miscreants like Zod and his followers to further acts of vicious crystalline defacement.

Well, I've been listening to your mix for a week now! It's fantastic, with a great sense of fun. Even though we use many of the same cues, I think our goals were very different; I was going for a more mythic look at this music (which is why the beginning of my album was so rigidly structured) while you were concentrating more on the adventure. As a result, your mix is more propulsive than mine, with a greater momentum.

I really liked how you built your own concert versions of themes via selections from the different films, such as the "March of the Villains" essay in tracks 9 - 12. This is a bit closer to what I'm planning to do with my eventual Lord of the Rings compilation than what I usually do.

The transition from "Rough Flight" to "Theme from Superman" is spine-tingling.

glenniebun June 28 2008, 02:51:02 UTC

Come on dude, that crystal was so asking for it. Tell me you wouldn't do the same.

This is all very high praise indeed; thank you. I'm glad you like it!

I was going for a more mythic look at this music (which is why the beginning of my album was so rigidly structured) while you were concentrating more on the adventure. As a result, your mix is more propulsive than mine, with a greater momentum.One thing I noticed while listening to your mix again after finishing mine was that you were more likely than not to let tracks end or nearly end before crossfading into the next, while I tried to force them as close together as possible. That's not absolute, of course, but I think it helped preserve the momentum I was looking for. It also helped that there were a few more pleasant tracks available that retained a quick rhythm--I'm thinking specifically of pieces like "The Streets of Metropolis," "Lacy's Place" and "The Flying Sequence"--that could lighten the mood between the tense sections. Then when the pace truly slowed down for things ( ... )