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Film Score Enthusiast: A Survival Guide

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Author	Topic: Film Score Enthusiast: A Survival Guide

Lancelot Standard Userer	A mission statement, of sorts: I. You are in the minority. Learn to cope. Patience always. II. Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Best Buy. Great places to shop for the price, but they don't carry everything. Be prepared to find it yourself--clerks at these places will rarely be able to help you. III. Never pay more than $50 for a single CD. If it's old, chances are it'll be re-released, with more tracks than the original, and re-mastered. A lot of on-line auctions will take advantage of you. IV. "Original Soundtrack" is not an artist name. "Music Inspired by" is a lie. V. "Opportunity Knocks." Yes, it's true. But here's a hint--everything's a limited edition. All that means is there won't be a re-printing. Be prepared to jump if it's something you want. V. Synthesizers are not the devil. VI. There's more than one composer out there. You may have a favorite, but keep an open mind. Listen to many things, old and new. Be diverse. Otherwise, chances are you'll become narrow and embittered. One composer might have done better than another on a given project, but that's the way the system works. Somedays it works out, somedays it doesn't. VII. Change is inevitable. Composers change. Some stay the same. Many of them repeat themselves. Most artists do. This is why we love or hate them. Composers are human. Something to consider. VIII. Being a film score enthusiast is a little odd, admittedly. There is the music which is written for a specific medium, and we're taking it out of the medium to enjoy it. Some people don't "get it." That's ok. Film music isn't always meant to be noticed. The fact that we do just means we experience things differently that some--even most people. This was mostly a list of "good ideas" that I had at one time or another about the state of film music today. You may agree, or not. In some ways it's my response to the news of Jerry Goldsmith's passing. I think I shall miss him, too, though I will not regret "what might have been". Goldsmith's life was so full, and he gave us so much--there was no need for more. (In as much, I regret more what Kamen might have given us, but he gave as much as he could in as short a time as he had.) This is all incidental, however. Life goes on. Film music continues to be written. I encourage it in all forms, by all composers, and bad or good, I encourage it to grow, and improve, and be appreciated by more. As John Scott said (a quote of which I am very fond), film music is great because it "encompasess all music, from ancient Chinese to avant-garde". That's a pretty broad pallate to paint from, and the canvas can be as narrow or wide as you choose. Thanks for reading. --Steve Townsley.
posted 07-31-2004 11:16 PM PT (US)

justin boggan Standard Userer	VIIII. You are in a minority; thus if you should recieve a call that your house has been broken into, don't bother to rush home to see if all your CDs are there - they are. Trust me. IX. Ford A. Thaxton. Avoid him. Even if you are a composer and he offers you a deal - don't do it! X. Isolated scores are not "good business", so stop asking for them all the time. XI. Universal, MGM, WB, Paramount - they don't give a sh!t already! :-( XII. Male Film Score fans: You will only find female Film Score fans online. Sorry. And chances are they are just Daniel2 pretending to be a women. XIII. Give scores you don't like a second chance many, many months down the road. You may find you feel completely different. I did with Lolita, Jake Speed, Star Trek: First Contact... XIV. Other Film Score fans have opinions too. You don't have to agree, but please respect that. You don't need to insult them all the time. XVI. James Horner has now and has been doing ripoffs of his past scores - get used to it. Trust us when we say we've seen all the Horner bashing jokes you can think of. Plus it just gets really tiring. [Message edited by justin boggan on 07-31-2004] [Message edited by justin boggan on 07-31-2004]
posted 07-31-2004 11:44 PM PT (US)

Alexborn007 Standard Userer	Rules I've lived by... XVII. Enjoy Hans Zimmer. Appriciate Miklos Rosza. XVIII. Don't let the filmography fool you. Composers are much more versatile than you may think. XIX. Watch the $$$...gotta watch the $$$. [Message edited by Alexborn007 on 08-01-2004]
posted 08-01-2004 12:33 AM PT (US)

justin boggan Standard Userer	XX. Disreguard rule XVII. [Message edited by justin boggan on 08-01-2004]
posted 08-01-2004 12:36 AM PT (US)

Lancelot Standard Userer	Guys--please--don't corrupt this. I appreciate sharing and feedback, but don't start with that kind of golden age vs. modern era stuff. There's room for everybody.
posted 08-01-2004 06:23 AM PT (US)

Widescreen Standard Userer	If I may, I offer these additional rules, and I apologize for leaving off the roman numerals, but I seem to have lost count. Anyway here goes: Subject to discretion, you do not have to but every single score on its release date. Aprreciation can grow with time. it is entirely possible a score may mean more to you if you see the film first, and then buy the score, largely because you liked the film and its music.
posted 08-01-2004 08:06 AM PT (US)

Foobsie Standard Userer	Rules are made to be broken! FoobsZ THE VILLAGE James Newton-Howard **/*** BULLS-EYE!!!
posted 08-01-2004 09:07 AM PT (US)

joan hue Standard Userer	I like your points, Lancelot. I really agree with number VI. There are more than one or two composers. To that I would add that once you familarize yourself with current composers, journey back to discover other greats: the Silver and Golden-Aged composers.
posted 08-01-2004 04:28 PM PT (US)

Lancelot Standard Userer	VI. works many ways, Joan, and I agree with you--that is my intention. For "young ones"--and I mean those who are relatively new and unexposed to the vastness of film scores, I'm sure they were brought in by one or two scores that stood out, but a good recommendation for those who love this music is to explore what many other composers have done in the past and present--to hear their "take" on the subject matter.
posted 08-02-2004 06:18 AM PT (US)

Swashbuckler Standard Userer	A good set of rules, Lancelot. One of the most important ones is, as Joan pointed out, that there is more than one composer. I would add to that there is more than one genre of music, and that giving other types of music a chance will most likely enhance your appreciation of film music as well.
posted 08-02-2004 11:34 AM PT (US)

CindyLover1969 Standard Userer	XXIII (by my count). Accept that at some point, your favourite composers will have or have had a couple of token cues released on an album that is predominantly song-based. (This rules does not apply to those whose favourite composer is John Williams or Ennio Morricone.) XXIV. Many mainstream critics are hopeless when it comes to discussing scores or score albums. Ignore them.
posted 08-02-2004 12:12 PM PT (US)

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