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ScoreKeeper on Danny Elfman's CHARLOTTE'S WEB Interview (With Sound)!!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: This post was delayed from last week due to technical reasons. Apologies for the delay, and ENJOY!]
Greetings! ScoreKeeper here bearing gifts to tantalize your mind as well as your ears.
Elrond Hubbard sent in a link to a recent Danny Elfman interview which focused on a variety of topics including his work on CHARLOTTE’S WEB (2006) which is slated for release this Christmas. Elfman is always an interesting interviewee. It seems he shares stories and insight into his music a shade deeper than most composers do. His audio commentaries for PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990) are still among my favorite DVD commentaries of all time.
This interview was conducted by Claude Brodesser-Akner for his program entitled “The Business” on KCRW, in Santa Monica, California. The original program aired on Sunday, August 27, 2006. You can visit their web site here (HERE) to listen to the entire broadcast which also includes New York Times reporter David Halbfinger’s scoop on the Tom Cruise/Paramount fiasco.
There is even a portion where Elfman plays a demo of CHARLOTTE’S WEB during the interview and gives a fly-by-wire commentary as it’s playing. As they say around here, “ain’t it cool?”
CLICK HERE TO HEAR THAT PORTION OF THE INTERVIEW!!!
CHARLOTTE’S WEB remains one of my most anticipated scores of the year. Although I love Elfman’s work in the macabre, his scores accompanying pure dramas are truly inspiring. BLACK BEAUTY (1994) and SOMMERSBY (1993) remain a pair of unsung masterpieces. Will CHARLOTTE’S WEB be called into the pantheon of great Elfman dramas? From what little I’ve heard from the demos in this interview, I’m optimistic.
And by the way, is that Elfman’s score I hear on the official web site (HERE)? Sure is nice.
-- ScoreKeeper!!! --
-- ScoreKeeper!!! --
Readers Talkback
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Is the new first
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"Ain't It Cool"? Kudos, me bucko!
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I heard a rumor that had him saying he'd never work with Raimi again. Anyone know what went down?
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I never saw the film, but I got most of the score off "Music for a Darkened Theatre II" - and... wow. Such a beautiful piece. I never felt the need to watch the film because the score so capably tells the story. Hooray for ScoreKeeper!
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What is his angle? I obviously missed the memo. Is he soundtracks?
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Cartoons allow you to humanize a spider a little, but if this is live action, the close-ups of Charlotte will end up being pretty dang creepy. I don't know if a nonanthropomorphized spider will work. (Six-syllable bonus, bitches!)
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That was a fantastic and inspiring clip! In my opinion, Elfmans scores have been lacking for several movies. I wish he would compose themes again. But, listening to him in the clip he sounded wonderfully tuned into the musical character of the story. I only hope his themes are strong! Im excited about this now.
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Sam Raimi wanted some bits of the score touched up and redone and he brought in Christopher Young and Joseph LoDuca to do some bits. Some would say Raimi was insulted, some would say Elfman's stuff is repetitve and Raimi wanted to give it a little pep. Alls I know is that when Doc Ock shows off his tentacles they sample Young's score from Hellraiser and that pissed Elfman off a bit. That's what I heard anyways. http://k105.blogspot.com/
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He's so amazing and awe inspiring. I know that people would choose John Williams as the best composer and what not, but I disagree. While John Williams is magnificent, and my second favorite, Danny Elfman just rules. All of his scores mix beauty with tragedy and it just works all the time. From the horror of Sleepy Hollow to the beauty of Edward Scissorhands... he's always at the top of his game. I loved the way he described what Charlotte's theme accompanied, with such passion for his work, it was just... amazing. I cannot wait to get this score. Props to Scorekeeper for giving shout outs to Sommersby and Black Beauty... two brilliant scores that are extremely underrated. I'm sure everyone's heard part of Sommersby, it's the theme for New Regency.
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Delores Caliborne and The Family Man. Delores has a refreshingly bleak point of view which Elfman refuses to compromise--there's no "happy" denoument. The scoring of the climax really adds to the suspense as Delores' plan goes into effect. The Family Man is the score I prefer to Edward Scissorhands, which was OK but I haven't put it on in years. Family Man should have had a complete score CD release, as it is a series of variations on one of Elfman's most beautiful themes. I don't care for some of his scores, but the man overflows with creativity, and you always get the sense he's trying to bring something to the party.
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Dead Presidents is awesome. He combies the orchestra with guitar and keyboard so it sounds like 70's Lalo Schiffrin scoring Apocalypse Now.
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his score to MI:1, and Black Beauty are also Tops!
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Bridget Fonda.
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...Scorekeeper not even attempting to make the case that this film itself is going to be remotely good, and keeping it strictly about the score. I declare a five year moratorium on fart jokes in cinema. My will be done.
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But he's been reusing the same themes and ideas for the last ten years. John Williams is the greatest film music composer of all time. Danny Elfman writes interesting music, but it all stays in the same depressing, black, frilled-at-the-edges, crescendo world. Most of the themes he has written sound like he wrote them all at the same time, using the same formula. John Williams actually could write several themes in one day, each one utilizing completley different tones and melodical techniques that describe different concepts. Williams is the king, Elfman is the prince.
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I have lots of love for Williams but let's listen to the scores. He had a spurt of productivity last year, but it showed that hard work can only take you so far when the inspiration isn't there. I liked those scores, but hardly put them on, and the Sith score was no way in the same league as Empire, and it should have been. I think Elfman does recycle, but all film composers do. And Williams is a prince following Steiner, Herrmann, and Goldsmith.
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But he steals from himself (and wagner, and prokofieff, and....) as much as any composer out there. And after hearing that football turd williams did, it's hard to defend him much right now.
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