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ScoreKeeper Chats With Composer Thomas Newman!!

anus by Fat and Curious	Sep 16th, 2008 11:54:36 PM

I mean first by Fat and Curious	Sep 16th, 2008 11:54:53 PM

Nice work by Latauro	Sep 17th, 2008 12:09:08 AM
My favourite film composer ever, and you asked some really insightful, brilliant questions. I enjoyed the hell out of this interview -- thanks.
Impressionable? by No Respectable Gentleman	Sep 17th, 2008 12:16:49 AM
I think you mean impressive. Which is a good word for Thomas Newman, the best living film composer. Should have won a multitude of awards for ROAD TO PERDITION alone.
seriously, this guy is a national treasure by BadMrWonka	Sep 17th, 2008 12:21:44 AM
my favorite score he's done is Meet Joe Black, but really he's just amazing, full stop. ScoreKeeper, congrats on getting to meet one of your idols, and getting some really interesting bits of wisdom. I love AICN!
Excellent work SK by Horace Cox	Sep 17th, 2008 12:21:49 AM
As a huge fan of film scores I always enjoy these articles that pick the composer's brain. Keep up the good work SK!
Meet Joe Black = Absolute Masterpiece by The Ringwraith	Sep 17th, 2008 12:41:46 AM
The main theme is classic Thomas Newman - beautiful but slightly offbeat. Grand and sweeping and yet intimate and kind of eccentric. The grand statements in that last 10 minutes of the movie are breathtaking. And more kudos to ScoreKeeper for another superior interview.
i'm still pissed he didn't win the oscar for American Beauty by Holodigm	Sep 17th, 2008 01:02:49 AM
sure i'm biased, it happens to be my favorite film, but i'm pretty sure i wouldn't be listening to film scores as much as i do if not for that score. while not trying to sound like a stalker, this guy's been very important to my life.
GREAT Interview!! by Fievel	Sep 17th, 2008 01:07:35 AM
Newman is definitely a treasure to the ears. Thanks for the interview, ScoreKeeper!
Brilliant stuff by board shitlez	Sep 17th, 2008 02:41:06 AM
Really interesting SK - thanks. Been catching up with TN info having only got into film music recently and this was a pleasure.
Whenever I think of 'Shawshank Redemption' by kwisatzhaderach	Sep 17th, 2008 03:45:18 AM
the first thing that comes into my mind is the ariel flyover establishing the prison at the beginning of the film, with Newman's incredible music. As soon as I saw that shot and heard that piece of music I knew I was in for one hell of an experience.
Easily best working film composer by quantize	Sep 17th, 2008 05:10:30 AM
good shit shame on all those other 'famous' hacks with no style so many shit munchers love
Road to Chicago from Road To Perdition is a masterpiece by quantize	Sep 17th, 2008 05:11:53 AM
my fave Thomas Newman cue
I love that he scored REVENGE OF THE NERDS by The Amazing G	Sep 17th, 2008 07:12:05 AM
I really do, he's an awesome film composer btw, love his "end title" from Little Children
oh and of course by The Amazing G	Sep 17th, 2008 07:12:25 AM
the score to The Lost Boys!
Glad to see so many admire this composer by JackRabbitSlim	Sep 17th, 2008 08:10:05 AM
Mr Newman's work speaks for itself. There are certainly more popular, more grandiose composers out there, but in my opinion there's no artist who is so deftly able to find that precise mix of bringing emotional punctuation, whether it be melancholy or vibrancy or unbridled joy or whatever, to a scene without calling attention to itself, to enhance the cinematic moment, while at the same time being a truly wondrous thing to listen to in and of itself. Kudos to you, sir.
I love how he scores to the mood of the characters by Evil Hobbit	Sep 17th, 2008 09:16:35 AM
There's an incredibly lush and ease to his compositions. Like Crush in Nemo, this stoner Turtle could have been scored as a comic character, instead, it is scored on his way of life. Layed back, easy floating on the Australian current. And that's what attracts me most in Newman's work, his ability to score the character in the moment. And not just, oh the character should be funny, let's give him a funny tune. I love that stuff. Like Pill Poppers in Angels in America.
and his truly majestic finales are amazing by Evil Hobbit	Sep 17th, 2008 09:24:14 AM
His big theme's are so harmonic, the warm sound of his orchestrations are heartwarming. The great work begins, Road to Chicago, Eve, Cinderella Man, the Little Clownfish from the Reef. It's almost romanticsm in it's lush, deep and harmonic sounds. I can't think of another composer that crescendo's like Thomas Newman.
Thanks, ScoreKeeper by Cobbio	Sep 17th, 2008 10:58:13 AM
Lots of praise for Thomas Newman here, and all well justified. I agree his ability to subtly, dramatically define and draw you into a character or moment in a film is wonderful, often hauntingly so. On a personal note, three years ago I made an event film that played before a 2000-person Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast, a city event that celebrated his legacy. State senators were there, as well as droves of older folks who'd walked and prayed with King in the 1960s. I made the film Ken Burns style, focusing more on photos of King with his family than on his political and civil rights career. It was chronological, obviously, and about fifteen minutes long. As I was making it, though, I realized I didn't want it to just "be there" in the background, playing several times in a row as people were eating breakfast. I wanted it to grab people, to make them feel something big and haunting in tribute to the man. The reason I'm relaying this is because, as I was scoring the scenes following the famous photo of King's assassination in Memphis at the Lorraine Hotel, I realized I wanted something quiet and understated, not huge and drum-pounding. Like the hush following a great symphony. So on a whim I tried an edited minute and a half from "Road to Chicago," and boy did that clinch it. Quiet piano joined the brimming orchestra over photos of teary-eyed marches through several US cities, American flags held high by King's heartbroken friends, thousands of people watching his coffin roll through through silent city crowds, King's grieving family sitting beside his coffin at his funeral service, and finally, a shot of a young street worker praying at King's grave with a sign hung across his back that read, "I am a man." The photo faded out to ghostly piano playing Newman's theme, and I remember looking around the room, surprised to find the place had gone silent. Several older women at the next table were wiping their eyes. It was one of the most rewarding film experiences I've ever had. A state senator sought me out a while later to make a film for him. Lots of people shook my hand and thanked me, though I hardly think I was the one they should've been thanking. Thomas Newman's music over King's final scene was the thing that people remembered. Which says a lot about the emotional resonance of Newman's approach. I didn't sell copies of the film or make any money from it, thus I hope what I did was legal. But I've been a big fan of Newman's work ever since. Can't wait to see "Revolutionary Road."
Great interview by Jaws Wayne	Sep 17th, 2008 12:34:11 PM
Yes,Thomas Newman is definitely the man, I absolutely love what he brings to movies. A few weeks ago my girlfriend was watching television as I was surfing the net on my pc, and she zapped to a channel that happened to view "Meet Joe Black", a film I still hadn't happened to see and was of course universally trashed by film fans and critics. Now, I immediately recognized the score was Thomas Newman's and it-was-beautiful. I didn't watch the film, but kindly asked my girl to NOT zapp away from the film, and never ever before had I such a marvellous sonic experience while surfing the net. It was awesome. Thanks for your interview Scorekeeper, well done.
Thomas Newman is Great, but... by dundundles	Sep 17th, 2008 02:06:44 PM
...he doesn't really do it all for me. Don't get me wrong, I love pieces of Shawshank/Nemo/GreenMile/Lemon y, and the man does seem to always have that one track on a disc that is just Godly. But in general I don't see much variety between his projects, and nor do I think the vast majority of his tracks are endlessly listenable. I find that American Beauty to be his best COMPLETE score. The pieces will range from some off the wall, kooky sounds and then will transcend into some absolutely breathtaking score. I just find that the majority of his albums, while good on initial listen, do lose a lot value after repeated playbacks. With the exception of that one track that exists on every Thomas Newman score. And every Thomas Newman lover knows which track it is on every single one of his albums. That is what I think he is good at, the single piece, the one theme. That and ambience. His scores play incredibly well to film, just not so much on their own.
true that dundundles by Evil Hobbit	Sep 17th, 2008 02:10:44 PM
It's always the stand out track and the few rhytmic tracks that stand out on the album. The rest is usually filled with short cue's and motifs, fascinating on their own, brilliant to the film, but less interesting as an album. I think Newman's albums can play a lot better when it's rearranged to less and more fleshed out tracks.
Newman's "Santa '85" score from Amazing Stories is terrific by Nasty In The Pasty	Sep 17th, 2008 03:51:41 PM
Check it out on the second AM volume from Intrada. One of his earliest scores. Newman is one of the best composers we have at the moment.
He deserved the Oscar by irritable	Sep 17th, 2008 05:22:46 PM
for "The Good German". A complete change of style, without the faux Copland elements which unimaginative producers/directors always seem to want from him (even though he does that brilliantly) plus maybe his greatest tune ever. In quite a few movies his music has been far better than the director deserves.
dundundles by quantize	Sep 17th, 2008 07:28:37 PM
Completely disagree, play his cd's a lot...i think they work even better offscreen
The Innocents by deadboy1313	Sep 18th, 2008 01:25:35 AM
Back in the early 80's, he was in a band called the Innocents. It was a great record that should have had a lot more success. There was a TV special about the Innocents, I think it was called "Making The Band." I remember watching it and would love to find a copy somewhere!

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ScoreKeeper Chats With Composer Thomas Newman!!

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