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About Star Wars Music edits: Interview w/ Ben Burtt
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Topic: About Star Wars Music edits: Interview w/ Ben Burtt
Bozman
Goldmember
I've wanted to talk about this for a while but have not been able too because of confidentiality agreements.....well, now it's a bit more public....From MIX, 6/2002:
"Although the monster fight in the arena was originally scored, music was dropped at the final [mix]......'Music had been end-to-end in the reel, but we thought it would have wore the audience out too quickly,' says Burtt. 'So we dropped a couple of cues, which in the end was better dramatically, although I had to come up with a whole different approach to the cuting."In other words, almost all of the music Williams wrote for reel six (which was more or less one really long cue) was either dropped or replaced with music edited by Burtt (the exception, of course, being the lightsaber battle and finale).
Thought you star wars fans might be interested to read about it.
Cheers!
[Message edited by Bozman on 06-07-2002]
posted 06-07-2002 02:24 PM PT (US) jeffy
Goldmember
It still doesn't answer why they used music from the Phantom Menace!!!!!!
posted 06-07-2002 02:48 PM PT (US) Wedge
Goldmember
Is Burtt talking about the monster fight only, or the entire jedi vs. droids arena battle? Because sections of music WERE cut from the monster fight, they DID take a different approach to the cutting, and it WAS better dramatically.I just can't make sense of the idea that Ben Burtt cut out massive Williams cues because they would "wear out the audience", only to replace them with *different* massive Williams cues from a *different* movie. Note that Burtt doesn't talk about editing issues, only dramatic issues. He could have simply had the music drop out if he wanted silence. And if it WAS an editing issue, why chop up TPM music instead of AOTC music. It just doesn't add up.
I still think that the best theory is that Williams composed SOME music for special-effects animatics, and that the final version of those scenes was so different, probably much larger and longer, that these cues were just dropped.
posted 06-07-2002 03:53 PM PT (US) Quill
Goldmember
I agree with Wedge, I think the entire flow of the arena sequence ended up being different from its original conception--even from the rough cut Williams' might have seen.In the end, his cue probably didn't fit the images...it can happen.
A little tidbit for anyone who cares...Lucas says that Episode III will open with the Clone Wars coming to an end...the rest of the film will be "small and personal"...hmmm....
posted 06-07-2002 04:57 PM PT (US) Marian Schedenig
Goldmember
I wonder if the original sequence in the film had a plot, because the one in the final cut doesn't.quote:
Originally posted by Quill:
A little tidbit for anyone who cares...Lucas says that Episode III will open with the Clone Wars coming to an end...the rest of the film will be "small and personal"...hmmm....No pointless empty action sequences then. Good.
Those were the weak points ot AOTC, as far as I am concerned. posted 06-07-2002 05:02 PM PT (US) jeffy
Goldmember
quote:
Originally posted by Quill:
A little tidbit for anyone who cares...Lucas says that Episode III will open with the Clone Wars coming to an end...the rest of the film will be "small and personal"...hmmm....So what does the opening crawl in Ep. 4 mean when it says: "It is a period of civil war."
posted 06-07-2002 05:05 PM PT (US) Marian Schedenig
Goldmember
That the GALACTIC EMPIRE is in control and the REBEL ALLIANCE is fighting them.[Message edited by Marian Schedenig on 06-07-2002]
posted 06-07-2002 05:21 PM PT (US) jonathan_little
Goldmember
Why spend big bucks on John Williams, a man we can all agree knows his film music much better than most people on the planet... and then butcher his work? I still don't understand it.
posted 06-07-2002 08:04 PM PT (US) azahid
Goldmember
I fear it was even worse!First they re-use the main title from the first film and use the cues in the Jedi-battle sequence as "stock music"
I figured they went intentionaly with this approach so as not to worry about costs and ofcourse the last minute editing which was once again too late for Williams to make adjustments.
Williams will probaly come around saying that this kind of editing is a "normal" aspect of film making and therefore digestibale.
Well, from an artists point of view this is absoultely blashphemy!
I remember a similar thing was done with Bernard Herrmanns music on THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS.
He had his name removed from the film!
Amer
posted 06-07-2002 09:00 PM PT (US) SPQR
Goldmember
Well, good old Bennie wasn't making a million + a pop either...besides, no one notices besides us.
posted 06-07-2002 09:04 PM PT (US) Quill
Goldmember
This isn't art...its Star Wars!
posted 06-08-2002 09:48 AM PT (US) Old Infopop Software by UBB