The Official Superman Score & Soundtrack Thread - Part 1

[ChewySoup]

Rumor has it that Tyler Bates is attached to this project.
http://www.cinemaspy.com/Movie-News/Has-Superman-Man-of-Steel-Found-a-Composer/4943

My top choice would hands down be Howard Shore - But I think Bates could pull it off pretty good.

 

[Stephen K. Hone]

If they want to use the JW theme (or a revised version)I don't have a problem with that. If however, someone can come up with a credible alternative that would also be acceptable. The Thor soundtrack was very good imo opinion ,so it is not beyond the realms of possibilty that someone can create something fresh and compelling. It's pointless trying to top William's Superman march, but it is possible they'll come up with something that suits the tone of MOS better. Either way I'm not to concerned, as long it is better than the GL score, which considering it was by JNH was surprisingly unoriginal and lacklustre.

 

[flickchick85]

And this is what scares me the most, most don't want the Williams traditional fanfare, they want something new, but at the end of the day the "new sound" it's just another fanfare, just one that sounds not-as-good.

I agree, that's one of my concerns as well (hence my "no fanfares" preference).

I couldn't agree more with this part than I'm agreeing as I'm typing this, I'm all for strings over horns, and I have to admit that it didn't cross my mind, but a Superman theme in strings would be really great and it would emphasize the tragedy of his origins (hopefully without having to show it) at the same time as being just all around great-sounding, the problem there would be making it sound heroic at the same time (which is the basic difference between Superman and basically every other hero ever), and that's where I started thinking about the great job Murray Gold has made with the different Doctor themes in "Doctor Who", themes that can be both happy and sad, tragic and heroic, and well, really hummable. And when I really think about it, I could be up for that, why not?

Yes! And it's kind of ironic with your screenname, because my urge to hear a more string-driven theme came directly from the Battlestar Galactica remake. The producers of that show told Bear McCreary (the composer) that they didn't want their show to sound like the typical sci-fi adventure (including the original BSG), so they gave him a general "No Brass" policy. That really turned out to be an inspired move, because it not only gave the show a unique sound, but it seemed to force McCreary to get even more creative - he came up with some gorgeous string-driven themes that were able to be tragic, heroic, uplifting...anything he needed them to be, and coming up with militaristic battle music sans brass must have been quite the challenge, lol.

That said, I don't actually want them to have a "no brass" policy in this film, but a string-driven score with brass accents rather than the expected brassy fanfare would make me SO happy. t:

 

[By your Command]

Yes! And it's kind of ironic with your screenname, because my urge to hear a more string-driven theme came directly from the Battlestar Galactica remake. The producers of that show told Bear McCreary (the composer) that they didn't want their show to sound like the typical sci-fi adventure (including the original BSG), so they gave him a general "No Brass" policy. That really turned out to be an inspired move, because it not only gave the show a unique sound, but it seemed to force McCreary to get even more creative - he came up with some gorgeous string-driven themes that were able to be tragic, heroic, uplifting...anything he needed them to be, and coming up with militaristic battle music sans brass must have been quite the challenge, lol.

That said, I don't actually want them to have a "no brass" policy in this film, but a string-driven score with brass accents rather than the expected brassy fanfare would make me SO happy. t:

There's no irony, the screenname was all part of the plan, and it goes without saying that I loves me some Bear McCreary, it's been on permanent rotation on my ipod ever since the show came out (and I mean it since I had the Richard Gibbs music from the Miniseries also. By the way have you heard the live version of "The Differently Sentient" from "Caprica"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo570cWbcnU ) I do remember the "no brass" policy, and also the "no themes" policy, but both those policies quickly dissapeared as the show went on, but I think a "no brass" policy for "Man of Steel" should work, even if it sounds restricting, because those kinds of limitations could work for whoever is composing as "think outside of the box" inspiration, and it would send any kind of fanfar-y tribute out the window.

When I was talking about Murray Gold I ment something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idQRiLZukG0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5D5Pi11TNg
(Notice the brass accents)

But McCreary (specially his string-based compositions) would also be a nice example.

 

[mclay18]

That really turned out to be an inspired move, because it not only gave the show a unique sound, but it seemed to force McCreary to get even more creative - he came up with some gorgeous string-driven themes that were able to be tragic, heroic, uplifting...anything he needed them to be, and coming up with militaristic battle music sans brass must have been quite the challenge, lol.

If you heard McCreary's theme for the aborted show The Cape, he can do a really good brassy theme. It's more like Shirley Walker's Batman theme with a side of John Williams. Fantastic stuff... and it elevates the episodes like you wouldn't believe.

 

[El Payaso]

If you heard McCreary's theme for the aborted show The Cape, he can do a really good brassy theme. It's more like Shirley Walker's Batman theme with a side of John Williams. Fantastic stuff... and it elevates the episodes like you wouldn't believe.

Shirley Walker's bat-scores kept a huge lot from Elfman's.

 

[Frontier]

I've been listening to the score from the animated feature "Superman Doomsday" and the theme for Supes from the 1990s Animated show, and they're both very good. Not good enough for a big film like this, imho. But another triumphant fanfare theme could be done.

I'm torn on the reuse Williams score or not issue. This is a total break-away so I think we'll not see said theme reused. I think perhaps Smallville was the final chapter of that legacy, what with it's many connections to the Reeve films (including 2 guest spots by Reeve himself).

I just hope they do a theme. Nolan's bat-films, the one aspect I can say "not the best" about is the lack of a definitive theme. The score has themes; but there is no definitive Batman theme. Much as I dislike the Burton stuff, the theme from such was decent, and the way Shirley Walker revamped it and came up with a spin-off for use in the animated series... well that animated theme from Walker will always be the Bat theme, imho. Always.

 

[Frontier]

There's no irony, the screenname was all part of the plan, and it goes without saying that I loves me some Bear McCreary, it's been on permanent rotation on my ipod ever since the show came out (and I mean it since I had the Richard Gibbs music from the Miniseries also. By the way have you heard the live version of "The Differently Sentient" from "Caprica"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo570cWbcnU ) I do remember the "no brass" policy, and also the "no themes" policy, but both those policies quickly dissapeared as the show went on, but I think a "no brass" policy for "Man of Steel" should work, even if it sounds restricting, because those kinds of limitations could work for whoever is composing as "think outside of the box" inspiration, and it would send any kind of fanfar-y tribute out the window.

When I was talking about Murray Gold I ment something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idQRiLZukG0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5D5Pi11TNg
(Notice the brass accents)

But McCreary (specially his string-based compositions) would also be a nice example.

Yes, but McCreary was a freaking genius with his early BSG stuff. He hadn't been in the business for a long haul yet, and had that policy and what had been done with the mini series score to work off, and the result was just great. Though like nBSG itself, the scores became a lil less great as the seasons wore on.

I don't know if many accomplish hollywood composers could work with a "no brass" policy and deliver. McCreary had the benefit of being relativley young and inexperienced compared to any of the composers WB would consider for this film, being a big budget feature as it is.

 

[moviedoors]

Less emphasis on horns might be an interesting direction, but what about expanding it beyond just a traditional orchestra? I don't mean adding techno, but I'd be cool with some low droning, pulsing Moog sounds.

Actually now that I think about it, I think it'd be cool if the Krypton and Zod themes took an odd approach, sorta sound design music, like what Zimmer did with the Joker's theme. I think that's a pretty cool melding of traditional instrumentation, electronics, and bizarre unplaceable sounds. I think it could work for the alien parts of the film, especially if the other themes took a more melodic approach. That could add some interesting contrast.

 

[X Knight]

how soon into production do they usually announce/reveal the composer?

or....when does the composer usually start working on the score for the movie?

 

[moviedoors]

how soon into production do they usually announce/reveal the composer?

or....when does the composer usually start working on the score for the movie?

It's usually a post thing. On movies this big though, you can never tell. It wouldn't be completely unheard of for there to have been conversations and preliminary work on themes and whatnot by the composer. With the level of secrecy this project is operating under, it's hard to make any firm statements, but I lean towards they don't have someone yet. With the release date still still roughly two years away, I think we've still got a good solid year before we will know whose composing.

 

[flickchick85]

There's no irony, the screenname was all part of the plan, and it goes without saying that I loves me some Bear McCreary, it's been on permanent rotation on my ipod ever since the show came out (and I mean it since I had the Richard Gibbs music from the Miniseries also. By the way have you heard the live version of "The Differently Sentient" from "Caprica"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo570cWbcnU ) I do remember the "no brass" policy, and also the "no themes" policy, but both those policies quickly dissapeared as the show went on, but I think a "no brass" policy for "Man of Steel" should work, even if it sounds restricting, because those kinds of limitations could work for whoever is composing as "think outside of the box" inspiration, and it would send any kind of fanfar-y tribute out the window.

Thanks for posting that video, that was great! And yeah, I'm not opposed to a "no brass" policy for MoS, I just think it's a less realistic hope than simply a string-driven score this time around.

When I was talking about Murray Gold I ment something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idQRiLZukG0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5D5Pi11TNg
(Notice the brass accents)

But McCreary (specially his string-based compositions) would also be a nice example.

Those pieces are very nice, too. I wasn't necessarily suggesting that I wanted the score to sound like BSG's stuff. BSG has a darker, colder tone than I'd want MoS to have. I just like the idea of a string-driven score, and BSG and Gold's stuff are two examples of very different but successful string-driven themes.

 

[SuperDaniel]

They should get James Horner to do the score.

 

[daywalker2007]

i heard Hans Zimmer is pulling out an old score from the 90s which he's going to simply rerecord as Superman.

its how he works these days.

he did it for Batman Begins and numerous other films.

You can't beat a good old copy and paste 2 chord theme.

 

[Showtime]

What are you even talking about? You go on and on in every thread spouting out gibberish.

 

[moviedoors]

i heard Hans Zimmer is pulling out an old score from the 90s which he's going to simply rerecord as Superman.

its how he works these days.

he did it for Batman Begins and numerous other films.

You can't beat a good old copy and paste 2 chord theme.

I believe you're talking about James Horner, and he's been self cannibalizing himself since the early 80's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glsyYJksGtg

 

[Stephen K. Hone]

What are you even talking about? You go on and on in every thread spouting out gibberish.

I think he's talking about some of the Black Rain score which Zimmer repurposed for Batman Begins.

 

[Elevator Man]

Less emphasis on horns might be an interesting direction, but what about expanding it beyond just a traditional orchestra? I don't mean adding techno, but I'd be cool with some low droning, pulsing Moog sounds.

Actually now that I think about it, I think it'd be cool if the Krypton and Zod themes took an odd approach, sorta sound design music, like what Zimmer did with the Joker's theme. I think that's a pretty cool melding of traditional instrumentation, electronics, and bizarre unplaceable sounds. I think it could work for the alien parts of the film, especially if the other themes took a more melodic approach. That could add some interesting contrast.

That's the problem. This droning sound design appproach to film scoring can be heard in most of Zimmer's & other MV/RC composer's action scores. As well as other film composers that are forced to mimic that sound into their scores. You hear that kind of sound in most action movies today. Superman doesnt need to sound something I've heard in a ton of other films . If MOS goes that route with the score it would just be interchangeble with BB, TDK, IM, Inception, X-M:FC, Pirates, Transformers, and a ton of other MV/RC driven action scores. The last thing the score needs.

Oh and that Joker motif that Zimmer came up with was nothing special to my ears. A one note motif ? What happened to strong and menacing villain themes ? At least Ottman wrote a darker and more menacing Luthor theme than Williams' own for his SR score. That's also more than two notes. An actual theme.

If Nolan and Snyder go with the approach you want. Then the MOS score will be just like every other score in the genre (action and CBM) and not something that screams Superman. BTW, I'm not talking about Williams' approach.

 

[DIRECTOR]

I think he's talking about some of the Black Rain score which Zimmer repurposed for Batman Begins.

oh wow, i hearing some Black Rain score.......... damn......... are you serious Zimmer????

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

John williams has just finished tin tin. I hear he's free.

 

[El Payaso]

John williams has just finished tin tin. I hear he's free.

I hear this is a reboot.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

I hear this is a reboot.

Ha!

 

[By your Command]

Murray Gold, definitely Murray Gold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V_OQVw6IEs

 

[Stephen K. Hone]

I hear this is a reboot.

Once again I'd like to point out that James Bond movies get new scores and a new theme for every movie, (and Casino Royale was absolutely a reboot) but certain musical themes/motifs, such as the Monty Norman theme are retained. 90% of MOS's music could be new, and the JW theme could strike up for shirt rips etc and then quickly evolve into a newer theme. I think it's more likely that they'll go for a 100% new score, and that's okay by me. If however they decide to keep certain elements of JW's Superman march I'm on board with that approach also.

 

[By your Command]

Once again I'd like to point out that James Bond movies get new scores and a new theme for every movie, (and Casino Royale was absolutely a reboot) but certain musical themes/motifs, such as the Monty Norman theme are retained. 90% of MOS's music could be new, and the JW theme could strike up for shirt rips etc and then quickly evolve into a newer theme. I think it's more likely that they'll go for a 100% new score, and that's okay by me. If however they decide to keep certain elements of JW's Superman march I'm on board with that approach also.

I completely agree with this.