I guess that means John Williams won't be coming back at all... seems like the franchise gets more and more into the hands of Brits, where it belongs!
nice to see that Hollywood actually hires a director, because they believe in him and his vision and that includes his composer of choice!
well, I guess, in the end if they don't like what Hooper comes up with the can always tell him to reuse Williams' stuff, so it isn't such a big risk.. but I guess he will be capable of such a big score, even if I have never heard of him at all...
that makes me interested in the score a lot more than if it was Williams or Doyle again! Fresh Meat is what we need!
This development smacks of being all about the money.
Neither of these guys has much feature film experience...to me it's loyalty, sure, but it's also about the price of both of them...which has to be considerably LESS than the people who have worked behind the camera in the previous installments.
Let's face it: David Yates isn't exactly a big-time director. Nicholas Hooper isn't a big-time composer. BOTH of them will not cost nearly as much as, say, Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cauron, and John Williams. Doesn't mean they won't do a good job, but it does make you wonder about the general direction of where they're heading in the HP franchise.
I think salary and budget are very big issues now -- especially after they were legitimately considering shooting in Prague (I believe) instead of England on the last movie. They did eventually nix that idea, but it speaks to some degree that they're watching the wallet by hiring a director and composer whose experience is almost entirely comprised of British TV than any sort of feature film experience. Will they do a good job? Maybe. Maybe not. They could have hired the people who do WILL & GRACE for all we know about their potential to carry this off.
I think it's actually very sad that they will not pay the money to Williams to finish his work on this series, especially after he wrote a WIDE variety of outstanding thematic material for the first three films. No offense, Roman, but this is a series with the same characters, same settings, in each film, and to totally go in a new direction musically in each film would be totally misguided. There does need to be continuity, and IMO a lot more than what Doyle did in the last film. Maybe for the last installment they'll pay the cash to bring Williams back, but in the interim, how does this not look like a Ken Thorne kind of arrangement here? Has Hooper ever written anything that someone is familiar with -- even in Europe? I just find it baffling they'd go so far in that direction, unless money was a major factor.
I disliked Doyle's music in every regard for the last movie, so I'm hopeful Hooper can deliver a score with some kind of presence...though again, maybe Doyle would have wanted more money than Hooper commands as well.
Hey maybe both will turn out to be BRILLIANT moves. From the surface, though, those hirings seem to speak about budget issues, and I'd be surprised if it turned out to be otherwise.
yeah, that's true. I guess money is an issue here, too.
But apparently they makers think that Harry grows up in each movie and that each year presents ome new whatever and that has to be reflected in style and music.
Ok Ive never been a big fan of Williams' music for the series, but I doubt the average moviegoer cares about the music in this franchise as the music mix has always been so low, nobody knows any themes except the opening and closing theme... so the average audience won't notice the fact that there is a new composer on each movie anyhow...
even I who has all scores hardly remember any of the other themes by Williams! lol
so I guess musical contiunity is something we can forget in this franchise...
as long as they don't hire Harry Gregson-Williams Im happy (and he's a Brit!!! ugh)
I'm not exactly psyched about the new composer, but unlike Andy I'm not exactly champing at the bit for Williams to return, even if he wanted to (and apparently he doesn't at any price - would you want to spend another three months watching Daniel Radcliffe try to act on a Moviola?). Williams last Harry Potter score was quite poor and I thought Doyle's score was pretty good and certainly in line with Newell's desire to play the film more as a Hitchcockian thriller. I do think they should hold onto Williams' themes, but as for Williams himself, it seems that he's determined to do what he originally said he wanted to do with the first Star wars trilogy - write enough thematic material so he could hand the series over to another composer a la Ken Thorne and Superman.
Carlson2005 wrote:Williams last Harry Potter score was quite poor and I thought Doyle's score was pretty good and certainly in line with Newell's desire to play the film more as a Hitchcockian thriller. I do think they should hold onto Williams' themes, but as for Williams himself, it seems that he's determined to do what he originally said he wanted to do with the first Star wars trilogy - write enough thematic material so he could hand the series over to another composer a la Ken Thorne and Superman.
I wasn't a big fan of AZKABAN's score either -- in fact I'd go so far as to say it's one of the most disappointing Williams works -- but I do believe Cauron gave Williams instructions to write something totally different...and he did, unfortunately. I wouldn't lay all the blame on Johnny's plate, since Alfonso also peppered the movie with his own (and for me too many) artistic flourishes like the kids running around in jeans, etc.
Still, I'm with you that AZKABAN wasn't great, and it would have made more sense for Doyle to be brought in with Cauron on the last film, and try to recapture their magic from "A Little Princess." Sadly Doyle doesn't seem to be the same composer at all and I can't agree his score was effective...in fact I found it shocking how little the music did to support that movie, and I was one of the composer's biggest fans a decade ago.
Trevor, do you have any idea what his style is? Have you even heard of the TV shows he's been associated with?
I just find it hard to believe the guy has been around for years and nobody -- not even some of the European readers of FSM -- has ever heard of him. You'd think someone, somewhere would at least know what he's capable of by this point!
Carlson2005 wrote: I do think they should hold onto Williams' themes, but as for Williams himself, it seems that he's determined to do what he originally said he wanted to do with the first Star wars trilogy - write enough thematic material so he could hand the series over to another composer a la Ken Thorne and Superman.
I concur really how these scores need to be approached, whether Williams is involved or not.
Bryan Singer is smart to use Williams' themes on Superman Returns (despite John Ottman's alleged misgivings). Likewise Don Davis on Jurassic Park III.
Williams set the perfect tone for Harry Potter, and for Azkaban added darker themes which could conciveablly be drawn upon later -- in fact I wonder if this was on his mind (as Williams is a fan of the books so he knew what was up ahead).
It was a tremendous blunder for Doyle to eschew Williams' themes for HP4, especially as Doyle's own contribution was so dull (I've seen the film twice and can't recall a single melodic idea other than the superficial quote of Williams' "Hedwig's Theme").
And why this composer? Ok, so they couldn't get Williams, but what about George Fenton (who's my choice), or Richard Harvey, Trevor Jones, heck even Rachel Portman!
Carlson2005 wrote: I do think they should hold onto Williams' themes, but as for Williams himself, it seems that he's determined to do what he originally said he wanted to do with the first Star wars trilogy - write enough thematic material so he could hand the series over to another composer a la Ken Thorne and Superman.
I concur really how these scores need to be approached, whether Williams is involved or not.
Bryan Singer is smart to use Williams' themes on Superman Returns (despite John Ottman's alleged misgivings). Likewise Don Davis on Jurassic Park III.
Williams set the perfect tone for Harry Potter, and for Azkaban added darker themes which could conciveablly be drawn upon later -- in fact I wonder if this was on his mind (as Williams is a fan of the books so he knew what was up ahead).
It was a tremendous blunder for Doyle to eschew Williams' themes for HP4, especially as Doyle's own contribution was so dull (I've seen the film twice and can't recall a single melodic idea other than the superficial quote of Williams' "Hedwig's Theme").
And why this composer? Ok, so they couldn't get Williams, but what about George Fenton (who's my choice), or Richard Harvey, Trevor Jones, heck even Rachel Portman!
Paul
How about Basil Poledouris or Bruce Broughton or Robert Folk? Three of the most underappreciated and underworking in today composers that I can imagine.
AndyDursin wrote:The bigger question, though, is Hooper himself.
Trevor, do you have any idea what his style is? Have you even heard of the TV shows he's been associated with?
Looking at that photo, I now realise that not only have I heard some of his stuff, but I've actually met him once (I think Paul Talkington introduced us briefly years ago in the cafe in the mid of the recording sessions for Lee Holdridge's Into Thin Air at Wembley, but I may have the occasion mixed up).
What I've heard of his is mainly reliably breezy TV stuff, though I didn't see Messiah 3, so I'm not familiar with the darker stuff, largely because he works on the kind of sunday evening shows I never watch. Aside from Tichbourne Claimant, there's nothing that stands out or sticks in the mind but nothing that seems out of place, so they could do a lot worse in today's pretty pathetic marketplace. And at least they've got a composer with a British sensibility - most of the American names mentioned would just be plain wrong aside from George Fenton.
I think Broughton would be really the only one who could come up with something for HP on thelevel of Williams. Heck, just put Young Sherlock Holmes all over it! But I guess that won't happen...
romanD wrote:I think Broughton would be really the only one who could come up with something for HP on thelevel of Williams. Heck, just put Young Sherlock Holmes all over it! But I guess that won't happen...
Broughton is one of the first guys I thought of. Fenton seems to be a slump, and Portman's music has become increasingly repetitious as the years have gone on...though either of those would be preferrable to basically anyone else working in the U.S. at the moment. How about Debbie Wiseman? At least she's written some solid scores (HAUNTED in particular) and has some feature scoring experience, though I'm not sure she'd be right for Potter.
Hooper is indeed a surprising choice. Though, not only have I heard of him, but actually have worked with him on a project several years ago. He is a very accomplished composer and can easily fill the big shoes that he's slipped into. Still, he's never written a really HUGE, epic score in the style that the Potter films will demand. Nonetheless, I'm very interested in hearing what he'll compose. He is very deserving of accolades and a monster hit will be sure to put him on the map and on course to doing more visible films that will showcase his talents.
AndyDursin wrote:
How about Debbie Wiseman? At least she's written some solid scores (HAUNTED in particular) and has some feature scoring experience, though I'm not sure she'd be right for Potter.
Okay, Andy, this is getting spooky - Debbie Wiseman was also at Wembley that day I briefly met Hooper. Don't tell me you were sitting at one of the other tables as well?
Wiseman could pull it off quite well, though I suspect she'll be stuck in bad television and underperforming movies for the foresseable future, sadly.
Carlson2005 wrote:Wiseman could pull it off quite well, though I suspect she'll be stuck in bad television and underperforming movies for the foresseable future, sadly.
Trevor as long as there isn't some kind of curse on those of you sitting at Wembley I think you're safe...at least for now, lol. Wiseman strikes me as someone with an enormous amount of potential, and while I don't mean to put down Rachel Portman who has certainly written some fine scores, is there some reason she continues to get high-profile films -- writing the same type of score for every one of them -- while Wiseman, who seems every bit as capable, languishes in these obscure small films and TV over there? Maybe it's just who you know?
yeah, Debbie Wiseman is really good. She wrote so many diverse scores and continues to impress.
Her LIGHTHOUSE score is one of my favorite horrorscores...
she deserves a big hit and wide popularity! you go girl!!!!
You'd think someone, somewhere would at least know what he's capable of by this point!
