Minggu, Maret 24, 2013

Oz the Great and Powerful

Filmtracks me-review Oz the Great and Powerful dan memberi bintang empat, berikut kutipannya:
The tone of the writing, as well as the accompanying orchestrations, are absolutely pure Elfman tradition in their execution, nothing about the recording likely to surprise the learned collector of the composer's albums. The music box, organ, stomping tuba rhythms, melancholy violin performances, brass that answers back and forth within the section, prominent bassoons in the mix, cimbalom or mandolin for a touch of wickedness, marching snares for determination, bass string ostinatos for preparation, chimes for resolution, and other instrumental applications are all easily recognizable within Elfman's palette.
The lengthy album (released in physical form by Intrada Records) is a fantastic tool with which to hear what Elfman was attempting in this score, and the composer reaffirms his clear enthusiasm for fantasy concepts throughout the work. Ultimately, however,Oz the Great and Powerful is one of those great ambient listening experiences in the genre that doesn't stand up to focused analysis upon a closer look. For many listeners, such details won't matter, but that is what distinguishes a solid, workmanlike score from one destined to be a classic. ****
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Danny Elfman "Edward Scissorhands" Full Orchestral Score

Omni Music Publishing menerbitkan sheet music dari Edward Scissorhands, berikut kutipannya:
Widely considered Danny Elfman's masterpiece, Edward Scissorhands is expertly engraved and handsomely bound. Never before has its equal been offered for purchase. Contents include all 37 music cues from the film composed by Danny Elfman, a contents page, instrumentation list, and an exclusive interview with the composer about different aspects of the film-scoring process and his personal reflections on the music that would influence a generation of composers.
Omni Music Publishing has included all the details that were adjusted, re-written and re-orchestrated at the scoring stage — this is THE definitive edition! I am hoping that there will be more volumes of film scores treated as thoroughly as this one. — Steve Bartek, Elfman orchestrator
Harganya $75, cek lengkapnya di sini.

March Soundtrack Picks

Film Music Magazine merekomendasikan soundtrack untuk bulan Maret 2013, berikut kutipannya:
OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL
What is it?: Long before fairy tale movies were in vogue, Danny Elfman was applying equal parts enchantment and foreboding to such fractured Tim Burton fantasies as “Edward Scissorhands,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Big Fish.” So it’s no surprise that a filmmaker prone to dark, deceptively kid-friendly adventures would start the recent trend off with “Alice In Wonderland,” even if it was a film that pretty much went down the rabbit hole. However, Elfman’s strikingly themed score stayed above the helter-skelter effects fray with its clever plays on English propriety. Now, Elfman’s music truly gets to fly in the genre for Sam Raimi’s prequel voyage to “Oz,” one that thankful reunites the composer and his “Spider-Man” director. It’s a tall tale that pays off far better on the filmmaking count, while inspiring Elfman to reach further heights of rambunctious storybook enchantment that proves his music was never in Kansas to begin with.
Why you should buy it?: While not quite as sing-song memorable as “Alice’s” theme, Elfman has got another winning melody in the purposefully blustering motif for a con-man “wizard” who ultimately finds the magic within himself. There’s even more than a bit of original “Oz” composer Herbert Stothart’s wonder as Elfman transitions from music box bells to romping circus music for organ and chorus before the glorious orchestral statement of his “Oz” theme emerges in the “Main Titles.” It’s wondrous stuff that sets very high expectations of the trip to Emerald City to come, a journey that Elfman makes very enjoyable indeed with all the fantasy score pre-requisites of siren-voices, rapturous strings and villainous percussion. But this is a composer who’s gotten his name by rarely playing it straight. And while there are moments of beautiful calmness that sink in the “Avatar”-worthy painted environment, from waltzes to a heartbreakingly touching bell theme for a China Doll, “Oz” more often than not has an antic, exciting energy that’s more like a kid ripping through the pages of a storybook than pleasantly thumbing at it. There’s fun pomp and circumstance for the con man anti-hero, even as Elfman steadily humanizes the vulnerability within him. He also uses a violin to bring out the pathos of a witch who wasn’t so wicked once upon a time, even as her music shrieks with some of the most fiendish delight that Elfman’s had since “Darkman” and “The Frighteners.”
Extra Special: Disney’s made it a point to not go anywhere near the starstuff of the one and only “Oz,” so don’t expect any attempts at another “Over the Rainbow,” let alone Elfman bringing a Boingo style rock beat to “We’re Off To See the Wizard.” But given Raimi’s screwball humor, the one tune offered is a joke to what we won’t get in “The Munchkin Welcome Song.” A way-too jolly marching band introduces its goofily catchy verses (done a couple of octaves lower than Elfman’s one-man Munchkin band for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) before the amiable little people are cut-off at “Yo Ho,” perhaps the most thankfully stopped ballad since a prince tried to warble a ballad in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
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Selasa, Maret 19, 2013

Danny Elfman interview: Oz, Sam Raimi, Burton, Batman & more

Den of Geek mewawancarai Danny Elfman, berikut kutipannya:
I was thrilled to see that at the Royal Albert Hall on October 7th, there’s going to be a live performance of your music from the Tim Burton films…
There will indeed! And once again I’ve gotta go back, that’s my job for the next couple months is I’ve got to sift through all those scores and create some suites, because I’ve got to figure out what we’re going to play.
This time I’m going to go even deeper, because on the records I just had to listen to everything and re-organise tracks and sometimes take a few mixes or something, but here I’m going to open up the original scores and go back and reconstruct pieces and/or elaborate on them. So it’s really going back! I’m going to be potentially creating suites for Pee Wee and Batman and Beetlejuice that probably don’t exist…
[At this point, I think it’s safe to say, I had an overwhelming wave of excitement hit me at the prospect of hearing the new arrangements] Oh wow! Well I look forward to that. What actually inspired the decision to do the live performance over here?
With most things like, this it occurs because it’s a brainstorm of my agent, who is always coming up with some crazy scheme and he asked me some time ago, "Would you be into doing a concert?" and I said [hesitantly] "I don’t know… sure… why not" as I was always afraid of that, because of the work involved. I’ve avoided doing concerts because I’ve worked for 27 years and it’s hard – you have to re-imagine stuff and put work into it, and me not liking to go backwards, I’ve just avoided it and avoided it, so I said, alright then, I guess maybe it’d be fun.
Then at another my agent called me and said, "Would you be willing to possibly sing a song or two from Nightmare?" and at the point I was like, "Oh yeah, yeah, sure whatever." Then the next time I heard from him he says, "Guess what, tickets went on sale and they all sold out", and I’m like "What? When did that happen!? Really…" [Laughs] and then suddenly the reality of it [hit] and I asked him, "Did I say I was or wasn’t going to sing?" and he told me I was, so I figured, okay, I’m not going to go back on my word, but then suddenly it’s like, "Oh. What did I get myself into" but it’ll be good.
If I can get the music all sorted out – I went through it last week and realised, my god, there’s only 90 minutes [to perform], there’s 15 scores, that’s only six minutes a score – it was a little bit daunting last week when I began to look at it, but I’m sure I’ll sort it out.
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Kamis, Maret 14, 2013

Exclusive: Danny Elfman Career Interview

Empire Online mewawancarai Danny Elfman, berikut kutipannya:
How does working with Sam Raimi compare to working with Tim Burton?They're very different. Sam is very easygoing, when it comes to the studio and the music. He just seems really to fit into it and enjoy it. Tim doesn't enjoy it. He's much more intense during the process, figuring out what his movie is. Sometimes he has to go on a journey himself with music, and discover where the centre of it is. It's a little more of a game with Sam - like we're playing around and goofing. Not that he doesn't take it seriously, but it can feel sometimes more like we're having a good time and goofing off. Tim... (pauses) It's not that we never goof off. Usually by the time the score is written and he's in the studio, he actually can get really silly and funny. But during the actual process, he's usually pretty intense.
How did Oz differ from your previous experiences with Sam?It actually took me back to Darkman, in a sense. This is the easiest time I've had with Sam in a long while. The score went really quick, and it was just like right on the nose from the first beat. It was like I'd nailed it for him from the first presentation. I don't know why this one was like that, it's rare. I wish they were all like that! It was a reminder that even a 115-minute score can be relatively easy, [whereas] sometimes a 25-minute score can be excruciatingly difficult. It's a strange business, but every now and then one just comes down really easily. I remember having that with Tim on Mars Attacks!. Just for whatever reason, BAM!, that one shot out of the gate and I heard the main titles as soon as I saw the rough cut of the opening sequence. But I've done like 80 or 85 films, and we're talking half a dozen like that. Most of them evolve from suffering!
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Sabtu, Maret 09, 2013

Q&A: Sam Raimi, director of “Oz: The Great and Powerful”

Berikut ini kutipan wawancara dengan Sam Raimi:
What was the best part of working on the film?
The best part of the picture for me, as a director, was once I had worked on the thing for two years and eight months, was to hear Danny Elfman, our composer, create such a fantastic score. He took the emotions that were in the movie and he elevated them. He took the drama and he deepened it. He basically made everything better. He was the secret sauce that brings it to the next level.
What you do think Elfman’s music brings to the atmosphere of the film?
He made the love story much deeper. The Wizard in Kansas, he has a love story with a girl named Annie, played by Michelle Williams, and this is a love that’s right before the Wizard, if only he would recognize it. It’s only once he gets to Oz that he starts to realize that true love is the most valuable thing that one can strive for. Danny Elfman creates a love theme that he’s decided to play with Annie and the Wizard, and it’s an incomplete fragile broken thing. Later when the Wizard meets Glinda and their love story blossoms, you’ll hear that theme in all of its orchestrated fullness. It helps you feel that a mistake that he made in the past could be corrected, the same love can be reborn. He also added great mood when those winged baboons are around, and the drums and the horns come on. They’re very primal and they get your heart beating. He’s the emotion of the picture.
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James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Sam Raimi & More Are Off To See The Wizard

Buzzine mewawancarai beberapa orang termasuk Danny Elfman, berikut kutipannya:
Nicole Rayburn: You’ve worked on so many phenomenal films in your career – what sets this one apart from the rest?
Danny Elfman: You know, this movie was one of those really, really rare ones. I've done close to 80 films and I can't think of, in the last 15, 20 years, where I've done anything where it just came so naturally and easily. It's just one of those knock-wood, "I wish they were all like this..."
But Sam and I talked a little bit and I just fell right into the groove, and the very first things I came up with became the themes. Usually there's a lot more struggle involved and I'm used to that, so to have it not happen, it was almost like a dream. So this really was my dream project.
NR: What was the collaboration process like?
DE: Well normally, I don't start on a movie until it's done. There's a director's cut, I look at it, and then I get ideas, and I go home and I work on it. In this one, Sam needed some of the music before he started shooting, so he came to me early on with the script and he says, "I need a waltz because they're going to dance to this waltz onscreen." So I quickly wrote a waltz and I gave it to him, and I said, "Here, it's a little music box theme." I didn't know that a year later I'd be coming back going, "Oh, yeah, is that the thing I wrote for you?" and it became the witches' theme in the movie. I'm just lucky that I wrote something that I liked a year later, because it could have been otherwise.
NR: Did you drawn any inspiration at all from the first movie?
DE: Really, no. The only thing we decided up front was that we would have no references to The Wizard of Oz, that this was its own entity and disconnected in every way, except the story links and that we're learning how Oz becomes the Wizard. But musically, we knew up front that we would not be touching anything from the movie—the original movie.
NR: Well, you have such a distinct sound that your music is instantly recognizable. What was it in particular about OZ that inspired this score?

DE: Well in this one, it's just one of those things where there's such a fabulous landscape to work in that it was just real easy to kind of cut loose and not be restrained, which is really fun.

NR: Did you have any particular characters who really got your creative juices flowing musically?

DE: Well, always it's the villain, so the witches. The witches' music was the most fun for sure.

NR: Well, the villains are also a big part of what Sam Raimi does – much of his work is very dark, whereas this film is a lot lighter.

DE: Well, this is definitely not like a Sam horror film, but he definitely has some moments in it that get pretty wild and crazy ... because it's still Sam. I mean if there's one link, whether it's a comedy or a horror film or a fantasy, it's always just a little crazy.
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Kamis, Maret 07, 2013

Varèse Sarabande: A 35th Anniversary Celebration

Label Varèse Sarabande akan mengeluarkan box set lagi, hurah!! Berikut kutipannya:
Varèse Sarabande’s 35th Anniversary will be our biggest celebration yet! Historic in scope, we kick things off with this epic 4CD set of extraordinary film music.
Continuing our series of anniversary film music compilations, we have produced a blockbuster to celebrate our 35th. There is no duplication here. For our 35th anniversary we look back at our greatest releases over the last five years. And being the biggest and most prolific film music record label in the world, that meant we had over 250 soundtracks to choose from!
Averaging over 60 new soundtrack releases a year, Varèse Sarabande’s catalog features virtually every great name in film music. A list of just a few of the composers included here includes the late Jerry Goldsmith, along with Hans Zimmer, Alexandre Desplat, John Powell, Danny Elfman, Thomas Newman, Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard, Mark Isham, Ramin Djawadi, Patrick Doyle, James Horner, Mychael Danna, Michael Giacchino, John Debney, Marco Beltrami, Gabriel Yared, Brian Tyler and many more!
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Musik Danny Elfman yang dirilis oleh Varèse Sarabande sejak tahun 2008 adalah Standard Operating Procedure (2008), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), The Wolfman (2010), dan Real Steel (2011).

Danny Elfman: Oz The Great And Powerful - an album guide

Classic FM mendeskripsikan setiap track dari Oz: The Great and Powerful, berikut kutipannya:
Main Titles Danny Elfman's soundtrack gets off to a fantastically glitzy start, with orchestral and choral bombast to spare - perfect vintage Hollywood fare.
A Serious Talk Delicate woodwinds form the main part of this conversation.
A Strange World While the visuals in this film are predictably stunning and other-worldly, the music has to match it - Danny Elfman's score is full of wonder here, with ethereal effects designed to evoke the mysterious and sumptuous world of Oz.
Fireside Dance Another sumptuous number from Elfman, this time with added dulcimer and a glorious (dare we say Rieu-esque?) waltz.
The Emerald Palace The location that so many people recognise from the original brings out the most lush orchestration you could imagine from Danny Elfman's score - it's foreboding and triumphant at the same time.
Treasure Room / Monkey Business We're pretty confident in suggesting that this particular portion of the movie will feature Finley, the flying monkey voiced by Zach Braff. As you'd expect, it's a suitably cheeky piece of scoring from Elfman.
Glinda Revealed This ethereal theme announces the arrival of Glinda, played by Michelle Williams.
The Munchkin Welcome Song A classic slice of Elfman whimsy and a return for some of the most notable characters from the first time round - The Munchkins!
The Bubble Voyage Mystical and exciting sounds from the orchestra give a fantastical sense of the visuals here - Elfman is the go-to guy for visually stunning stuff like this.
Meeting The Troops A lumbering theme for the titular troops from Elfman, and another highlight in the soundtrack. Listen out for the gentle celesta in the background as well, something that Elfman has often used in his scores.
What Army? More bombastic excitement from Elfman's score here.
Theodora's Entrance Mila Kunis made quite an entrance at the Oscars, but we bet her arrival in Oz The Great And Powerful is even better, if the score is anything to go by.
A Threat You can imagine how this slice of Elfman sounds just from the title alone - expect nervous strings and a sense of dread in the brass...
Bedtime / The Preparation Montage This is the soundtrack's longest section and is quick to assert Elfman's rather deft way with quieter passages.
Call To Arms ...in Danny Elfman's score things have gotten decidedly more dramatic...
Destruction Another dramatic bit of scoring, this time with lower-register brass dominating.
Oz The Great And Powerful The title track from the film, this is about as anthemic as Danny Elfman gets. Lovely stuff, and a great iconic way to cement James Franco's on-screen performance.
Time For Gifts A sweetly emotional finale to the film, which has by this point taken in some seriously breathtaking scenery, some lush orchestration from Danny Elfman
End Credits From Oz Danny Elfman's epic score finishes with a bang, and a little tour of some of the best themes in the film. Another corking soundtrack from one of the modern masters of the genre.
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Saturn Awards

Satu lagi berita lama, tanggal 20 Februari yang lalu nominees untuk 39th Saturn Awards telah diumumkan, berikut ini untuk kategori musik film:
BEST MUSIC
Mychael Danna – Life of Pi
Danny Elfman – Frankenweenie
Dario Marianelli – Anna Karenina
Thomas Newman – Skyfall
Howard Shore – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Hans Zimmer – The Dark Knight Rises

Acara pengumuman pemenang akan diadakan bulan Juni 2013. Baca lengkapnya di sini.

Selasa, Maret 05, 2013

THE 4-MINUTE DAYS & SLEEPLESS NIGHTS OF ‘OZ’ COMPOSER DANNY ELFMAN

American Film dari American Film Institute mewawancarai Danny Elfman, berikut kutipannya:
I had a kind of unique situation in the writing of OZ. I’ve had a very busy, hectic year, and I was a little worried about my energy, coming into such a big score. And for reasons that I still haven’t figured out, I fell into the most rhythmically perfect writing period that I think I’ve ever experienced. Without trying, I fell into the themes really easily and I just started writing it. And every day I was looking at what I’d written and I was going, "I’ve never written that much before!" I’m used to writing, struggling to get two minutes a day and I was finding three and three and a half and even four-minute days, but I wasn’t trying! It was really weird. I actually finished the score two and half weeks, three weeks ahead of schedule, which is incredibly bizarre. It was such a magical thing that when I went back to work on my next film it was more like my usual torturous process.
I’ve actually had extended dreams where I say in the dream "This is ridiculous, I’m dreaming!" And some technicians come out and go, "No, no, no... you’re hooked up to a hard-drive, everything you’re working on is getting saved." "Really?" "Absolutely." "This is fool-proof?" "In fact, there’s a redundant backup system, even if it crashes, everything’s being saved." So I continue writing, I continue working. And of course, I wake up, and it’s like "Nooooooo...!"
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OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

Studio: Roth Films, Curtis-Donen Productions, Walt Disney Pictures
Sutradara: Sam Raimi
Composer: Danny Elfman
Tanggal rilis film: 8 Maret 2013
Tanggal rilis soundtrack: 5 Maret 2013
Label: Intrada

Track list:
01. Main Titles 2:57
02. A Serious Talk 2:23
03. Oz Revealed 1:58
04. A Strange World 1:48
05. Where Am I?/Schmooze-A-Witch 2:05
06. Fireside Dance 1:19
07. Meeting Finley 1:57
08. The Emerald Palace 0:47
09. Treasure Room/Monkey Business 2:56
10. China Town 3:07
11. A Con Job 1:47
12. Glinda Revealed 1:43
13. The Munchkin’s Welcome Song 0:41
14. Bad Witch 4:32
15. The Bubble Voyage 2:48
16. Great Expectations/The Apple 4:58
17. Meeting the Troops 1:18
18. What Army? 0:29
19. Theodora’s Entrance/A Puppet Waltz 1:51
20. A Threat 2:07
21. Bedtime/The Preparation Montage 7:00
22. Call to Arms 2:13
23. Destruction 2:38
24. Oz The Great and Powerful 1:25
25. Fireworks/Witch Fight 1:39
26. Time for Gifts 5:54
27. End Credits from Oz 1:59

Sensational new score by Danny Elfman for Disney's new movie. Intrada proudly presents soundtrack as latest co-brand with Walt Disney Records. Danny Elfman anchors with gentle music box tune, then expands idea into large-scale orchestral work, including chorus. Moments of truly imaginative color trade with massive action set pieces, music of light trades with music of darkness. Everywhere, magical Elfman melody abounds! Contrasting music for iconic witches amongst many highlights.

Belum ada di iTunes Indonesia grrr... Lihat lengkapnya di sini.

IFMCA Winners 2012

Berita lama, lupa dilaporkan karena satu dan lain hal uhuk! Tanggal 21 Februari kemarin, International Film Music Critics Association mengumumkan para pemenang penghargaannya, berikut kutipannya:
Hollywood A-lister DANNY ELFMAN was named Film Composer of the Year for his outstanding body of work in 2012, during which he composed music for such popular and successful films as DARK SHADOWS, FRANKENWEENIE, HITCHCOCK. MEN IN BLACK III, PROMISED LAND and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. Elfman’s music in 2012 ran the gamut of styles and genres, from the soft rock of Silver Linings Playbook to the Gothic atmospherics of Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie, to the subtle Bernard Herrmann echoes of Hitchcock, cementing his position as one of the most versatile and sought-after composers working today. This is the second Composer of the Year Award Elfman has received from the IFMCA, having previously been similarly honored for his work in 2008.
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Sabtu, Maret 02, 2013

Danny Elfman - The Great and Powerful - HD Interview PART 1

Wawancara dengan Danny Elfman di acara pemutaran perdana Oz: The Great and Powerful.

Interview with composer Danny Elfman on Oz the Great and Powerful

Wawancara yang informatif mengenai Oz: The Great and Powerful, lihat videonya di sini.

Walt Disney Records Presents Oz The Great and PowerfulOriginal Motion Picture Score Soundtrack

Press release resmi untuk score album Oz: The Great and Powerful, berikut kutipannya:
Elfman said, "I didn't really go in with any sense of what I wanted to do other than just to follow the film. It was incredibly clear because the characters and what they were doing, and what their quests were, and what needed to be done, were all laid out, so I fell into it very easily." Elfman employed a traditional orchestra for the film to give the music a classic feel. He relates, "Sam did want a very strong, traditional feel to this movie. I think there has always been the feeling that we'd like to try to give it a classic feel and a timelessness."
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Raimi said, "Danny has a grand arsenal of musical abilities. He's able to create a sweeping gigantic sound that can really describe a tremendous scale and help us create this very unique world that Frank Baum wrote about, the land of Oz."
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