War of the Worlds: "The Intersection Scene" - John Williams (Score Reduction and Analysis)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ม.ค. 2024
- A bit of a change from Home Alone, War of the Worlds has long been one of my favourite John Williams scores, so I'm very happy that I've finally gotten around to making a video on it. I was originally planning on doing a full study of the score (ie. of every cue), but I just don't have the free time to dedicate to a project of that scale at the moment. That being said, I am hoping to do a few more cues from the score over the course of this year - namely 'Bodies in the River', 'Attacking the Car', 'The Ferry Scene', and 'Red Planet'. Please feel free to comment any other requests. For now, I hope this video will suffice! (Also sorry for the crappy movie quality, couldn't avoid it for this one)
I noticed this after uploading, but at bar 83, the contour of the horn line seems to mimic Ray's movement back and forth.
Thanks for watching, and have a good one.
I own nothing!
In the past few days, I reached 1000 subscribers on this channel. That's an insane milestone and something I'm really proud of. Thanks very much to everyone who has subscribed, and I'll try to keep putting out good content for you all. Keep smiling! -P
Congrats on reaching 1,000 Patrick! That's a well-deserved milestone. And I am just amazed at how understated this cue is for how horrific the images are on screen! I'd certainly imagine Williams knew the images on-screen spoke for themselves. I've never gotten around to listening to this particular Williams soundtrack, but I love learning about atypical John Williams scores like this!
@@DavidMcCaulley Thanks so much David. I really appreciate that. Very well said!
Patrick, well earned, sir.
I am so impressed with this particular cue, and how Mr. Williams scored the scene. As the machine rises slowly, instead of making some bombastic approach (something we expect to hear with current score, along with a lot of electronic synth blasts), he holds back the music quite a bit! This has a fantastic eerie effect. The celli and viola playing the quintuplets have an announcement that something is not quite right.
Even at the 0:51 part of the scene, the music STILL holds back as to compared to what we would hear in a modern score. By the 1:08, with the size of these machines revealed, Williams still holds back, musically. It isn't until mm. 39 that where Williams cranks up the orchestral power, and I LOVE the trombones and bass trombone mutes (he did this of course in a similar way to the T-Rex Rescue cue you analyzed as well). It KEEPS building until we get to that release of the tension at 3:22.
Mr. Williams proves that a traditional orchestra can still create terrifying sounds, I'd say better than what we can hear today with the heavy reliance on synths. He loves the woodwinds (something again, we rarely hear, today), and the big Wagner-esk approach to "epic brass". Williams builds the scene's terror factor so well, allowing the scene to BREATHE, allowing the music to only be big when it's necessary. By building up the tension to almost all the way to the end of the scene, it captures a cinematic suspense that is too often revealed too quickly, today.
Wow, this is an amazing comment. I tried to draw attention to the ‘holding back’ aspect in my analysis - the music is part of the machine that slowly rises and begins to show its horrific power as the cue continues. War of the Worlds is a great study into some really uncomfortable and terrifying orchestral textures - mostly achieved without synthesisers (outside of the prologue of course). I don’t usually compare Williams’ approach with more modern ones, so I’m glad you have. Very insightful! :)
And I’m sorry it took me so long to explore WOTW!!
@@patricksuiter, thank you, sir. No issues in regards to how long it took to dive into War of the Worlds. ANY John Williams cue is incredibly complex and full of rich orchestration. I look forward to more videos from you.
i have to think after re-creating so many of these cues you've gained a real understanding of JW's mastery of form. that's something i've picked up on after looking at so much of your work the last few days. williams builds his cues from such relatively sparse material, just a handful of motivic ideas, and iterates on them over and over with different voices and textures. this may be one reason his music is so satisfying. he's like beethoven in that sense, a real expert at development. looking at all these reductions is very instructive! thank you for providing all of this. years ago i worked at a music prep office in los angeles and we handled all of JW's scores. tin tin and warhorse came through at that time and i liked looking at his handwritten sketches that we would then turn into individual parts for the players.
Thanks so much for this comment and the kind words. I definitely have learnt so much about Williams’ style in the last 2 years - in many cases, like this cue, he gets so much out of small ideas. If you don’t me asking, what was it like working at JKMS (i’m assuming that’s what you’re referring to)? America is too far away for me but it looks like great, fascinating work.
@@patricksuiter yes, that was the place. I have a lot of stories, some good some bad. I enjoyed going to JW’s house and picking up his music. He wrote me personal checks whenever I worked on his stuff. It was fun seeing how much went into the process after composition and before the scoring sessions, something very few people see. One of the main orchestrators once told me “everything you need to know about orchestration is contained in ESB’s asteroid field cue.” I thought that was pretty cool. So I always like going back to that one and studying the score. But I’ll tell you there was a toxic culture of fear enforced by abusive leadership. If the same people are still in charge I don’t imagine much has changed. The composers were generally kind and gracious, but the office was filled with frightened and nervous people. I was treated very badly and it deeply affected my experience in the industry. In fact the abuse still comes up in therapy for me from time to time, sadly. I believe film music is best enjoyed from a distance. It’s a remarkable craft in my opinion but I wouldn’t recommend trying to make it into a career.
@@hemslonnigum being able to get some insight into that process sounds like a dream come true. I’m truly sorry that you had to endure abuse while working there - I have some idea of what that might look like from a past job of mine, and it really consumes your entire self in the worst way. From the outside looking in, it certainly looks like a very stressful environment. My plans for the moment are to let film music remain a hobby - and to some extent I enjoy approaching the music more as a listener/analyser than as a creator. Thanks for sharing your insight - it is really appreciated, and thanks for exploring my channel too. I hope time and therapy has and will continue to give you the healing you need :)
@@patricksuiter thanks, those are very kind words from a stranger. I left the business around 10 years ago and that decision was a huge mental health benefit. I have friends who are still doing it, succeeding quite spectacularly in their music careers, but they tell me often they wish they’d gotten out when I did. Anyway, this has just been my experience. Others might tell you it is indeed as magical as it seems.
Fantastic work! If you're taking suggestions for additional cues from this movie, I'd be delighted to see 'Escape from the City'- the harmonies, and timpani parts in this have fascinated me for a very long time. Again, amazing work!
Thanks! I’ve been going back and forth on whether I will or won’t, I guess I will!
Great job!
cheers!
Awesome work, I am more impressed with these cues than the standard Williams sound, he clearly was trying something different back then. Some other suggestions: Ferry Scene, and Learning the ropes from catch me if you can. No mans Land from War Horse...
I will definitely be doing the Ferry Scene at some point soon, No mans land would also be a cool one to do, and so is learning the ropes!! So much to choose from.. I hope to do them at some point, though the next few videos are all planned out so you might have to wait a bit.. I apologise
@@patricksuiter Can you do Jerry Goldsmith scores, like explorers, Supergirl, Forever Young, Hollow man, or.. my favourite the Challenge 1982
@@TB1M1 Definitely will do some Goldsmith at some point
@@patricksuiter Another suggestion. Letter Bombs from Munich, Destinys Path from Memoirs of Geisha,
@@TB1M1 I've already considered doing Destiny's Path - definitely on my list for the future. I'm already most of the way done with another cue from Memoirs. Letter Bombs I'm not familiar with but I'll give it a look :)
Incredible job transcribing it all just from hearing audio soundtrack !!! I can't even imagine figuring out music like this without an actual score... Beyond my imagination. JW adapted different approach here compared to his "usual" work. He is a total Master of providing music that supports the picture so incredibly well. Great analysis. Usage of third Messiaen's modi or Hungarian minor are somewhat "usual" tools in creating foreboding timbres, rumbles etc. What is striking here is the complete absence of upper orchestral instruments. Thus the total sonic image is dark throughout the entire film.
Thanks! Great points! The way those particular scales create that foreboding sound is something I’d love to explore further so I can discuss it on the channel.
What makes you think he transcripted just by ear. Im almost certain he has the Score. If i have it then he most likely has it too.
@@jessemoog5310I don’t have it, and don’t see any possibility to get one… But this transcription has all ingredients, and that’s great 😊
Sorry I'm late, but I just wanted to add my own input to Williams' score for this film. This is not necessarily a critique, nor a compliment, but rather something I just wanted to be able to type out. I do enjoy the score for this film, and I also didn't notice any main motifs throughout. At least, nothing that I could pick out. Y'know, no clear imperial marches or things like that, at least to me. Again, that's not bad, I just wanted to be able to type this out.
Edit: I also wrote this before watching the video, as I wanted to get it off my chest.
Fair! You’re absolutely right. There are actually a few recurring themes/motifs but they are incredibly subtle, and yes they are nowhere near as iconic or recognisable as The Imperial March. I actually mention this in the video - it is perhaps reflecting a trend in some modern action scores. I think it’s a very deliberate choice so that the music throughout is less recognisable - we have less to ‘cling on to’, there is no sense of familiarity like that which is brought by the imperial march, for example. Whether you think that is a good choice is entirely up to you! It certainly does make the soundtrack a bit less fun to listen to (we’re so used to action cues packed with amazing themes) - but in a film like this, maybe that’s the point. Just my take - I totally get what you’re saying!
@@patricksuiter Thanks! Also, I really only bring up the Imperial March because it was the first thing I thought of to demonstrate my point. It's recognizable and distinct motif for the villains. In terms of the War of the Worlds score, I was more so trying to state that I didn't notice any notes or motifs in the score that were really like "THIS IS THE TRIPODS" or something. Again, like you said, that certainly isn't a bad thing. I was just trying to type out my thoughts. Unfortunately, I am bad at doing so.
@@Damon_Allen Not at all. I think Williams just moreso uses the huge brass section in unison as a way to announce the tripods rather than a theme. But you're absolutely right.
I've seen a lot of sheet music analysis on TH-cam, Because Seeing sheet music analysis like this makes it easier for me to learn to orchestrate/Arranging a song, it's really helpfull :))
Can u do "The Parent Trap Suite" by Alan Silvetri ? It has a beautiful melody
Glad it’s helpful. I’ll see if I can get access to the score :)
2:07 the piano is marked with ("color strings"), what does this mean?
Though I can't be precisely sure of the meaning, Williams includes this marking frequently to indicate two things - that the pianos are playing with the strings (useful for players on the sessions who have never heard the music before), and that the pianos are supposed to play a subordinate role, transforming the tone color/timbre of the strings (hence 'color strings'). Hope that makes sense.
@@patricksuiter great insight. i think this is exactly what JW means when he includes that note.