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Hi you all!!!
Listen to Tim burton’s commentary on the Sleepy Hollow DVD, I just noticed that he points out the very moment when Danny’s name appear on the screen, saying that he “…gave himself a big note”.
God, it is true… Didn’t you notice how danny’s name appear on intresting moments during the main titles, being beautifully combined with the image and his score???For example, in Sleepy Hollow, A big dark powerfull brass note combined with a dark and creepy image of the trees with a blue evening sky…
Or in Mars Attacks!, his name appears just when we see the red planet on the screen.
Or, my favourite one, in Family Man, where his name appears just when we see the big Christmas Tree…
What do you guys think about that??? Have you other examples???
And I just take advantage of the situation to remind you that you can hear samples from my compositions (inspired a lot by elfman’s music) in the following web site:http://etudiants.unige.ch/~.BAKHCHP0.ETUDIANTS.FAPSE.BATTELLE.UNIGE/mymusic.htm
Let me know what you think.
Eric
Hey there, glad to see that others notice this. I know that Elfman did it recently in Spiderman, and I believe in last year’s Planet of the Apes. Actually, a lot of composers do this. The first one to do it was Jerry Goldsmith, back in The Sand Pebbles, this old movie with Steve McQueen. The Sand Pebbles incident is so overdone that it’s funny, so if you can, take a look.
–TimHey, thanks Tim, I will !!!
I can’t speak for him, but I don’t think he’s writing music for the actual credits appearing on the screen, I think he’s writing music for the opening credits sequences. Like Sleepy Hollow . . . yeah, there’s a big and powerful bit when his name appears on screen, but that’s also sort of a bigger point visually – – before, we’re following the carriage around while it’s daytime and even kind of sunny out, and then boom, you see silhouettes at night. Personally I think that has a lot more to do with it than the fact that his name happens to be on screen at that time.
nah, i think its cuz his name showed up on the screen
Couldn’t agree more. The Sleepy Hollow note came from the sudden cut to night — and fit the film perfectly (making it more brooding and giving the scene a greater sense of urgency). The fact that it said, “Music by Danny Elfman” probably had nothing to do with it — especially since he seems to go literally OUT OF HIS WAY about 99% of the time to tone down the music when his name plays (see Batman Returns).
As for references to Apes and Spiderman, I’m not sure I get it. Apes I might be shaky on, but there were at least a thousand brass/gong stings in the Spiderman credits music. I don’t remember the “Music by” hit being any louder than the other ones — which were all eclipsed by the final cadence for Sam Raimi’s title. The notes in that score had much more to do with pace issues and quick cuts then it did with whose name was on the screen at the time.
So… there ya have it… I just don’t think Elfman’s into that.
Peace Love and all that Jazz. . .
TexNo – – thank YOU, for spelling my screen name right. Good lord, you wouldn’t believe how much grief it gives me. I’ve seen all manner of spellings, most including letters that aren’t even in it in the first place. I never understood why it’s so hard to even just copy and paste.
I think my favorite experience was after I had e-mailed a guy about joining a community band. We mailed back and forth a couple of times getting things set up, and once I got to the rehearsal and everyone was settled, he said, “Now, how do you pronounce your name again?” I said, “Katie,” at which point the other band members started giggling at him. He began yelling at me saying that it was my fault because my “name” was all consonants. Right . . .
But . . . yeah. One thing I’d like to point out about Boingomusic’s post is that he mostly talked about where Elfman’s name appears in the credits, not what happens in the music when his name appears. I don’t think he does the credits, just the music
Another funny thing with the Apes and Spiderman main title music is that there’s a crescendo when Kirsten Dunst and Estella Warren’s credit comes up. A tempo change sure, but it’s still kind of amusing how that happens.
I noticed the fanfare for his name thing in Sleepy Hollow. I don’t know if it was intentionally for his name or not, but I found it amusing to the point that I laughed out loud in the theater. I think I was the only one who even noticed it. Everyone near me obviously missed it because I got some really odd looks for laughing at that moment.
This would be about the third time that my reaction to his music during a film has met with disapproval from fellow movie watchers.
I guess I’d have to agree with Boingomusic’s original comment of Danny’s name appearing at a key point in the credits. (I’ve also begun looking forward to the notable music changes that seem to accompany Danny’s name in the credits – it’s notable to me, anyway). I’d also have to go along with Pammy’s laughing out loud during the “Sleepy Hollow” credits…for me, it was more because the music had been building to this immense climax, and then suddenly the scenery changed at that exact moment…it was only later that I noticed Danny’s name also appearing at that point, which made it even more hilarious. I laugh at weird points in movies, though…in “Spidey” I laughed when the whole “baby-trapped-in-a-burning-building” scenario occured (not because a baby was in danger, but because I thought it to be horrendously cliched, and a very good use of comic book scenarios), much to the dismay of my fellow moviegoers. It’s actually gotten to the point where I have to watch “Sleepy Hollow” alone, as friends are often very frightened of me during the viewing, because I laugh hysterically when the Horseman has his “revenge” sequence at the end. I can’t explain why I think it’s funny, but I do think that deep down, Burton wanted his audience to laugh at that…then again, that could just be my demented humor taking things out of context.
There’s this girl I used to be friends with, and I was watching it with her for the first time last summer, and when we got to that part, my friend said, in a hilarious voice, “Somebody has a cruuuuuuuuush,” and I fell on the ground laughing, and still think of that every single time I watch that movie (which is what, like, every other week?)
I’m also obsessive about the sheep in that movie. That friend and I used to go into hysterics whenever there were sheep on screen.
I noticed that too. If you want to stand out, why not? Composers hardly get any credit anyway, so GO DANNY!!
I’m not sure how this works; i know that the editor and the film composer work very closely. So, isn’t it possible that the actual written credits are added after the music is composed for the images? (or maybe not even for the images) The opening credits in many movies is where the music is up in your face and quite often doesn’t really follow any imagery or accent anything particular.
Funny…I was just about to start a topic on this very…uh…topic. Frankly, though, the only one that REALLY stands out as a possible example of composer self-aggrandizement is Sleepy Hollow. Mars Attacks!… the MUSIC does not point up his name. Other films where the music does NOT point out Elfman’s name: Batman, Batman Returns, Dick Tracy, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands.
I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but it doesn’t happen enough to verify the theory.
Maybe with the “Big Fish” score, Danny will have a choir sing out “buy my CD” when his credit appears.
Funny that you bring that up because I was always fond of what Randy Newman did at the beginning of MEET THE PARENTS.
At the moment that the Dreamworks logo appears the choir sings “look at the boy fishing on the moon.”
Well I thought it was funny anyway.
Nat (like the bug without the G)
no, it was, “look at the light coming out of the earth,” it was the logo for universal with the glowing globe…
I just watched the movie and we were both right. I forgot about the Universal bit at the begining. Thanks juju-bean.
Nat
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