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Career retrospective interview with Empire magazine focusing on OZ.
http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1652
Only new info seems to be that he has no recollection about why they used “Beautiful Dreamer” in the score.
From http://www.deadline.com/2012/12/oscars-danny-elfman/:
wrote:Also keeping Elfman at the top of his game is the company he keeps with offbeat directors who challenge him. At first, when Elfman heard Silver Linings Playbook was a romantic comedy, he resisted. “That is the genre that I feel no affinity toward at all, and it’s the only one I stay away from. I did a few early on in my career, and they were incredibly difficult.”But after watching a cut of the film, Elfman was drawn to the actors’ chemistry. Upon agreeing to work with Russell, Elfman says, “He didn’t even know if he needed music in the movie. It was a total journey for him, and I learned with David, you just take that journey. I said to myself, ‘If at the end, I served no purpose but to show him that he doesn’t need a score, well, that’s fine.’ ”
That ride entailed Elfman actually stepping inside the recording booth. Typically, during a scoring session, the composer is on the other side of the glass.
“I was playing around with instruments and put my vocals onto one piece as a goof, and David was like, ‘Do more of that! Do more of that!’, like he was producing me. Before we knew it, that’s what we were doing,” Elfman says with a laugh. “It was really crazy and off the track of what I’m usually doing, which is writing very intense, big scores.”
Russell says of their first-time partnership, “He was working with a simple arsenal of instruments due to budget. The end result seamlessly blends with the source and the emotion of the characters. I think that was the challenge, to find the voice of his music that would do that.”
“He literally bought sections of the orchestra out of his own pocket,” says a gobsmacked Gervasi. “We were recording with the top musicians in London, and we couldn’t afford to keep them through lunch. Danny asked the orchestrator, ‘How much do the violas cost? 3,000£? I’ll take them. How much for the French horns?’ And Danny held the musicians through lunch.”
Billboard reported from the Q&A. Not much new besides the photo, but I wasn’t aware of this:
The day before at the conference, composer Gustavo Santaolalla said he wrote the entire Oscar-winning score for “Brokeback Mountain” before a single frame was filmed. Elfman, on the other hand, said he always writes to picture, after a semi-disastrous attempt at doing otherwise during the making of 1988’s”Beetlejuice.”
Full score streaming at: http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/2
Doesn’t seem Hollywood Reporter’s feature on this today has anyting to add to the press release, but here it is: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/American-youth-symphony-Danny-Elfman-Project-Dark-Shadows-318629
In a lengthy interview with Film School Rejects, Sonnenfeld discusses Elfman and the MIBIII soundtrack:
“[Jemaine Clement is] a really mean and great-looking villain. We learned from the second one and are back to have[ing] a really strong villain. In fact, Danny Elfman, who did the score on all three movies, is [a] huge Jemaine Clement fan and loves every moment of Flight of the Concords. The first time I showed him Men in Black III, he said, “That villain is fantastic. Who is he?” I said his name was Jemaine Clement, and he said “no way.” Danny Elfman not recognizing one of his musical idols was very satisfying.
“Danny did a fantastic job on the score, with it being reminiscent of the first movie, but also new and hip. Also, by going to 1969, it allowed me to have a lot of really great music from the era. However, some of the music I chose is not so much pop, but Velvet Underground, Cream, and a Rolling Stones I had never heard before called 2,000 Lightyears From Home, and it’s a fantastic song.”
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/barry-sonnenfeld-jgiro.php
Size Matters: Danny Elfman goes small to get “Dark Shadows vibe”.
Won’t let me embed, but a short video interview about the score is here: http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/dark-shadows/interview-danny-elfman.
UPDATE: Perhaps an outtake from the new three-minute making-of featurette at http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/darkshadows/ ?
No, the website track is slower, less manic, more wistful, only strings, guitar and bells–maybe a loop from a more poignant moment in the film.
Just noticed there’s a “Restless” track on Danny Elfman’s profile page at http://www.kraft-engel.com. Not sure the title of the track (perhaps “Weepy Donuts”?), but it’s happy melancholy: plucky accoustic guitar, electric bass, squeezbox strings, bowed glass, and ticking percussion. Everything you’d expect from a Savant collaboration.
saj
Hey Ryan – If a WordPress-based redesign makes your life easier, do it. But please don’t lose the forum. I’ve visited every week or so since 2005, and may completely lose site (!) of myself if there’s no reliable place to go for the Elfman skinny.
I’ve gone through 2 website redesigns in the six years I’ve been at my company. The first time they didn’t migrate any content, so we lost all Google gravity–and it took a couple of years to get back on the first page of results. The second time was done much more smartly, and by simplifying the main page, getting more user-desired content to the front, moving tertiary pages towards the top, and optimizing content for spiders, we’ve already seen a notable increase in visitors and visit duration (people staying on the site longer).
I’m sure you know all about search engine optimization, so I apologize if anything I say is pedantic.
The best way to get your Google ranking up is to have other sites link to yours whenever they talk about Danny Elfman. This requires varied, regular content, preferably on your main page. Headlines should always include the word Elfman, which should also be in the first paragraph of your post.
I handle social media for my company, and always tell people there’s no gurantee Facebook and Twitter will be around forever (and what about YouTube, Meetup, Foursquare, Gowalla, Tumblr, Google +, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, Flickr, Pinterest). And the way the two behemoths engage their vastly different user bases doesn’t necessarily facilitate the most solid community (Facebook users can “like” you but block you from their wall, so they never see your updates; For your Twitter, one post a week might get lost in the hundreds they read in a day). What all social media is good for, however, is to drive traffic to your site.
I would hate to lose our one trustworthy Elfman hub, and you’ve worked so hard and so well for so long to keep it alive. I know nothing about the technical side of things, but if you need some help with content development/execution–it’s high time I start giving back to something that’s given me so much.
But also, content doesn’t have to be a heavy burden (and shouldn’t even be lengthy these days given internet user’s incredibly short attnetion spans.) Even with the occasional meaty article, audio or video clip, or announcement, just train your Google Alerts for “Danny Elfman” and excerpt anything of ineterest that comes up. For example, I recevied some news items this week about the Ireland concert, and a quick post could have been.
Batman And Begorrah: Dublin Film Fest Features Musical Tribute to Elfman
Tickets are now on sale for Ireland’s RTÉ Concert Orchestra tribute concert to Danny Elfman, part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival [LINK] Entertainment.ie [LINK] says:
“Featuring some of his most well-known music from the movies, the orchestra, conducted by David Brophy and accompanied by New Dublin Voices, will perform extracts from Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow, Batman, Alice in Wonderland, Mars Attacks as well as music from those who influenced Elfman including Bernard Herrmann, Philip Glass and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.”
Shame the theme to GOOD WILL HUNTING with it’s Irish penny whistle solo [LINK] didn’t make the cut.
Or something like that.
Hope this helps and let me know if you need anything!
Shannon (aka @sajrocks on Twitter)
According to a Variety report today, Elfman is off Houdini:
“Capitalizing on Hugh Jackman’s recent B.O.-busting Broadway stint, producers of developing tuner “Houdini” have confirmed the show as Jackman’s next Main Stem project, targeting a 2013-14 opening for the new musical with a score by Stephen Schwartz and book by Aaron Sorkin. Jack O’Brien is on board to helm… Danny Elfman was previously on board to provide the tunes.”
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118048094
Variety’s favorable review mentioned Elfman’s score:
“Seamless visual effects and heavy-duty sound design complete the illusion of fast-moving fighting machines, while Danny Elfman’s inspirational score leaves no heartstring unstrummed.”
Final card: “Music from The Hunger Games available March 2012 from Universal Republic.” It’s probably too early to be excited, but YES!
Lengthy Danny/box interview w/ KRUU-FM’s Mike Ragogna:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/monday-madness-chatting-w_b_865359.html
In addition to the usual, Danny talks about the possibility of focusing on concert works of his scores and his man crush on Desplat.
Agree is sounds like glass. Could be Partch’s Cloud Chamber Bowl (http://www.harrypartch.com/ccbphoto.htm) sampled and pitched up a bit.
The real thing is much lower. You can hear/play the instrument here:
http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/feature_partch.html#
saj
“The Wolfman …is however only one of several examples of party trips that sits loosely in nervous motion.”
Well said, er, Google translated!
saj
No “Fable ” or “Rabbit and Rogue”? That’s okay, they wouldn’t have been on my list either, which is:
Honorable mention: 11. Big Fish tie w/ Corpse Bride
Major musical accomplishments that highlight maturity in Elfman’s Tim Burton sound. Unfortunately they haven’t warranted many repeat listenings. Why include them? Both “Finale” tracks bring me to tears.10. Wanted
Unexpected surprise of the 00s: Elfman gets to be Elfman in an action flick. “Success Montage” is an amazing fusion of Elfman’s pitch-perfect wackadoodletry of the 80s/90s with his more recent fixation on samples, synths and loops. Another musical tie to the Elfman of yore: the chorus, baseline and bridge of original rock song “All the Little Things” comes from the awesome score track “Wesley’s Office Life” (which, to my ears, also contains the horn intro to Boingo’s “Insanity” in the strings.)9. Hulk tie w/ Hellboy II
Killer title musics, playful and innovative soundscapes, a bit overboard with the bombast: similarities keep big red and big green neck-and-neck. I’m left blue in the face deciding between HULK’s rolling string ostinato and desert flare, and HELLBOY’s emotional core, “The Last Element.”8. The Kingdom
The genius of this score finally came to me when I cranked it on my headphones and a walk through midtown Manhattan instantly became a high-stakes, fight-or-flight McTiernan action sequence with subtle-yet-appropriate Middle Eastern textures.7. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The “Main Titles” and riverboat music alone would get this on the list, but the genius of the songs and the fact that they are completely vocalized by Elfman puts this album at the mystical number 7.6. Red Dragon
Rich, layered and psychosexually astute music for the subpar follow-up to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Smart textural homage to Shore’s iconic score from the original. Extra credit for “End Credit Suite” and the cojones to name a track “Tiger Balls.”5. SOP
Subtle, elegant, dark, powerful and unmistakably Elfman of the 00s. Here he is getting all Philip Glass on our asses while tapping the orchestral dexterity refined in Serenada Schizophrana. “Dogs” is an incredible juxtaposition of musical and cinematic tension. Is there anything sweeter from the decade than “Oli’s Lullaby”?4. Milk
An achievement in understated dramatic writing, especially for an out and over-the-top character whose life was anything but understated. Has Elfman done anything as perverse as “Anita’s Theme,” as immediate as “Gay Rights Now,” or as touching as “Postscript”? Hands down best scored kiss of the 00s.3. Spider-Man/Spider-Man 2
Elfman created a genre-altering action sound, so complex in its simplicity that many believed there wasn’t even a main theme (there are two, actually). The second film introduced some great new themes, had a better orchestrated/recorded main title track and, of course, a lot of music from the first film. (The first film also contained another incredible screen kiss from the 00s, though I can’t imagine if that suit “rides up in the crotch”, an upside-down-in-the-rain kiss is all that pleasant).2. Planet of the Apes
The culmination and perhaps pinnacle of Elfman’s experimentations in sampled and electronic sounds mixed with live orchestra with Elfman performing nearly half of the score. Paul Oakenfold’s “Rule The Planet Remix” would have put this at #1, but…1. Serenada Schizophrana
At last, Elfman composed his first original concert hall piece, something I’ve been anticipating since my adolescent self first brought home 1989’s BATMAN for a listen away from the film. What could easily have been a modest chamber work or pastiche of Elfman’s filmmusic became a large scale, complex masterpiece, reminiscent of his late 90s/early 00s orchestral style with an innovative infusion of 30s and 40s Ellington jazz and Bernard Herrmann at his most psychologically malevolent. A wholly satisfying listen and proactive promise of things to come.I’ve always wondered how that would look/sound. I love me some Sondheim, but Beatty’s montage is paint-by-number and Elfman’s piece better builds the action while both syncopating and mickey-mousing it.
Thanks for the heads up!
saj
Bought it last night. Listened to it 1.5 times. Enjoyed it. Went to look at its chart placement today and got very frustrated with the lame Amazon reviews. Added mine:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Terminator for a New Generation, May 20, 2009If you are looking for the music to the first two TERMINATOR films, buy the original soundtracks. With TERMINATOR SALVATION, Danny Elfman delivers a fresh musical perspective for McG’s re-imagining of the franchise. We don’t get the beloved Terminator theme on the album (though it is reportedly used in the film). Instead, we get a smart and respectful homage to the sound world Fiedel created–the familiar thumps, scrapes and even the terrifying downward synthesizer glissando (the sonic equivalent of one’s heart being pulled to the pit of one’s stomach by a cold, metal hand). Elfman’s lush horn writing recalls Fiedel’s heroic themes, but with richer color and more densely layered orchestration. The sound is bigger, more spatial, from a restrained, contemplative guitar motif to some of the darkest, dirtiest low-brass grumbles I’ve ever heard on a soundtrack. Elfman offers some of the cleanest action music of his recent scores with less reliance on dissonant clusters and stings to underscore what is on screen–just a building pulse that incorporates the ticka-ticka/ratta-tat rhythmic intricacy of his self-made percussion samples–a little THE KINGDOM and PLANET OF THE APES, but uniquely its own. Finally, though I’m not one for mixing score with songs, Alice in Chain’s “Rooster” is a good closer for its quality, themes and hard edge.
This album is definitely one for the collection and worth repeated listens. Enjoy!
(ed. 17:16)
