Carter Burwell's been fired from "Serenity"

POSTED BY: shambleau
UPDATED: Sunday, January 30, 2005 14:30
VIEWED: 15916
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SHAMBLEAU

Sunday, January 23, 2005 5:46 AM

You can read about it at Whedonesque or at Carter Burwell's web page.I'm personally not surprised. I recently saw "Kinsey". I paid particular attention to the music since I knew he was scoring the BDM. Based on what I heard, I thought his music was going to be wrong for the movie. I almost started a thread about it.

I know he's a highly respected composer, but that doesn't mean he's right for this. Except for the opening music for "Fargo", which I loved, I can't remember any of the Coen brothers' movies being memorable, for me at least, because of the scores, as opposed to say, the pop songs that were in them. And I'm crazy about their movies.

Firefly, on the other hand, had music that engaged me any number of times. I don't know if Greg Edmonsen (sp?) is available now, but I hope they try to get him, or maybe Cristophe Beck or Robert Kral. I think the execs may have nixed any tv composers because there's a certain snobbery about them. Beck mentioned that this snobbery affected him when he was first scoring for movies.

If not, I'm not sure who they should get. Anybody know of someone they think might be suitable?

shambleau

SHINY

Sunday, January 23, 2005 5:51 AM

Relevent links:

http://www.carterburwell.com/tbi_main_pages/carter_burwell.shtml
http://whedonesque.com/?comments=5871

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

TRIBES

Sunday, January 23, 2005 5:55 AM

I like James Horner for Titannic and Braveheart or Hans Zimmer and Klaus Bedelt for Gladiator.
All have big compelling memorable epic music.

'well here I am'

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Sunday, January 23, 2005 5:58 AM

Though I disagree that Burwell has not provided memorable scores for the Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona's yodelling main theme, Miller's Crossing's Irish tunes, and The Man Who Wasn't There's piano musings all come to my mind instantly), I think this is the perfect time to snatch Greg Edmonson back up.

"You've just gotta go ahead and change the captain of your brainship, because he's drunk at the wheel."

SHAMBLEAU

Sunday, January 23, 2005 6:15 AM

I thought of "Raising Arizona" and "Miller's Crossing", but thought that the Irish tunes weren't written by him. Ditto for the yodeling. I thought it came from some old country song, so if I'm wrong on those, then yep, the themes were cool. Still feel he's not right, though. Too cerebral or something.

shambleau

QUICKSAND

Sunday, January 23, 2005 6:29 AM

'Twas interesting to read that little bit on Burwell's website about how he works... I've only recently started paying attention to film composers, but the most recent time I watched "Miller's Crossing" (my favorite film of all time), I thought, "Carter Burwell? I've got to give this guy a second chance...."

His work hadn't impressed me before, and looking over his filmography again, nothing really jumped out at me except his Coen Brothers work. This isn't a reflection on him, I don't think, but more likely exactly what he says on his site-- it just didn't work out. I posted a note months ago, about how I was ticked off that David Boyd wasn't going to DP 'Serenity.' Joss is apparently very happy with the new guy. So there you go.

In most of his movies, the music DOES fade into the background, so that you don't notice it's there. Again, not an insult-- in most cases, traditionally, this is what a score should do (and it didn't do this in Miller's Crossing, so that's just my taste. But whatever). Personally, I DO prefer the music that jumps out at me, that guides a scene instead of just being incidental. 'Star Wars' is a great example of this, ditto Miller's Crossing, the most glaring example being, say, that trailer for "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" with that The Vines song, or any music video that tells a story instead of showing the band play.

My point. Oh yeah.... Joss is a pretty smart guy. Regardless of what names we bandy about, he'll pick the right person, being a bit of a musician himself. Personally, I just watched "The Core" on cable... awful movie, but the score was pretty good. Christopher Young was the guy's name, but I also dig others... Eliot Goldenthal ("The Professional"), or, natch, John Williams (the king of the "in your face" orchestral score).

More likely, though, Joss will get somebody none of us has ever heard of... and it'll be awesome.

Stay tuned.

EMBERS

Sunday, January 23, 2005 6:38 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Quicksand:
Joss is a pretty smart guy.

yeah, I'm assuming that Joss is a bit of a micro-manager
with VERY clear and specific ideas of what he wants for this, his first film.
He has plenty of time...
and I'm sure it'll be great.

CANTTAKESKY

Sunday, January 23, 2005 6:41 AM

I'm rooting for Edmonson. I've been VERY, VERY impressed by Kral's work on Angel, but he's not as well known as Beck, and unlikely to get the job for a $50 mil budget movie. Unfortunately, producers like big names that have been tried and true in theatrical releases, and it is hard for TV and other talented composers to break past that ceiling.

Burwell is one of my favorite composers--I have almost everyone of his scores on CD. Conspiracy Theory was to die for. He did a good job with the western thang in Hi-Lo Country. His quirky originality, minor chord darkness, and simple melodies seem to be quite compatible with the spirit of Joss' stories. But Burwell said Joss was looking more for generic music supporting each scene than an overall musical theme, the latter of which is what Burwell is good at. If Joss wants scene-specific underscore, I would imagine John Debney would be good for the job.

It could be that Burwell wasn't delivering on the themes. His work of late has been somewhat lackluster--nothing really memorable since Knight's Tale.

Well, my vote is to give a shot to TV composers Edmonson or Kral or Carl Johnson (Disney's cartoon Gargoyles, Piglet's Big Movie). They are all DAMN good, and I listen to tons and tons of film music. Otherwise, I'd love to see what Brian Tyler (Children of Dune, Timeline) or Klaus Badelt (Time Machine, K-19) could do with Serenity.

Don't get me wrong. I like the regular A-list composers as much as the next person. But Serenity is about fresh chances and new frontiers, both for its characters and for its filmmakers. I think it would be fitting that it use fresh music from someone up and coming. It's the sort of project that should give a littler guy a chance, if you will.

That's just me.

Can't Take My Gorram Sky

YT

Sunday, January 23, 2005 7:04 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shambleau:
Firefly, on the other hand, had music that engaged me any number of times. I don't know if Greg Edmonsen (sp?) is available now, but I hope they try to get him, or maybe Cristophe Beck or Robert Kral. I think the execs may have nixed any tv composers because there's a certain snobbery about them.

That's what I thought, too. I was disappointed that Joss didn't (maybe couldn't) stick with Edmonson, after the wonderful job he'd done on Firefly. The score he wrote for the final scene is worthy of an auditorium.

Quote:
If not, I'm not sure who they should get. Anybody know of someone they think might be suitable?

Howard Shore seems to do well with trilogies.

Keep the Shiny Side Up

Wutzon: U2, "Desire", from "Best of 1980-1990"

GGREEN29

Sunday, January 23, 2005 10:04 AM

I can't remember where I read it but I thought the reason for passing on Edmonson was that the studio played a role in picking the talent. They weren't going to give Joss a blank sheet, and in an effort to ensure a quality production (from their point of view) they selected/vetoed/"suggested" certain personnel. I don't know that this was the case specifically for the score composer, but it seems logical to conclude this.

I hope this will Edmonson a chance to get back in, I loved his work in Firefly.

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