38 replies to this topic

[Abdel]

Hi,

I've just read an interview of David Arnold in a belgian newspaper (Metro). DA was interviewed at the Gand/Gent film festival.
I'm sorry, the whole article is in french. Maybe someone with a better english can make a compl

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[Harmsway]

- He spoke about the direction taken in CR. "In DAD: dialogues: 30%, action 70% but in CR it's 70% for the dialogues and 30% for the action." He also confirmed that the next 3, 4 films will continue in that direction.

Absolutely awesome.

- "I tried to put Brosnan's Bond music for the screentest but it didn't work. With CR it's a new start for me but we must respect the 007 tradition"

I'm interested to find out what Arnold's "new" Bond sound will be like.

[Scottlee]

Yes, I had a warm buzz when I read that starter post. Good to see they intend to carry on the formula for 3 or 4 films. It all changed again extremely quickly after FRWL, OHMSS, FYEO, and LTK.

[trs007]

I, too, am curious of the new sound. I have enjoyed Arnold's past Bond scores, but not all of his "other stuff". Still, with the comment about respecting the tradition, I have hopes he won't muck it up.

[JimmyBond]

I didnt know they scored screentests, fascinating things one learns.

[Shrublands]

I didnt know they scored screentests, fascinating things one learns.

Well it

[Peter Guillam 006]

Thanks for the news Abdel. It is always funny when you get a lot of news (many questions flying over Cbn the last couple weeks about Craig) from the most unlikely sources. And thank you David Arnold. New Direction? Fits with the reboot.

[Peter Guillam 006]

I don't know if anyone else has already done this but for those who don't speak french here's a rough translation.

Belgium newspaper: U were present from the beginning?
David Arnold: Yes. DA says that DC's audition for Bond brought something different to the role.Some actors showed the more charming sides of 007 but Craig gave a Bond more masculin and more rough. This Bond is unlike any other before but is undoubtably 007.

BN-it's still an amusing choice because it's a real actor
DA- DC is a marvelous actor. And it's something people wont understand till they've seen the film. The story is a very litterary story. Of Course They're keeping the action, the humour, the charm. But it's more psychological. That doesn't mean it's going to be annoying.It's the first Fleming adaption in 20 years. The new approach is not merely for this film but for the next 3 or 4 films.

BN-The fracture is very radical then?
DA- It is in comparison to the last 3 films.Same elements present. Gadgets but not as rediculous as the invisible car. 007 has to rely on himself more. The film will be more anchored in reality. But i find it that we're making a film of James Bond not with James Bond. It's not the same thing i find.

BN-Are you still motivated, since you've already worked on 3 007 films?
DA- It reminds me of my first Bond. With TND i wanted to continue the goldeneye themes but the general sentiment was that it didn't have enough Bond themes in it, and not enough orchestra. The GE composer had been too radical for audiences to handle. TND came in reaction. We needed more fun and more series elements. With TWINE and DAD i had to orient myself with the elements on screen. These films became more big and extravagent in comparison with GE. DAD was very over the top. As a composer you have to write for the elements such as (the ice palace, laser)What is really interesting, (the part already said about how the pierce themes didn't work. It's a new start also for me. At the same time, we have to respect the tradition of 007.

I hope i havent translated it badly and havent repeated anything you have already red in posts before. Always fun to work on translating skills.
Cheers-PG006

[Skudor]

Sounds good - but don't get too excited, in the end it's not Arnold who decides these things.

Having said that, I would imagine these 3-4 films could be Craig's tenure and that it's part of the reason he agreed to do it (afterall - why become Bond on the strength of one script when you'll have to do at least three movies and might end up doing DAD2).

BN-The fracture is very radical then?
DA- It is in comparison to the last 3 films.Same elements present. Gadgets but not as rediculous as the invisible car. 007 has to rely on himself more. The film will be more anchored in reality. But i find it that we're making a film of James Bond not with James Bond. It's not the same thing i find.

Interesting - I didn't quite get this at first. I assume it's meant to say 'about James Bond' not merely 'with' James Bond. Cool.

[Abdel]

The same article from the metro website

[quote]

Dans les coulisses de

[Kingdom Come]

I think they are being presumptious in thinking that 30% action is going to be a winner at the box office. Again I say it is not Sony/Eon/producers or anyone else connected with the series who control what we get. It is the kids who go to the cinema. THEY and THEY only will deside IF this is the way forward or not and from previous attempts in the past to do the same thing - all times they performed less than the previous films. Why this time should be different, I don't know.

70% talk? sounds to me like a random figure. Isn't film supposed to be a visual medium?

[K1Bond007]

Sounds good to me.

Frankly I'm only making this post because I feel the need to point out that the author of the story was "Chris Craps." Seriously. I just had to point that out.

I'm sorry. Carry on.

[Leon]

Merci bien pour ce lien Abdel, c'

Edited by Leon, 14 April 2006 - 03:11 AM.

[FLEMINGFAN]

I just wish the Proudcers would stop thinking about the small pay-check, get rid of Arnold, and finally hire a talented composer that is more concerned with what is going on, emotionally, on the screen and write music for that, rather then catering to the sound the kids might buy (which they never have).

[JimmyBond]

I think they are being presumptious in thinking that 30% action is going to be a winner at the box office. Again I say it is not Sony/Eon/producers or anyone else connected with the series who control what we get. It is the kids who go to the cinema. THEY and THEY only will deside IF this is the way forward or not and from previous attempts in the past to do the same thing - all times they performed less than the previous films. Why this time should be different, I don't know.

Coming from the guy who likes DAD. You've had your big budgeted Bond film, why can't we get our small scale FRWL type film too?

[FLEMINGFAN]

I think they are being presumptious in thinking that 30% action is going to be a winner at the box office. Again I say it is not Sony/Eon/producers or anyone else connected with the series who control what we get. It is the kids who go to the cinema. THEY and THEY only will deside IF this is the way forward or not and from previous attempts in the past to do the same thing - all times they performed less than the previous films. Why this time should be different, I don't know.

Coming from the guy who likes DAD. You've had your big budgeted Bond film, why can't we get our small scale FRWL type film too?

Personally, I do not think the kids run the show as most of the "kids films" do not make big boxoffice (Some do well, but are never in the top 10). The new Bond will hardly be 30% action, but, as always, a bit more than that. Eon always knows what they are doing and play the media and public like a fiddle; and that is why they have lasted so long.

The only reason why this Bond, or any other, would fail is if they stray from the formula of delivering a quality film. Very simple, but most others series never do that (i.e., STAR TREK, APES, SUPERMAN, BATMAN, etc.).

[Dmitri Mishkin]

I just wish the Proudcers would stop thinking about the small pay-check, get rid of Arnold, and finally hire a talented composer that is more concerned with what is going on, emotionally, on the screen and write music for that, rather then catering to the sound the kids might buy (which they never have).

From everything I've heard, Arnold commands fairly high fees, courtesy of his skyrocketing career in the mid 90's when he scored Independence Day and Godzilla, etc. and established himself. He is considered by many to be very talented. I'm not sure what you mean by him not being concerned with emotional scenes. In my view, his scoring for emotional scenes (the Paris and Elektra love themes, for instance) is very good. He is not a perfect composer, and sometimes reaches for cliches, but I don't discount his talent.

The use of electronics reflects the films he scored and the time in which they were made. Having said this, I do believe he overdid it with the techno elements with DAD (but so did the film in many respects).

[FLEMINGFAN]

I just wish the Proudcers would stop thinking about the small pay-check, get rid of Arnold, and finally hire a talented composer that is more concerned with what is going on, emotionally, on the screen and write music for that, rather then catering to the sound the kids might buy (which they never have).

From everything I've heard, Arnold commands fairly high fees, courtesy of his skyrocketing career in the mid 90's when he scored Independence Day and Godzilla, etc. and established himself. He is considered by many to be very talented. I'm not sure what you mean by him not being concerned with emotional scenes. In my view, his scoring for emotional scenes (the Paris and Elektra love themes, for instance) is very good. He is not a perfect composer, and sometimes reaches for cliches, but I don't discount his talent.

The use of electronics reflects the films he scored and the time in which they were made. Having said this, I do believe he overdid it with the techno elements with DAD (but so did the film in many respects).

Well, I do know he is not on any "A" or "B" list when it comes to desirability, and his price is much lower than the regulars out there (You only need to contact their agents to see what their going price is). You get what you pay for!

As for his talent, I have yet to see anything original that he has done, or do an acceptable mimic that anyone else has done (aside from Kamen, Conti and Hamilsch). Just the usual rambling noise that is so normal today, with a splash of some really outdated 70-80's electronics thrown in to 'make-believe' that he is contemporary (which the usual tin-eared producers think is so). His stuff is dated before the ink has dried on the paper, and he has been a major contributor to the cheesy quality of the 007 films (He should have stuck to his promise of only doing one film, and, thereby, making himself more desirable in the Bond-world).

Pity. Bond was always classy, with an accent on a 'classical' sound. If the older films had a 'contemporary" sound, they would not play well today because they would seem even more outdated, like the Arnold scored films.

[Abdel]

[quote name='Leon' post='543642' date='14 April 2006 - 04:45']
Merci bien pour ce lien Abdel, c'

[Diabolik]

I just wish the Proudcers would stop thinking about the small pay-check, get rid of Arnold, and finally hire a talented composer that is more concerned with what is going on, emotionally, on the screen and write music for that, rather then catering to the sound the kids might buy (which they never have).

Although I haven't cared for the last couple of soundtracks because of their "techno" sound, Arnold HAS proven in TND that he has the goods and can capture the rich John Barry style score.

Hopefully his comments mean no more techno, back to the classics (which would go with the tone of CR.

[Skudor]

Seeing as the soundtrack usually comes out before the movie, this is one of the first things we'll find out.

[Fro]

Biggest thing he needs to do is not use the bond theme in half his tracks, just a couple times a movie.

I think it'll also help that he's got a director who can actually somewhat direct to nudge him in the right direction.

[Leon]

Je suis totalement d'accord Abdel.

(Fro:) I kind of agree but then again the classic Bond films used the Bond theme alot too. I think it's how you do it and how well you do it, but there also needs to be some really memorable tracks like in the old films - Thunderballs underwater music - 007 theme - score based on We Have All The Time In The World etc etc

[deth]

Seeing as the soundtrack usually comes out before the movie, this is one of the first things we'll find out.

but usually not much before/...

[Turn]

I find myself wondering how David Arnold is in such a position as to speak for EON as to "confirming" the direction of the next 3-4 Bond films. So maybe he's been one of the consistents the past 3 films and maybe he set up music for screentests, but why would he by privy to what direction the films are going to go in, much less be a spokesman?

CR is a case of wait and see more than most, and it seems he would have been better served to keep quiet on such matters as if the first couple Craig films don't do well in the FRWL vein, then a return to the larger-than-life DAD type film will likely be the next move.

[JimmyBond]

I find myself wondering how David Arnold is in such a position as to speak for EON as to "confirming" the direction of the next 3-4 Bond films. So maybe he's been one of the consistents the past 3 films and maybe he set up music for screentests, but why would he by privy to what direction the films are going to go in, much less be a spokesman?

Because after scoring the last three films I imagine he's pretty good friends with the producers by now. I mean they do like to brag that they have a family atmosphere on the films, I think it's safe to say at one point Arnold sat down with the producers and they discussed the future films.

[JCRendle]

if the first couple Craig films don't do well in the FRWL vein, then a return to the larger-than-life DAD type film will likely be the next move.

Please God, no

[Turn]

I find myself wondering how David Arnold is in such a position as to speak for EON as to "confirming" the direction of the next 3-4 Bond films. So maybe he's been one of the consistents the past 3 films and maybe he set up music for screentests, but why would he by privy to what direction the films are going to go in, much less be a spokesman?

Because after scoring the last three films I imagine he's pretty good friends with the producers by now. I mean they do like to brag that they have a family atmosphere on the films, I think it's safe to say at one point Arnold sat down with the producers and they discussed the future films.

True about the family atmosphere thing. But unless the new regime is more open than the Cubby/Saltzman or Cubby/Wilson regimes, it's a new approach. Such cordial relations were more or less limited to a John Glen, who was there for five consecutive films and had a much more direct result in the finished product as opposed to a composer who spends, what, 2-3 months on a project?

[Blofeld's Cat]

Seeing as the soundtrack usually comes out before the movie, this is one of the first things we'll find out.

but usually not much before/...

...Considering that the soundtrack is one of the very last aspects pf post-production to be set in place.

[blueman]

I'm sure there were a great many very talented people working on the last two Bond films...yet they were nobody's finest hour.

Arnold has shown sufficient talent to come up with a good to very good Bond soundtrack, all he needs is a good to very good Bond film to start with...