The Dark Knight

1. The Dark Knight was an AMAZING FILM! Everyone should see it!

2. The music felt, to me, unforgetable and not something amazing! The joker 'motif', felt, somewhat pastiche, which is ridiculous to say really, but it just happened that I saw very recently "there will be blood", where the cluster in the strings is used SO bluntly and amazingly in what is a western film, that in the dark knight it didn't impress me. Sorry.

3. Music was VERY VERY MUCH fitting for the film and did its job perfect, so there is no complaint. After all I'm not chassing a film music career, but a computer game composer one! ;) And I've stoped long ago to buy soundtrack, which I have around 30 tops. I'm ashamed of that, but really with a family I can no longer afford 3 CDs per week or so. :)

4. Nathan makes some very good points and so does QCC.

5. Trolls are NOT to be fed please! (which does not include nor Nathan, neither QCC btw. :))

In the end of things music can either have a place in the media or somewhere, in order to assist in which case it's role is to basically (not fully, and I don't find just serving your client to be nice or right or whatever), serve the media... (oof, long sentence), OR be alone and be there in a concert hall, or a CD, where it deserves 100% of the attention. In a film having a score which STEALS attention from what is happening seems rather bizzare, doesn't it?

And again, don't feed the trolls.

EDIT: LOL to Nathan who posted at the same time as me! :)

Just because your tastes are not satisfied does not mean the director's tastes were not satisfied. The director in most cases has the final word on the content of the score, not the composer. There's no telling what the director will say to the content you're complaining was lacking in the score. It's possible such content was there, but it detracted from the activity on the screen.

So I'm not allowed to have a musical opinion in regards to film music? I'm just supposed to say, 'oh the director must have liked it, so I will too! guhhh, movies are fun!'

So, I'm not really convinced that you have a true grasp of this issue at all. It's not just that you don't care. You don't understand. The last thing these composers are going to do is sacrifice their paycheck for their art. This is the difference between the composers who post here and the professionals that are out there doing the real deal.

What don't I understand? I just don't believe that a true film composer will not try to make his score the best musically that he can! Even with people breathing down his neck, a good composer will be able to create a good score that everyone can appreciate. It happens all the time! And besides, I don't want to hear film music that was written for a buck and not for the musical worth of it.

Side note of my own: Ever considered why the quality of film and popular music tends to fall by the wayside more and more by your standards? I once read that Hans Zimmer never studied music a day in his life, at least not as a "classically trained" composer. And we have to wonder why he is so sought after when he is so "uneducated" from the perspective of a more educated musician.

By my standards? What standards have I introduced here? Hans Zimmer never studied classical composition? Big deal. He was a rock musician. Guess who my favorite film composer is: Danny Elfman. Same deal! Elfman is as big a name as Zimmer is in the film world, and they are both untrained, and were both rock musicians (Elfman's band being actually famous to some degree). I have absolutely no qualm about a professional who has no conservatory training. I can see that creativity, personality and dedication are far more important than schooling to make a successful composer, and I don't appreciate it when people assume I don't see that. My issue is that I don't think Zimmer has shown his musical creativity or personality in some of his scores, especially in the Dark Knight. This has nothing to do with him being untrained. But thanks anyway for the irrelevant side-note.

I see it as disgraceful and hypocritical to pass such judgment on the works of popular composers when most academics will argue how unimportant most works of popular culture really are. Not only do you degrade the work of accomplished professionals, you hold them to some "standard of excellence" as though they should compose in light of your beliefs and opinions about music. Then you gripe and complain when people compliment such work as work of quality to them, further degrading the judgment of reasonably educated people (not necessarily educated in music, mind you).

By stating my opinions, I am not degrading anyone. Ever! I am merely stating my dislike for certain things. In this case, the two note Batman theme. The fact that I dislike it has nothing to do with who the composer is, how accomplished he is, what kind of standards I hold film music to, or how other people feel about it. I simply don't like it. It is rude of you to question that opinion. It's not my fault that I disagree with other people, I just do. And I don't have to justify that. But I can't sit idly by when I'm being harassed about it, as if my opinion doesn't matter simply because I don't know what kind of process Zimmer went through when creating the theme, or how much flak he got from the director. This doesn't change the fact that he wrote a two note theme, which is the only thing that bothers me. I actually can't think of any other way of explaining this to you and Nathan.

What don't you both continue this discussion via PMs and leave the thread alone. While I do see some value in having some of this conversation publicly, I think we've gone past that point and now this is more a face off between two folks and not really benefiting the forum that much.

With regard to my academic experiences, here's the story...

QCC originally approached me via private message to inquire about my situation when I began my membership here... and I explained what my situation was thinking he would have some insight - which he didn't. I requested that it remain in confidence during our Private Messages, and he has now, for the fourth or fifth time now (I really can't keep track) dumped this in a thread as "support" for his opinions of me. I can provide the complete assortment of PMs to this effect.

I really have no interest in posting at YC anymore. I am actually ending my membership at this point and going elsewhere.

QCC, you are, without a doubt, the most intolerable person to hold a discussion with, and I'm not afraid at all to make this known in a public forum. I don't know why you insist on posting outside your realm of expertise or, for that matter, consistently relying on my unpleasant university experience to attempt to bolster your position. I have no intention of saying anything further to you.

Good luck, all. Nathan, you have my real e-mail address. We can keep in touch that way. Please shoot me a list of other sites where you are a member by e-mail, and I'll be happy to go there.

I'm out.

...so I totally liked the Dark Knight.

....

This movie is coming out on DVD is the middle of December if you didn't already know that

This movie is coming out on DVD is the middle of December if you didn't already know that

Just in time for Christmas! :)

No scraggy.