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ellyssianOne thing I loved about working in Lexington Center was how they aggressively went after drivers who didn't stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Not all that unusual, considering it's a law in most places these days. What made Lexington fun was that they also aggressively chased down pedestrians who opted to avoid the many and frequent and abundant and etcetera painted walkways and, instead, cut their own path through traffic. Pedestrians may have the right of way, but should they choose to refuse that right, everything they step out in front of can be used to squish them flatter 'n a pancake. So, yeah, on my way to lunch a mildly elderly gentleman jaywalked right out in front of me, looked me in the eye, and slowed to a glacial pace until he was in the other lane, is it that obvious?
Have you ever noticed how those who drive for a living - professionals, if you will - can often be picked out at a glance? The obvious sign, of course, is nearly going on two wheels while whipping into the parking lot of a business that is at its peak hour - one of the two peak times, at the least - and then zipping around to carve into two parking spaces at a rather rakish angle. After all, who'd tow a tow truck? That, and it was just a brief pit stop, so he didn't even plunk down a bit of cash in exchange for his behavior. The counter service at the place is slightly slower than the guy in the previous paragraph. Actually, considering there was a commercial vehicle involved in the incident, it doesn't really support my opening argument of being able to pick these guys out of an otherwise bland recreational group of drivers.
It does, however, lead to some thoughts about skill levels, pride, and other assorted sins. A quick and dirty hypothesis might be that "If you recognize how good you are at a certain task, you are likely to either be completely deluded about your actual abilities and overestimate them by a long shot, or push those skills to their limits, eventually beyond your actual abilities to catastrophic result." It becomes an issue of pride. Pride, being, of course, one of the Seven Deadly Sins of Yore, but something that sports teams, elementary schools, and elite groups of professional killers like to foster. Pride tends to have a capital I in the middle of it, and that kind of selfish focus is central to all of the Deadly Seven (as opposed to the Magnificent Seven, which might arguably be seen to have Yul Brenner at the center.) Even when you attach such feelings to a group, team, or group of elitist snobs, it's still about I. Rachel received a bracelet as part of her goodie basket for being named one of December's Students of the Month. It reads: "TRIBE PRIDE" and I is the fulcrum point of both words. I belong to the best! I am one of the best! Dangerous business. How to acknowledge skill, talent - both external and internal - without sliding into a Me, Myself, and Mine kind of ownership? That kind of stuff makes up a whole bunch of the Us and Them kind of thinking that skews news, gets both Us and Them fired up to refute and confusticate issues, and, if it isn't crushed by some Deus ex machina, all out global nuclear annihilation. Or, at least, a nasty bout of fisticuffs.
Speaking of fisticuffs and conflicts, if you ever want to see something interesting, ask Deb what she really thinks of seagulls, or, to really get her going, mention how cute, beautiful, and fluffy innocent they are. I'm really not sure what she goes on about, I mean it couldn't have been that bad on the lobster boat - after all, it was miles and miles (for the most part) away from their natural habitat. That, of course, is what's pertinent here: I observed a flock or two (minus synthesizers) in their natural environment: an abandoned parking lot alongside the active feeding grounds of a restaurant, with all of New Jersey and then some between their native lands and salt water. Nothing of the sea about those birds, more used to the choppy waves in a WalMart puddle and tides caused by tires than anything else.
Although it has often been proposed that John Williams composes on tracing paper, I would ask anyone who thinks that way to investigate some of his pieces that weren't composed for a film score - such as the violin concerto or Treesong, for violin and orchestra. The latter piece was not molded to the whims of a director who might scrawl notes in the script asking for music like Strauss or Wagner or Dvorak, but was, instead, dictated by a Dawn Redwood tree. Certainly don't listen to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake prior to listening to one of the Harry Potter themes, as I suspect they may have more in common than not.
Of course, that does warrant another listen, side-by-side, as I only had Swan Lake to go by. That, and my thoughts on the matter were interrupted by a different mildly elderly gentleman who jaywalked right out in front of me, looked me in the eye, and slowed to a glacial pace until he was in the other lane. Yes, it was in almost the exact same spot as the guy in the first paragraph - the other lane, to be exact - why do you ask?
Have you ever noticed how those who drive for a living - professionals, if you will - can often be picked out at a glance? The obvious sign, of course, is nearly going on two wheels while whipping into the parking lot of a business that is at its peak hour - one of the two peak times, at the least - and then zipping around to carve into two parking spaces at a rather rakish angle. After all, who'd tow a tow truck? That, and it was just a brief pit stop, so he didn't even plunk down a bit of cash in exchange for his behavior. The counter service at the place is slightly slower than the guy in the previous paragraph. Actually, considering there was a commercial vehicle involved in the incident, it doesn't really support my opening argument of being able to pick these guys out of an otherwise bland recreational group of drivers.
It does, however, lead to some thoughts about skill levels, pride, and other assorted sins. A quick and dirty hypothesis might be that "If you recognize how good you are at a certain task, you are likely to either be completely deluded about your actual abilities and overestimate them by a long shot, or push those skills to their limits, eventually beyond your actual abilities to catastrophic result." It becomes an issue of pride. Pride, being, of course, one of the Seven Deadly Sins of Yore, but something that sports teams, elementary schools, and elite groups of professional killers like to foster. Pride tends to have a capital I in the middle of it, and that kind of selfish focus is central to all of the Deadly Seven (as opposed to the Magnificent Seven, which might arguably be seen to have Yul Brenner at the center.) Even when you attach such feelings to a group, team, or group of elitist snobs, it's still about I. Rachel received a bracelet as part of her goodie basket for being named one of December's Students of the Month. It reads: "TRIBE PRIDE" and I is the fulcrum point of both words. I belong to the best! I am one of the best! Dangerous business. How to acknowledge skill, talent - both external and internal - without sliding into a Me, Myself, and Mine kind of ownership? That kind of stuff makes up a whole bunch of the Us and Them kind of thinking that skews news, gets both Us and Them fired up to refute and confusticate issues, and, if it isn't crushed by some Deus ex machina, all out global nuclear annihilation. Or, at least, a nasty bout of fisticuffs.
Speaking of fisticuffs and conflicts, if you ever want to see something interesting, ask Deb what she really thinks of seagulls, or, to really get her going, mention how cute, beautiful, and fluffy innocent they are. I'm really not sure what she goes on about, I mean it couldn't have been that bad on the lobster boat - after all, it was miles and miles (for the most part) away from their natural habitat. That, of course, is what's pertinent here: I observed a flock or two (minus synthesizers) in their natural environment: an abandoned parking lot alongside the active feeding grounds of a restaurant, with all of New Jersey and then some between their native lands and salt water. Nothing of the sea about those birds, more used to the choppy waves in a WalMart puddle and tides caused by tires than anything else.
Although it has often been proposed that John Williams composes on tracing paper, I would ask anyone who thinks that way to investigate some of his pieces that weren't composed for a film score - such as the violin concerto or Treesong, for violin and orchestra. The latter piece was not molded to the whims of a director who might scrawl notes in the script asking for music like Strauss or Wagner or Dvorak, but was, instead, dictated by a Dawn Redwood tree. Certainly don't listen to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake prior to listening to one of the Harry Potter themes, as I suspect they may have more in common than not.
Of course, that does warrant another listen, side-by-side, as I only had Swan Lake to go by. That, and my thoughts on the matter were interrupted by a different mildly elderly gentleman who jaywalked right out in front of me, looked me in the eye, and slowed to a glacial pace until he was in the other lane. Yes, it was in almost the exact same spot as the guy in the first paragraph - the other lane, to be exact - why do you ask?
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 10:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 12:18 pm (UTC)Gourmet food always helps with the wandering thoughts - although I usually lose track of them by the time I'm back in the office or at a keyboard again. Thanks to that aeffect, we've lost out on more efficient engines, various solar energy improvements, at least a few novels, as well as countless short stories, poems, gadgets, gizmos, ideas, concepts, and other equally interesting things. =)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 11:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 12:12 pm (UTC)It is much more obvious in cartoons due to the more compact scope of the work. As an example, if you want to depict a well meaning but comedic hero going off to save the day, Wagner's Valkyrie maidens will do the job. Although authors and even composers generally try to avoid cliches, that usually is what works best in a film score.
Carl Stalling, who did use some original tunes, used mostly a stringing together of melodies from popular tunes and classical music to create the soundtracks for the early Warner Brothers cartoons. His genius was in how he orchestrated familiar melodies into a form so solid that one can see the cartoon clearly just by listening to the music.
The best (or worst) example of what a film composer can go through happened with 2001: A Space Odyssey. I have a CD at home of the original score - that is, the score that was composed from "scratch" for the movie. The monolith scene is kinda-sorta like the opening of Also Sprach Zarathustra (that last "r" really wanted to migrate to the right, in keeping with the space theme... even then, not sure the spelling is accurate on it), which was the music the director provided to the composer to help guide him.
The docking scene likewise had a very Straussian waltz going on, in spirit with the guide tracks. I believe the composer - Alex North - was at the premiere when he first discovered the temporary tracks the director gave him as an example were accompanying the film instead of the score he had put a huge effort into.
I'll have to watch Hook again, as well - but I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were some very similar elements.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 04:12 pm (UTC)I thought Richard Strauss's music was used for 2001.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 05:01 pm (UTC)As for the composers of the "temporary" track:
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-05 09:41 pm (UTC)hahahaha
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-11 05:41 am (UTC)