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How to Train Your Dragon 2 turns ten! Come and share your memories on the thread.

Posting reply to Score Reviewed (Two Angles)
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Clickable Emoticons	TheCube42 wrote: > [b]With respect to the film[/b]: > > A score, when placed in the context of a film, is meant to be subordinate > to the movie (except in cases like [i]The Red Violin[/i] where the score is > the main player in the film). The new score does this well: The new themes > match up with new elements of the film, from a mystery-thriller type > snippet (what I would like to call a "Bourne"-esque music) to > minimalist lyrics. > > It's a lot easier to digest at first viewing than the first film's score: > the score is more settled, and less capricious in its direction. This gives > the viewers something to hang onto in terms of mood. The newer ideas > (themes) are simpler in their construction as well, mainly made up of > pentatonic gestures. > > Overall, with respect to the film, it is a great companion with both fun > and pain. > > [b]By itself[/b]: > > First of all, this should be let out: The intro of "Dragon > Racing" is a completely different version from the actual version used > in the film. It is heard later during credits as filler music; the actual > film cut is much closer to the beginning of "This is Berk," with > gentle horn melody and soft string accompaniment. > > If you listen to the first and the second scores back-to-back, you can see > where material was lifted off the first film's score (not just the themes, > but the exact forms). From "Counter Attack" to "Vikings Have > Their Tea" to "This is Berk" to "Test Drive," a > lot of the material is the same settings rehashed into a slightly fuller > mood (or sometimes they're nigh-identical). These are, as we all know, > proven to be great. > > Much of the portions utilizing new themes, I feel, lack something. It isn't > gravitas; it has plenty of that. What I feel as lacking, viewing this as a > concert work, is a sense of great movement that the first score had. As > much as I like massive music, it can be achieved without sacrificing > movement (The last movement of Mahler Symphony No. 9 is really, really, > reallllly slow, but it still keeps a very weighted momentum throughout). > I'm all for minimalists (Philip Glass, etc.) whose music often shows > movement only when viewed on a bigger scope, but I feel that the disjoint > between the two styles (and the intermingling of them) kind of broke some > paces for me thinking of this as a concert piece. A huge exception to this > was one of Drago-centric motifs (scale degree 5 - 10 - 8) which really > breathed some John Williams DNA back into the score, and the 6/4 instances > of one of the pentatonic motifs (3 - 3 - 4 - 5 - \| 4 - 3 - 1 - 7 \| 1) where > the entire orchestra injected movement into the music with sheer force. > > Addendum: The violin solo of the Celtic theme in "Dragon Racing" > is sterile; The violin solo in "Two New Alphas" is a bit out of > tune. UGGGGGGHHHHHH > > That's all.
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