Great cue and insightful analysis! The dub mix question has 2 likely answers. 1. George Lucas wanted to save the music to build excitement. 2. He liked the sound design a lot and wanted just that. Only a handful of people at Skywalker would know for sure, if they remember :) When you're mixing a film it's easy to take music for granted, people just get used to it and start focusing on sfx. Great directors will overcome that issue. And Lucas usually does.
Did anyone notice Williams often uses the Xylophone in order to accompany Scenes featuring droids (primarily) in the Prequel trilogy)? I found this to be Kinda Fitting. Same Thing as the Xylophone is used to musically symbolize Skeletons or just Bones in some other Film Scores, I guess. The clicking brilliance of the Instrument does indeed imply something of that kind, I don't know… personally, I've Always thought if you needed to depict a droid character by a single Instrument, it would definetely by the Xylophone. Thoughts?
Well, the thing is that xylophone is the trademark of Williams' typical action writing. He used it throughout his entire career, but I personally mostly associate it with his 1990-2000 action cues. You know, "Star Wars Prequels", "Harry Potter", "The Kingdom of Krystal Skull", "Minority Report", "Tintin" or anything... Just listen to any of these scores, there always was a place for xylophone in action cues.
This is such a Mandela effect moment for me - this music is used for the Utapau level in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga video game, so I guess I always assumed it was in the movie too, because why wouldn't it it's so bizarre to see the unscored scene now
i've been trying to find something like this for this particular cue for so long now, those woodwinds stabs are genius replicating laser blasts, honestly can't get enough.
I think the movies keep the music volume on a pretty low level. I wouldn't realise some great pieces til I hear the soundtrack on cd. I don't know if it's necessary for mixing the sound effects or so but it's a pity.
A lot of scenes for ROTS especially this scene and good portion of the opening part of the film (through the "Elevator Scene") would have done much better with the music left in place. I think we can safely blame Ben Burtt all these years where there was music but it was cut because he had stated from the making of TPM that Williams' music clashed to much with his (Burtt) sfx. Also the expanded score for ROTS is great. While not complete but it's still nice to hear a lot of previously unreleased material.
Eh, I disagree. I like the kind of weird feeling that the lack of music creates in those parts. It further distinguishes the aesthetic of this movie, and it makes a lot of moments a bit more tense. It's like that scene in "A New Hope" when the heroes discover the Death Star-imagine if they ended up putting music over that, diminishing the tension of the scene and competing with the really cool sound design.
@@jessemoog5310 For “Revenge of the Sith” I’m referring to the same scenes that you’re referring to. For “A New Hope,” I’m referring to the scene where the _Millennium Falcon_ exits hyperspace where Alderaan is supposed to be and finds only an asteroid field.
@@georgeofhamilton but their is music in that scene. It starts when obi wan says: thats no moon, and then gets louder and louder until the music literally plays a big brass fanfare. If xour refering to the part before the music starts, then i wouldnt count that as an example for a wierd silence, because its mainly dialogue wich is very often not underscored.
@@jessemoog5310 It doesn’t seem like there’s a strong argument as to why these moments in “Revenge of the Sith” are weird as opposed to other suspenseful moments in the saga that don’t have music. And a lot of dialogue in the films is accompanied by the score, in fact. You know that a lack of music is used as an effective way to increase the tension of a scene, even for action, right?
Woops, haha i meant to say, near the end of the movie. When it cuts to yoda and palpatine dueling and stuff, then cuts back to anakin and obiwan.. That scene.
Lucas' flawless vision for this scene demands there be no music! I say it's so much more gripping and meaningful when space-wizards riding giant lizards whilst fighting 4-armed robots on monocycles are *not* accompanied with blatant musical cues that might mar the subtlety of such deeply and emotionally dire scenarios. Seriously though, the lack of music there might be because Williams recorded the piece prior to the editors' last-minute "tweaks" and there wasn't enough time to re-record or make it fit. That or the sound designers were a little jealous and wanted to have some space to themselves (can't blame them).
Yassss! Love this score! To be honest I can't even remember the last time watching the scene but I listen to the soundtrack every other day in my car and just got used to this music being in that scene in my head LMAO
Huh, so that was actually a really dark moment for Obi wan. He forsakes his code of honor a little bit there, demonstrating what he is willing to do for a great goal. Shooting Grevious like that feels really cheap, but its actually a big character moment that I never noticed before. I think John could have actually called more attention to this moment. Even Grevious didn't use such tactics. Come to to think of it, this is a really gritty battle that showcases how human, and by that I mean, capable of evil, Obi-wan actually can be. Thanks for posting this so that I could see this great moment in the story.
For this scene I think the music preceding 0:48 would have been better with a repeating ostinato without the woodwind and brass. You always have to question what is the point of it. Is it adding anything ? It adds much more at the end of the scene.
How would eliminating the higher pitched instruments be better? Those are the parts that are interesting, not to mention actually cut through the sound effects. Take them away and only the low ostinato parts are left, which is fine if you just want “generic action music” like so many do today
In measure 40 is the “major-minor” referring to the Bb in the bottom being the major third of the Gb chord and the A in the top of the chord being the Minor third? Cause in the music it appears the chord has a major 7th on it (the F). I’m just curious as to how the name of the chord was decided upon! I would have no idea of what to call that thing ha
I'd like to see this score paired with the film with the audio removed for analysis purposes - it's just too low in the mix and there are too many sound effects.
To say something about the music itself, this may have been better done as a percussion queue (whoever made this word be spelled this way should make one more word then drop dead). Primal beating drums coupled with the hard action would have involved the viewers and actually have caused their hearts to race to the beat of an adrenaline filled percussive soundtrack. Saved the melodic stuff for the emotional moments. But then, maybe that wouldn't work for star wars.
There used to be a fairly active trading community for film score sheet music. They're usually either scanned handwritten orchestral scores or for newer scores, typeset from various engraving programs. A lot of Williams' music in particular is out there.
Great cue and insightful analysis! The dub mix question has 2 likely answers.
1. George Lucas wanted to save the music to build excitement.
2. He liked the sound design a lot and wanted just that.
Only a handful of people at Skywalker would know for sure, if they remember :)
When you're mixing a film it's easy to take music for granted, people just get used to it and start focusing on sfx. Great directors will overcome that issue. And Lucas usually does.
Did anyone notice Williams often uses the Xylophone in order to accompany Scenes featuring droids (primarily) in the Prequel trilogy)? I found this to be Kinda Fitting. Same Thing as the Xylophone is used to musically symbolize Skeletons or just Bones in some other Film Scores, I guess. The clicking brilliance of the Instrument does indeed imply something of that kind, I don't know… personally, I've Always thought if you needed to depict a droid character by a single Instrument, it would definetely by the Xylophone. Thoughts?
Merlin Holler I agree! I’ve always enjoyed hearing the xylophone used in action sequences
I'm not the only one! John Williams is THE MAN! :D
Well, the thing is that xylophone is the trademark of Williams' typical action writing. He used it throughout his entire career, but I personally mostly associate it with his 1990-2000 action cues. You know, "Star Wars Prequels", "Harry Potter", "The Kingdom of Krystal Skull", "Minority Report", "Tintin" or anything... Just listen to any of these scores, there always was a place for xylophone in action cues.
@@alexkarpenter2306 yea he used it a lot in “Anderton’s Great Escape” from minority report and the battle themes in the prequels like Anakin vs. Dooku
Uses Xylophone and Piccolo , as well as stopped horn to cut through the sound effects. Horns also in octaves for that massive sound.
This is such a Mandela effect moment for me - this music is used for the Utapau level in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga video game, so I guess I always assumed it was in the movie too, because why wouldn't it
it's so bizarre to see the unscored scene now
I've always heard music in this scene.
i've been trying to find something like this for this particular cue for so long now, those woodwinds stabs are genius replicating laser blasts, honestly can't get enough.
I think the movies keep the music volume on a pretty low level. I wouldn't realise some great pieces til I hear the soundtrack on cd. I don't know if it's necessary for mixing the sound effects or so but it's a pity.
A lot of scenes for ROTS especially this scene and good portion of the opening part of the film (through the "Elevator Scene") would have done much better with the music left in place. I think we can safely blame Ben Burtt all these years where there was music but it was cut because he had stated from the making of TPM that Williams' music clashed to much with his (Burtt) sfx.
Also the expanded score for ROTS is great. While not complete but it's still nice to hear a lot of previously unreleased material.
Eh, I disagree. I like the kind of weird feeling that the lack of music creates in those parts. It further distinguishes the aesthetic of this movie, and it makes a lot of moments a bit more tense. It's like that scene in "A New Hope" when the heroes discover the Death Star-imagine if they ended up putting music over that, diminishing the tension of the scene and competing with the really cool sound design.
@@georgeofhamilton are you being sarcastic, because i dont know wich scene you mean?
@@jessemoog5310 For “Revenge of the Sith” I’m referring to the same scenes that you’re referring to. For “A New Hope,” I’m referring to the scene where the _Millennium Falcon_ exits hyperspace where Alderaan is supposed to be and finds only an asteroid field.
@@georgeofhamilton but their is music in that scene. It starts when obi wan says: thats no moon, and then gets louder and louder until the music literally plays a big brass fanfare. If xour refering to the part before the music starts, then i wouldnt count that as an example for a wierd silence, because its mainly dialogue wich is very often not underscored.
@@jessemoog5310 It doesn’t seem like there’s a strong argument as to why these moments in “Revenge of the Sith” are weird as opposed to other suspenseful moments in the saga that don’t have music. And a lot of dialogue in the films is accompanied by the score, in fact. You know that a lack of music is used as an effective way to increase the tension of a scene, even for action, right?
I love the weird time signatures of the prequels.
Do you think you could do obi wan vs anakin scene right before this? I've always wanted to play along with that piece. Thanks!
Woops, haha i meant to say, near the end of the movie. When it cuts to yoda and palpatine dueling and stuff, then cuts back to anakin and obiwan.. That scene.
Soooo... music or no music for the first half of this scene?
FilmScoreAnalysis Music. Definitely.
Can you upload the first half with music, just so we can hear it? Also, with music.
Lucas' flawless vision for this scene demands there be no music! I say it's so much more gripping and meaningful when space-wizards riding giant lizards whilst fighting 4-armed robots on monocycles are *not* accompanied with blatant musical cues that might mar the subtlety of such deeply and emotionally dire scenarios.
Seriously though, the lack of music there might be because Williams recorded the piece prior to the editors' last-minute "tweaks" and there wasn't enough time to re-record or make it fit. That or the sound designers were a little jealous and wanted to have some space to themselves (can't blame them).
Music. I love the vids - you have a really novel idea that I haven't seen anywhere else. Keep it up!
FilmScoreAnalysis
Yes to music for this scene.
Yassss! Love this score!
To be honest I can't even remember the last time watching the scene but I listen to the soundtrack every other day in my car and just got used to this music being in that scene in my head LMAO
Huh, so that was actually a really dark moment for Obi wan. He forsakes his code of honor a little bit there, demonstrating what he is willing to do for a great goal. Shooting Grevious like that feels really cheap, but its actually a big character moment that I never noticed before. I think John could have actually called more attention to this moment. Even Grevious didn't use such tactics. Come to to think of it, this is a really gritty battle that showcases how human, and by that I mean, capable of evil, Obi-wan actually can be. Thanks for posting this so that I could see this great moment in the story.
I actually agree with you. That line "so uncivilized" as a throwaway remark seems unusually callous and at odds with the character.
He was calling the gun "uncivilized". He said the same thing in the first movie.
How do you get access to the original score? I am currently developing a 1 hour of Star Wars saga concert for wind orchestra.
Also what do you use to make your score reductions?
Great analysis but I believe bars 41 and 42 are wrong. There are a couple more of those licks on high woodwinds.
The last two beats of bar 41 are looped editorially.
For this scene I think the music preceding 0:48 would have been better with a repeating ostinato without the woodwind and brass. You always have to question what is the point of it. Is it adding anything ? It adds much more at the end of the scene.
How would eliminating the higher pitched instruments be better? Those are the parts that are interesting, not to mention actually cut through the sound effects. Take them away and only the low ostinato parts are left, which is fine if you just want “generic action music” like so many do today
In measure 40 is the “major-minor” referring to the Bb in the bottom being the major third of the Gb chord and the A in the top of the chord being the Minor third? Cause in the music it appears the chord has a major 7th on it (the F). I’m just curious as to how the name of the chord was decided upon! I would have no idea of what to call that thing ha
I'd like to see this score paired with the film with the audio removed for analysis purposes - it's just too low in the mix and there are too many sound effects.
Bars 41-42-43 there's some rythm missing. I thing its a 2/4 between 3/4 and 6/8.
The last two beats of bar 41 are looped (editorially, I guess). Nice catch!
The lizard did not approve. End of the story.
LIZAAAAAAAARD
Hello there!
To say something about the music itself, this may have been better done as a percussion queue (whoever made this word be spelled this way should make one more word then drop dead). Primal beating drums coupled with the hard action would have involved the viewers and actually have caused their hearts to race to the beat of an adrenaline filled percussive soundtrack. Saved the melodic stuff for the emotional moments. But then, maybe that wouldn't work for star wars.
Where did you find the score for this song
Sam Ibarra I would also like to know this!!
There used to be a fairly active trading community for film score sheet music. They're usually either scanned handwritten orchestral scores or for newer scores, typeset from various engraving programs. A lot of Williams' music in particular is out there.
I think you can buy the sheets but they're hella expensive.
nice! but the vid would have been better without the sfx, just music+score
Hello there
CAN ANYONE READ THIS MUSIC THAT IS IN 6TH, 7TH, AND 8TH GRADE PREFORMING ARTS CLASS?
The Brayden channel no. Hahahahaa