Comments on: Soundtrack Review: City of Ember (2008)

By: Jorn Tillnes

Jorn Tillnes — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:26:55 +0000

Interesting. Didn’t know that. Having too much time to prepare and think about a score might ruin it though if you are not too careful. Sometimes, creating something on the spot gives surprising and great results. I think City of Ember had it’s flaws, but overall I liked it. Would it have been better with more preparation and planning? Perhaps. I am excited about 2009 for Andrew and hope he continues on the same track.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:52:11 +0000

Yes but Zimmer’s work on the Lion King was also prepared for about four years before being put into a finished product over the last three weeks. I’m not saying very good scores can’t be produced in the time constraints of two or three weeks (King Kong stands out as a wise example), but I just think it’s wise to point out that a reason such scores may not be all they can be can stem from this kind of schedule. Not being on board until the final two weeks interferes with the creative process as many composers testify to going through ideas for what scores will sound like months before they actually get to work on watching the film and writing the material, therefore a rushed schedule such as the one Lockington faced for this film can likely explain the underwhelming softer moments mentioned above.

By: Jorn Tillnes

Jorn Tillnes — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:09:38 +0000

Composers have much less time now than before, but it’s nice to know that even with harsh time restraints they still deliver. Zimmer wrote and recorded The Lion King in 3 weeks and we all know how that went so it’s certainly possible.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:41:15 +0000

One should note that Lockington wrote and recorded this score in only 2-3 weeks after Douglas Pipes’s score was rejected and given the time constraints he did a fairly good job.