With so many themes in the film trilogy, how did you keep track of it all?
Oh, you have to come see my notes. It's a massive project, since you're dealing with 12 hours of music! The idea of motifs, related to characters, was all very carefully constructed and I kept good logs of it all. I have themes and motifs from all three films.
Doug Adams is writing a book on the music of The Lord of the Rings. Other books have come out, dealing with the production design or different aspects of the film. This one will go into a lot of detail about the use of thematic material, the motifs, how the orchestration relates to those particular compositions, how the different cultures were created (Lothlórien, Rivendell, the Shire, Moria, Rohan, Gondor, etc.). It goes into a lot of depth about that, as well as the folk instruments that were used for the different cultures.
We also include the text, and the poems - Tolkien's words that were sung by the chorus and the soloists. It's the most detailed writing on the piece - I'm hoping it will come out around the time of the box set, when the whole score is released. And that will be the great reading companion to go along with the score.
Recent news reports indicate that Christopher Lee's big scene has been dropped from Return of the King. But it was initiallysupposed to be in The Two Towers, so it had been around for a while - had you scored it at any point?
No, that one I have not worked on yet. But that's the major one I'll be working on for the extended cut of Return of the King!
On the other projects...
So what's next?
Well, I have the symphony project, and the Return of the King Extended Edition cut to work on. The symphony project is extensive - it involves a series of concerts all throughout next year. I'm also working with Martin Scorsese on The Aviator, and then with Peter Jackson on King Kong. That's kept the whole creative team together, to make another film, which is a fantastic idea.
Have you given much thought to King Kong yet?
Oh, I'm thinking about it...
Will there be any homage to Max Steiner in your score?
Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom, Kevin Conway, Hugo Weaving, Brad Dourif, Martin Csoka, Bernard Hill, Sir Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, John Noble, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, Cate Blanchett, David Wenham
Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly, Kate Beckinsale, Jude Law, Adam Scott, Kelli Garner, Gwen Stefani, Nellie Sciutto, Alec Baldwin, Danny Huston, Matt Ross, Ian Holm, Alan Alda, Frances Conroy, Vincent Laresca, Justin Shilton, Brent Spiner, Josie Maran, Sam Hennings, Willem Dafoe, Stanley DeSantis
Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Andy Serkis, Colin Hanks, Kyle Chandler, Thomas Kretschmann, Jamie Bell, Evan Parke, John Sumner, Richard Kavanagh, Craig Hall, Lobo Chan
Sean Astin as 'Samwise The Brave' Monday, December 8th, 2003 - In the hands of an actor like Sean Astin, the character of Samwise Gamgee is much more than a simple caretaker to the beleaguered Ring Bearer...
EXCLUSIVE: Effects Wizard Joe Letteri Talks King Kong Friday, March 24th, 2006 - The Academy Award Winner discusses his favorite effects in the film, working with Peter Jackson as well as his work on the upcoming Halo and The Lovely Bones films.
Mushy's 10 Best List for 2005 Wednesday, December 28th, 2005 - The Mush continues his unpredictable ways with his list that toasts the best films of the year!
Peter Jackson Talks King Kong and Halo! Friday, December 9th, 2005 - From the age of 9, the director's dream comes true to create the remake of the 1933 Classic!
Jack Black Talks About King Kong Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 - The actor expresses his feelings about playing a director of a movie and being directed by Peter Jackson.
King Kong Actors to Voice Video Game Thursday, November 17th, 2005 - Lead actors Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody Bring portray their characters.
Top Stories
82 Comments
