2) Eric Tomlinson, the music recording engineer 'who was brilliant in Star Wars', was 'completely out of his league with this type of movie which needed all the latest recording techniques'.
Wasn't there such an issue with Jerry Goldsmith's SUPERGIRL, just two years earlier ?
Yes. Goldsmith and Tomlinson initially butted heads at the session regarding how to record the synthesizers. Goldsmith finally acquiesced to Tomlinson's ideas, which initially seemed to be working out -- but it resulted in a speaker catching fire. They also discovered a lot of audio phasing when they went to dub it into the Dolby matrix, so a lot of cues had to be re-recorded.
Goldsmith never worked with Tomlinson again (his next London session, Legend, began his long association with Mike Ross-Trevor).
On Twitter Gale Ann Hurd made a comment refuting Horner’s account. She said that he prioritized his next project over Aliens (presumably An American Tail?) and that was what created friction between him and James Cameron.
My guess is that the postproduction delays on Aliens resulted in him having less time to compose and he was contractually obligated to start preparing the pre-recordings for An American Tail. Aliens is one of the few scores absent in Horners collection at UCLA, so that makes me wonder if Grieg McRitchie sketched and orchestrated cues from Aliens.
By every account I've ever heard about this project Horner had just a miserable time on it because she had to write a lot of it in a much shorter timeframe than he was contractually promised, and it depends on who you talk to. I've heard that his big issues with Gail Anne Hurd.
Basically, I've heard that when you arrived in England, the picture wasn't ready, and he had very little time to write it all and apparently Ms. Hurd and him did not see Ida I on the schedule, and apparently he threatened to put and told her if you can find somebody on my level who can do this film in this timeframe hire them and let me know who it is.
Also, adding to the problem by every account I've heard is that the recording studio was not up to the standards that he had in LA particularly when it came to electronics. Which made the whole situation even harder all I know is that she gave some interview or class at UCLA or USC I forget which one and this was about 93 and he and he basically even at that point just said he'll never work with Cameron again.
The ultimate irony is that a few years later Cameron calls him up to do titanic and I guess time heals all wounds, and he decided to have another go ahead and end well the rest as they say is history.
as for Grieg McRitchie contribution, I suspect that Horner who was really under the gun gave Grieg McRitchie sketches that were fairly well laid out and just had to fill in the details in order to make the recording dates.
I guess the big difference with Titanic was that Cameron had, at that stage, all the time, money, and gear, that Horner could have wanted or asked for.
I guess the big difference with Titanic was that Cameron had, at that stage, all the time, money, and gear, that Horner could have wanted or asked for.
Funny enough, the music budget was extremely tight on "Titanic" and some synths that were intended as mockups remained as such in part for budgetary reasons (though in some scenarios it was a "that works fine"/aesthetic choice).
"Success! I was able to ask Simon Franglen this question and he graciously provided some really interesting insights into their/James' process. He said the vast majority of cues where sampled instruments (like strings, woodwinds, harps, etc) stayed was because there was always a point in the process where certain cues worked emotionally in their virtual form and everyone was happy and satisfied. They felt no need to recreate it live and therefore would move on to the next cue (time pressures being what they are). Other reasons were for texture (oftentimes the synth version would sit better behind dialogue and have a more intimate sound), and of course money. Over half of the Titanic score was synth only because there was practically no music budget."
Wow, that’s a revelation! I always found the synths off putting in this score. It’s sad it wasn’t done with a full orchestra, it would have been glorious.
It’s probably hard to imagine now, but during the making of Titanic it was expected to fail enormously. The shooting and sfx were way over budget, so I can imagine the studio wanted to cut some corners. As usual, the score is mostly the first to suffer.
Yes. I remember the early buzz on TITANIC being VERY negative. It was OVER BUDGET...OVER LONG...and thought to be OVER at the Box Office very soon as people realised how much the whole thing had cost and gone over budget. But yeah, Cameron has been defying critics and expectations virtually all of his career.
We should all thank the (insert whatever fuzzy comfort blanket here) that synth demo mock-up technology wasn't up to TITANIC years levels during ALIENS and the mid 80s. Can you imagine how cheesy and tinny those classic ALIENS tracks would have sounded when Cameron and Co were happy to go with the mock ups to save on time and expenses.
It’s probably hard to imagine now, but during the making of Titanic it was expected to fail enormously.
They've ALWAYS said that about Cameron films in the making, and he's ALWAYS come out on top. As the old saying goes, "Never Doubt James Cameron".
Indeed. I joked about it at the intro when recently my local theatre showed a 70mm print. Never underestimate James Cameron
Though it’s not hinders percent true. The buzz for T2 was quite good, as I recall. Same for True Lies, which is – ironically – his least successful film.
It’s probably hard to imagine now, but during the making of Titanic it was expected to fail enormously.
They've ALWAYS said that about Cameron films in the making, and he's ALWAYS come out on top. As the old saying goes, "Never Doubt James Cameron".
Indeed. I joked about it at the intro when recently my local theatre showed a 70mm print. Never underestimate James Cameron
Though it’s not hinders percent true. The buzz for T2 was quite good, as I recall. Same for True Lies, which is – ironically – his least successful film.
