What???Those of you who wondered why the Tron Legacy trailer sounds like Hans Zimmer had his hands on it, is because he probably did.
I am not making this one up, this is information that has been passed down to me from sources within the music and movie world. Now, maybe this is just something that I have overheard (and possibly wrongly), or maybe my sources heard wrong. Since I am not an investigative reporter I am not going to go undercover and get it straight from the source. I am just spreading information that I've heard.
Well, what I heard was that Daft Punk initially turned in a score to Disney but the studio executives thought it was "too much" for a score to their tent pole movie, so they turned to legendary composer Hans Zimmer to, say "mellow it out" a bit... No wonder why some of the trailer sounds a lot like Inception and The Dark Knight.
It does kinda makes sense though, as Daft Punk has never really done an entire score to a major movie nor worked with an orchestra before... Do you really think Disney would let them just do there own thing? And that would be final?
Disney has a lot at stake (early reports indicate this movie is pegged at around $170 million, and that's just for it's production costs, not including the marketing) and they really want to make sure this movie hits huge numbers, so I wouldn't be surprised if they brought in a major film composer (who's been in this industry for years) just to tidy things up a bit. Of course, you wont see a Hans Zimmer credits anywhere because, well, this kind of thing goes on all the time in Hollywood; big studios hire major film composers just to tweek certain film scores and pay them an insurmountable uncredited paycheck.
Plus, it sounds better when there is just one composer on a film, rather than two or even five. But in Disney's case, Daft Punk and Tron is the perfect marketing exposure, which provides them with the largest target audience for the film, and perfect hype for the soundtrack (which is the only soundtrack I've ever been excited to listen to before having seen the film).
I am not angry or upset upon hearing this news, because I do retain the idea that a movie score should sound like a movie score and I do like both Daft Punk (as you can see) and Hans Zimmer. It is cool that (if this rumor is indeed true) two great artists from different realms are collaborating to make an interesting piece of movie history (tbd).
Now, my only question I have is if Daft Punk (or Disney) will release or play the original version of their score? Perhaps maybe they might go on tour with it.
What do you think? Have you heard this too?
Update: I've just learned that from the album credits, that the Tron Legacy Soundtrack was mixed at Remote Control Studios which is run none other than by the man himself, Hans Zimmer. So in a way, he did, touch it up... but to what extent, we may never know.
Tron Legacy Movie Review
Tron Legacy Over-hyped?
Daft Punk - Tron Legacy Soundtrack, Album Review
Official Daft Punk - Derezzed Music Video
Daft Punk - Derezzed Tron Legacy Trailer
Funny Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Daft Punk Video
Cute 8 Bit Version of Tron Legacy
Tron: R3configur3d Remixer Tracklist
4 comments:
I just want to point out some things that are factually wrong or at least misleading with this blog.
"... Daft Punk has never really done an entire score to a major movie nor worked with an orchestra before..."
This is heavily misleading. True, the duo Daft Punk have never scored a film prior to TRON: Legacy. However, Thomas Bangalter, who is one half of Daft Punk, created the score for Irréversible in addition to producing the soundtrack for that film. He was also approached to perform the score to the film Enter the Void but could not commit due to his involvement with TRON: Legacy. Instead, he was the sound effects director.
One must also consider the fact that both members of Daft Punk have directed some of their own music videos and were heavily involved in the production of their own film, Daft Punk's Electroma.
The blog gives the sense that Daft Punk are alien to the realm of film and scoring, but that's just not the case. Certainly, there was some collaboration with an orchestrator and musical supervisor, as they may not have quite as much experience with an orchestra, but, from what I've read, they scored the film with an orchestra in mind.
I guess my point is simply that people had unreasonable expectations for the score based entirely on Daft Punk's albums. I think if you have experienced Bangalter's previous score work, or seen their movie Electroma, it would help to temper expectations.
An example would be when my friend convinced me to get a hold of a copy of Electroma. He thought it was going to be a live-action version of Interstella 5555. Instead, there was no Daft Punk music to be found; in fact, there was hardly any music or dialogue at all. He was heavily disappointed because it didn't meet his expectations of Daft Punk from what he was familiar with.
I've read elsewhere that the score was performed in Zimmer's studio, but this is also false. Zimmer's studio is located in California; however, the TRON: Legacy score was performed in London. I believe an article that links to this blog in its comments section made such a claim.
Thanks for the post... I just found out that the score was mixed at Remote Control Studios, which is run by Hans Zimmer... and that's why I was told he was somehow involved.
I guess by "major movie," I was thinking more along the lines of a big production like Tron Legacy.
I just got a hold of a copy of the Album. In the back, they certainly thank Hans Zimmer, and indeed it lists Remote Control Studios as the Mixing Studio (Even Henson Studios is listed for pre-production).
So, certainly, there's a bit of influence there. However, I disagree with the larger internet discussion of how this album is a disappointment, or not what some expected (and here, the extent of collaboration with Zimmer). It's especially hard to judge a soundtrack album when the movie hasn't even hit the general public.
I do agree that they haven't been involved in a major/Hollywood production, but I also think the artists involved (Daft Punk specifically) have a great reverence for film as an art form. I just don't see them approaching this film as a music video, or just making a new album and expecting a studio to attach it as a soundtrack.
It also helps with the distinction of RCS as the facility for mixing. I would just say that while mixing is an important aspect of the production process, I don't think it has as much influence on the sound as composition.
It's cool how this has brought my attention to other aspects of this album and how it's put together.
when an orchestra is recorded in London, then it is due to the fact that the orchestra was booked there. It is simply the recording place. Mixing and editing and composing could've been done elsewhere in the world of course.
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