IN: Unpleasant. After Saturday Night Fever, someone noticed that a movie was an incredible vehicle to sell records with. Now, films aimed at teenagers have become long-form music videos. A tune will be put in every few seconds so it can trumpeted as a “hit song.” There are places in films I’ve composed that could have really benefited from some good, intelligent scoring — and instead a song was shoved in. Tunes don’t have any emotional ups or downs. They only work in sequences with one dramatic level, like a love scene or a montage, not parts where there are a lot of emotional changes. But because Kevin Smith is a real director, his first concern was to make Mall Rats work as a film before he put the songs into it.
DS: In spite of that problem, you’ve done a good job of matching your score to Mall Rats’ metal and alternative songs.
IN: I can play anything from the Bach to the blues, yet few people know what I can do. When I was a studio arranger and guitar player, there were people who would only hire me for the classical guitar. They wouldn’t let me near an electric one. At the same time, there were people who would only hire me to play rhythm and blues. They never dreamt I could handle an acoustic guitar. That shows how much anybody can ever know about your talents. Hollywood sees what it wants to. All they know is that I’m a good comedic composer, and that’s it. I can’t get a dramatic film because they fear that audiences will start cracking up the minute they hear my music.
Read the entire Part 2 at Film Score Monthly. Also, check out the author’s new website Film Music Radio at filmmusicradio.com.
Was cleaning up the office and found this. Take a peep at the AFM trailer Miramax put together back while we were still in production.
OG Jersey Girl trailer
Once the dust settles at Miramax, maybe we’ll get to that “Jersey Girl” extended cut DVD. Then, those of you who weren’t at Vulgarthon this year can see what the movie could’ve been.
There IS another trailer out there, the international one, that we have filed away somewhere. We’ll look to bring that out in a future edition of Retro for you. It’s got some other scenes in there as well. Trust us, the extended cut of Jersey Girl is worth the wait. So much of what you see in the film today resonates so differently and more meaningfully when you see all of the Ben/Jen stuff. We hope those of you who missed the chance to see this amazing cut at Vulgarthon will get to watch it for yourselves someday.
Keep in mind the diary is still around a week behind. Note that Kevin does cite not having a location or female lead for Clerks 2 locked at the point of writing, but that late last week, he did confirm an actress was about to be signed, and that a location wasn’t far off. Stay tuned, as we’ll certainly follow that story and anything else breaking right away.
KARNEY TPB
Written by Bryan Johnson, art by Walter Flanagan, cover by Ben Templesmith.
Get your freak on with View Askew’s Bryan “Steve-Dave” Johnson and Walter “Fan Boy” Flanagan. The circus has come to town and something is not quite right. Karney tells the tale of “Othello’s Cavalcade of Oddities,” a traveling sideshow of rag-tag misfits who breeze into town and promise the citizens the time of their life. What remains to be seen is how long the townspeople’s lives will last. Includes a brand-new intro from filmmaker Kevin Smith.
112 pages, $19.99.
Holy crap, we’ve finally got our female lead! And she’s awesome! I’ll let you know who she is once the deal is finalized.
And after running into a long delay trying to secure the location, we’re 85% locked in. If we sign the agreement by Friday, the schedule finally gets triggered: Ratface will start building, the remaining keys will be hired, and rehearsals will begin within weeks.
After almost a year since the opening of this thread, “Clerks 2” is fast becoming a reality.
It’s an exciting day, folks! So who will it be? Feel free to TalkBack and speculate. A famous indie actress? Perhaps a somewhat unknown? Talk amongst yourselves. The final announcement SOON!
