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Avatar score hints revealed: Alien-language vocals?
To no one's surprise, James Cameron's Titanic and Aliens composer, James Horner, is scoring the upcoming sci-fi epic Avatar, but Movie Score magazine offers up a few tidbits about it, including the fact that the movie will run nearly three hours.
Other revelations:
♦The score will feature vocals in the Na'vi language.
♦The score will include traditional orchestral elements, as well as electronic and acoustic rhythmic elements.
♦The score will blanket the movie: "The film will run the better part of three hours, and there will likely be nearly as much score," Mike Knobloch, the executive vice president of Fox Music, told the magazine.
Also not surprising, the score is described as "epic." "It's a brilliantly unique blend of traditional and contemporary, electronic elements and spans the entire spectrum of attitude and energy—from bombastic action to the delicate, romantic discovery of a new world," Knobloch told the magazine:
Interestingly, the time Horner is being allowed to work on Avatar seems to be the complete opposite of Aliens, where Horner had 3 1/2 weeks to finish about 80 minutes of music.Horner has been working on Avatar for more than a year and was doing pre-records and working on ideas with Cameron already back in June 2008. "The recording of the score has been an ongoing process for months and it's still in process. Electronic elements of the score are being recorded at a studio assembled specifically for this project. The orchestral component of the score is being recorded in groups of dates that started in June," Mike Knobloch explained, adding that the orchestral sessions are being held at the Newman Stage at 20th Century Fox. ...
Mike Knobloch explained that there "is a great deal of acoustic and electronic rhythmic elements driving the score and vocalists singing and chanting in the fictional Na'vi dialect. Horner is doing a brilliant job of creating music that transports us to another world, but supports the film using the traditional orchestral conventions to make a sound that's hugely cinematic."
Look for the full score to be released on CD (CD? Why not vinyl? Wax disc?) by Atlantic Records.
No word on whether Celine Dion will be enlisted.
By ryuken at 5:31 PM ON 10/07/09
It would be great if they get Celine to sing.
Her vocals are (epic).
By chawoott at 9:10 PM ON 10/07/09
"Celine to sing...." Why? It seems that this season FOX has several shows that have suddenly turned into "beyond MTV" music videos. What's with the vocals all of a sudden? What happened to simple scores that reflected the mood of the scene? Why are we suddenly forced to stop thinking for ourselves?
We once were able to think for ourselves, y'know. Really. The advent of mass video forced us to think the way the author wanted us to think. And now we don't know any better.
But, back to Celine. If, and that's a big IF, a scene called for a vocal then I'd have no problem with it. She is truly delightful. But to have a vocal "just because" is irrational.
By asfm at 9:15 PM ON 10/07/09
If the Na'vi language is as 'alien' as the creatures themselves (or their entire planet, for that matter), then I would expect it to be just English with the 'R's backwards.
By glitch at 10:14 PM ON 10/07/09
And if Horner/Cameron really wanted the score to be alien, I'd hope to gods that, at the very least, they'd completely throw out 12-tone intonation (please!); even though microtonal music is notoriously difficult to score for an orchestra,
The only place standard tuning would make sense would be in scenes involving Earth/humans.
By diesel at 11:27 PM ON 10/07/09
I think a lot of people are going to go to this movie and wonder where Ang is? LOL I am sorry but I think this movie is going to flop even with the name recognition. Kind of cheesy they took the name Avatar.
I think Celine Dion is probably the best female singer out there but I am not sure if it will fit the movie.
I will wait for this movie to come out on DVD to see. LOL
By southafricanguy at 12:37 AM ON 10/08/09
Diesal, seriously dude, took the name Avatar? Cameron wrote Avatar in 1995, and it then was freely available on the internet for years after. I myself got the script and read it in 1997. Many years before that show was even a twinkle in its creators eyes. So Im sorry to dissapoint you but Cameron did nt steal anything fro the last airbender. Nevermind that avatar is a Hindu concept originally, far older still than both I believe......
By Melora at 1:06 PM ON 10/08/09
Lapti Nek and the Ewok song anyone?
As if the art design for the ships, aliens and planets wasn't enough of a knock-off, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Avatar is Cameron's desperate attempt to immitate Star Wars.
By dr. malcolm long at 3:19 PM ON 10/08/09
@diesel: Also cheesy is the use of Papyrus font for the logo, over-used by yoga studios and vegetarian restaurants across the land.
By Average Person at 3:25 PM ON 10/08/09
To the guys who think the movie will suck... Everyy movie he (Cameron) has done, except for his first, has been a HUGE hit. It has been innovative and Groundbreaking! Before you talk it down, go see it first. This guy does NOT make movies that SUCK!!!!!
By sjc1963 at 7:27 PM ON 10/08/09
What many don't seem to get is that the humans are the aliens in this story. The natives are beautiful, though.
By southafricanguy at 12:30 AM ON 10/09/09
Sorry, but I seriously call bullshit on that comment that the designs are mimicking Star Wars. Of course Cameron is influenced by Star Wars, he has made no secret of that. And in that sense you are right, this is his "star wars" for lack of a better comparison. But as someone that has read the old scripment, i must say you are way off base. The spaceships are nothing like Star wars, they are realistic (no faster than light travelling here) and you can see in the teaser that the ship looks like something NASA might actually make. So how the hell is anyone copying the spaceships in Star Wars? Also, the alien creatures look nothing like things we have seen in Star wars, many of them have been designed by Wayne Barlow (considered by many to be one of the best sci-fi/fantasy artists in the world) and his stuff looks nothing like whats in Star Wars. Have you actually seen any of the creatures from Avatar??
By Iso at 8:55 PM ON 10/09/09
The aerial ships in Avatar look very much like the Republic Gunships from the last two Star Wars films.
And I assume Melora has seen some of the aliens in Avatar since there is one in the picture AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS ARTICLE! And the alien is reminscent of a Twilek from Star Wars. So I rather think its YOUR opinions that are bull.
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Iso:
The aerial ships in Avatar look very much like the Republic Gunships from the last two Star Wars films. And I assu...More »