#anyway this could totally be in rachels main verse

[celestiel]

☾      ↺    ﹙   @helreisa​   ﹚      ﹒   ❛  don’t make me regret giving you the aux cord.  ❜    +  gretchen

          “ oh, don’t worry raerae, my playlist is only filled with regina approved songs. you know, so i don’t get made fun of. ” because obviously regina knew what was best. regina would never let her play something that was uncool. after all, friends looked out for each other. why would she purposely put her in danger? “ so, what’s more your vibe? ari, riri or bey? ”

[crisisreading]

How I Think Percy and Annabeth’s “Enemies to Friends” Relationship Should Work in PJO Season 1:

First of all, I would like to say it really bothers me when writers throw in an “enemies to friends” or “enemies to friends to lovers” trope into their story and the basis for “enemies” is something silly. In the case of PJO, the main reason why Annabeth and Percy do not get along at first (this is only the biggest reason, there are others) is because their parents do not like each other.

I would like to make the case that this trope would work much better if it was caused by a clash of worldviews between Percy and Annabeth. We have two characters with vastly different backgrounds, and it really sucks that this wasn’t explored more.

Percy is very street smart. He understands the power dynamics/hierarchies/rules of the mortal world and is able to use these to his advantage. However, he is totally new to the demigod world and struggles against following rules or authority figures he does not respect. This sets him up to be a rebel in the demigod world and make enemies of powerful folks.

Annabeth is well-versed in the demigod world. She has known about her demigod status since age 7 and been involved at camp for nearly as long. In this time, she has managed to build connections with demigods and gods alike. However, she feels little attachment to the mortal world where she has only ever known rejection.

Percy’s home life is marked by extremes. Sally did her best to give him love and attention, but he was also abused by Gabe, written off by the school system, and experienced financial struggles. Percy’s background set him up to be a very loving kid with a strong hatred for injustice. He was abused for years, but still knew what it was to be shown love.

Annabeth’s home life has left her extremely self-conscious and afraid of abandonment. She was homeless and fending for herself at age 7, then was picked up by two teens who could barely help themselves. Then Thalia and Luke walked out of her life too. Annabeth has never known true, unconditional love.

There is just so much to explore here, and I really hope that their initial “enemies to friends” takes advantage of that. Even their “friends to lovers” could be so much more interesting. I imagine their differences being most pronounced during their TBoTL angsty era. Annabeth’s insecurity about Rachel would be a lot cooler if it was less “clingy jealous girl” and more “terrified of being left behind again”. Likewise, Percy would suffer so much during their estrangement because he would have so much love for Annabeth but nowhere to put it. As Aphrodite predicted, not easy indeed. ;)

Anyways! This went on too long but lmk your critiques.

[thebrisingamen]

Love Interests of the MCU

Bout to write some criticism of the MCU, if you don’t like, don’t read? Or do, I’m a poster not a cop. Click to read more, if you’re interested. Also, spoilers.

A problem in the MCU, to be honest. We’ll get into this here and you’ll see what I mean.

Jane Foster, MCU: An airhead, breathy absent-minded professor astrophysicist. Ok, cool, a STEAM lady.... who is constantly a damsel in distress in both movies and really adds nothing to Thor’s mythos or character. In fact, Erik Selvig is a more important character being set up in Thor to be a pawn of Loki’s for Avengers. Darcy Lewis is a more interesting character AND SHE’S SIDE CHARACTER AS WELL. (For those following MCU: SHE IS IN WANDAVISION for crying out loud)

And both Selvig and Darcy have less screen time than Jane. I don’t blame the actress, because I think Natalie Portman is very talented. But that role can only give you so much to work with when your entire personality is ‘I’m an astrophysicist and absent-minded professor trope.’ That’s it? That’s all Jane Foster is? ‘Cause that’s all I ever got from her.

Seriously you’re going to waste Natalie Portman on such a shallow role?

VS

Comics Jane Foster: A well-trained EMT (Or Nurse, but still) who immediately runs toward danger to help people, is a damsel out of distress trope, doesn’t take crap from men, is a fan of cricket, regularly also fought with Thor’s enemies (as in comics Thor was not originally god-Thor but Donald Blake, who was worthy enough to use Thor’s hammer). Was not afraid to sass or stand up to heroes (or villains!) who harassed her after she found out Thor’s identity. Hmmm...

Christine Palmer, MCU: A surgeon at the same place Strange works at! Who likes him, because they work together! Totally not afraid to stand up to him even though lots of people already call him out on his arrogance and egomania. Dated in the past but somehow together again, and has no personality beyond ‘surgeon’ and ‘ex-girlfriend who gives speech to remind ex that life is about [insert moral here]’

WOW. SO INTERESTING. I TOTALLY REMEMBERED THAT SHE EXISTED

Also what a waste of Rachel McAdams talents. I mean she got THIRD BILLING AND SHE’S BARELY IN THE FUCKING MOVIE.

VS

Clea, Comics: Princess of the Dark Dimension and Niece of Dormammu and ALSO DR. STRANGE’S IN-COMICS WIFE. She’s so well known as his love interest that at first I thought that’s what they were going to go for in his movie, esp with Rachel McAdams as the Third Billed ACTOR. But yeah, Clea, traditional love interest, super magically potent, likes earth, hates her evil uncle, just wants to learn more magic and live with Strange.

BUT NO HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY HAVE A FEMALE CHARACTER WITH ACTUAL POWERS. IT TAKES US UNTIL FUCKING AGE OF ULTRON TO GET WANDA, THOR 3 TO GET VALKYRIE AND YEARS (FUCKING YEARS) TO GET CAPTAIN MARVEL

Not that the others did not take years, but Carol only showed up RIGHT around the time Christianized Wonder Woman showed up in Snyderverse...

Clea’s comics personality isn’t that different from any of these other characters, but honestly, the MCU could’ve done a lot with her and used a character far more well connected to Strange in his own fucking movie.

Nakia: Again, an ex-girlfriend who used to work for T’Challa but couldn’t due to [insert morality speech here] and now, suddenly, they are back together! Because T’Challa is doing things! Wonder what comics Nakia is like...

OH YIKES OK MOVIE IMPROVED HER, THEY IMPROVED HER SO MUCH. (Comics Nakia: 16 year old obsessive/possessive supervillain and yeeeeaaah that’s just....No. Big ol’ NOPE). Still I forget she exists. Tbh I’d forget Okoye exists either if she wasn’t HAVING MORE SCREEN TIME THAN THE LOVE INTEREST.

I’m starting to notice a trend here...

VS

Monica Lynne, Comics: A more major love interest for Black Panther and more tied to his mythos. Arguably his most used Love Interest that isn’t Storm who is legally not allowed to be in the MCU anyway so she is unavailable for BP, which is a fucking shame. Personality wise, not much different, but Lynne isn’t as tied to Wakanda as any of the others.

Honestly I don’t know all that much about Black Panther so if anyone else does and wants to weigh in on a better love interest choice (THAT IS NOT STORM), please tag me.

Further, though, Monica could have given a deeper view into the complex experience of being a successful black woman in America to contrast with Erik’s storyline and have T’Challa hear more than just one singular experience.

But that’s just a hot take on my part.

Pepper Potts:

There’s no VS here because Virginia “Pepper” Potts is arguably the absolute closest MCU came to matching up with her comics counterpart. Fiery, intelligent, doesn’t take Tony’s shit and calls him on it, doesn’t take anyone’s shit toward her. She’s a bit more tame in the MCU and wildly OOC in Iron Man 3 so I don’t count that movie as canon, but honest to god, there’s nothing bad to say here about her character adaptation. A good job was done.

Hope Van Dyne: Again, a very good adaptation; most likely taking different characters together so because her comics counterparts are two separate entities, Hope has to be judged solely on her movie version. Her and Scott have good chemistry, she’s a good character in her own right. Only suffers from the trope of ‘Defrosting Ice Queen’ which you can tell because her hair and makeup get less severe as she ‘defrosts’

Better in the first movie than the second, where even though HER NAME WAS IN THE TITLE AS ‘THE WASP’ she was barely in it and sidelined by all the villains and side characters. For those interested, theories believe she is pulled from Nadia Pym (616 verse) and Hope Pym (982 verse)

Sif: Thor’s other in-comics and in-myth love interest/sometimes wife, absolutely side-lined, never given more than a few lines in any movie and despite having a supposedly epic backstory, we never see it. No one questions what the FUCK happened to Sif in Thor 3 because she has mysteriously vanished with Thor giving 0 fucks about where his remaining childhood friend went since she is the only one NOT KILLED OFF UNCEREMONIOUSLY (A different rant for a different problem)

So what’s there to say but why even include her as part of a love triangle if her absence is so unnotable that no one cares what happens to her

Gamora: Again, I’m not as familiar with her character, but like Pepper she seems to be a good adaptation, if made less of an anti-hero/villain in the MCU and given a bit of a softer side. Her romance with Star-Lord/Peter Quill is weak, however. Might be because of the actors but I don’t really see it? She has more emotional moments with her sister than ANYONE ELSE (Up until Infinity War with Quill and Thanos meeting)

The main problem we are running into, however, is look at this list. Look at how many female characters who are the love interest are demoted to be SOLELY THAT ROLE.

Please discern the difference for me, IN PERSONALITY between Christine Palmer and Jane Foster. Because aside from their professions, I don’t see any, do you? The fact that a good chunk of female characters in the MCU are the Love Interest and solely the love interest is....bad

It’s bad. It’s poor writing and it has consistently been done to more female characters than male. I just don’t see why the writers can’t do this basic thing.

1. Create/Adapt Character A as a full, three dimensional character

2. Create/Adapt Character B as a full, three dimensional character

3. Put A and B together romantically if they click

DONE. SIMPLE. EASY.

Also

4. Do not erase character personalities but remember what made them a good romantic pairing in the first place.

[mysterylover123]

My Top 10 Halloween Episodes

mysterylover123

Happy Halloween Everyone! 

I’ve been rewatching my favorite shows’ Halloween episodes as a means to prepare for the holiday (and get ideas for things to do!) and I’ve decided to compile a list of my Top 10 favorites. These are the episodes I consider the best, the most packed with spooky goodness and Halloween surprises, of all the shows I’ve seen. Let me know if there’s one I should check out!

#10. The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror V”

“NO TV AND NO BEER MAKE HOMER SOMETHING SOMETHING.” “GO CRAZY?” “DON’T MIND IF I DO!”

While I do wish Simpsons had stopped at Season 10 like most, I can still acknowledge its absolute mastery of the Halloween episode with this annual anthology. And like most, I can also concede that the best of the best, the creme-de-la-creme, is the 5th one: The Shinning parody of course, first and foremost, is absolutely classic and deservedly so. Having recently endured a week without power, and thus NO TV AND NO...NOT BEER BUT COFFEE...I totally get where  Homer is coming from. The other two segments, and other Halloween eps, are also strong as well. But you can’t have a proper TOP 10 HALLOWEEN EPS list without a Treehouse of Horror. So here it is!

#9. Spectacular Spider-Man The Uncertainty Principle”

“Twas the night before Halloween, and no folks were stirring, not even Green Gob...lan.”

Spidey is one of the few superheroes with both the whimsical roster of characters and the appropriately spooky rogues gallery to make for great Halloween episodes. While Spider-Man and his amazing friends in 1981 started out with it’s own Goblin Halloween ep, my nod has to go to Spectacular’s ‘Uncertainty Principle’, a suitably creepy episode featuring all the stuff you want around this holiday. The cast in whacky costumes, spooky decor, and creepy plotlines about the Green Goblin and the arrival of the Symbiote. It’s even more horrifying in hindsight when you find out what’s really going on in the series finale...but for itself, it’s a suitably spooky time. Also, Spider-Man dressed as Spider-Man for Halloween.

#8. Angel “Life of the Party”

“Some are saying it’s an even better ritual sacrifice than the one last year.”

The absolute master of the Halloween episode is uncontrovertibly the Buffy-verse. I have 3 entries on this list alone, and it was hard to resist including a forth. But for now, let’s start out with Angel’s sole incursion into the Halloween genre, an Office Party ep from their 5th season. Spoiler alert: Season 5 is about Team Angel taking over Wolfram and Hart and trying to use it for good. The Halloween party there is a big deal and Lorne is going nuts from planning it. Consequently, we get a wild ride of demon guests, LorneHulk, Team Angel doing crazy things, and whacky Halloween decor. Spike smiling and partying out like a loon is definitely worth htetheprice of admission.

#7. Friends “The One w/ the Halloween Party”

“I am a woman who spent a ton of money on this dress and wants to wear it until she is too big to fit into it.”

I had actually never seen the Friends Halloween episode until this year. I definitely enjoyed it; the cast’s costumes are funny, the various Halloween antics are adorable - especially Rachel being pushed around by candy-randy kids - and the Halloween-y atmosphere is quite convivial. Though as a comic book nerd, I must point out how completely absurd Joey’s suggestion of ‘who would win, Catwoman or Supergirl’ being Catwoman. Like, seriously? A nonpowered thief vs a freaking Kryptonian? Even people who don’t read comic books should know the answer to that one! Were people in the year 2001 really that clueless? But anyway, on a more somber note, this was apparently the first one they shot after 9/11, and ended up Lisa Kudrow’s favorite, because a stranger thanked her for making them laugh. Aw!

#6. South Park “A Nightmare on Face Time”

“Oh, and Kenny? Stay gold.”

SP has a number of Halloween episodes, but my favorite has to be this one from 2014. There’s two main plotlines and they’re both Peak Halloweeny goodness. First, there’s Randy reenacting The Shining as his new Blockbuster  video goes under due to Netflix stealing business, which is absolutely hilarious. Then there’s the boys as The Avengers, hoping to win a costume contest despite Stan having to FaceTime. This part is full of trick-or-treating goodness, with each of the costumes being perfect for the kid (WE HEAR KENNY’S VOICE! ALBEIT DISTORTED!) and the comedy of how seriously everyone takes Stan’s ipod battery dying being absolutely killer. Certainly wins the prize for Funniest Halloween Ep Ever. (Also, Kyle’s thor costume. Thor would obviously look so much cooler with that hat.)

#5. Buffy “Halloween”

“It’s come as you aren’t night!”

The second of the Buffyverse Halloween entries on the list. Not just a great Halloween ep but a great Buffy ep too, this one is absolutely rolling in seasonal riches. Pumpkin patch vamp fight! Halloween decorated Bronze! Ethan Rayne turning everyone into their costumes is such a clever gimmick, and as usual with a Buffy ep they do more with it than just that. Noblewoman!Buffy, Military!Xander and Ghost! Willow are each a treat to watch as they try something new with their lives. I’m a little annoyed by the “not like other girls” sappy Bangel ending, but otherwise, this one is just golden. (My shipper heart rejoices in the Cangel Bronze Date and Buffy being awfully flirty with Willow as well, for the record). 

#4. Parks and Rec “Halloween Surprise”

“You can’t plan your future, Leslie. You just gotta let it happen.”

Parks and Rec is another one with a plethora of great Halloween eps to  choose from (something about blonde female leads I guess). This one takes the spot for being the most substantial, plot-wise, of all four, including lots of changes in the story and a great lesson at the end - though also for having the best costumes (Rosie the  riveter Leslie! Princess Diane), the best celebration (Screening of Death canoe 4 Murder at blood Lake sounds like an absolutely delightful way to spend a Halloween) and the best ending (BEN PROPOSES TO LESILE OMG). The only thing it’s missing is April, who only cameos at the start. But she gets plenty to do in the other Halloween eps, so I’ll forgive it.

#3. Frasier “Halloween”

“I’m  Waldo. From Where’s Waldo. You know, the guy you  can’t find because he blends into the crowd.” “I don’t know, but I’d love a demonstration.”

Frasier is absolute peak sitcom comedy, especially with the Farce plotline. This one is a great, sophisticated classic, with Niles throwing a Library association ball - which means everyone must dress as a character from literature. Niles is Cyrano, Martin is Holmes, Frasier and Daphne are from the Canterbury tales, and Roz is O from the Story of O. The real conflict of the ep is “Is Roz Pregnant” and everyone mistaking who’s pregnant by whom. The  climax is Niles proposing to Daphne who he thinks is the one pregnant from an imaginary fling with Frasier. It’s funny, glib, and absolutely whacky, with some extra Halloween shenanigans to keep you occupied, like Niles’ weird old-timey theme and the parade of trick-or-treaters constantly interrupting the skits demanding candy. Definitely don’t miss this one!

#2. Gravity Falls “Summerween”

“We’re getting older, there’s not that many Halloweens left!’

There’s definitely something about supernatural shows and Halloween episodes that just creates that extra level of quality. GF is a great show all around, and this little gem of a Halloween ep is one of the best of the whole series. It’s got everything: The Summerween Trickster, the trick-or-treating, the try-hard scares and the mad dash for candy. My favorite thing about it, though, would have to be the conflict between Dipper and Mabel about what to do for Halloween. They were always debating whether it were better to grow up too soon or try to stay a kid, and this one uses Halloween to illustrate that: Dipper torn between the Grown Up party and the Kid Trick-or-Treating, and the poignant way that rings true for all of us here in the US - that day when you finally realize you’re ‘too old’ for trick-or-treating - really makes this one strong. 

Hon Mentions: The other Parks and Rec episodes; Buffy All the Way; the camptastic Smallville episode “Thirst”, the How I met Your Mother Halloweens

#1. Buffy “Fear Itself”

“Don’t taunt the fear demon!” “Why, can he hurt me?” “No, it’s just tacky.”

Like I said before, no one does Halloween like Buffy does Halloween. And this one is the best of the best, of the best. Everything you could want from a Halloween ep is right here. Pumpkin carving, check. Crazy party, check. Whacky costumes, check. Spooky real scares, check. The Gang’s costumes are a parade of awesome (ANYA AS BUNNY!) and the concept of exploring each member’s Greatest Fear is an absolute winner. I love every time a TV show tries to do a Greatest Fears episode, because it’s just a concept I get a kick out of - such a great way to explore our characters’ most primal needs! - and this is b y far the best. The atmosphere, the subject matter, the costumes, and  the writing, which is seriously killer in this episode (”Prepare to have your spines tingled and your gooses bumped by the terrifying...Fantasia.” “Maybe it’s because of all the horrificthings we’ve seen, but hippos wearing tutus just don’t unnerve me the way they used to”) all make this, in my opinion the best Halloween ep of all time.

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

[Exclusive] The Sounds of SAW: An Interview with Composer CHARLIE CLOUSER

New Post has been published on https://nofspodcast.com/exclusive-sounds-saw-interview-composer-charlie-clouser/

[Exclusive] The Sounds of SAW: An Interview with Composer CHARLIE CLOUSER

Once upon a time, way back in 2004, a then relatively unknown James Wan made his directorial debut with a little film called Saw.  The film rocked the horror world and was an instant hit in the genre.  Since then, the Saw universe has continued to grow, expand and ask the now infamous question;

“Do you wanna play a game?”

While Saw has experienced different directors, writers, proteges and victims, one of the constants that has helped truly unify the Saw universe is the music of Charlie Clouser.  As a former member of NIN and his years working with artists such as Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, and David Bowie, Clouser was well versed in the world of electronic and industrial music when he took on his first solo scoring gig with Saw.  I recently had the privilege of speaking with Charlie for a bit and we talked about all things Saw, including the upcoming Saw Anthology releases from Lakeshore Records.  Check out our conversation below:

  Rachel Prin for NOFS: In 2004, the very first Saw movie was released and it was our first introduction to the now infamous “Hello Zepp” theme.  Did you realize you were creating a theme at the time?

Charlie Clouser: I kind of had a game plan going in that I discussed a lot with James Wan and Leigh Whannell, that we thought it would add extra impact to that twist ending, and the sort of thing that’s become a sort of trademark in a lot of the Saw movies, the ending reveal montage where there’s a lot of quick cuts and flashbacks to earlier scenes in the movie while Jigsaw’s voice narrates and explains the parts you may not have seen earlier in the film.  So it was kind of on purpose that the whole main body of the movie had a score that was just very murky and indistinct and kind of blurry and didn’t really state musical ideas, thematic ideas strongly at all.

 As it turns out, if you dissect the notes, chords, harmonies and everything that’s used earlier in the movie, they relate to the “Hello Zepp” theme, but they’re transposed down a couple of semi-tones so that it’s just a slight shift when the actual theme comes in at the end. We really felt like we wanted it to be as if the bright lights get turned on when that ending theme begins. So you spent the whole movie in this cloudy, murky, dark indistinct world of music and sound that then gets really insistent and shattering when it comes in full force at the end. So for that reason the sounds that are used in the ending theme aren’t used elsewhere in the movie and it’s sort of a whole different set of sounds and a different approach.  

I knew that in order for that piece of music to work it would have to be fairly simple and kind of repetitive and hypnotic and not have a lot of musical information in there but still kind of start small-ish and then build as the insistent phrases kind of repeat. So once I had that game plan sort of in my mind, the creation of that “Hello Zepp” theme wasn’t something that took days, it really kind of came together kind of quickly because I had already established these kind of mental rules and conditions that it had to fulfill. I did most of the music in a few hours one day, spent the evening arranging it for a string quartet, the next day recorded a string quartet, and boom it was done.

NOFS: What have been some of the films or composers that have influenced you and your scoring work?

CC: The kind of movies that I wind up liking and enjoying are often well outside the horror genre.  Some of my earliest influences, for movie anyways, were all of Kubrick’s.  That’s what I wanted to see on screen. Whether it’s movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey or his version of Stephen King’s The Shining. I still think it’s the greatest horror movie ever made and even though maybe pure horror fans don’t feel like it fits in with their genre, I always thought that it was just fantastic. And of course the music that Kubrick uses a lot is not composed for his movies, but was music that he found in classical music collections and so forth.

I still remember seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey when it was in the theaters for it’s initial release when I was just a little kid and being so struck by these atonal choir pieces, by the composer Gyorgy Ligeti, and it’s just these dense tonal clusters that sounded so other worldly and unlike anything I’d heard before. Of course a lot of other music from that same kind of genre of super modern classical composers is also used in The Shining. There’s a lot of Penderecki, Bartok and these other composers and it’s almost a sonic experiment more than it is traditional classical music.  The clattering, rattling, smacking sounds and weird atonal and dissonant elements; those kind of things have always been the pieces of music that stuck with me over the years. Mainly because it wasn’t anything that I knew how to do or just figure out how that music was put together by picking up a guitar or sitting at the piano.  It was such a mystery to me how that music came to be and that was what drew me in.

Of course horror movies are perfect avenues to use atonal and dissonant and experimental kinds of music, more so than say an Indiana Jones kind of movie or something, and so that’s sort of what drew me into these kind of movies. 

NOFS: Lakeshore Records has recently digitally released (with CD and vinyl forthcoming) the Saw Anthology Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 featuring music from all 8 Saw films.  Were you involved in this process and if so what was your role?

CC: Oh yeah. They said ‘Look, you figure it out, you put it together and we’ll put it out’.  So, it took me almost a month to go through all of the pieces of music. I literally went with a microscope, inspected and chose, out of the whole sum total of movies (there’s over 550 pieces of music in the source folders across all 8 of the movies). Since it’s coming out on vinyl, each side of a vinyl record is about 20 minutes, so I sort of set up a set of mental rules for myself that each movie would get 1 vinyl side and within that 20 minutes I would try to put my favorite cues from each movie in chronological order so that it felt like a miniature journey through the films themselves.

 I didn’t do things like, put all the action cues from all 8 movies all together and that sort of thing. I tried to reduce each movie down to this 20 minute slab that maintained the order in which those pieces of music originally appeared in the film. Once I had that set of rules, I had at least some sort of guidepost that I could use to map things out, and it certainly was agonizing to throw away and skip over so many pieces of music that I liked, but I still wanted it to feel like it balanced. So that each 20 minute chunk from each movie would have a variety of stuff; the thematic melodic material and also some of the crazy action and trap scenes, and some of the weird floaty dark ambient stuff that fills up so much space in those movies.  

So having that kind of game plan in place really helped me to organize my thoughts as I went through it.  And I did combine a lot of pieces together where I might have 2 or 3 pieces of music that are only 30 or 40 seconds long, and I would combine those together and then graft them on to the front of a longer piece. To create a sort of flowing, landscape of longer pieces instead of just a million short little pieces of music with silence in between them.  And I always like it when so many of my favorite albums growing up had that sort of feel, like Pink Floyd albums. Where the songs kind of cross faded against each other and it was just one long seamless experience, so I wanted to kind of emulate that as much as I could for this Anthology project.

NOFS: This is the first time any of the Saw scores have been released on vinyl. How do you view the importance of physical media and what is your connection to medium?

CC: Aside from the obvious sonic differences of listening to something on vinyl vs. CD, or streaming or whatever, the physical experience of holding something that’s large and slightly fragile and has to be treated with some kind of care and respect.  You know, you don’t leave your vinyl records lying around on the floor the same way you might leave CD’s laying around in the glove box of your car, or downloads lying around cluttered on the desktop of your computer.

So that process, and that manner in which you have to physically interact with the vinyl certainly forces you to behave a little more carefully with the vinyl that you own. Not to be in such a hurry to grab one and throw it off to the side to listen to another one, and that is helpful because it kind of leads the listener to not be in such a hurry to skip over songs and get to the next one.  I always prefer that on vinyl, if you do want to skip over a song you have to carefully lift the tone arm off the record and carefully place it down, as opposed to a CD or a stream where you just hit the next track button. I’m glad that vinyl makes it more difficult to skip over things because then maybe people will take the time and just relax a little bit and let the music flow along.

That’s also kind of why I wanted to combine a bunch of different pieces of music into longer suites and to kind of cross fade them all together so that you can’t get in between every track and it kind of forces the listener to sit back and let this whole 8 minute thing with it’s peaks and valleys kind happen.  The resurgence of vinyl and people’s love for a big solid hunk of physical media sort of has parallels in the resurgence we’ve seen recently with big hardware synthesizers for musicians in the studio.

For a long time it seemed like everything was going to just occur inside a computer. We had so many great software programs for creating music that everybody was just jumping on that bandwagon, and then a few years ago we started to see the resurgence of synthesizers that reminded us of the 1980’s. Back when things were big and had lots of knobs and were sort of expensive and delicate. There’s been a real resurgence in that as well and I think it really comes down to the tactile experience of wanting to touch the thing, to feel like you can feel the sound waves emanating from it.  I think both of those phenomena are kind of related in some way.

NOFS: Do you have any go-to Saw instruments or techniques that you only use in the Saw films?

CC: Yeah, there’s a whole category of sounds and techniques that I use, that in my mind anyway, that really only apply to that world.  I have a bunch of strange handmade acoustic instruments that are basically made out of pieces of scrap metal, which you can play with a violin bow or with sticks and most of them involve some kind of metal sheet or metal rods that’ll produce sound when you operate them.  I have a whole family of 5 or 6 variations of that kind of instrument that were built by a metal sculptor and musician named Chas Smith that I’ve known for a long time. In my mind those instruments are restricted for use only on Saw movies because they’ve become a big part of the sonic landscape that I use in those movies. And they also create sounds that are just so heavy-duty scary that they don’t really apply in less insane kind of scoring work. 

NOFS: After a 7 year hiatus, did you ever think you’d be coming back to the world of Jigsaw?

CC: You know, I secretly knew that somewhere deep down inside that, even though the 7th movie was called the “Final Chapter”, I knew they weren’t gonna let this thing die.  We had been doing the movies every year, one per year for 7 years straight, and it was always a mad dash to get the things finished. So once they decided to take some time off from the franchise I knew we’d be back. I didn’t know when, but they’ve created such a rich kind of cinematic universe of heroes and villains and victims that I knew they’d find a way. And at this point nothing would surprise me in the Saw universe.  So I wouldn’t be surprised if there was even more yet to come.

NOFS: So, Saw 9…you in?

CC: Oh I’ll ride that horse into the sunset.

The response to this latest movie from the hardcore Saw fans was really good and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the phone rings and they say ‘Hey get back on the horse because we’re working on the script for the next one’.  Of course, if they keep the franchise rolling, I’ll be all in for as many as they care to do. The first Saw movie was the first feature film that I scored by myself so it has a special place in my heart.  I’m fine to do as many as they care to roll out. They can count me in.

  The digital version of the Saw Anthology Vol. 1 & 2 is currently available from Lakeshore Records and you can find it here. CD & vinyl releases coming soon so stay tuned for more information on that.

Also available from Lakeshore Records, the digital release of the Jigsaw soundtrack.  Make sure to check out that release here.

[lilyvandersteen]

Quite a Surprise

This is a one-shot in the Worth the Wait verse. It can be read on itself, but of course it makes more sense if you’ve read the main story first :-)

I’m dedicating this story to @lallagoglee and @sunshunes, who recently celebrated their birthday. I totally meant to finish the story by their birthday, but time management has never been my strong suit, sorry... Happy belated birthday, sweeties!

Pam looked around her, admiring the tasteful decorations. The room was huge, yet it wasn’t draughty in the least, unlike the medieval castles Pam had visited all over Europe.

At first sight, the blocky grey building had seemed forbidding – a fortress, only meant to house soldiers – and she’d wondered why on earth anyone would hire this venue for an engagement party. Surely, the Plaza was way more elegant, and probably cheaper than this.

Then, she’d been escorted inside, and she’d started to see just why Blaine’s boyfriend – what was his name again? I’ll have to ask Cooper – had chosen to have the party here. No, there were no crystal chandeliers nor gold-plated crown mouldings, and the floors weren’t gleaming patterned hardwood. But there were soft carpets and beautiful antique furniture, the ceiling boasted intricate detailing, and there were flowers in vibrant colours, their sweet smell following you everywhere. This place had character and heart, and Pam approved.

The invitation had come as quite a surprise. Well, that was an understatement. It had come as a lightning bolt from a clear sky. Pam hadn’t even known Blaine was seeing someone, so to find out that they’d been together for five years and that they were so serious that Blaine’s boyfriend – Keith? Was it Keith? – was planning on proposing, well… That had been quite a shock.

When Keith – or Carl? Something like that – had turned up on Pam’s doorstep, she had even asked if he was quite sure he was talking to the right person. “I’m sorry for asking, sweetie, but Blaine has never said a WORD about you.”

But Carl – or Kit maybe? – had assured her that it was really her son he was dating, showing her a picture of Blaine on a bench in Central Park, headphones in his ears, listening to the music with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

Kit – or was it Ken? – had looked at the picture with so much affection that Pam felt like she was intruding on a private moment.

It really was Blaine, then. The question remained why Blaine hadn’t breathed a word about this.

Pam had invited the man in, and had offered him tea and cookies. Ken – or Knox, perhaps? – had complimented Pam on her great sense of style, telling her that he loved her accessories, and talking very knowledgeably about scarves and handbags and pumps that fit every occasion. From there, the conversation went to the interior decoration of her sitting room, which Knox – could it be Cal? – also seemed to love, if his gushing was any indication.

Pam had probed a little to find out how Blaine and Cal – Cash? – had met, and out had poured the whole story of how they’d literally bumped into each other.

Cash – could have been Klaus, too, now that I think of it, it sounded kind of German – had talked about their mutual love of music, and how admirable he found it that Blaine volunteered at the hospital, and how sweet he was to both the elderly people he worked with and the children.

That led to Klaus – Quill? – discussing his work as a model and a Broadway star, his eyes shining as he went into detail about the new play he was workshopping, and how talented and nice his co-stars were.

Pam had found herself smiling unconsciously at Quill’s – Calum’s? – enthusiasm, half won over already by this future son-in-law.

Her dog Prissy needed no more convincing. Prissy was draped over Calum’s – Cole’s? – lap, enjoying an expert belly rub that made her tongue loll out of her mouth.

Pam remembered thinking, He likes animals, too. Good. Let’s see if he’s handy and into gardening too, then he’s a keeper.

When Cole – Kyle? – left later that afternoon, he’d expertly fixed a sagging kitchen cabinet and he’d advised her to try growing her basil on the window sill in the kitchen instead of outside with the other herbs. “It will do better inside – it can’t stand the cold.”

Kyle – or was it Connor? – had been right about that, too. The pot with basil was now growing so many leaves she couldn’t use them all up before they wilted.

Yes, Connor or whatever his name was had all the makings of a perfect son-in-law, so Pam really couldn’t fathom why Blaine hadn’t told her about his boyfriend.

Unless…

When Blaine had come out, Edward had told him he could be as gay as he wanted as long as he never subjected his family to it. “Keep your lifestyle private.”

Ugh, Pam could still remember the disgust on Edward’s face, and how Blaine had shrunk when he saw it, his eyes glassy and his shoulders slumping in defeat. That was the first day Pam had thought of leaving her husband.

As soon as Edward had disappeared into his study after that conversation, Pam had rushed to Blaine and hugged him tightly as he wept. Only, she’d never outright told Blaine that it didn’t matter to her whom he loved, and that she only wanted him to be happy. He had never brought up the subject again, and neither had she. Not then, and not later.

And only now it dawned on Pam that maybe Blaine thought she shared Edward’s opinion. That she didn’t want to be confronted with the fact that he was gay. Maybe he felt obliged to keep his relationship under wraps because it was a man he was seeing.

Pam’s hand flew over her mouth, and she repressed a sob with difficulty. Oh, my sweet darling boy! I’ll make sure to talk to you about this tonight… I feel terrible… You should never have been made to feel like you had to censor yourself around me. I really don’t care whom you love, as long as they make you happy.

“Would you care for a glass of champagne, ma’am?”

Pam looked up and accepted a glass from the waitress. Next to her, a tall blonde girl took a glass too, and smiled at Pam. “You’re Blaine’s mom.”

Pam raised an eyebrow.

“He looks just like you,” the girl went on. “The same eyes and the same smile.”

Pam nodded.

The girl pointed to Cooper. “Is that Blaine’s brother?”

“Yes, that’s Cooper,” Pam answered. “And you are?”

Cooper, hearing his name, came to join them. “Did you call me, Mom? Who’s this?”

“I’m Brittany,” the girl introduced herself. “I’m Kurt’s cousin.”

Kurt! That was it! Thank you, Brittany!

“Well, hello there!” Cooper beamed. “I guess you recognised me, did you? Give me your phone, we can take a selfie together.”

Brittany looked a bit puzzled, but handed over her phone. “Maybe we’d better step outside? There isn’t much light here.”

Brittany put Pam’s arm in the crook of her elbow and tugged her out of the room. Cooper shrugged and followed, and once they were outside, they all smiled for the picture.

“I always love meeting a fan,” Cooper said to Brittany.

Brittany frowned a little, and Pam repressed a giggle. Clearly, the girl had no idea who Cooper was, beyond the fact that he was Blaine’s brother. Pam hoped Brittany wouldn’t say so outright, though, or he would be devastated. Both of her boys wanted to be universally liked, but unlike Blaine, Cooper didn’t seem to realise that was an impossible goal, and anything less than adoration always hit him hard.

Just when Brittany opened her mouth to answer Cooper, a loud voice rang out, and Brittany clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh, Blaine’s here! Come on, we don’t want to miss the proposal!”

They hurried back inside, and yes, Blaine had arrived. He was smiling radiantly and wearing an eye-catching yellow suit Pam had never seen on him before. Her heart hurt again when she realised he only ever wore muted colours when he came to visit her. Was that again because his father had told him not to flaunt his sexuality?

And then his boyfriend – Kurt! I mustn’t forget his name again now – dropped to one knee, and Pam let out a happy little squeak and clapped a hand over her mouth.

Kurt spoke too quietly for her to make out the words, but there was no mistaking Blaine’s reaction, all smiles and hugs and happy tears, and then a kiss that – Oh my! – wasn’t really meant for public consumption.

After that, Kurt said something else to Blaine that made his jaw drop and made him look around the room with a dazed expression, overwhelmed in the best of ways. His face lit up when he saw his mom and his brother.

Pam hurried towards Blaine, Cooper in her wake, and she hugged her youngest son tightly, whispering in his ear, “I’m so happy for you, honey bee!”

Cooper, too, was quick to offer his support, and Blaine shed a few more tears, and then turned back to Kurt to announce, loud enough for everyone to hear, that he’d gladly marry Kurt that very minute.

Pam, taking this as a figure of speech, smiled indulgently at Blaine’s enthusiasm, and Kurt’s too, when he started kissing Blaine again as if they had no audience.

It seemed as though she were the only one who’d taken Blaine’s answer figuratively, though. Kurt’s parents came to hug and congratulate the new fiancés as well, and in the same breath, Kurt’s dad offered to officiate the wedding, seeing as he was dressed for the part anyway.

And before Pam knew it, her baby boy was exchanging vows with Kurt, and she couldn’t help tearing up at how perfect it all was and how incandescently happy they both looked.

The dinner that followed was better than anything she’d ever eaten at the Plaza, and she enjoyed getting to know Carole and Burt and their other son and his family.

Burt and Carole were delightful, down-to-earth people, happy to chat about Kurt and Finn and their grandchildren.

Pam won over Kurt’s nephews by drawing them a lion, an elephant and a giraffe, and telling them about a safari she’d been on with her parents. Finn seemed just as engrossed as his sons, listening with his mouth half open and a lopsided smirk.

Rachel came across as self-involved at first, talking about her successes on Broadway and the West End, but when Pam got her talking about Kurt, she proved a veritable gold mine of information. Apparently, she was Kurt’s best friend, and she told Pam no end of anecdotes about their high school and college years.

As Kurt’s self-appointed maid of honour, Rachel stood up to give a speech, too, moving everyone to tears as she recalled growing up with Kurt, who was the best of friends and the best of sons and brothers, but had always seemed so lonely before he met Blaine, determined as he was to find his Mr Right. She spoke of Kurt and Blaine’s love and dedication to each other, and what a perfect fit they were, like two halves of a whole. And then she called on Kurt to sing with her once more, for old times’ sake, and Pam’s mouth fell open when they started singing. Both of their voices were mesmerising and beautiful in their own way, and as they weaved together in flawless harmony, Pam got goose-bumps.

“Because I knew you…

I have been changed for good.”

The applause they got was deafening, and of course Cooper couldn’t resist chiming in for his turn in the spotlight, sharing funny stories about Blaine when he was little, and before long, they were all laughing, even Blaine, though he was blushing too, and hiding his eyes behind his hands.

Kurt kissed Blaine sweetly and then whispered something in his ear. They stood up and made their way to the cake to cut it and feed each other a piece, to encouraging hollers and applause.

Kurt, apparently, had a sweet tooth. He ate not one, but two pieces of cake, and only refrained from eating a third because then he wouldn’t be able to get up and dance anymore.

The newly-weds’ first dance was surprisingly well-coordinated and elaborate for being thought up on the fly. They twirled around the dance floor as though they did so every night – Did they? – and Blaine dipped Kurt at the end, making everyone go ‘Aww’.

Then Blaine came to invite Pam for a dance, and she made the most of the opportunity to tell Blaine that she loved Kurt already, and that she was over the moon to see him so happy.

Pam left not too long after that, making sure to exchange phone numbers with Carole and Rachel, and giving Blaine and Kurt the key to her vacation home on St. Barts, and telling them they could use it as long as they wanted for their honeymoon.

“And you can use my frequent flyer miles to get there,” Cooper chimed in.

Blaine thanked them and hugged them both fiercely, tears in his eyes once again.

Pam looked back once more before leaving the ballroom, and saw Kurt and Blaine slow-dancing, fused together so closely that it was impossible to see where the one left off and the other began. They weren’t talking, just looking at each other with such a reverent, loving expression that Pam felt like she was trespassing just watching the intimate moment they shared. She hurriedly turned around and let herself be escorted out of the castle.

I’m so glad Blaine has finally found his match. I wonder how soon would be too soon to start hinting about how much I’d like to have grandchildren?

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

[Exclusive] The Sounds of SAW: An Interview with Composer CHARLIE CLOUSER

New Post has been published on https://nofspodcast.com/exclusive-sounds-saw-interview-composer-charlie-clouser/

[Exclusive] The Sounds of SAW: An Interview with Composer CHARLIE CLOUSER

Once upon a time, way back in 2004, a then relatively unknown James Wan made his directorial debut with a little film called Saw.  The film rocked the horror world and was an instant hit in the genre.  Since then, the Saw universe has continued to grow, expand and ask the now infamous question;

“Do you wanna play a game?”

While Saw has experienced different directors, writers, proteges and victims, one of the constants that has helped truly unify the Saw universe is the music of Charlie Clouser.  As a former member of NIN and his years working with artists such as Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, and David Bowie, Clouser was well versed in the world of electronic and industrial music when he took on his first solo scoring gig with Saw.  I recently had the privilege of speaking with Charlie for a bit and we talked about all things Saw, including the upcoming Saw Anthology releases from Lakeshore Records.  Check out our conversation below:

  Rachel Prin for NOFS: In 2004, the very first Saw movie was released and it was our first introduction to the now infamous “Hello Zepp” theme.  Did you realize you were creating a theme at the time?

Charlie Clouser: I kind of had a game plan going in that I discussed a lot with James Wan and Leigh Whannell, that we thought it would add extra impact to that twist ending, and the sort of thing that’s become a sort of trademark in a lot of the Saw movies, the ending reveal montage where there’s a lot of quick cuts and flashbacks to earlier scenes in the movie while Jigsaw’s voice narrates and explains the parts you may not have seen earlier in the film.  So it was kind of on purpose that the whole main body of the movie had a score that was just very murky and indistinct and kind of blurry and didn’t really state musical ideas, thematic ideas strongly at all.

 As it turns out, if you dissect the notes, chords, harmonies and everything that’s used earlier in the movie, they relate to the “Hello Zepp” theme, but they’re transposed down a couple of semi-tones so that it’s just a slight shift when the actual theme comes in at the end. We really felt like we wanted it to be as if the bright lights get turned on when that ending theme begins. So you spent the whole movie in this cloudy, murky, dark indistinct world of music and sound that then gets really insistent and shattering when it comes in full force at the end. So for that reason the sounds that are used in the ending theme aren’t used elsewhere in the movie and it’s sort of a whole different set of sounds and a different approach.  

I knew that in order for that piece of music to work it would have to be fairly simple and kind of repetitive and hypnotic and not have a lot of musical information in there but still kind of start small-ish and then build as the insistent phrases kind of repeat. So once I had that game plan sort of in my mind, the creation of that “Hello Zepp” theme wasn’t something that took days, it really kind of came together kind of quickly because I had already established these kind of mental rules and conditions that it had to fulfill. I did most of the music in a few hours one day, spent the evening arranging it for a string quartet, the next day recorded a string quartet, and boom it was done.

NOFS: What have been some of the films or composers that have influenced you and your scoring work?

CC: The kind of movies that I wind up liking and enjoying are often well outside the horror genre.  Some of my earliest influences, for movie anyways, were all of Kubrick’s.  That’s what I wanted to see on screen. Whether it’s movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey or his version of Stephen King’s The Shining. I still think it’s the greatest horror movie ever made and even though maybe pure horror fans don’t feel like it fits in with their genre, I always thought that it was just fantastic. And of course the music that Kubrick uses a lot is not composed for his movies, but was music that he found in classical music collections and so forth.

I still remember seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey when it was in the theaters for it’s initial release when I was just a little kid and being so struck by these atonal choir pieces, by the composer Gyorgy Ligeti, and it’s just these dense tonal clusters that sounded so other worldly and unlike anything I’d heard before. Of course a lot of other music from that same kind of genre of super modern classical composers is also used in The Shining. There’s a lot of Penderecki, Bartok and these other composers and it’s almost a sonic experiment more than it is traditional classical music.  The clattering, rattling, smacking sounds and weird atonal and dissonant elements; those kind of things have always been the pieces of music that stuck with me over the years. Mainly because it wasn’t anything that I knew how to do or just figure out how that music was put together by picking up a guitar or sitting at the piano.  It was such a mystery to me how that music came to be and that was what drew me in.

Of course horror movies are perfect avenues to use atonal and dissonant and experimental kinds of music, more so than say an Indiana Jones kind of movie or something, and so that’s sort of what drew me into these kind of movies. 

NOFS: Lakeshore Records has recently digitally released (with CD and vinyl forthcoming) the Saw Anthology Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 featuring music from all 8 Saw films.  Were you involved in this process and if so what was your role?

CC: Oh yeah. They said ‘Look, you figure it out, you put it together and we’ll put it out’.  So, it took me almost a month to go through all of the pieces of music. I literally went with a microscope, inspected and chose, out of the whole sum total of movies (there’s over 550 pieces of music in the source folders across all 8 of the movies). Since it’s coming out on vinyl, each side of a vinyl record is about 20 minutes, so I sort of set up a set of mental rules for myself that each movie would get 1 vinyl side and within that 20 minutes I would try to put my favorite cues from each movie in chronological order so that it felt like a miniature journey through the films themselves.

 I didn’t do things like, put all the action cues from all 8 movies all together and that sort of thing. I tried to reduce each movie down to this 20 minute slab that maintained the order in which those pieces of music originally appeared in the film. Once I had that set of rules, I had at least some sort of guidepost that I could use to map things out, and it certainly was agonizing to throw away and skip over so many pieces of music that I liked, but I still wanted it to feel like it balanced. So that each 20 minute chunk from each movie would have a variety of stuff; the thematic melodic material and also some of the crazy action and trap scenes, and some of the weird floaty dark ambient stuff that fills up so much space in those movies.  

So having that kind of game plan in place really helped me to organize my thoughts as I went through it.  And I did combine a lot of pieces together where I might have 2 or 3 pieces of music that are only 30 or 40 seconds long, and I would combine those together and then graft them on to the front of a longer piece. To create a sort of flowing, landscape of longer pieces instead of just a million short little pieces of music with silence in between them.  And I always like it when so many of my favorite albums growing up had that sort of feel, like Pink Floyd albums. Where the songs kind of cross faded against each other and it was just one long seamless experience, so I wanted to kind of emulate that as much as I could for this Anthology project.

NOFS: This is the first time any of the Saw scores have been released on vinyl. How do you view the importance of physical media and what is your connection to medium?

CC: Aside from the obvious sonic differences of listening to something on vinyl vs. CD, or streaming or whatever, the physical experience of holding something that’s large and slightly fragile and has to be treated with some kind of care and respect.  You know, you don’t leave your vinyl records lying around on the floor the same way you might leave CD’s laying around in the glove box of your car, or downloads lying around cluttered on the desktop of your computer.

So that process, and that manner in which you have to physically interact with the vinyl certainly forces you to behave a little more carefully with the vinyl that you own. Not to be in such a hurry to grab one and throw it off to the side to listen to another one, and that is helpful because it kind of leads the listener to not be in such a hurry to skip over songs and get to the next one.  I always prefer that on vinyl, if you do want to skip over a song you have to carefully lift the tone arm off the record and carefully place it down, as opposed to a CD or a stream where you just hit the next track button. I’m glad that vinyl makes it more difficult to skip over things because then maybe people will take the time and just relax a little bit and let the music flow along.

That’s also kind of why I wanted to combine a bunch of different pieces of music into longer suites and to kind of cross fade them all together so that you can’t get in between every track and it kind of forces the listener to sit back and let this whole 8 minute thing with it’s peaks and valleys kind happen.  The resurgence of vinyl and people’s love for a big solid hunk of physical media sort of has parallels in the resurgence we’ve seen recently with big hardware synthesizers for musicians in the studio.

For a long time it seemed like everything was going to just occur inside a computer. We had so many great software programs for creating music that everybody was just jumping on that bandwagon, and then a few years ago we started to see the resurgence of synthesizers that reminded us of the 1980’s. Back when things were big and had lots of knobs and were sort of expensive and delicate. There’s been a real resurgence in that as well and I think it really comes down to the tactile experience of wanting to touch the thing, to feel like you can feel the sound waves emanating from it.  I think both of those phenomena are kind of related in some way.

NOFS: Do you have any go-to Saw instruments or techniques that you only use in the Saw films?

CC: Yeah, there’s a whole category of sounds and techniques that I use, that in my mind anyway, that really only apply to that world.  I have a bunch of strange handmade acoustic instruments that are basically made out of pieces of scrap metal, which you can play with a violin bow or with sticks and most of them involve some kind of metal sheet or metal rods that’ll produce sound when you operate them.  I have a whole family of 5 or 6 variations of that kind of instrument that were built by a metal sculptor and musician named Chas Smith that I’ve known for a long time. In my mind those instruments are restricted for use only on Saw movies because they’ve become a big part of the sonic landscape that I use in those movies. And they also create sounds that are just so heavy-duty scary that they don’t really apply in less insane kind of scoring work. 

NOFS: After a 7 year hiatus, did you ever think you’d be coming back to the world of Jigsaw?

CC: You know, I secretly knew that somewhere deep down inside that, even though the 7th movie was called the “Final Chapter”, I knew they weren’t gonna let this thing die.  We had been doing the movies every year, one per year for 7 years straight, and it was always a mad dash to get the things finished. So once they decided to take some time off from the franchise I knew we’d be back. I didn’t know when, but they’ve created such a rich kind of cinematic universe of heroes and villains and victims that I knew they’d find a way. And at this point nothing would surprise me in the Saw universe.  So I wouldn’t be surprised if there was even more yet to come.

NOFS: So, Saw 9…you in?

CC: Oh I’ll ride that horse into the sunset.

The response to this latest movie from the hardcore Saw fans was really good and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the phone rings and they say ‘Hey get back on the horse because we’re working on the script for the next one’.  Of course, if they keep the franchise rolling, I’ll be all in for as many as they care to do. The first Saw movie was the first feature film that I scored by myself so it has a special place in my heart.  I’m fine to do as many as they care to roll out. They can count me in.

  The digital version of the Saw Anthology Vol. 1 & 2 is currently available from Lakeshore Records and you can find it here. CD & vinyl releases coming soon so stay tuned for more information on that.

Also available from Lakeshore Records, the digital release of the Jigsaw soundtrack.  Make sure to check out that release here.