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Hey Dana, you really do tell it like it is...for me too!! A truthful and a realistic approach in every answer.
Now Shaun, dearest, I too read Jeff Bond and SchiffyM's posts. However, didn't you forget the most important contributor?....Moi (It's not nice to skip Mother Nature's comments.)
It goes without saying that longtime board moms and friends from the heady days of the late 1990's will always gather notices from me.
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Posted: |
May 31, 2013 - 5:49 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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So much to learn and so little time. So I’m curious. How do you members decide which
FSM topics to read? What are your criteria for investing your time into certain topics?
Some criteria are:
1. Titles of the topics. Do titles pull you in?
2. Are you attracted by certain composers' names?
3. Does the length of a new topic attract or repel you?
4. Do certain members attract your interest?
5. Do certain time periods attract you and others alienate you?
6. Do you like it when certain topics go on and on and on, or over time do your interests
diminish?
7. Do you enjoy topics that seem rather abstract and philosophical or do you avoid them preferring concrete, specific topics. (I.E. List your 5 favorite Goldsmith scores or 5 favorite westerns.)
I’m finding more and more that I tend to cherry-pick what I read. So little time.
Other criteria I've not mentioned???
Hi Joan
An original topic? What's going on?!
In my own case, I think I'd comment as follows:
1. A good title always pulls me in whether it's on FSM, or in a newspaper (remember those?), on a website or on a bookshelf. It's always disappointing therefore when the first line completely undermines it - "It was a dark and stormy night" for instance! - unless written as satire. A good title obviously isn't a guarantee of quality in the text.
2. Of course - I'll always tune in to Barry, Morricone, Sakamoto, Goodwin, Legrand, Giacchino and a few others, and above all Shostakovich. These are required reads. The inclusion of the names Williams and Goldsmith will catch my eye but I'll check the context and not always read them because these are often unchallenging love letters (depending on the author) and generally of little interest to me.
3. Depends on the topic. Henry's championing of Morricone scores was a brilliant set of threads and each of his analyses could have gone on for pages and not become boring. On the other hand, a post that comprises simply "I miss you ***** (insert late composer's name here)" is generally four words too long.
4. Oo-er missus! I mean, yes, naturally. I correspond either regularly or fitfully with many FSM posters and ex-posters, and will always home in on those names. There are too many to mention so I won't for fear of missing someone out. You/they know who they are. I read many many other threads that other people start, so it's by no means exclusive. There is a small selection of posters for whom I have little time, and I have to admit that I often read their threads and posts only to see what nonsense they're spouting now. (For the same reason, I have nobody on ignore and never will. Not even myself  ). In this case, the list of posters is much smaller, but again I decline to mention names in case I get Donald Sutherland pointing at me.
5. Yes, but not as much as the names of composers. I'm not a big Golden Age fan. If I get a yen for that type of music, I'll generally put on some concert music from the same period (or perhaps a little earlier) - Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Nielsen, a few others. My favoured periods are the 1960s and 1970s, but not to the exclusion of more modern and upcoming talent.
6. No real preference. It's interesting sometimes to see in how many ways the same opinion can be expressed by the same person...
7. I think both have their place. I'm guilty of answering list requests, if only to try to redress the balance in favour of my preferences. That's also because I'm a little contrarian and like a harmless argument. As the Mouse used to say - it can be as much fun to disagree as to agree. I also like the meta-topics like this one, and reminiscences of working with well-known names. I also delight in reading about FSM members meeting each other, and have contributed in my own small way with the "When FSMers Meet" series!
Another type of thread I enjoy is where we try to express ourselves through the medium of limerick or bastardised song lyrics - great fun. Mainly, anything that amuses.
Sooner or later, I probably read over half the threads started, but might not return once they develop if I failed to engage with them the first time. Unless one of my favourite FSMers' names pops up, of course.
I favour the film music and non-film music sides of the board equally, because my relationships with people spread beyond a shared liking of film music. I know that removing the no politics/religion rules would lead to anarchy, but I sometimes wish that they didn't exist, because I'm more interested in the wider opinions of people I know than of strangers on a board where such talk is allowed.
If I think of any more useful comment, I'll add it in another post; but I'm not holding my breath, and nor should you.
Chris
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Posted: |
May 31, 2013 - 9:41 AM
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By: |
cinemel1
(Member)
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I absolutely cherry-pick what I read.
1. Titles of the topics. Do titles pull you in?
The topics definitely pull me in. I like to see how a new topic is going.
2. Are you attracted by certain composers' names?
I go right to threads about my favorites, usually golden age composers:
Rosza, Hermmann, Newman, E. Bernstein, Tiomkin, et al.
3. Does the length of a new topic attract or repel you?
Threads that go on for years usually don't interest me that much: Now Playing.
I always look at the one thread I started: 1776 redux. I'm hoping I'll read that
the laserdisc version will come out on blu-ray.
4. Do certain members attract your interest?
I know that certain members will be a good read: Manderly, Faiola, Dana Wilcox, hainsway,
Ron Pulliam and
of course, Joan Hue.
5. Do certain time periods attract you and others alienate you?
I'm a golden age person. But occasionally want some input on new scores, hoping that
I'll find something that interests me.
6. Do you like it when certain topics go on and on and on, or over time do your interests
diminish? (see #3)
7. Do you enjoy topics that seem rather abstract and philosophical or do you avoid them preferring concrete, specific topics.
Usually like more concrete topics.
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Posted: |
May 31, 2013 - 12:00 PM
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By: |
Michael24
(Member)
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I cherry-pick on every forum I've ever been on. I think that's the only way to do it. It seems impossible to read every single thread on a forum, especially a large one with regular activity, and my mind boggles at the thought of doing so.
1. Titles of the topics. Do titles pull you in?
Most of the time, yes. If the title is clearly about a composer, score or whatever that I have an interest in it, I will gravitate toward those threads. If I'm not familiar with something, then I won't read the thread because I'll have nothing to contribute to the discussion. I will also click on non-specific threads if something about the title catches my eye.
2. Are you attracted by certain composers' names?
Yes. I'm more likely to click on a thread if it's related to a composer I like and/or am familiar with.
3. Does the length of a new topic attract or repel you?
If the topic interests me enough to click on it but the thread is more than several pages long, I'll usually read at least the first page or two and the last couple pages. The rest I will either skim through or just skip altogether.
4. Do certain members attract your interest?
I don't read threads just because they are started by certain members, but some seem to usually have interesting things to say. I always enjoys posts by Josh and Holly Mitchell, and while it's probably not a popular thing to say, I gotta say I often love Lehah's posts. I tend to find his honesty refreshing. On the flip side, there are certain members who repel me with their flippant attitudes or their sense of "Look at me, I'm cool because I don't like [insert composer/score/movie/etc. of choice]."
5. Do certain time periods attract you and others alienate you?
Yes. I avoid anything Golden Age-related. Not because I don't like that music but merely because I have practically no familiarity with it or those composers, so I would have nothing of value to add to a discussion. I'm most attracted to topics about the '80s and '90s, since that's when my love of film music developed, and those are the eras I am most familiar with.
6. Do you like it when certain topics go on and on and on, or over time do your interests
diminish?
Drawn-out discussion is good for awhile, but once it feels like things are running on stream, I feel it's time to leave the topic behind and move on.
7. Do you enjoy topics that seem rather abstract and philosophical or do you avoid them preferring
concrete, specific topics.
I much prefer concrete, specific topics. I like list/survey/question threads because I'm always interested in seeing what other people are interested in and such. Philosophical topics go over my head. It'd be nice to participate in those, but I have no knowledge of Music Theory or anything like that. Threads like the recent series someone was doing where they analyzed John Williams themes, for example, pretty much cause my brain to melt when reading them because I just don't understand all that stuff.
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Posted: |
May 31, 2013 - 5:58 PM
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By: |
dan the man
(Member)
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TO JOAN-This is a great thread, because it let's everybody offer their viewpoints on what is going on around here.This thread should go on forever. anyway I always been a statistical freak, I would love to see threads where for example-JOHN BARRY'S MUSIC REVIEW THREAD- People write reviews on every one of his scores. then on the same thread have little tidbits, like singers who sung JOHN BARRY'S MUSIC, How successful were the film's he scored? did all of Barry's films percentage wise by films make more money then all of, say, Morricone's films?etc etc etc info info info. These are the threads I like to keep going as long as possible. I feel a lot of these threads can have great potential but they die, like magazines instead of books.I think the very first thread I did when I got here, was real fun, Who was your favorite composer? and for a week I was adding up the totals, like a race was going on.If only topics can not be so fleeting here.2 threads I got going now I hope to keep going as long as possible. So if people are curious about pretty music in genre films or singers , singing film themes and others like jokes etc etc, the reader will get a big list to read.
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Well, my answers will be boringly predictable, but here goes -
1) Yes, of course, titles pull me in. With so little time to spread across the board (ha!), I probably click on less than half the topics.
2) Yes, as with Number 1, a composer's names will draw me in. I must admit that I'm rather inflexible with age sadly, and that a "PR: New Chuka Libélula Score Release Download" will get zero views from me. Is it OK for an old person to say "my bad"? Well, my bad.
3) The length of an initial post will not repel me if I've already clicked on it (see 1 and 2). But if it's in a presentable form, even better. One paragraph that lasts a whole page will have me merely glancing over it.
4) Yes, I will read a new topic no matter what by a member who I "know" and whose posts I know usually reap rewards. But really, I do lose track easily of who's who amongst the millions, so again Questions 1 and 2 are of equal or more importance.
5) Time periods? Yes. Stuck in the past I am.
6) Topics that go on and on... I don't look at them in general, although there are exceptions. I think we should be able to break things down into more manageable nuggets. It's sad when a new topic gets only one or two replies, but some of these ongoing things are like reading the telephone directory.
7) Abstract or concrete - It's nice to have a good balance, so I don't mind. The more abstract ones will take some thinking about, but they are often the most interesting. The trouble is, with those topics I think so much that I can't come to any worthwhile conclusion, so they tend to get viewed but not replied to. Don't forget that the majority here read but don't respond. That's OK if it gets them/ me using the old grey matter.
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Posted: |
Sep 3, 2013 - 5:47 PM
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By: |
joan hue
(Member)
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I guess the teacher in me is in a bit of a nagging mood, so I’m bumping this topic back up for several reasons. First, maybe a few more will contribute their methods of selection.
The other is to nag a bit. I have noticed that certain topics like Parrish, The Quiet Man, and Come Back Little Sheba pulled in us “aged-like-fine-wine-oldies” but not the youngers. Are we picking topics
based upon our age? Is that another criteria? Are the oldies reading topics about new composers?
In the past weeks, I’ve noticed people saying that if they don’t know a composer, they don’t bother with the topic. So how do you expand what you listen to if you don’t at least sample composers’ scores? I’m not attracted to a few composers, but I listened to some of their scores before judging.
I’ll bet good money that most of us, young and old, will go to see the new version of Romeo And
Juliet. We know that play because in high school some English teacher said, “Here, time for you to read a classic love story that teens can relate to.” Forceful exposure, but at least exposure.
I wouldn’t want to listen to just 5 composers during my life nor read only 5 authors. Last week, we had a topic on The Mortal Instruments by Atli Orvarsson. I couldn’t contribute as I don’t know him
nor the movie, but I’ll rent the DVD to hear this new voice in film music that excited some of you.
I’m just hoping that youngers are reading about older scores and looking for those movies on TCM
to expand their repertoire and that Baby Boomer generation is still tuning their ears into
new scores. Nagging over and out!
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Posted: |
Sep 3, 2013 - 6:05 PM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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1. Titles of the topics. Do titles pull you in?
Yes. It's frustrating to have an idea for a topic and to sometimes find yourself grasping for a snazzy title so I appreciate those titles that pull me in.
2. Are you attracted by certain composers' names?
Other than my personal favorites, I like to read enthusiastic posts from fans of a composer I know very little about and it has led to me exploring that composer's work or at least opened my mind a bit to their music. The fans' ebullience can be contagious. For instance, Deputy Riley and I have almost nothing in common as far as our taste is concerned, but I read his topics and posts with interest because of the thoughtful manner by which he expresses himself.
3. Does the length of a new topic attract or repel you?
If the thread gets derailed through that patented FSM board infighting or goes way off topic, I do lose interest, but if the thread goes on and is more or less consistent, I can stick with it.
4. Do certain members attract your interest?
When I start a topic or see a thread focusing on my interests, I usually know ahead of time who will be there, so if they're there, they attract my interest.
5. Do certain time periods attract you and others alienate you?
I'm primarily a '60s and '70s guy but certain Golden Age scores catch my interest. I love 1930s-50s films but not because of their scores. Go figure. Most of today's music just leaves me cold.
6. Do you like it when certain topics go on and on and on, or over time do your interests
diminish?
I have been guilty of bumping age-old threads because they "stay on task", as it were, because only a few people post on said topic; in other words, the kind of topic Dana Wilcox doesn't like. 
7. Do you enjoy topics that seem rather abstract and philosophical or do you avoid them preferring concrete, specific topics.
Any topic of interest will interest me, as the contributors' thoughts can make any topic worth reading and responding to.
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TO HENRY- Then you must be on this board all night?
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