|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
...there is no composer union. Perhaps I misunderstood the function of The Society of Composers and Lyricists. I had gotten the notion that they were an attempt to loosely unionize that section of the industry...? This article will clear that up. http://www.thescl.com/site/scl/content.php?type=1&id=5745
|
|
|
|
|
I have mixed feelings about this development, maybe more to the negative side. I'm not going to comment on the "soundtrack collector" side of the issue, which is MY side. I'm going to comment as if I were an Academy member and wanted to do a decent job in voting for the "best score" nominee. The ONLY way to RE-evaluate the score once you have ALREADY SEEN seen the film will be to view the film AGAIN!! If you want to evaluate the score WITHOUT dialoge, sound effects, helicopter chases, explosions, etc., you won't have that opportunity except for the commercially released score. For the films that don't have a commercially released soundtrack CD, we and they will be out of luck. I do an extraordinary amount of CD listening while commuting in my car, so "DVD listening" while driving is not an option. So if you have the "best score" narrowed down to two or three candidates, you have to rewatch the films over and over until you decide? MY SOLUTION: Special "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION" DVDs with the complete score isolated on an alternate track. For what it's worth. :-) Ron Burbella
|
|
|
|
|
|
I mean this with all due respect Ron, because I KNOW and understand the collector mentality, but you were one of the worst offenders in terms of prices you paid for these things - some of which would cause members of this board to fall over in a dead faint. It fed the fire for dealers and LA people haunting the stores to get their hands on these things, knowing there were people like you who would pay huge prices - as soon as Academy members started figuring this out, they upped what they were asking from the stores, and while it's nice for collectors, it completely negates why they were sent out. You say that not sending them will cause members not to be able to vote with authority, and I say they never EVER listened to them - they just got them to the stores and dealers as quickly as they could. I'm not speaking off the top of my head or making it up - I know people who did it, and I certainly know the stores who were getting them regularly and I know who was giving it to certain dealers. So, while you don't want to address your side, the collector side, I'm afraid that is all there is TO discuss.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Aug 8, 2007 - 3:25 AM
|
|
|
By: |
manderley
(Member)
|
I'm not a member of the Music Branch, obviously, so I can't really comment specifically on the score cds, but I have been a member of the Television Academy for about 35 years. In the old days, when the video revolution began, we would get several VHS tapes in their simple boxes, around Emmy-nomination/voting time. That was it. As time went on things got more involved and by the end of the videotape period we were getting incredible, designer-packaged groupings of sometimes 10-20 tapes per studio, whole mini-series, etc. With the advent of the DVD days we now get them in slimmer, but equally elegant or impressive packaging, perhaps 50-100 discs during the season. One of the very impressive things this year was a very fancy 1x12" square box full of Warner Bros. DVDs, laid out with fancy artwork and all encased in a bright red velvet bag, embroidered with the Warner Bros. logo. (The bag, itself, is worth framing!!!) There are slipcases with 10-15 DVDs of A & E cable specials, T N T shows, Showtime, HBO (always impressive), Universal, and on and on. In each season I easily get enough of these things to fill up a 12x15 storage file box---and I'm being inundated!!! I'm now in the process of going back over the years, keeping a few special items, but trashing most of the rest. It's always been a wonder to me that instead of spending what must be in the multi-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars for these kinds of things, the money might better be spent on the budgets of the shows to make them creatively better. But, of course, I'm living in a dream world, and the business of promotion is big business!
|
|
|
|
|
|
In each season I easily get enough of these things to fill up a 12x15 storage file box---and I'm being inundated!!! I'm now in the process of going back over the years, keeping a few special items, but trashing most of the rest. I'll gladly drive over and take some of it off your hands.
|
|
|
|
|
Manderley, I accept your "respect," but I respectfully decline to be labeled an "offender," unless you indicate exactly whom it is that I "offend." Exploiting the free marketplace shouldn't "offend" anyone. Disappoint, yes. Maybe "perpetrator" would be a better choice of terms. And what do you mean "ONE of the worst." I wanna be Number One!!! I jockey with another collector in the Pacific Northwest for top spot, no? :-) I have developed a "friendly jealousy" with collector-acquaintances in the L.A. area, who seem to find amazing composer promos and Academy "For Your Consideration" promos under every rock and bush that they happen to look under. It seems they open their front door each morning and there, under the doormat, is a composer promo left by leprechauns. Impossible for me to do. Here, in New Jersey, the ONLY source I have for these items seemingly intrinsic to the L.A. area is what is called "the secondary market." Friends, dealers, fellow collectors, eBay sellers...I'm sure that you know all these same folks. And there seems to be a small cadre of fellow collectors who monitor what I buy on eBay and elsewhere to see what the "going prices" are. I often only get ONE CHANCE at certain items. Buy it/win it, or wait many months or even years till another surfaces. I use that chance, and, yes, sometimes wincing at the high prices. Lately, I had been informally budgeting a certain amount for every January for a "complete" set of Academy promos, especially expanded or complete scores or unavailable scores. CDRs are easy to make or duplicate. My source DOES LISTEN to the Academy promos. Then, capitalist that he/she is, makes his/her own CDR copies for future reference before selling the "originals" to me through an intermediate. These "complete" sets are never "completely complete," so the few that are missing come from other sources. My major leverage here on the East Coast is price. Maybe I should throw in a lap dance? ;-) And I don't doubt that there are those whom you mention (and apparently know personally) who NEVER LISTEN to the Academy promos. They just unload them ASAP to cash in on the secondary market at a high point. Bleaccchhh on them!! (Visual of Snoopy) But that's their right, as unpleasant and ethically unsatisfying as it might be. With no offense taken or given, Ron Burbella
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Either way it's put, those lucky Academy bums still got a complete AI. Warners throws them a bone for free, but collectors pay for the truncated stuff. Thanks. Well, in the press release from the academy, they also ban screenplays from being sent to members, but they can have downloadable version of the script online for members to download if they want. Maybe they can do that with the music as well. That's exactly what I was thinking as well. Possibly in the form of studio or composer fileshare sites with exclusive DRM protection and such. Now if only the Music branch would realize how to nominate a score in the first place, and then NOT act so surprised at the results...
|
|
|
|
|
we were getting incredible, designer-packaged groupings of sometimes 10-20 tapes per studio, whole mini-series, etc. Manderley, Did you ever get a VHS copy of the 1985 mini-series "Christopher Columbus" starring Gabriel Byrne? If so, was this the almost 6-hour long version? Do you still have this mini-series?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Out of interest...who's got what? - A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Apollo 13 - Cast Away - Cold Mountain - Lilo & Stitch - Little Children - Mulan Alas, only Little Children is an original. The others are all CD-R copies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well considering that most FYC CDs are CD-Rs, I don't think you should see that as a negative. Yes, I see your point. I'm not so much interested in the fact that I've got an Oscar promo, but rather the music itself. So, I don't really care that they're not originals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|