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Apparently he never actually watched 2001: A Space Odyssey. I find it pretty incredible that somebody could have such an iconic role in such an iconic movie and

Apparently he never actually watched 2001: A Space Odyssey. I find it pretty incredible that somebody could have such an iconic role in such an iconic movie and never actually watch the finished result. He's apparently not the only person to have done that either. John Williams, the composer of the film score for Star Wars, has never watched any of the Star Wars movies.

sparky_z 8y ago
I've never heard that about John Williams, but it's probably not quite the same sort of thing. He must watch the nearly-finished rough cuts dozens of times in the process of scoring (which is one of the last steps in the movie making process). Then again, on the screen behind the orchestra, during the recording process. By the end, he probably knows the movie by heart and isn't excited to watch it yet again, just to see the last bit of polish. That's pretty different from recording some voiceover lines in a studio then never even seeing the movie they fit into.
- rbanffy 8y ago
  In that specific role, I'd direct him not to watch and to avoid getting too much context in order to prevent emotion from getting into the voice.
dbcurtis 8y ago
For some value of never watched. Usually the way orchestral segments of film scores are recorded is the orchestra is set up in a gigantic sound stage, and the film is projected above and behind the orchestra so that the conductor can see the film as the music is recorded. If the composer is a decent conductor, they usually do. I can imagine that after days or weeks of that, going to see the finished product in a theater may not appeal.
- yesenadam 8y ago
  Well, usually the composer watches with the director first and they talk in detail about what music/feeling the director wants/imagines. I saw a really great documentary about this exact thing recently, Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016), with all-star cast. Shows a lot of composers in the act of writing for (mostly famous) movies, the initial talk-through, recording in the studio, talking about it - many great stories. A lot of John Williams etc. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4207112/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4207112/
KineticLensman 8y ago
> I find it pretty incredible that somebody could have such an iconic role in such an iconic movie Well, according to a BBC obit [0], for Douglas Rain, 2001 was just 10 hours of recording - not with the other actors - over two days. I guess he couldn't have predicted the film's impact from that alone, and perhaps he didn't particularly enjoy Kubrick's other work. [0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46178930 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46178930
- ams6110 8y ago
  Funny how something that ended up being culturally iconic was just a routine 2-day voice-over contract gig for an actor. I wonder if he was paid a flat fee or got royalties?
  - avoidthenoid 8y ago
    Shades of Clare Torry singing The Great Gig in the Sky https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gig_in_the_Sky https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gig_in_the_Sky

sparky_z 8y ago

I've never heard that about John Williams, but it's probably not quite the same sort of thing. He must watch the nearly-finished rough cuts dozens of times in the process of scoring (which is one of the last steps in the movie making process). Then again, on the screen behind the orchestra, during the recording process. By the end, he probably knows the movie by heart and isn't excited to watch it yet again, just to see the last bit of polish. That's pretty different from recording some voiceover lines in a studio then never even seeing the movie they fit into.

rbanffy 8y ago
In that specific role, I'd direct him not to watch and to avoid getting too much context in order to prevent emotion from getting into the voice.

dbcurtis 8y ago

For some value of never watched. Usually the way orchestral segments of film scores are recorded is the orchestra is set up in a gigantic sound stage, and the film is projected above and behind the orchestra so that the conductor can see the film as the music is recorded. If the composer is a decent conductor, they usually do. I can imagine that after days or weeks of that, going to see the finished product in a theater may not appeal.

yesenadam 8y ago
Well, usually the composer watches with the director first and they talk in detail about what music/feeling the director wants/imagines. I saw a really great documentary about this exact thing recently, Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016), with all-star cast. Shows a lot of composers in the act of writing for (mostly famous) movies, the initial talk-through, recording in the studio, talking about it - many great stories. A lot of John Williams etc. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4207112/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4207112/

KineticLensman 8y ago

> I find it pretty incredible that somebody could have such an iconic role in such an iconic movie Well, according to a BBC obit [0], for Douglas Rain, 2001 was just 10 hours of recording - not with the other actors - over two days. I guess he couldn't have predicted the film's impact from that alone, and perhaps he didn't particularly enjoy Kubrick's other work. [0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46178930 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46178930

ams6110 8y ago
Funny how something that ended up being culturally iconic was just a routine 2-day voice-over contract gig for an actor. I wonder if he was paid a flat fee or got royalties?
- avoidthenoid 8y ago
  Shades of Clare Torry singing The Great Gig in the Sky https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gig_in_the_Sky https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gig_in_the_Sky