Over this last weekend, Conklederp and I went and saw the 1993 theatrical version of Jurassic Park. That in and of itself would not be noteworthy except that tickets to see Jurassic Park were $30 and up. The reason of such a high price was that the Oregon Symphony Orchestra performed the music to the movie live. Sure, if you figure that 1/3rd of the ticket prices for the cost of the movie, which meant that we were able to listen to an orchestra perform the entirety of the Jurassic Park soundtrack for only $20. I would have paid $30 to listen to just the soundtrack performed,
Before going into the movie, both Conklederp and I were wondering how it would actually work, beyond just having the symphony there playing the music while the movie aired. Knowing only what I've gathered from watching special features on DVD's, there seems to be a fair amount of audio mixing going on, making sure that the music doesn't overpower the dialogue, swells here, or just plays quietly in the background almost as if you don't notice it at all. So how much live/on-the-spot-mixing could occur with a live orchestra?
What I experienced (as I won't speak on Conklederp's behalf) was me leaving The Schnitz wondering why I don't just see every movie with a live orchestra? That way-back in the day, seeing a silent movie (because there was no other option), meant that maybe you had a live pianist playing along with the movie, which must have been something like our experience, but on a less grand scale. There were only a few times during the movie that I noticed that the music played was ever so slightly different than what was on the soundtrack. Specifically with "Dennis Steals the Embryos" scene, the marimba (I think it's the marimba) didn't sound as clean as it is performed on both the soundtrack and in the movie itself. Conklederp later said that she noticed the lack of choir, which I didn't even think about, especially during the scene when the group first comes upon the Brachiosaurs. The rest of the time, I was so engrossed in the whole experience that I either did not realize that there was a live orchestra playing, or that I was so into the music that I was not paying attention to the music.
The only other odd occurrence was that there was an intermission, which I probably should have anticipated as those musicians probably needed a rest, both mentally and physically. And the conductor too I guess. The fact that there was an intermission was not so much the oddness, but where they placed it. Right after Dennis Nedry crashes his jeep, the screen went black, which I know is something that does not happen at that moment, the "Intermission" screen came up and the house lights came on. An added bonus though of having the intermission was that after the 20 minutes were up and the house lights flashed, the orchestra played the entr'acte, which just meant that there was more music from the film to listen to.
As the movie ended and the credits rolled, Conklederp and I noticed people getting up and leaving. Why would you do this!? I mean sure, we spent 40 minutes getting out of the parking garage at night because we stayed until after the credits had finished. Oh, and after the LIVE ORCHESTRA HAD FINISHED PERFORMING MUSIC FROM THE FILM JURASSIC PARK. I would have paid money (which we did) to hear music from this film performed by an orchestra, and here we were, and I'll be snookered if I would leave as the credits were rolling because that is perfectly acceptable to do in a movie theatre.
Anyway, it was an amazing experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who is able to attend a performance; although I do recognize that ticket prices vary by venue. In my opinion though, completely worth the cost of seeing Jurassic Park for the 47,000,000 time. Now to plan our next experience when Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is performed in September; tickets go on sale May 4th.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Well Son You Got A Statement You'd Like To Make
P.S. Something that I have noticed in the past, is that anytime the end credits theme from Jurassic Park is played, at least since about 1997, is that the music from The Lost World: Jurassic Park is used instead of what was written for the original film. You can tell because the at about 2:12 in the original, there isn't the music that was used for The Lost World.
As the movie ended and the credits rolled, Conklederp and I noticed people getting up and leaving. Why would you do this!? I mean sure, we spent 40 minutes getting out of the parking garage at night because we stayed until after the credits had finished. Oh, and after the LIVE ORCHESTRA HAD FINISHED PERFORMING MUSIC FROM THE FILM JURASSIC PARK. I would have paid money (which we did) to hear music from this film performed by an orchestra, and here we were, and I'll be snookered if I would leave as the credits were rolling because that is perfectly acceptable to do in a movie theatre.
Anyway, it was an amazing experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who is able to attend a performance; although I do recognize that ticket prices vary by venue. In my opinion though, completely worth the cost of seeing Jurassic Park for the 47,000,000 time. Now to plan our next experience when Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is performed in September; tickets go on sale May 4th.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Well Son You Got A Statement You'd Like To Make
P.S. Something that I have noticed in the past, is that anytime the end credits theme from Jurassic Park is played, at least since about 1997, is that the music from The Lost World: Jurassic Park is used instead of what was written for the original film. You can tell because the at about 2:12 in the original, there isn't the music that was used for The Lost World.
You could say that I was a mix of emotions
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