3/09/2009

Soundtrack listing, and latest news

It's been ages since I last posted -- indeed the world has changed pretty dramatically since July of last year. Yet to my surprise and delight, I continue to receive enthusiastic mails about PBD -- about five or so every month. They're always a blast to read, and I thank everyone for taking the time to share their thoughts despite my lack of project updates.

Several recent mails have asked about the soundtrack for Wanderers, so in this post I'd like to list the tracks more or less in order of their appearance, and maybe add a note or two about why I chose them. In keeping with the motif set by Cosmos, the vast majority of the music is by Vangelis, one of my favorite composers and musicians. I've made a special effort in PBD to dig a little deeper into his discography than many people have heard, and make appropriate use of some of his more obscure tracks; I am continually amazed at how varied, and useful, his music can be in documentary film making.

1.) "Memories of Blue" - Vangelis, "Oceanic" (titles)
2.) "Movement 4" - Vaneglis, "Soil Festivities" (introduction)
3.) "Piano Concerto in E major, Op 59 - 2 Adante" - Moritz Moszkowski
4.) "Rapsodia" - Vangelis, "Rapsodies"
5.) "Tin Oreotita Tis Parthenias So" - Vangelis, Rapsodies
6.) "Ignacio" - Vangelis, "Ignacio" (Sagan on the beach)
7.) "La Mer Recommencee" - Vangelis, "L'Apocalypse Des Animaux"
8.) "La Dande Du Feu" - Vangelis, "Odes"
9.) "Mouettes" - Vangelis, "Opera Sauvage"
10.) "Reve" - Vangelis, "Opera Sauvage"
11.) "Sword of Orion" - Vangelis, "Albedo 0.39"
12.) "La Mort Du Loup" - Vangelis, "L'Apocalypse Des Animaux"

One of the goals I had for choosing music was to approach, as closely as possible, the overall feel of Cosmos and some of the classic BBC series produced by Adrian Malone (the director of Cosmos), while avoiding any of the actual music used within the series itself unless absolutely necessary. Editing requirements forced me to use a bit from Vangelis' "Ignacio" because a clip used to bridge the introduction and chapter 1 of "Pale Blue Dot" called for a bit of the famous "Sagan on the beach" (from "Cosmos"), where he hinted at the image of earth as a "point of light". Careful observers correctly noticed that I added music to this originally silent scene, transforming it from a decidedly somber rumination into something quite a bit more inspirational. I'm very pleased with how it all turned out.

Google Video has kept track of the number of times PBD: Wanderers has been viewed, and I'm very pleased that it's been watched over 50,000 times. I've been incredibly slack in re-releasing a high(er) resolution version of the video, but because so many have asked I'll be releasing a torrent before too long.

In other news, work on Pale Blue Dot episode 2 continues, although at a pace far slower than I would have preferred. Work and life commitments have regrettably pulled a lot of my attention away from my video projects, but the delay is merely that. With any luck and a bit more buckling down, I hope to have some good news to share in the near future.

Until next time, thanks for your continued interest in this project. Questions, comments, and offers of assistance in any way are gladly welcomed.

7 comments:

Devil Dude said...

Cool! Got a bit of a cold though, so I won't..cough..cough (YD server!)..cough be able to fully enjoy the Hi-res version until I cough..(please fix!)..cough kick this cold! >;-)

Baruch said...

Fantastic illustration of Sagan's text. Thank you. Impatiently waiting for part 2. Best. Baruch

Mike said...

Hey,

Absolutely loved your first video. Keep going on the second one. I genuinely thought it was a TV programme presented by Sagan and was quite surprised to learn it was a side project by you, and I speak as someone with a physics degree and a Final Cut Pro certificate - so you'd think I'd be able to spot it wasn't real!

It was really excellent, and you should keep going with the second one. Maybe create a wiki site at pb works where people can contribute ideas or links to video content.

Anonymous said...

Please continue your work. The world needs this. Thank you.

Unknown said...

Hi. New viewer to your PBD project. Like many I am anxiously awaiting part 2.

I noticed you live/work in Tokyo (unless this blog is horribly out of date. I was wondering if I might buy you a beer sometime and have a little chat. I have nothing to offer you but a little company, and nothing to request of you but the same.

Patrick McCann said...

Excellent video! Great quality! When will the next chapter be available?

Anonymous said...

Wow. What an incredibly awesome, creative piece of art! A beautiful way of presenting Sagan's mind-blowing & prescient words. Eagerly awaiting Part 2!