http://www.benbotkin.com Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:50:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A couple months ago I received a phone call out of the blue offering me a position to help out on the musical score for The Vision Forum and Erwin brothers studio's latest film, The Mysterious Islands. The film is about a group of extraordinary men who travel to ... http://www.benbotkin.com/2009/12/the-mysterious-islands-the-score-part-1/ Flash 10 is required to view this file var so = new SWFObject('http://www.benbotkin.com/player.swf','mpl','525','314','9'); so.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so.addParam('allowfullscreen','true'); so.addParam('flashvars','&file=http://www.westernconservatory.com/content/video/dropoutstrailer.flv&&image=http://www.westernconservatory.com/content/video/dropoutstrailer.jpg&type=video&backcolor=444444&frontcolor=DDDDDD&lightcolor=CC3433&screencolor=373737'); so.write('player10'); The Western Conservatory of the Arts and Sciences just recently completed the documentary Homeschool Dropouts: Why the second generation is headed for a spiritual wasteland, for which I was privileged to write the music. You can view the ... http://www.benbotkin.com/2009/11/homeschool-dropouts-the-score/ First Pacific Media is excited to offer The Return of The Daughters Original Soundtrack for half price for the next two weeks. Since I finished the music and produced the CD two years ago, I have received a lot of encouraging feedback on it. "This soundtrack is unique, and very, ... http://www.benbotkin.com/2009/07/return-of-the-daughters-original-soundtrack-sale/ I recently ran across this fascinating City Journal article by Theodore Dalrymple, an author and columnist with many worthy observations and commentaries on modern culture trends. His article raises an interesting question: if the emotional messages of classical/orchestral music are merely subjective, neutral, or as vague as most today ... http://www.benbotkin.com/2009/07/when-hooligans-bach-down/ "That's what I love about Pixar. It's always about the story. That's where every project begins, with the story -- not the marketing." -- Michael Giacchino I’m generally not that excited about filmscores that come out these days, but I know that every summer I can expect at least one that’s ... http://www.benbotkin.com/2009/07/the-music-of-up/