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Pirate Film Music

Pieter Boelen said:
Plus, bad guy Dawg is just SO BLOODY ENTERTAINING!
He's evil, he knows it and he loves it. Whether that's a realistic sort of character? Don't know about that.
It's hilarious to watch though and the actor is making the very best of the situation. :cheeky
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To be honest, he really scares me -- always has. (And, yes, he's realistic.) He's not just devious, his intentions are downright sinister. There is comedy used with his portrayal as well, to take some of the edge off, but if you look at his drives and motivations, he's a cold-blooded murderer, who enjoys inflicting pain on others and has no value for human life and emotions except his own. His main drive is to attain a position of power over others and to maintain it -- and this is why Morgan, his little niece, escaping him infuriates him so much. He is the kind of person who will stop at nothing to get what he wants -- and he wants a lot! He is also the kind of person who needs to hurt and inflict pain in order to feel something -- to make his own life have a sense of purpose.

Pieter Boelen said:
But don't forget Captain Barbossa.
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True, Barbossa received some background character treatment as well that made him feel real -- although I think this will have been thanks to Rush's study and acting of his character more than the direction he received.

Pieter Boelen said:
Will and Elizabeth though? Reasonable, but a bit dull.
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A bit? You're being too kind. Both characters are extremely bland compared to CI's characters.

Just looking at Will: orphan, denies his pirate heritage, loves Liz. That pretty much sums all of his character treatment up. His motivation for taking part in the adventure is... what exactly? To find out who his father was? To seek fame and fortune? Kind of blurry, given the complexity of the plot.

Liz: interested in Will, annoyed and intrigued by Jack and pirates in general, wants to be free from her chains. Her main motivation for going on the adventure is to run away and free herself from her arranged marriage and family bonds. Once again, way too generic, not to mention unrealistic given her known background/world, and has no real tie-in with the story/action. Which is why they needed to make her literally fall into the middle of the action, as a plot device.

Compare that with Morgan: her beloved, pirate father is murdered before her eyes, and her evil uncle is after her heritage and her father's dream. She has very strong motivation to lead this journey, and to go to great lengths not to allow her uncle to find the treasure.

Or Shaw: a charismatic rogue, hard on times, freed from slavery by a wild temptress (in his lusty eyes), who actually intrigues him with her strong drive and independence, and given the opportunity for not only freedom, but also for seizing his own fortune. He will follow Morgan not only because he is attracted to her, but also as long as his future lies on this path, and there is much to gain from this relationship.

Morgan is too trusting at the start of the story, and fighting her attachments/compassion, while Shaw is too greedy, manipulative, and disloyal to anyone but his own cause. Both characters grow and change through this adventure they take together, which truly tests their personalities/disposition.
 
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This lack in character depth/development is actually the main reason why the later POTC movies start to wander off in all sorts of random directions with the characters and story -- because the characters have no real drive to be a part of the story, they are not driving the story, and, as a result, their relationship on this journey with each other is also somewhat strained/forced, and constantly new drama needs to be superimposed to keep things happening between them, almost like in a bad soap opera.
 
Cerez said:
To be honest, he really scares me -- always has. (And, yes, he's realistic.) He's not just devious, his intentions are downright sinister. There is comedy used with his portrayal as well, to take some of the edge off, but if you look at his drives and motivations, he's a cold-blooded murderer, who enjoys inflicting pain on others and has no value for human life and emotions except his own. His main drive is to attain a position of power over others and to maintain it -- and this is why Morgan, his little niece, escaping him infuriates him so much. He is the kind of person who will stop at nothing to get what he wants -- and he wants a lot! He is also the kind of person who needs to hurt and inflict pain in order to feel something -- to make his own life have a sense of purpose.
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You're, again, not wrong. In fact, you're very, VERY right.

For me, he's being SO over-the-top evil that it's almost downright cartooney at times.
But it IS still evil. And very much so. If that guy were real, he would be extremely scary.
And there are actually people like that out there. And they do scare me.

So my response is a bit of an:
tumblr_oy66c81ld31req0yeo1_r1_400.gif

Situation for me...

Cerez said:
True, Barbossa received some background character treatment as well that made him feel real -- although I think this will have been thanks to Rush's study and acting of his character more than the direction he received.
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Indeed I was really impressed with the stories about him in the first film's audio commentary.
For what could have been such a one-dimensional character, that actor REALLY took it seriously and gave it his all.
And it shows. No wonder they literally brought him back from the dead for the sequels.

Cerez said:
A bit? You're being too kind. Both characters are extremely bland compared to CI's characters.
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I'm not disagreeing with you there. I was comparing them mainly to the male and female leads in PotC 4 and 5.
Compared to them, Will and Elizabeth have Captain Ahab levels of characterisation. :rofl

Cerez said:
Just looking at Will: orphan, denies his pirate heritage, loves Liz. That pretty much sums all of his character treatment up. His motivation for taking part in the adventure is... what exactly? To find out who his father was? To seek fame and fortune? Kind of blurry, given the complexity of the plot.

Liz: interested in Will, annoyed and intrigued by Jack and pirates in general, wants to be free from her chains. Her main motivation for going on the adventure is to run away and free herself from her arranged marriage and family bonds. Once again, way too generic, not to mention unrealistic given her known background/world, and has no real tie-in with the story/action. Which is why they needed to make her literally fall into the middle of the action, as a plot device.

Compare that with Morgan: her beloved, pirate father is murdered before her eyes, and her evil uncle is after her heritage and her father's dream. She has very strong motivation to lead this journey, and to go to great lengths not to allow her uncle to find the treasure.

Or Shaw: a charismatic rogue, hard on times, freed from slavery by a wild temptress (in his lusty eyes), who actually intrigues him with her strong drive and independence, and given the opportunity for not only freedom, but also for seizing his own fortune. He will follow Morgan not only because he is attracted to her, but also as long as his future lies on this path, and there is much to gain from this relationship.

Morgan is too trusting at the start of the story, and fighting her attachments/compassion, while Shaw is too greedy, manipulative, and disloyal to anyone but his own cause. Both characters grow and change through this adventure they take together, which truly tests their personalities/disposition.
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I really like your interpretation of both films. Makes a lot of sense; including the parts where you point out things that don't make sense. :onya

Cerez said:
This lack in character depth/development is actually the main reason why the later POTC movies start to wander off in all sorts of random directions with the characters and story -- because the characters have no real drive to be a part of the story, they are not driving the story, and, as a result, their relationship on this journey with each other is also somewhat strained/forced, and contantly new drama needs to be superimposed to keep things happening between them, almost like in a bad soap opera.
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That, combined with the over-the-top fantasy element, really made those films lose their footing.
Too bad, because the world presented in the first one offers so much potential for colourful and well-motivated characters with a slight(!) supernatural touch around the edges here and there.
But they basically threw subtlety out the window and the whole series suffered for it. Such a missed opportunity... :(
 
Some of C.W. Stoneking's songs can be quite fitting as well, depending on the occasion -- especially for Caribbean settings:




 
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The Nameless Pirate said:
Yes, especially if the song has lyrics about Africa.
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Why wouldn't a Caribbean sailor be singing about their African adventures? :) If you're living in the Caribbean, about the last thing you want to do is sing about the Caribbean. ;) (The grass is always greener on the other side, and telling an exotic tale was/is hip in the Caribbean, too!)

The music is blues infused with calypso, so that hints at the sailor's current location and background.
 
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The Nameless Pirate said:
If I think about it like this, what you say makes sense.
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I think I got the inspiration from Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", actually -- it must have stayed in the back of my mind. An old, Cuban fisherman dreaming about his youthful adventures on the distant shores of Africa.

If you're a sailor, especially if you're an experienced one, even back in those times you would have gotten to see much of the world and live your own unique adventures on distant shores. That was/is one of the greatest things about being a sailor. And, of course, over time, you'd want to embellish them with your imagination and tell them grand to entertain yourself and others. Perhaps even put them in a song. ;)

Who doesn't want to hear gripping tales about adventures with fantastic creatures in exotic, faraway lands they've never been to. In fact, this is a long-standing tradition that brings us all the way to the POTC films and the current trends. :shrug

Only the way we tell the stories has changed.
 
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Cerez said:
I think I got the inspiration from Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", actually -- it must have stayed in the back of my mind. An old, Cuban fisherman dreaming about his youthful adventures on the distant shores of Africa.

If you're a sailor, especially if you're an experienced one, even back in those times you would have gotten to see much of the world and live your own unique adventures on distant shores. That was/is one of the greatest things about being a sailor. And, of course, over time, you'd want to embellish them with your imagination and tell them grand to entertain yourself and others. Perhaps even put them in a song. ;)

Who doesn't want to hear gripping tales about adventures with fantastic creatures in exotic, faraway lands they've never been to. In fact, this is a long-standing tradition that brings us all the way to the POTC films and the current trends. :shrug

Only the way we tell the stories has changed.
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Very true all of this! :cheers
 
Cerez said:
If you're a sailor, especially if you're an experienced one, even back in those times you would have gotten to see much of the world and live your own unique adventures on distant shores. That was/is one of the greatest things about being a sailor. And, of course, over time, you'd want to embellish them with your imagination and tell them grand to entertain yourself and others. Perhaps even put them in a song. ;)
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Not even all that difficult.
For me, often I just need to shorten my story by leaving out some context to make them sound even more exciting than they were!
Best thing about that... that's technically not even lying/embellishing at all.

For example, let's try this one:
I survived floating between the icebergs of Antarctica with a power failure on a 200 m cruise ship.
Nobody died.

True story. :cheeky
 
Something similar:
I saw an F1 driver in a Ferrari, at a stop light this morning.
And guess what, I was ahead of him at the next light!

I never said we were racing, did I? ;)
 
:rofl

For me, when sailing, if I see that I'm faster than another boat, I decide that we're racing (but don't bother telling them).
When I see they're overtaking, then I decide they're just passing by.

I win all my races! :cheeky
 
Now we're really going way off topic, but, instead of competing with others (even if only in your imagination :rofl), I find this is a much better life philosophy to stick to:


Listen to your body/intuition, and dare to do things differently. Challenge yourself, not others.
 
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