Outer Limits (Original Series) - Why Rereleased? (1 Viewer)

[Harry-N]

All last week, there was a note on the La-La Land pages saying that any orders placed would be sent out on 6/23 (that's today). I'm guessing a vacation schedule was in play.

Harry

 

[Ockeghem]

For me, it's the instability of the augmented triad (B-flat / D / F-sharp) that moves me so much. I need for it to resolve so badly! When it does, there is a sense of finality to it. And of course, the minor (as opposed to major) mode is and always will be my favorite of modes.

 

[tanaleaf]

Ditto. Take the natural minor scale, raise the 7th (a la harmonic minor), then also raise the 4th (for that discordant "flatted fifth" flavor), and voila -- we could dub the result "the Lubin scale"! (Actually, I think such a scale does exist, and may go under the name of "Hungarian minor"...?)

 

[Ockeghem]

Tanaleaf,

I believe the 'Hungarian minor' is what you've described: A / B / C / D-sharp / E / F / G-sharp / A. But, I kind of like "The Lubin Scale" better. If it didn't already exists as the Hungarian minor, I would be writing to Lubin soon to ask for patenting rights--LOL.

 

[tanaleaf]

You can certainly play just about any Season 2 OUTER LIMITS cue -- the end title theme, Ikar's theme, Trent's theme, etc. -- using just the "Lubin scale" alone (give or take a perfect 4th, here and there).

(Robert Colbert's original DARK SHADOWS theme is also, in its own way, rather reminiscent of Lubin's style -- or at least that's how it strikes me.)

 

[Ockeghem]

Oh goodness, another favorite of mine. I've actually been aware of (and studied) the music of Cobert far longer than I have the music of either Frontiere or Lubin. I've looked at scores of Cobert's--pure genius, IMO. And I actually wrote to Dominic Frontiere many years ago (as well as Joseph Stefano). I just wanted them both to know that their work is appreciated. (BTW, Psycho is among my most favorite of Hitchcock films, which is what I told Joseph Stefano.)

 

[tanaleaf]

Sadly, Lubin died in 1977 (according to IMDb). But if you're interested in seeing his manuscript scores, etc., I understand that there is a Harry Lubin collection of TV and film scores archived at UCLA (don't know how you might go about accessing it, though):

unitproj.library.ucla.edu/music/mlsc/ftma.cfm

(Scroll down the page about halfway.)

 

[Ockeghem]

Tanaleaf,

I'd still be writing to him.

Seriously, thanks for the link. I believe Hollywoodaholic and maybe a few others have provided very useful links to various The Outer Limits score collections elsewhere. They may even be in this thread.

 

[tanaleaf]

I'll keep looking for that Twilight Zone Magazine article on OL by Schow which reproduced Lubin's sheet music for his Season 2 end title score. Maybe it'll turn up yet....

 

[tanaleaf]

For anyone who might be interested (and who has eight minutes with nothing better to do), I've posted a short video on YouTube of the first scene of an ongoing (hopefully), homemade sci-fi home video "work-in-progress."

Being a huge Outer Limits fan, I've tried to give it an OL "flavor" in various (admittedly amateurish) ways; the OL influence is probably (hopefully!) most detectable in basic concept, camerawork, and music score. (Or at least that's what I was aiming for!)

It's just for fun:

YouTube - THE GUEST Scene 1

Comments welcome!

 

[Carabimero]

I got my OUTER LIMITS 3-Disc set. Putting it on my iPod now. Thanks so much for the heads-up!

 

[Ockeghem]

Tanaleaf,

I look forward to watching and listening to this tomorrow from work.

 

[Harry-N]

Something I meant to point out a while ago in this thread is about the CD-Text included on the CDs.

Someone mentioned that when they put the disc in their computer, there were no titles assigned to the tracks, and another mentioned that someone has to be first in entering the titles. That's all true, but there's another method of titling that LA-LA Land has given us, the use of CD-Text.

CD-Text is a method of attaching title and artist information to a CD. It was developed by Sony and Philips and was sort-of an addendum to their redbook standards. Some players out there can read the information, many can not. I have a car player that reads CD-Text and displays it on the main panel, and one of my newer DVD players has a CD-Text reading facility.

Anyway, the tracks on the OUTER LIMITS set are labeled with CD-Text. Each track is listed with its track number, a cue number, and a title. So it might look like this (I'm making up the numbers):

14 (OL245/47) GROOM BE GONE

But each one has a series of OLxxx numbers in parentheses. Though it doesn't document it, I'll bet these were Dom Frontiere's original cue numbers used for the shows. The example I made up uses the same title as the booklet name for the cue, but these differ on many occasions and also might have been Dom's original names for the cues.

I wish I had a CD-Text reader on the computer and could capture this info, but wanted to at least tip off some of the fans here that the information IS THERE on the CD. You just need to find a way of getting it.

Harry

 

[Carabimero]

I just clicked FIND TRACK NAMES in my iTunes and they came right up for all three discs, including the other disc that had THE UNKNOWN on it.

Harry N--is the instrumental music for THE UNKNOWN also uSed in THE INVADERS or just the opening title? I'm simply not familiar enough with it yet--although I finished season one tonight and LOVED IT (The Invaders).

 

[Harry-N]

I'm not 100% sure. I'm actually still awaiting the arrival of the UNKNOWN disc myself. My suspicions are that the compositions were done and recorded for THE UNKNOWN, used of course also in "The Forms Of Things Unknown", and then re-recorded and adapted for use in THE INVADERS. At least that's the impression I get when watching "The Forms Of Things Unknown."

My expectations are that perhaps someday we'll see a La-La Land release for INVADERS music.

Harry

 

[Ockeghem]

Harry,

In a word, fascinating. IMHO, I believe you are correct in your assumption regarding Dominic Frontiere's original cue numbers. (I'm thinking particularly of Robert Cobert's numbers, some of which I have seen in print. The format reminds me of what you have written with regard to Frontiere.)

Your post also reminds me of something I've been thinking of on and off for years. Is there a technology you are aware of that can take the text from the script (or more appropriately, the text which is spoken by actors on the screen, since this can differ from the written script markedly) and transfer this to (e.g.) a Word (or other similar) document? I have been working on a transcripts page for a particular series, and would love it if I didn't have to manually transcribe every word I am hearing. In other words, it would be so much easier to have the text of what we hear in a particular show somehow converted to actual words on a page--kind of like you see when you depress the mute button for some shows, and the words then appear on the screen. Now if only this screen with the words on it could somehow be converted to a page of paper....

 

[Carabimero]

No, my iTunes did not reveal cue numbers. But I believe I can get to them by CD-Text.

Let's hope you're right about that INVADERS soundtrack.

 

[Charles Thaxton]

There are several cues in THE UNKNOWN that show up in INVADERS pilot "Beach Head"(besides the main title). The new OUTER LIMITS CD has a BUNCH of cues used in the pilot also (the cues from ZZZZ especially)

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I just watched "The Beachhead" the other night and was completely surprised by the vast amount of TOL cues in there. It was like a greatest TOL hits of Dominic Frontiere. I believe I even heard the love theme cue from "Architects of Fear" played very low under a scene between Thinnes and Diane Baker.

Then, in the following episode, "The Experiment" ... I don't recall hearing any TOL music. You get the feeling once the show got picked up, Frontiere scrambled to compose more original cues for the series.

 

[michael_ks]

The scene with David Vincent's vain attempt to escape the clutches of the hospital staff plays with Frontiere's "The Creature Wakes" cue from "Tourist Attraction". One of these days I shall receive "The Invaders" set from Deep Discount and then finally get the chance to listen for more OL cues...

BTW, I sat through "Tourist Attraction" the other night and it played worse for me than on prior viewings. This is really an uninspired, poorly performed and written segment and a very season 2 flavored episode with its bland, grey toned visuals. But it makes for a great comparison to something like "Don't Open 'till Doomsday" where mediocre vs. great cinematography is concerned.

Oh well, so much for that outing--next up, "The Architects of Fear"!