Comments on: Movies look nothing like reality

By: Lorelei

Lorelei — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 00:17:30 +0000

I was at the same premiere in Austin, and I had an issue with setting the film in Boulder for a different reason. The passage of time was fairly important in the script, as the main character undergoes an emotional change, and there was Boulder looking lovely in the spring. The short shooting schedule was rather obvious. I was left not buying in to the main character’s arc, and it was all because of Boulder’s leafy spring.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:53:01 +0000

Actually, I’m gonna have to disagree with your whole premise on this one John, for a peculiar personal reason. I am a Vancouverite (the real Canadian Vancouver, not that odd little town further down the coast) living in exile in Rio de Janeiro. It’s a self-imposed exile, and I actually love Rio for many of the same reasons I loved Vancouver – mountains crashing down into the ocean, beautiful light, supply mostly naked bodies stretched out on the sand. OK scratch that last one. Anyway, I miss my home town, but fortunately it reappears at regular intervals on the truly awful series that get re-sold onto Brazilian television. For reasons strictly of nostalgia, I find myself watching dreck I would never tolerate if I actually still lived in BC. Stuff like Highlander, Dead like Me, The Collector, Battlestar Gallactica (which I actually quite like, but it’s the exception). Horrible writing, indifferent acting, cheesy effects, but I suffer it all for the regular and recognizebale glimpses of Howe Sound or the North Shore Mountains or that oddly gritty look found only in the city’s Downtown Eastside. I’ve gotten so good at spotting my city that when I saw a preview for Psych, I could tell it was Vancouver immediately by the slick sheen of rain on the pavement of the dumpster strewn alleyway down which the lead character was being chased. Am I sick? Maybe a little. But I can say with authority that cities do so show their nature on television. Or maybe only Canadian stand in cities do.

By: Manhattan

Manhattan — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 19:04:45 +0000

Look bitch, you know what time it is !!

;-)

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:50:02 +0000

We could use some movie magic here in Stockholm at the moment. Grey skies, cold winds, rain. Now itâ€™s allright to indulge in the obligatory clinical autumn depression. Or start an art-film project: a 2,5 hour drama about a ditch in Slovenia.

By: John August

John August — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 19:43:27 +0000

I met Trey Parker pre-Southpark here in Los Angeles. We talked a bit about Colorado, but I haven’t seen him since.

By: David Mulholland

David Mulholland — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 20:19:30 +0000

I have to say my favorite representation of my alma mater (and your home town) was in J.J. Abrams' JOY RIDE (Mini review: better than you think).

I forget the plot point, but our heros had to pick up Leelee Sobieski from the University of Colorado in Boulder. The anticipation built up as I was getting excited to see a shot of the not-quite majestic Norton Library or possibly the UMC... only when they did pull in, it was in front of the USC quad.

Just curious, have you ever had a chance to chat with the South Park team about living in Boulder?

Cheers, Dave

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:48:20 +0000

Sorry to say it, John, but I've gotta disagree with you on this. I've recently become obsessed with THE WIRE and have been amazed with how well it captures Baltimore [full disclosure: I grew up in DC, but have spent a lot of time in Baltimore]. What I've noticed is, it's not the landmarks (Camden Yards, The Inner Harbor, Fells Point) that capture the feel of the city, but the details that exist in the margins. Characters snacking on Utz Crab Chips, the cold pale afternoon sun that a trained eye knows couldn't have been reproduced anywhere else, and a myriad of other details that don't scream "Baltimore" quite as loudly as the neon light on the Domino's Sugar Plant, but very effectively convey the city's rythem and texture.

I think the operative word you used in describing Catch and Release was postcard, which is probably apt (I'm going off your assesment here, having not seen the film myself). But postcards by nature are sanitized representations of a place (often bordering on kitsch) and aren't designed to convey the reality of the place being photographed.

When you shot in your house, you chose to make it look perfect in order to tell the audience something about the characters living there. Characters who, for whatever reason, feel the need to live as though they're expecting a magazine photo shoot to break out at any minute. It was your decisions that made your house look nothing like (your) reality on film, not merely the act of film being exposed to light.

Had your goal been to convey John August's house realistically, you would have left out the stacks of mail, baby toys, and dirty dishes and probably come pretty close to doing just that.

By: Phillip Barron

Phillip Barron — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:26:57 +0000

Oh, and in an aside to S. A. Petrich's post: part of an episode of the BBC sitcom 'Coupling' was set on a train. They didn't want to use a mock up with blue screen bushes rushing by, so they blew most of their budget on getting a real train.

Only to discover it was too noisy to film whilst the train was moving. What finally appeared on screen is a long sequence set on a stationary train.

By: Phillip Barron

Phillip Barron — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:21:04 +0000

I was living in Swansea (Wales) when Twin Town was being filmed. Not only did I struggle to recognise familiar locations in the movie; but just when I thought I'd got my bearings, the characters would walk round the corner and magically appear on the other side of town.

Not only does reality look different, but apparently geography changes too.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 16:59:19 +0000

Feel the same way John. I will see the movie and secretly want Boulder to be up front and center.

I was just there end of September and it was just beautiful. Fairview...Abo's on the Hill...Pearl Street...Flagstaff...and the Aspens changing color...And a lot of happy people were there, I noticed.

Hmm. Why did I leave?

Mark

By: AnimeJune

AnimeJune — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:42:28 +0000

I felt the same way about “Snow Day” – it was filmed right outside my grandmother’s house. My first thoughts of the movie were: “There were NEVER that many children in my nana’s neighbourhood!”

What’s even funnier is when someone doesn’t shoot on location, and just labels it as a place, and of course it is not portrayed as anything remotely resembling the actual place. I giggle everytime I watch the scene in “X-Men” that takes place in “Northern Alberta”. Why yes, we’re all hicks who perform sweaty free-for-all fight matches in bars!