النص الكامل لحلقة Timecode

a lot of work. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:55.519 But since shooting leaving in Las Vegas, Figgus has started what would become Robert Zemeca's Steven Soderbergh and Danny Boyle's obsession, that with the smaller form factor, you need less people and are less of a public presence. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:58.959 You get away with things, even experimental things like this. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.079 And everyone is currently obsessed with winners and invisible cuts nowadays. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:06.240 People could really appreciate this movie. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:15.279 Something like 1917 cuts together, but you can tell with the practical explosions and visual composition that it took much longer than it's runtime to shoot. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:25.199 If we're looking for something that actually is the complete movie shot at like once, and the best example I can pull from memory's Boiling Point, which uh came out in 2021. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:40.319 It's a cooking drama starring Stephen Graham, who must have liked the challenge because a few years later, uh he's the star, writer, and producer of Adolescence, winning a bunch of Emmys, making us hate Netflix a little less, and wowing the audiences with single takes. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:44.319 In two weeks, we're gonna talk about Graham again because he plays Tommy and Snatch. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:45.360 Hello everyone. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:56.399 Uh I'm uh probably changing format a little bit just to add a little bit uh because I recorded this a while back, and being that it's gonna be coming out tomorrow, I wanted to add a little bit more like research that I did on Figus. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:08.800 Um, Figus most recently came out with Megadoc, a documentary about Francis Forti Coppola making Megalopolis, which is a brilliant move because Hearts of Darkness is an amazing doc about Boclips now getting out of control. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:12.879 I mean, it's also by the same director, and we know how Megalopolis turns out. 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:28.079 So um also I'd like to say I forgot to mention that in my conversation with Rob Santos last week, um, Brett Ratner, who just showed up in black and white, directed the Melania documentary covering the two weeks before the first lady moved back into the White House. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:33.839 And I know that sounds real exciting, but he's also cool with the president because he's all over the Epstein files. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.360 Just want to say, two directors we've watched for 26 years, one is good and the other is garbage. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:50.639 I want to think that the Figis agency in that season of Archer is a homage to Mike with Stormy Monday and internal affairs, but I think it's reductive to put him in that genre alone. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:52.959 I think he's a jazz player who can read the room. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:56.800 Figus can play trumpet, guitar, and keyboard professionally. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.240 He faked his way through music school, being unable to read notes. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.160 A man with that range who loves to learn and broaden their horizons. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:10.319 When he has a pick of any of these creative avenues as an occupation, he chooses film. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.839 And I think that's like the charismatic jock doing theater. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:20.319 Whereas normally filmmakers love hanging out with musicians, I think Figis might like to hang out with filmmakers. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:23.360 Because when I look into his filmography, you know what I don't see? 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:24.639 Music videos. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.240 Also, he's been a professor of film in Switzerland for about two decades. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:31.040 He's written books on screenwriting and digital filmmaking. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.519 It's kind of cool how much he gives back. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:37.839 Speaking of his book, here's him explaining how technology changed film. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:42.639 Now that I think of it, the word amateur isn't used very much anymore. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.560 Nowadays, everyone's a filmmaker. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:46.480 There's an interesting reason for this. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:52.720 Back in the day, there were two very big factors that separated the amateur from the pro: money and technology. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:57.680 An amateur filmmaker shot on Super 8, a pro shot on 16 or 35mm. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.879 The difference in equipment and cost was huge. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:10.240 The price of a pro camera was prohibitive, and the cost of processing and post-production was so high that the only the very rich or the professionals could afford it. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:14.319 But that world is now vanished, and along with the label amateur. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.959 I suppose I moved from amateur to pro status when I made my first film in 16mm. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.199 Then I began using 35mm. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:23.839 Then I began working in Hollywood. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.920 And I began to really understand how films were made by professionals. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.240 I have to say, I wasn't very impressed. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:38.799 Talking about coming up with the idea, Figus said Sony executive offered him a budget of$4 million and he had expected way less money. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:46.240 With the production budget being so small, the rest could be spent on to recruit a solid cast of actors for what would be a quick shoot. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:52.399 In 2007, Figus wrote, Now there's no reason to prevent anyone from making a film. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:53.679 The technology exists. 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:55.679 The equipment is much cheaper than it was. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.559 The post-production facilities are on a laptop computer. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:03.679 The entire equipment to

make a film can go in a couple of cases and be carried as hand luggage on a plane. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:11.039 There were so many rumors about Figis shooting, leaving Las Vegas in a guerrilla style with Nick Cage and character, getting in trouble. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.279 It kind of made him notorious for problem solving. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:18.320 And in Roger Ebert's review of this movie, he recalled his last interview with Figis. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:26.320 I remember the gleam in Mike Figis' eyes when he talked about filming Leaving Las Vegas in cheaper, faster 16mm instead of the standard 35mm. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:30.240 We didn't have to get a permit from the city or rip off the streets, he said. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.360 We just jumped out of the car, set up the camera, and started shooting. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:36.159 Yes, the result was the best film of 1995. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:39.759 Now he has directed a production where he didn't even have to set up the camera. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.320 Timecode was shot entirely with digital cameras, handheld in real time. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:49.840 The screen is split into four segments, and each one is a single take, about 93 minutes long. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:52.000 Why does this film work? 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:52.960 How can it? 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:55.679 I think it's because the movie is like a jazz quartet. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:04.639 You have four players, but one element would be should be prominent, and the other three views give you like a live way to survey the geography of the shoot. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:09.840 It's like the rhythm players keep you informed, and then the solo changes to a different element. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:18.080 So when I called this in black and white experimental, black and white is like a poorly sampled hip-hop beat, and time coat is like jazz. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:30.159 After the official release, there were screenings where Figus would change the audio mix to demonstrate to the audience that the sound teaches you where to look on the screen, and by not being too heavy-handed, it gives the audience a chance to edit the film themselves. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:38.399 From his interviews, I know Figus believes these to be four independent real-time films, but there's no way to view and appreciate them independently. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:44.240 If you're focused on one section, you might miss a third of the cast because some stories don't interact at all. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:50.480 It's also fun to track musicians that become filmmakers, filmmakers that become musicians, and music video guys. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:56.720 Forgive the gendering, but far more men are arrogant enough to get the opportunity to be multi-format artists. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:06.320 Not Googling just from the front line of my mind, it's Rob Zombie, Fred Durst, and the RISA, who uh we talked about a lot last week, despite him not being in the movie. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:10.000 They're not the best filmmakers, but nothing's stopping them. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.120 And uh like, how about directors to musicians? 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:15.279 Landman himself, Billy Bomb, Thornton. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.360 Would I explain why it's not a hobby? 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:18.879 Are you reacting to the fact that I said that? 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.840 I am, I am, since you're instructed not to talk about shit like that. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:23.279 Yeah, I am reacting to that. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:23.759 Yeah. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:25.519 Maybe Kevin Costner. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.120 Um let's end on a good one. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:31.679 Um John Carpenter, whose last film we're not far away from discussing on this show. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:33.120 Oh man, it's another one. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:34.240 Oh shit, do you feel that? 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:34.879 Yeah, I feel it. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:36.159 Oh shit, get under the table again. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:37.840 Bring the mic, bring the mic. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.080 This is why I didn't want to build our studio on a fault line. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:41.360 You know it was cheaper, dude. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.799 Ugh, if we make it, I swear I'm gonna kill you. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:45.840 I'm gonna kill you more. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:47.840 Wait, was that it? 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:50.480 Oh man, I'm sorry, man. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:52.639 I mean, I'm just getting a little stressed. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:54.639 This is like the second time it's ruined this recording. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:56.000 And I control earthquakes? 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:57.759 It's not this is not a long show. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.120 I I I know it's not a long show. 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:00.080 You're not very good at it. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:00.720 Dude, I'm sorry. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:01.919 I I'll I'll try to be better. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:02.799 One sec. 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:11.600 This is a good cast, and I'm gonna cover where you've seen them before, but I did establish the concept of Londoning last episode. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:19.919 We have another situation with time code because both Stellan Skarsgard and Saffron Burrows were eaten by sharks the year before in Renley Harlan's Deep Blue Sea. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:25.759 That was a famously troubled shoot, and I would immediately sign up for something like artsy and easy to do like this. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.240 The biggest names in this movie have the smallest parts. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:31.519 I'm talking Danny Houston, Holly Hunter, Kyle McLaughlin. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:38.320 Small parts in a small movie, and the character actors that have the bigger parts are like a who's who of my favorite people. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:52.879 I mean, Xander Berkeley, the Michael Mann favorite, and John Connor's foster dad in T2, Richard

Edson, who I had no idea but was the original drummer from Sonic Youth, and he's in a ton, but I love him as the parking attendant that steals the Ferrari and Ferris Bueller. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.960 Uh, you fellas I'm not gonna worry about. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.120 I'm a professional. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:06.879 Professional what? 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.440 Then we have Julian Sands, who sadly has passed away. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:12.960 Um he's great in this movie. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.159 Sands, Berkeley, and Houston all working with Figus again after shooting and leaving Las Vegas. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.879 So I think it must be a pleasant experience to work with him. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:25.200 Uh the plot of this movie I do find interesting, but it's predictable. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.799 The actors were given short story beats, but were expected to improvise. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.320 And when there isn't a script, actors tend to improvise about what they know. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.720 Acting, their careers, the industry. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.200 When you don't have sets, you tend to use what you have. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:43.360 So we'll use the production offices or the limousine, and uh let's just start walking around outside. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:48.399 Actually, let's break down the narratives because I afford a cover and uh I'm gonna go quick. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:51.679 Salma Hayek's character seems to be an up-and-coming Starlic. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:56.080 In a romantic relationship with her agent, who is Gene Triplehorn. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:02.720 Their relationship is very Selena coded, and of course, Salma needs to sleep with Stellan Skarsgard to secure a role in his new movie. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:07.039 It's a situation where art is imitating life with fewer degrees of separation than I'd like. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:16.240 Director's dating acting talent is a tale as old as time, and it's a power dynamic that benefits women's careers during the relationship and often afterwards ends them. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.720 With that said, Saffron Burroughs was dating Mike Figis at the time this movie was made. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:28.000 Previously, she also starred in One Night Stand in 97 and Lost of Sexual Innocence in 99, which were both directed by Figis. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:33.919 Their relationships seem to have ended cleanly, but I'm wary of filmmakers that have muses. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:37.279 It's creepy, and I'm allowed to have things that gross me out. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:39.840 I'll give an example that's not problematic at all. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:40.879 I just don't like it. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.919 Uh I talked early in the episode about conversations with other women. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.799 In that movie, I think Helena Bottom Carter is fantastic. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:49.279 I think she's an amazing actress in plenty of things.

00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:58.480 But for like a dozen years, when she was with Tim Burton, and so little of that rolled doll hot topic bullshit they threw together is salvageable. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:02.559 Later in the show, we're gonna need to cover Underworld and Resident Evil. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:05.440 Both franchises have the heroine marrying the directors. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:07.919 Mia Jovovich to Paul W.S. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:13.360 Anderson in a good example, and Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman in a trickier example. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:15.279 But we'll get there when we get there. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:16.960 Back to this movie, Time Code. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:27.360 Because Triple Horn is jealous and suspecting her girlfriend is not being honest, she, like a psychopath, bugs her purse and spends the next hour and 13 minutes overhearing the story from inside the limo. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:33.840 Meanwhile, Saffron Burrows is trying to get Stellan's attention, and he's like, I must make my film, woman. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:39.200 So she leaves and goes to a therapy session where she decides if whether or not she's gonna stay with him. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:44.000 All the while, our character actors are gossiping, auditioning, and pitching projects. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:51.679 It's a fast-paced environment that contrasts the dark, quiet limo, and editing bay, which is where Stellan's kind of hiding. 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:56.080 Let's jump a little bit, but everyone so like everyone's doing cocaine. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:02.320 Stellan and Salma get down to lovemaking, and then Saffron Burroughs and Leslie Mann meet and begin to make out. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.919 Uh this movie is kind of hot. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.200 I didn't expect to see that. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:12.159 Also, uh, during the scene, the lovely Argentine actress Mia Maestro pitches the premise of something similar to this movie. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:05.119 But instead, Triple Horn brings a gun into the office and smokes Scar Scar. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:28.480 So I I was surprised how hard this movie was to find. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:34.799 Uh I decided to buy everything on DVD after the Arlington Road experience, but I don't think you can stream this anywhere. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:42.640 I was looking for a 2000 DVD release because it supposedly has the cast's first take included in the special features, but that wasn't happening. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:50.480 I um I found this in a Salma Hayek four-pack of early films in a career, including Living It Up, Lonely Hearts, and The Velocity of Gary. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:57.200 And I was like, it was really hard not to put a fake one in there, but I promise all of those are real. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.400 So, how are we gonna come down on this movie? 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.759 I consider this an accomplishment of cinematography and editing. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:10.000 The four films play a shot without need for non-linear editing, but the sound mix directs your attention. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.079 This movie is getting an eight out of ten for me. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.440 It's going in my collection along with three other Selma Hayek movies, apparently. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:17.599 This movie's like The Phantom Menace. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:22.000 It's cutting edge, maybe ahead of its time, but that's how visionary directors roll. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.400 Hey, you just listened to Screen Generation. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.839 It's a podcast about the films released by Sony under the Screen Gems label. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.440 I'm your host, Evan Hughes, and next week, a star is born in the boxing ring. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:33.680 Play the girl fight trailer. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:38.319 You and Joel again. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:41.759 This is your fourth fight this semester. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:46.480 You look like a loser in there. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.680 You might want to find someone who can help you deal with this. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:02.160 Hey. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:05.680 Take it easy. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.519 I want to train with you. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:08.559 I want to be a boxer. 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:09.920 Wait out of a row box. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:11.839 Am I talking to you? 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:14.960 There's plenty of things you could do better with your life than a box. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:16.319 Prove it. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:18.400 I'll train you. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:20.480 You don't sweat from me. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:21.599 You're out of my life. 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:33.440 100% man in the army. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:35.119 And how would you know what it's supposed to be? 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:43.680 Oh, that's good. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:46.880 That's what it takes to be a boss. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:54.960 Don't be sorry! Don't ever be sorry!