WatchmenComicMovie.com Forum

I think he means costumed heros in general. Except, Dan and Rorschach both didn't know who The Comedian was until he died, same with Moloch. Yeah, that line was fucking stupid.

Curiosity is right to include the rape atttempt scene into a poll about favorite funeral flashbacks because, even though Sally isn't at the funeral, it occurs during the funeral and is thematically and sequentially necessary and part of the funeral sequence. The Moloch flashback is not. Indeed, it is Sally out in sunny Calli that puts the sequence on wheels.

The purpose of these flashbacks is to show us what a sonofabitch the Comedian was and dramatize a little exposition about our alternate reality and its history. Sally's flashback is not my favorite in the book, but is in the movie. In the book, I prefer Adrian's flashback. Dan's is my least favorite in both, but a least favorite Watchmen sequence is like a least favorite cash denomination.

^ But in terms of editing, the three middle flashbacks are the most closely related. They have a much more rhythmic relationship than the other two. (Close-up --> Flashback sequence --> Close-up --> Flashback sequence). The Sally and Moloch flashbacks are not apart of that rhythm.



Yeah, I agree. Basically, it does this...

_________________
"Computer unnecessary."

Vietnam, definitely. It's so well executed in every way.

Yeah, I decided to vote for Vietnam again.

_________________
"The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.

"There's a cello in your house now."

I quite concur. But I think what excepts Sally from the rythm makes her flashback exceptional. Indeed, she is the only one who actually mourns Blake.

Just watching the riot scene. The extras are really poorly directed, I think. The first shot especially.

_________________
"Computer unnecessary."

Don't blame the director for the performance of the extras.

A LOT of extras in the film industry simply do not do their jobs. They don't listen, they don't perform when the hear "action." They simply don't care.

With time constraints and what have you, you can't hand pick every extra or audition them. You get a group and do the best you can in the time you have. Sometimes you get extras who care, other times you don't. I've encountered a lot of extras who don't want to get anywhere near the camera and have no interest in performing. They want money for nothing. It really comes down to that.

Luckily we are not all like that. For example, in the Ultimate Cut, there's a quick scene at the newsstand where Bernie is explaining to a customer that Rorschach was one of his customers. Right behind them, I'm chatting on a pay phone while drinking coffee. Well, they placed me at the phone and I was told: "You talk on the phone for a few beats, then walk towards the newsstand." That's it. And I certainly wasn't told this by Zack Snyder. This sounds easy but it isn't easy to make it look natural. There is no one on the other line, there is water in my coffee cup. And I had to fill the bare seconds before hanging up the phone and walking towards the newsstand.

How was I going to hold the phone? When to sip? And so on. All minor details of course, but the extra has to work these things out for him/herself. So I tried to hold the phone like a New Yorker, tried to finish up my fake conversation, time my sip, hang up and turn. Very minor like I said, but the extra has to do it. No one shows you this stuff. And if you screw up, Zack is watching on the monitor and you slow down the production. Next thing you know, you're standing off camera watching the filming. Check out the scene and let me know how I did.

So, yeah, extras do not have to carry a film by any means but they have to contribute. There's nowhere to hide in the frame. If you're there, you've got to perform, which means listening beforehand, working on something during rehearsal and then do it on cue. It is work, and a lot of extras don't get that. It's easy money in a crowd scene like in a stadium or something. But for other scenes, you've got to be in the moment. And don't look into the camera. Far too many extras do this in every film. It's rule #1 for extras: Don't look into the camera!

You can tell by how easily it is to spot bad extras that, like I said, there's nowhere to hide in the frame. Watch the extras in WATCHMEN and you'll see the good ones as well as the bad. The bad are just easier to spot is all.

Lol, I will let you know right now: New Yorkers hold payphones by the receiving end. Hold your mug more in your upper torso, about level with your pecks. "Talk" to your brother, ask how the wife and kids are doing, look around, take a sip, rinse and repeat until necessary to "hang up" and walk away. If you did all this, congratulations you pulled off being a New Yorker. If not, we'll see you again in Watchmen 2: The Search For Rorschach right?

_________________

_________________
"The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.

"There's a cello in your house now."

_________________

That sounds like poor direction to me.

You were just a background character there. For the opening shot of the riot scene, there are a couple featured extras. The "extras" aren't just in the background, they are the focus of the shot. I would think Snyder would have been there that day to film such an important shot, and would have been shouting directions himself.

I think the way you judge direction is consistency. The extras in the scene are consistently bad. I think it unlikely that all the extras they hired were just terrible actors.

_________________
"Computer unnecessary."

It is true that the Director definitely does not direct extras most of the time. In fact, I believe it's usually the Second Assistant Director, but I could be wrong.

Can't blame Snyder for everything wrong in the movie. (Not saying you are ROR-SHACK)

I've found in some movies they usually over-act or don't seem to care like Mr. Ex said. David Fincher had to do many takes in some parts of Benjamin Button until the extras were fed up enough that it made it look natural for the shot.

_________________


http://vimeo.com/korireaymackey

That's what I was going to say. I'll never be able to listen to that song again without thinking of Watchmen.

_________________
Who Washes The Washmen's Infinite Secrets of Legendary Crossover Knight Wars?
"If you immediately know the candlelight is fire, the meal was cooked a long time ago."

There's definitely a pecking order when it comes to extras. I'm not sure exactly how it breaks down but it's there.

Another example:

During the Manhattan interview I'm sitting behind the second reporter and I'm behind him when we rush the stage, shoving him. Well, the first time we shot the scene, I didn't have any props while other folks had tape recorders or microphones. So while I'm shoving the guy at the foot of the stage, I'm reaching up empty-handed. Well, Zack saw that and told one of his people that I should have a mike or recorder and this guy came to find me in the crowd, told me what I'd already overheard because I was near Zack's monitor, then called props to get me a recorder.

Then in the next take, I shove with my recorder held out as does the actor playing the reporter. Zack looks at it on the monitor, then the same guy calls out to me across the room that I'm blocking the reporter's face with my recorder and to switch hands because I'm ruining the shot! This brings groans from the rest of the extras anxious to go home because it's the last shot of the night and it's after 9PM.

Then, and here's the pecking order at work, they notice on the monitor that the actor is also ruining the show because he, too, needs to switch hands with the recorder. Well, Zack walks over and whispers to the actor sitting right in front of me to switch hands as well. And I'm thinking, yeah, when I'm doing something wrong, it gets shouted out for all to hear. When the actor is doing the same thing wrong, the director himself comes and whispers to him! Ha! I had a good laugh about that. But, you see, same problem with an extra and an actor -- one solved by an AD, the other by the director himself.

But, hey, I'm right in the middle of that shot over Manhattan's shoulder, shoving away dead center in the frame. Can't beat that!