SquidPuppet

Don't go there at night man.

50voltphantom

That's a lot of wood to move. Wow.

SpeshulEd 

Ha, my thoughts exactly.

In all reality, we should only refer to season 1 when discussing True Detective because season 2 is a big pile of poo.

Muffin Man

I spend a lot of time with my bar tape. I end up feeling it the most and looking at it a lot, so might as well take the time to make it perfect.

Mumonkan

@franswa @SpeshulEd you guys have inspired me to finally watch this show. a guy at work told me about it a month or so ago but i never actually put it on

maybe theres some kinda copycat goin on here, time to do some detective work

SpeshulEd 

I found Season 1 to be outstanding...to the point where I kept notes and tried to figure out who the killer was. I'd even re watch certain episodes to look for clues.

I watched the first 3 episodes of Season 2 and gave up. I might go back at the end and binge watch if people say it was worth watching in the end, but the first few episodes did nothing for me.

franswa

For ****ing real! S2 is such a let down compared to S1, which was basically an epic 8 hour long movie.

franswa

Season 3 should go back to Matthew and Woody, as they try and use their detective skills to figure out why season 2 was so ****ty.

SpeshulEd 

haha, awesome!

Mumonkan

watched 6 episodes so far, diggin it.

its got a real se7en vibe to it

SquidPuppet

Every episode of season one was directed by that same dude. It's excellent. That is completely unheard of in the industry.

The cinematography was also handled the same way, one guy, Cary Fukunaga, and he is a genius. @ Mumonkan, keep you eyes peeled for a six minute tracking shot. It's mindboggling. SIX MINUTES with no edits...not one single cut. And to top that off, it's an action chase scene, running from building to building, inside through the buildings, fights, guns, police helicopters, alleys, over fences....one continuous six minute shot. It's freakin amazing. IMO the best tracking shot in the history of TV AND cinema.

Season 1 made me very uncomfortable almost all the time. It was a truly special piece of film making.

EDIT: Hahahahaha. While I was typing you posted...six episodes in.

franswa

I was literally on the edge of my seat during that sequence. So ****ing good!

SquidPuppet

I've rewatched it from a "Filmmakers point of view" and it's crazy. The coordination to have every actor, car, and helicopter in the right place at the right time is nuts. Setting up the lighting in ALL those different locations in advance, nuts. Hiding all the gear, nuts. And THEN, the camera man has to move, all the time, and never capture any of the gear or crew on film.

It's one thing to break the sequence down into shorter pieces, film it with 3-4 cameras, and then cut it all together and throw all the mistakes on the floor. That's hard enough. But one camera, non-stop, SIX MINUTES, and no boo-boos. It's hard enough to capture a six minute conversation in a single setting in one take, let alone a chase scene. Totally insane achievement. He deserved all the accolades.

SpeshulEd 

Ha, I had to look up that shot to see what it was. That was a great episode.

Maybe I should rewatch Season 1 and forget about season 2 altogether.

prooftheory

Yeah, but it's not better than "Touch of Evil".

jlafitte 

^ that opening shot is one they pick apart in film school

SquidPuppet

The show vs film as a whole? Or just the tracking shots?

50voltphantom

I've been resisting quoting this, but I just can't. This post just cracks me up.

SquidPuppet

What are the issues they touch on?

Have you ever seen Hitchcock's "Rope"? It's a faux one take murder mystery. He used weird dissolves and transitions to "hide" the cuts. It's a cool film to check out.

prooftheory

I was talking about the tracking shot.

SquidPuppet

Oh, OK.

Can't agree though.

jlafitte 

That's like the hundredth time some has mentioned Rope and I still haven't seen it. Got it on the queue, finally!

About Touch of Evil, there's first the technical "how the heck did he do that" questions, somehow he gets the crane to whiplash that camera around like it's a bird in flight. Then there's the mix of characters, settings, and just plain storytelling that goes on in that shot. It's sufficient to be a short in itself. Similar is the opening shot in Kalatazov's I am Cuba.

Another long shot that gets honorable mention:

SquidPuppet

Oops. I misread your meaning. When you said "Pick apart" I assumed you meant criticized as opposed to dissected.

Yeah that Oldboy one is spinner too.

The funny thing about Rope is that Hitchcock considered it an experiment that was ultimately a huge failure, He said he was embarrassed at how bad the final product was. I think it's one of his best. Maybe the best.

prooftheory

The thing with "Rope" is that it is almost the exact opposite. The movie comes from a play and Hitchcock literally just put the camera in one spot and said "Okay do the play" until the camera ran out of film. It is really static.

SquidPuppet

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I see it the opposite. While the film does take place entirely inside the apartment, the camera is constantly on the move. Confined? Yes, But static? Not IMO.

From wiki