So, am I the only one who was sorely disappointed in this?
After Seven and Fight Club, I guess my hopes were astronomical.
i really enjoyed it for the suspenceful, fun movie that it was. it wasn't fight club. but nothing is fight club.
I thought it was well-made, suspenseful, and fun... but, especially compared to Fincher's other movies, completely shallow.
I wasnt disapointed because I wasnt expecting much. It was good for what it was, a fun movie. If I were a director, I would probably do just fun movies every once in awhile so I am not always so involved in deep subjects that can often be depressing. Still wish Nicole Kidman would have been in it. :lol:
Don't agree, DS, I'm glad Foster took over. Kidman would have done the skittish, jittery thang and made it another trapped helpless woman story in the most usual sense, whereas at least Foster brings a kind of other potential to the film, even if the narrative is essentially run of the mill.
But yeah, I was disappointed by Panic Room. It lacked energy somehow. Never convinced of the danger cause the guys were so unthreatening. Brilliant ending, though. I thought it was good, but was constantly thinking 'more, more...'. So many films like this pull their punches.
I was just joking, I just like to look at Nicole Kidman.
The scene or two where he did the CGI fly-through thing in classic Fincher style wasn't even that great in this movie. Overused. Been there, done that. Move along now.
QuoteThe scene or two where he did the CGI fly-through thing in classic Fincher style wasn't even that great in this movie. Overused. Been there, done that. Move along now.
Especially the flashlight...what was the point of that?
Oh well... I did however like the one that goes through the house and then back up the stairs...liked it.
That reminded me of the Fight Club apartment scene (with the fridge and stuff), except it wasn't artificial enough to be taken as a kind of stylistic joke. Maybe if he pumped it up a little more, I would have liked it. With a funny sound effect or something when the camera goes through the keyhole.
Yeah... a tad disapointed... liked the movie, but definately a let down from Fincher.
Hopefully this isn't a downhill from Seven type of thing.
I had no hopes at all for this movie and so I wasn't dissapointed but it was a minor effort only by a director that is good, but very overrated. Minor because he has such a simple and basic story that even doing it good is nothing really that great at all. If the movie made an effort to be about something more, then things could have been different. But my assumption is that the movie was trying to be like Riffi in capturing every intense moment of a major situation and thats it. Riffi is the greatest of the heist films mainly for its half hour or more dedication to the actual heist down to all the small little details of it. The difference is though that Riffi had a lot more to the movie while this movie was trying to get off on just the single experience of trying to steal money only with very little outside storywise.
~rougerum
It's Rififi.
forgive my french
~rougerum
It's true, I was a bit disappointed. The man built himself up so much with Se7en and Fight Club, but I still enjoyed "Panic Room". If you don't affiliate it with expectations, it really is one of the better films of that year. But what was up with that last scene? Am I the only one who thinks it should have ended on that really climactic shot of Jodie Foster? And those opening credits? For a guy who's always put so much effort and thought into his opening credits, Fincher sure gave up on that one. I mean, it looked like he used some second rate 3d animation software to pull that one off.
Quote from: AnonymousIt's true, I was a bit disappointed. The man built himself up so much with Se7en and Fight Club,
I agree, those movies are tough to live up to, and I think he is a tad overrated (STILL GREAT THOUGH CBRAD :wink: ) But I maybe he just wanted to do something for fun this time,.
I think it was a pretty nifty movie. Technically, I think it is more successful and efficient than 'Fight Club,' although not as memorable (a flawed masterpiece is still a masterpiece). This is a good example of a director having fun (unlike Full Frontal). And I thought those opening titles were just awesome. Very Hitchcock.
I liked Panic Room...It did surpise me upon how conventional it was.
A theory that I read online...to think about.
Each enemy represented id, ego, superego. The panic room is symbolic of the mind and none of what happened actually happened. That explains the very final scene.
Anyways, just a theory I read. I don't really buy into it though.
I like the movie for what it is. It was a fun suspense movie- why bash it?
The cinematog. and editing were stunning as always with a Fincher movie. I loved the long CGI shot, it was cool. What's the big deal?
I'm like the only person in the world who didn't like Se7en and I'm one of the many that LOVED Fight Club, so...my anticipations for Panic Room were all out of wack. In any case, I really liked it. It was really fun. Jared Leto was great and Forest Whitaker stole the show.
Fincher's a great director...Panic Room was a bad movie...no suspense, barely a story, if this wasn't a Fincher movie none of us would have watched it because the story is SO shabby...and oh yeah, better musician actor...Meatloaf over Dwight Yoakam
Quote from: moonshiner1620oh yeah, better musician actor...Meatloaf over Dwight Yoakam
Watch "Sling Blade" then tell me if you change your mind.
good point...actually i like Yoakam, a legitimate country musician too. i'm not sure where to put Meatloaf in that category, i guess i was comparing their roles in the movies i was talking about[/quote]
I thought 'Panic Room' was a ripper of a movie. Masterfully executed and full of hard core tension.
But I will never feel the way about 'Panic' as I do about 'Se7en' and 'Fight Club'. I find these films phenomenal. I think back to the first time I saw 'Se7en' and 'Fight' and remember being shocked, dazed and...hooked. These films are mind-blowing cult classics.
'Panic Room' is just a slick thriller.
I'm not too disappointed with Fincher - good with the screenplay that was there. I would like to see Foster in better things, though I know not everything can be Silence of the Lambs.
i liked panic room ALOT. i saw it three times at the cinema, i think.
and i think fincher's cool for not having the nerve to try and keep adding one important & deep movie after another. panic room was simply a fun fucking movie. and i honestly thought it was suspensful. very suspensful. it literally had me on the edge of my seat a few times. and i mean literally.
as for the cinematography...it was very, very cool. my only complaint is, like someone said earlier, was that some shots were completely unnecessary. like the key-hole, the flashlight bulb, the concrete wall zoom-in [however i liked the wall zoom-in. it just looked cool. :oops:]. all that was basically fincher jerking off for us.
but besides that, i think it's unfair that a director, no matter who he is, must feel pressured to make really epic movies of biblical proportions just because he's done such films in the past.
oh yeah, that ending really did suck. the film should have just faded out when burnham lost his dough. and i did think the opening credits were cool. it totally gives a cold introduction.
and anyways, i'd honestly say that watching panic room in a theater was by far one of my funnest cinema-experiences ever. the audience just totally went with it. like whenever jodie foster fucked up, or when she was setting up to light the air vent on fire while junior had his head next to it...i dunno. the audience just gave the whole thing a really fun & exciting atmosphere. it almost made me feel like i was in that rioting audience that was about to watch plan 9 in the movie ed wood, except we liked it.
I also had a really good experience in the theater when I saw it. (few and far between these days) The part when Foster runs out of the room to get the cell phone in slow-mo-- the audience was going crazy. it was great. scary/suspense movies are the best to watch with a lot of people.
what's wrong with directors jerking off for us? Isn't that the point? I notice not many people make these comments about PTA. How many show off moments are there in Boogie Nights?
Quote from: cbrad4dwhat's wrong with directors jerking off for us? Isn't that the point? I notice not many people make these comments about PTA. How many show off moments are there in Boogie Nights?
the awesome camera-work in
boogie nights may not have really served a purpose alot of the time, but it wasn't like the crap in
panic room that makes you ask "what the fuck was that shot for?".
i know you know what i mean.
calling the camera work in Panic Room 'crap' is absurd. so many ppl knock the 'cool shots' w/o taking into account the amount of work and effort that goes into em. Think about how much time fincher and his crew probably spent on that one cgi shot. i mean, on a purely technical level, those shots are pretty remarkable.
Quote from: cbrad4dcalling the camera work in Panic Room 'crap' is absurd. so many ppl knock the 'cool shots' w/o taking into account the amount of work and effort that goes into em. Think about how much time fincher and his crew probably spent on that one cgi shot. i mean, on a purely technical level, those shots are pretty remarkable.
oh christ. i didn't mean it was crap. i just said "the crap" as in "the stuff". i even said earlier that the cinematography in the film was cool. i just felt that some shots were unnecessary and distracting.
get off it.
where i come from 'crap' is a derogatory term.
Quote from: cbrad4dwhere i come from 'crap' is a derogatory term.
You may have forgotten, but over here in America the term "shit" can be used mean something is good or bad.
"What a mess, move all that shit back onto the truck"
"I got hella good shit from Toys R Us"
BTW I did not like Panic Room or a lot of the shots, but I respect them.
Quote from: Duck SauceQuote from: cbrad4dwhere i come from 'crap' is a derogatory term.
You may have forgotten, but over here in America the term "shit" can be used mean something is good or bad.
"What a mess, move all that shit back onto the truck"
"I got hella good shit from Toys R Us"
BTW I did not like Panic Room or a lot of the shots, but I respect them.
Step 1: Put these on.
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Re-read the last couple of threads. We were talking about the word "crap". That's c-r-a-p. Crap.
Picky picky, I was just pointing out how something that is considered to be derogatory like "crap" or "shit" can also be used different ways. In this instance, "crap" and "shit" can be used interchangeably. Now relax.
cbrad4d, cut the fucking big-sister act and stop being such a condescending, anal-retentive prude.
Quote from: snaporazcbrad4d, cut the fucking big-sister act and stop being such a condescending, anal-retentive prude.
Quote from: newtronLOL.
It's funny cos you don't matter.
I love digging up old threads and restoring them to their original topic.
From Avary's Domain:
"The "Panic Room" SE DVD is going to be awesome! I was hanging with Fincher today, and watched some of the supplementary section materials on his ultra-über-Hitchcockian pre-visualization work that simply made my mouth go agape. When I expressed disbelief that he had essentially pre-vis'd the entire movie (mapping out to the inch where dolly track was to be laid), he smiled with that devilish grin of his and smirked out "I know." It's going to be one to own -- for sure"
Quote from: GhostboyI love digging up old threads and restoring them to their original topic.
From Avary's Domain:
"The "Panic Room" SE DVD is going to be awesome! I was hanging with Fincher today, and watched some of the supplementary section materials on his ultra-über-Hitchcockian pre-visualization work that simply made my mouth go agape. When I expressed disbelief that he had essentially pre-vis'd the entire movie (mapping out to the inch where dolly track was to be laid), he smiled with that devilish grin of his and smirked out "I know." It's going to be one to own -- for sure"
nice. i really enjoyed this film. fincher is by far one of the greatest modern directors working, period. do you know a release date on this bad boy? i held off on the original dvd, hoping for a SE -- it has come...
Although I didnt really love Panic Room, ill rent the SE to see the features, but they better be interesting and I better learn something I can later repeat on this message board. What did Fincher say was nexT?
I saw it before I was a real movie guy and didn't know it was the same director whom brought us Se7en and hadn't even seen Fight Club at the time. I enjoyed it for what it was and still enjoy it to this day after seeing Fight Club and knowing and loving Fincher. I can see where people were dissapointed but in terms of a simple popcorn movie it was good.
The CGI did seem a bit unnecesary, though. It was kinda like "let me show you what we can do with 'puters !"
Yesterday I saw "Panic Room" for the first time and it was really awesome, I think!
I LOVED "Se7en" and "Fight Club" (haven't seen "Alien 3" and "The Game" yet) but I really wasn't dissapointed.
There was great suspense, the cinematography was amazing and the acting good. I think it was really a typical Fincher-flick. It was almost all the time raining and the whole feeling was dark. The CG-cinematography-scenes were exciting, but I felt a bit that some scenes with this were not necessary (the move into the flashlight), although it looks awesome.
Can't wait to get the Special-Edition-DVD.
this film felt very Hitchcockian......especially the first where we're getting a tour of where all the action will be
i really loved that rotating shot - the one that is on the cover
i thought Jared Leto was really annoying, pretty much all the crook banter was lame imho
so i say: a modern day HItchockian thriller with visual style....but lacking in interesting dialogue
i've forgotten, what happens after the "money in the wind" shot?
is this going to receive a SE dvd...or do I give in and get the superbit? I've been holding out this long.
Mac?
he's all style no substance. his last good movies were the game and seven. fight club was over rated.
Quote from: SHAFTRis this going to receive a SE dvd...or do I give in and get the superbit? I've been holding out this long.
Mac?
There was talk of one when the Superbit DVD came out (as was an "Adaptation" SE), but haven't heard of any news if it's still in the works or not. Columbia has dropped the price on the Superbit edition to $15 anyway.
Quote from: MacGuffinQuote from: SHAFTRis this going to receive a SE dvd...or do I give in and get the superbit? I've been holding out this long.
Mac?
There was talk of one when the Superbit DVD came out (as was an "Adaptation" SE), but haven't heard of any news if it's still in the works or not. Columbia has dropped the price on the Superbit edition to $15 anyway.
Yes, same with the Adapatation dvd....patiently waiting.
Source: The Digital Bits
Columbia TriStar has been working on a new 3-disc Panic Room: Special Edition with the assistance of director David Fincher. We expect it to be officially announced in the next few weeks for release in early in the year (we're hearing March or April). The set is expected to include the film on Disc One in anamorphic widescreen (with audio in Dolby Digital 5.1), audio commentary with Jodie Foster, Dwight Yoakam and Forest Whitaker, and a second audio commentary with Fincher. Disc Two will feature an in-depth look at the pre-production and shooting of the film, including in-depth documentaries and multi-angle features. Finally, Disc Three will look at the post-production process, including editing, visual effects, sound design and more.
The disc was produced by David Prior, who hand-crafted Fox's awesome special edition of Fincher's Fight Club.
....time to toss that superbit......
pre-tossed mine by not buying it.
checkmate, Columbia TriStar.
Columbia have today officially announced Panic Room: Special Edition which stars Jodie Foster. This new three disc release will be available to own from the 30th March for around $39.95. We're still waiting on confirmation of the technical specs, but we can tell you that the disc will include an audio commentary with Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam as well as an audio commentary with director David Fincher. Other extra material will include sequence breakdowns, visual effects featurettes and much more. We hope to have full disc specs and artwork later today, so stay tuned for that!
Quote from: themodernage02... the disc will include an audio commentary with Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam...
possibly the most bizarre grouping of ppl for a commentary. should be interesting, though.
Further Details
This new special edition, three disc package will be available to own from the 30th March this year and should set you back somewhere in the region of $39.95. Attached are the full disc specs below, along with a couple of package shots.
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Track
French Dolby Digital 5.1 Track
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Track
Audio Commentary by Director David Fincher
Audio Commentary with Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker & Dwight Yoakam
Audio Commentary by Writer David Koepp & Special Guest
Six Featurettes on the Prep Phase from Previsualisation through Testing
Compare Storyboards, Dailies etc with Multiple Angles & Audio with Optional Commentary
Shooting Panic Room Documentary (One Hour)
Make-Up Effects Featurette with Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.
Sequence Breakdowns on Four Seperate Scenes
Twenty One Documentaries & Featurettes on Visual Effects
On Sound Design with Ren Klyce Feature
Digital Intermediate & Other Featurettes on Post Production
Multi-Angle Look at the Scoring Session by Howard Shore
English, Spanish, French Subtitles
Plus a Few Surprises!
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covers a little plain. could be worse though.
Quote from: themodernage02covers a little plain. could be worse though.
A little plain?? It's practically moves into negative plain territory. At least the DVD is gonna be stacked.
Quote from: MacGuffinAudio Commentary by Writer David Koepp & Special Guest
....ohhhh sh*t..the last time this happened ......carrot top ..blessed us with his pressence and thought provoking/intellectual anectdotes.......not again :splat:
now there only needs to be a packed dvd of The Game
This film wasn't that big of a hit to warrant a 3 disc set, was it?
Quote from: RaviThis film wasn't that big of a hit to warrant a 3 disc set, was it?
Made almost triple of what "Fight Club" did.
Quote from: MacGuffinQuote from: RaviThis film wasn't that big of a hit to warrant a 3 disc set, was it?
Made almost triple of what "Fight Club" did.
but wasn't that due mainly to the momentum that Fight Club and its controversy created and not critical success?
I only saw Panic Room once, in the theater, but I remember feeling it was just ok. Maybe I should revisit it and see if my opinion is still the same.
http://www.dvddebate.com/article.php?sid=4046&mode=&order=0&thold=
Quote from: EEz28http://www.dvddebate.com/article.php?sid=4046&mode=&order=0&thold=
...damn that sh*t looks sweet........
***i got a question???......this is columbia/tristar right......and black hawk down that was columbia tristar right?.....so i guesss for the $$$$$$$ making titles.....we could expect these 3disk sets to come out.....
i guess that's a fair assumption. i know they're working on a SE adaptation.
Multi-Angle Look at the Scoring Session by Howard Shore
this looks interesting. i really wish that Criterion would follow Mark Mothersbaugh around while he scores and writes music for one of Wes Anderson's films.....but maybe this will be cool
Quote from: EEz28http://www.dvddebate.com/article.php?sid=4046&mode=&order=0&thold=
How Purty
The reviews for the Panic Room SE have been superb. I'm still waiting for a proper DVD of The Game. If I remember correctly, it had a loaded special edition on laserdisk.
yous guys,
pick this sucker up....its loaded. man....and the menues are the best ever ...next to requiems and memento LE....i haven't even scratched the surface of fully getting through this dvd......i belioeve it has more content than the black hawk SE....they went psycho on this one...theres even like a ten m,inute featurette on the safe cracking ....
but i have a question:
on the back of the box on disk three.. ...theres mention of "a few secrets" other than whats already printed on the box...does anyone know what this is....?..Easter eggs i guess?.....
Nice article from the DVD's producer about what went into making the Special Edition (courtesy of The Digital Bits):
Panic Room DVD Production Journal
Part One by David Prior
The only thing a journal requires to earn the name is consistency; you have to make regular entries or it's not a journal. Well, I don't have a journal. Not for lack of trying, I just haven't remained consistent. But for any of you who may be interested, here is a summary, a sort of journal-in-retrospect, of my two years in production on the Panic Room DVD, assembled with the help of the lengthy e-mail trail every project leaves behind. I'll try to leave out as many of the boring parts as possible.
Panic Room is without question the most elaborate, complex DVD I have yet produced. It wasn't designed to be that from the outset, it just grew in the process. There's a strange phenomena that can sometimes occur where the circumstances of a film's production are mirrored in everything else related to the film; if pre-production was a bitch, production will be a bitch. And so will post, marketing, et cetera, right on through to the DVD, almost like a generational curse. When David Fincher set out to make Panic Room, he intended it to be a quick, breezy B-movie with a relatively low budget. But somewhere along the way a series of almost mythically proportioned mishaps and difficulties arose that turned a quick-and-dirty exercise in suspense into a gargantuan undertaking that tested the endurance and tenacity of everyone involved. Similarly, the DVD took a long and tortured route to completion, albeit for different reasons.
2/28/2002 - Saw Panic Room for the first time at Sony Studios. Wasn't crazy about it, but absolutely gorgeous to look at. Been over a year since Fincher and I first met about the DVD.
When my initial budget (half of what it ballooned into in the end, incidentally) was rejected by the studio, we were already several weeks into production. It often happens that in order to stand even a slim chance of making a studio's ever-shrinking delivery dates, you have to begin work before the details are finalized. The producer David Brown once said that movies don't get a firm green light until two weeks into principal photography, and so it usually is with DVD. So, with the budget rejected and the bills not being paid, I had to shut down until we could settle everything. Shutting down is always a dangerous proposition, not only for aesthetic reasons, like losing creative momentum, but because the early stages of production are when you and your editor are doing all the "head work" of getting familiar with the material on hand, figuring out what needs to be shot, what holes need filling, and how the whole thing will shape up. If you shut down, not only does the information go stale, but you risk losing your team. They have to work, after all, and they have the annoying tendency of going where the money is. Over the course of production on Panic Room, we shut down three times.
Part of the problem in the early stage was that Fincher himself was a little ambivalent about the whole thing to begin with. I think he was questioning whether or not a Special Edition was warranted. While I didn't disagree in a general sense, I felt that the technical achievement of the film and the intense, grueling nature of the production left plenty to talk about on DVD. Trouble was that, while I certainly sensed a bit of apprehension in him when we spoke about it, he never directly communicated anything to me but enthusiasm and willingness to go ahead. But for whatever reason, the studio was getting a different message and the communication breakdown during this early period is what resulted in the budget disagreements.
Eventually we got everything straightened out... sort of. I used the hiatus to complete the Blade II DVD, which had been going on concurrently, and then my editor Keith Clark and I went back to work. Keith is a very capable, very talented editor who was instrumental in sorting through the huge amount of footage and giving it a coherent shape. I only took on some of the editing chores myself because there was too much for one man to do, and because sometimes the easiest way to get what you want is to do it yourself. That, plus my megalomaniacal need to put my grubby fingerprints on everything.
2/29/2002 - Twenty three boxes of tapes and paperwork show up from the Panic Room production office.
As with Fight Club, the on-set footage had been shot by John Dorsey, an associate of Fincher's who had worked with him since The Game. Out of a perfectly reasonable distaste for the typical EPK crew and the work they churn out, Fincher has long made a practice of barring them from his sets and having Dorsey shoot all the behind-the-scenes stuff. The benefits of this are numerous, mostly having to do with the fact that by the time production starts, the cast and crew are already very familiar with Dorsey and allow him access that an EPK crew would never have. Plus, Dorsey is there on set every day, whereas EPK folks typically show up for a couple of days, grab some B-roll, an interview or two, and move on to the next gig. (A good example of this is Freddy vs. Jason. Of the five days the EPK crew was on set, they elected not to shoot on the days that Freddy was fighting Jason - there wasn't one frame of footage from the finale, arguably the most crucial scene in the film, to work with. File that one as one of the biggest head-scratchers in my career). And if Dorsey's footage is less polished and grittier than what you get from EPK, I think it only adds to the raw, fly-on-the-wall vibe that I always try to shoot for with DVD supplements.
However, Dorsey doesn't shoot interviews, and as much as I try to avoid those irritating talking-heads that are the crutch of so many sloppy DVD supplements, they do have a place and we needed a bunch for Panic Room. The first was Conrad W. Hall, who lives in Santa Barbara. We had to find a place near him to shoot and finally located a small, privately-owned soundstage near the mission. The owner of the stage was a trust-fund hippy, part Jeff Lebowski, part Gordon Gekko, in the sense that he feigned the laid-back, dropped-out recluse, but was in fact such a hard-ass for cash that he held the interview footage ransom while we ran to the bank so the sound man could loan me the $300 bucks for the stage rental. Okay, so I had forgotten the cashier's check in L.A. But was that any reason to demand my personal video camera as collateral before we could even begin shooting? I wasn't there on behalf of Full Moon, for God's sake. This was Sony Home Entertainment, and they always pay their bills. "There's a courier on his way up here right now with the check. He'll be here in two hours," I assured him. "No-can-do, man," he said, tossing his mane. "Fine. Here's my credit card." "Sorry bro, cash only." This went on for half an hour, to no avail.
On the upside, the interview went extraordinarily well. I ended up with two and a half hours worth of terrific material, some of which you can also see in the Alien Resurrection doc (Conrad was the operator on that film, and I played an Alien, so we had a lot to chat about). It's days like that that provide this job's greatest rewards. How can you beat sitting around talking about movies with some of the best filmmakers in the world, many of whom you've admired, even worshipped, for years?
11/23/2003 - Flight to San Francisco. Rental car trouble results in a hundred dollar cab ride to Marin County.
A few weeks later it was off to Sausalito to meet with the obscenely talented sound designer Ren Klyce. I didn't have a crew with me this time, it was just me and my HandyCam. This stripped-down kind of approach can be a gamble; the downside is that you aren't properly lit and the mic is only so-so. The upside is that it's much looser, there's more freedom to move around quickly and it's more intimate, which is particularly beneficial when you're interviewing people who haven't been on camera much, if ever. I decided to risk it and, if you ask me, it paid off. In hindsight, the piece on sound design wouldn't have been nearly as involving or instructive if it had been shot traditionally. The only thing I would do differently is have a wireless mic pinned to Ren's chest.
4/22/2003 - After innumerable last minute cancellations, finally got the first of the commentary sessions scheduled. They'll all be recorded at POP in Santa Monica and edited at CCI. Final editing will take place over the next six months.
All during this period and continuing over the next few months the commentaries were being scheduled and, bit-by-bit, recorded. The initial plan had been to record the cast together. I've done this before, and it can result in an entertaining track. You get a lot of glad-and-happy, "Hey, remember this day..." and "Oh, you're really good in this scene..." kind of stuff, sometimes more, often less. It really depends on the personalities involved and the chemistry they do or don't have. Unfortunately, it's very hard to predict what the results of a group recording will be before you do it, and by then you've used your one window of opportunity in a movie star's schedule. One definite thing these kind of tracks have going for them, however, is they're much easier on me. Aside from cutting out snorts and coughs, maybe shuffling a few sentences around, the editing is typically very light. You turn on the red light, they go, and you stop when they're done. With solo tracks I always sit on the stage with the subject and ask questions, offer topics and reminders and generally make a nuisance of myself in an attempt to make it flow like a conversation. This ensures that the things I want to cover get covered and I think it makes for a more relaxed, intimate recording. But it makes editing very tough, since nobody wants to hear my lousy two cents chiming in all the time. Removing my own voice without making it sound like anything has been removed is... well, it's harder than it sounds. More often than not it means taking bits of one sentence, changing the words around, grabbing a "th" sound from another word, an "s" with the right amount of sibilance, and Frankenstein-ing a coherent statement out of something that started out as a response to a question you no longer hear. That's hard enough as it is, but then you have to do the same thing with the other participants, and then mesh them all together so that the track as a whole has focus and purpose and tells a story. It's long and torturous and it takes months to do and if you do it right, nobody notices. And after all that, some desk jockey in the studio legal department decides they don't like a particular turn of phrase and wants you to change it -- that's enough to steam up a man's glasses.
None of which is to say that the participants didn't do a terrific job on their own. As anyone who's ever edited anything will tell you, the final piece will never be any good if you don't start out with great material. It's a testament to the people involved that the tracks work despite all the monkeying around I did.
It was Fincher who suggested that the actors should be recorded separately for the simple reason that the content invariably ends up more instructive, and while I knew that spelled months of editing hell for me, I couldn't disagree with him. On Fight Club I had recorded Fincher, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter individually, then recorded again with Fincher, Pitt and Norton together, and cobbled the final track together out of those five separate sessions. But the group recording for that disc seemed to make more sense than for Panic Room. And yes, we tried like hell to get Jared Leto involved, but he was either unwilling or unable to do it. We never did get a firm answer. Anyway, I'm pleased with the final result and any shortcomings they may have are entirely my fault.
just picked this up -- pumped to watch it -- i cant wait for the special edition of the game -- also, does anyone have any word in the disc that palm pictures was planning on releasing a compiled work of fincher as well as mark romanek. off subject has anyone seen cunnighams short "flex" just watched that last night -- some of the most arresting images ive ever seen put to film -- simply amazing
Quote from: N the E digital O rape N
on the back of the box on disk three.. ...theres mention of "a few secrets" other than whats already printed on the box...does anyone know what this is....?..Easter eggs i guess?.....
two easter eggs: There is one next to the safecracking featurette, and is a short reel talking about real panic rooms. The second is next to the jared leto on fire tests, and is a computer test of several version of the blue flames."
Quote from: cowboykurtisQuote from: N the E digital O rape N
on the back of the box on disk three.. ...theres mention of "a few secrets" other than whats already printed on the box...does anyone know what this is....?..Easter eggs i guess?.....
two easter eggs: There is one next to the safecracking featurette, and is a short reel talking about real panic rooms. The second is next to the jared leto on fire tests, and is a computer test of several version of the blue flames."
..cool man ..thanks........
BTW- i have seen flex..its amazing...the blood drops/zero gravity sh*t is killer..
Quote from: cowboykurtisoff subject has anyone seen cunnighams short "flex" just watched that last night -- some of the most arresting images ive ever seen put to film -- simply amazing
Are you talking about the trimmed DVD version?
'Room' to Grow
''Panic Room'' director David Fincher talks shop. The ''Fight Club'' helmer says aspiring filmmakers can learn the right -- and wrong -- ways to make a movie by watching DVDs Source: EW
David Fincher went from directing music videos (Madonna, Aerosmith) to feature films (''Alien 3,'' ''Seven''), and you can too. If you watch DVDs and take note, the auteur believes there are lessons on filmmaking at your fingertips. He talked to EW about what to look for in his recently released ''Panic Room'' DVD, and gives a few extra tips to director wannabes.
Did you go to film school?
No, I couldn't afford it.
What can aspiring filmmakers learn from the ''Panic Room'' DVD?
Maybe it's a good opportunity to see ALL of the kinds of decisions that are going to go into the making of a movie. I certainly never had an idea as a kid. I wanted to be a director when I was 8 years old -- I think [something like this] would have been a valuable thing to see as a teenager.
Ultimately the most valuable thing about DVDs is that you can kinda see what [the directors] were trying to say, what they ended up saying to you, and what the discrepancy is. It's a great, no-holds barred kind of way to investigate that process.
One of the documentaries says that by the end of the shoot two or three people needed to be escorted to their cars because they were at their wit's end. Was that because of the nature of this film, that it was shot on one location?
It's not just [that it's] one location. They shot a lot of ''Heaven Can Wait'' at the L.A. Coliseum, but I don't think it drove anybody berserk. A lot of people just didn't respond well to the close quarters. Don't shoot for 100 days in one place, that's what's to be learned from that. Figure out ways not to. They probably had that same kind of problem on ''The Shining'' -- that's all in one house. [But] at least they get out, they get to run through a maze.
What did you learn from making this movie?
[Laughs.] I learned that you can't make a movie just because it'll be hard [laughs]. My agent sent me this script and said, ''You're not going to want to read this because it all takes place in one house, and it's a logistical nightmare,'' and I was just, ''I might be interested in that!'' I'm a little bit of a contrarian. I kind of like challenges and then you end up TWO YEARS into the challenge that you've made for yourself and you just go ''Nothing's worth this.''
What other advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers?
Never invest your own money in your films.
What about Mel Gibson?
Okay, let me correct that, unless you're Mel Gibson, don't ever invest your own money in films. It's a good rule of thumb.
I have no interest in this film, but the SE DVD seems like an interesting look at the filmmaking process.
Quote from: RaviI have no interest in this film, but the SE DVD seems like an interesting look at the filmmaking process.
The best extra is the commentary track between David Koepp and William Goldman, talking shop about screenwriting and their process.
Finally watched Panic Room, after having the SE on my shelf since December. I liked it and it was suspenseful most of the time, but I think I would have been into it more if I watched it at the theater instead of on my computer. Even so, I didn't feel that the three villains were that scary. Dwight Yoakam tried, though, bless his heart. Some scenes were quite suspenseful, such as Jodie Foster trying for the cell phone, but others weren't, as you knew how the scene was going to end.
I decided to buy the Superbit Panic Room dvd a few days ago out of the bargain bin. I liked this movie when I saw it in theatres and thought it deserved another viewing. I still maintain that it's a very under-rated film. It doesn't have the twists or complexities of his other films (although you could argue it's a dream), but I don't think that should take away from the film. The story is simple but the direction and performances are all top notich. In fact, I think one could argue that it is Fincher's best directed film. It's a chamber film, yet it never feels stale. Genuine suspense is built up and there aren't any cheap scares. In fact, I was thinking about how great a Resident Evil movie by Fincher would be (in the vein of Resident Evil 1,2 or 4, not the movies).