Yesterday I brought you the trailer and spoke a little bit about H+, a WB web series told in short chunks that will be re-arrangeable as they’re released. Don’t expect all the new-age storytelling to be left to the TV folks though, as Francis Ford Coppola is already using his next film Twixt as a platform for similar (and crazier?) experimentation with editing and storytelling.
The first picture from the film brought with it excitement for his presentation at Comic Con, and it’s now been well reported that his panel was one of the most successful at the Con, for those paying attention. Russ at /Film has a nice write-up of the event, describing how Coppola used an iPad interface to rearrange individual scenes and sequences from the film on the fly, even shuffling them as you would a playlist of music. The films tells the (Tom Waits narrated) tale of a dreamy visit to a small town by a pulp-horror writer (Val Kilmer), who gets wrapped up in a murder mystery and some vaguely hallucinatory visions. The story lends itself to a non-linear telling, which is empowering Coppola and music collaborator Dan Deacon to try out a new scheme… a multi-city road tour that will provide audiences across the country with unique viewing experiences.
More than just a hybrid stand-up comedy/circus/screening tour akin to Kevin Smith’s Red State stunt, this is more like a concert tour or traveling festival, as Coppola and Deacon will ostensibly “perform” the picture edit of the film for the crowd. Ultimately the film will find its way into theaters in some traditional sense, but to me this roadshow sounds like the way to see it. There are portions of the film in 3D (but only select pieces, as Coppola is apparently as bugged by glasses as anyone else), and the film also seems to leap across aesthetics like color, black & white, and maybe even aspect ratio (it did in Tetro).
There’s obviously still a lot more details to be nailed down about the film and any tour that would occur, but apparently 30 or more cities are in mind. We’ll certainly let you know when there’s more info, but for now content yourself with these stills from the film…
Let me know what you think of this roadshow idea on twitter, the comments, or the boards.
Pic Source | /Film