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After decades of development,Francis Ford Coppolas self-financed epicMegalopolisis finally in theaters.
It would be a mistake to callthis brief sequence a gimmick, though.
Its fully in line with Coppolas late-period work that emphasizes technical innovation and privileges the theatrical experience.
Its not the first time either that Coppola attempts a kind of immersive experience.
(Or at least appear to the dialogue is pre-recorded.)
Thats how he stepped into the spotlight.
How did you end up with the gig?
Whenever they need something thats Quebec specific, theyll contact us.
Honestly, in our office there are only women and Im the only guy.
One of the partners is a man, but he was on vacation for the period thatMegalopoliswas coming out.
I got the PDF and all the instructions, maybe a week before the first showing.
What was included in the PDF?It was pretty specific instructions.
It was all the timings and stuff were queued to that.
It had the entire thing mapped out.
There was also a link to a video.
I think it might have just been a test video.
It doesnt look like theres anyone in the theatre watching it.
Its filmed from quite far away, there is not much to see.
Have you ever wanted to be an actor?
Are you being paid for this gig?Im not an aspiring actor, Im a publicist.
I didnt get paid specifically for this.
I didnt get any extra.
Do you get an IMDB credit?
Is this a union gig?I hadnt thought about that.
I dont think so, but its hard to say.
I dont know how many people across the world are [doing it].
I dont even know who that is.
I dont think that I get any credit, although it would be cool.
What is your understanding of how other live participants in other cities are being chosen or recruited?
So Im in the same position as everyone else.
As I understand it, at Cannes, the actor spoke.
It wasnt a pre-recorded line, or at least thats how it was reported.
Even though Ive done it, Im about as in the dark as anyone else about how everyone else.
But imagine there were more people.
Do you think that there would have been an audition process?I doubt it.
I think it would have just really been like, Who wants to do this?
I imagine in some contexts theres people who want to do it more than I wanted to do it.
I dont think I would have fought in the arena for this opportunity.
I thought it was cool to get it, it was a fun thing.
But, as an opportunity, I dont know how much of an impact it makes.
I was sitting all the way at the front, far away from everyone else.
Most people didnt even know that I was there.
Its only afterwards that people wrote to me, I surprised them.
They were like, Was that you at the screening?
And I was like, Yeah, it was.
How does coordinating with the theater work?
Especially last night, which was a more public screening.It was pretty simple.
Then the manager gave me a microphone.
They were pretty hands off about it.
I did it differently both times because I didnt really know how I was gonna do it.
I was kind of in the dark.
The second time I leaned into it a little more.
Thats where you’re free to improv, so to speak.
Are you also lip syncing?
I wrote it down on my little pad that was like my prop.
I looked at it when I had to quote it back.
The way youre angled from the audience, I dont think they can really see your mouth.
I just had to go with the spirit of it.
At least thats the way it was at the Imax theater in Montreal.
I dont know that its like that everywhere else.
I had to work around it a little bit.
I had to improv that a little bit.
The important part is just being in the right eyeline for the character.
In the crowd, its pretty hard to see if the person speaking is actually speaking.
So that was part of the instructions that youd have to have like a journalist pad?Exactly.
That was part of the instructions.
Did you have to buy your own notepad?Yes.
Did you rehearse at all beforehand?Not really.
How long is the video?A minute and a half.
Did you create a backstory for your character?I did not.
Was the microphone connected to anything?
Are you required to sit in the theater until that point in the film?
And do you just leave after, or do you stay?
I dont think youre required to be there beforehand.
Yesterday, at least, I left after my scene because I had just seen the movie.
I didnt really feel like watching the whole thing again.
I kind of regretted not seeing the other half a second time but I had somewhere to go.
Before I sat down and watched it, it seemed like a daunting task to watchMegalopolistwice in a week.
But turns out it wasnt that bad.
So youve seen the film twice then?One and a half times.
What do you think of the movie?Its hard to say.
Its really ambitious, and its wild.
But it tries so many things that its really hard not to get anything out of it.
I got different things out of it the second time.
Its fairly dense and off-putting in some ways.
I can only see it from my perspective, which is Im doing the thing.
Its a daring idea.
Ultimately, its a very small and somewhat inconsequential part of the movie.
Once theres no interactive segment, youre not missing much.
It harkens back to the 50s.
I think it fits thematically in the movie, and especially in the tone.
Were you nervous at all?I was more nervous before Id seen the movie.
I was just kind of like, oh, okay, Im part ofthis.
Im just a very small part of this huge tapestry of excess and exuberance.
I was more stressed out in the days leading up to it.
How did people react in last nights screening?People kind of laughed.
Both times there were, like, incredulous reactions.
The movie provokes a lot of that reaction from audiences, sometimes intentional, sometimes maybe not as much.
It was hard for me to gauge.
I would say they seemed surprised.
I dont know if it was a good surprise or a bad surprise.
