{"id":304064,"date":"2021-07-21T03:16:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T00:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/28-things-we-learned-from-the-spiral-commentary\/"},"modified":"2021-07-21T03:16:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T00:16:00","slug":"28-things-we-learned-from-the-spiral-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/28-things-we-learned-from-the-spiral-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"#28 Things We Learned from the Spiral Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a271991b84e2\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a271991b84e2\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/28-things-we-learned-from-the-spiral-commentary\/#Spiral_2021\" >Spiral (2021)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/28-things-we-learned-from-the-spiral-commentary\/#Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\" >Best in Context-Free Commentary<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/28-things-we-learned-from-the-spiral-commentary\/#Final_Thoughts_on_the_Spiral_Commentary\" >Final Thoughts on the Spiral Commentary<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#28 Things We Learned from the Spiral Commentary<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.9--><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Welcome to\u00a0<\/i><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Commentary Commentary,<\/i><\/b><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\"> where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter listens to the filmmakers behind this year\u2019s Saw reboot, Spiral<\/i>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>The <em>Saw<\/em> franchise is one of the horror genre\u2019s longest-running and most successful. Its sequels ran their annual course in 2010, but two attempts to reboot it have met with mixed results. The latest, <strong><em>Spiral<\/em><\/strong>, sees the return of director Darren Lynn Bousman who previously helmed the second, third, and fourth entries (see my review here). But the bigger surprise is the interest and presence of a certain comedic performer. The film is new to 4K UltraHD, Blu-ray, and DVD, so I sat down for a rewatch. Keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary track for <em>Spiral<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spiral_2021\"><\/span>Spiral (2021)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Commentators: <strong>Darren Lynn Bousman<\/strong> (director), <strong>Josh Stolberg<\/strong> (co-writer), <strong>Charlie Clouser<\/strong> (composer)<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>1.<\/strong> Bousman wanted to \u201copen up\u201d the traditional world of the <em>Saw<\/em> films by opening this latest entry with a crowd. Look at all those extras! Probably more people on screen here than in the entirety of the franchise combined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>2.<\/strong> The opening scenes were filmed at a fairground in Toronto where they thought they had permission \u2014 but they did not. Authorities kicked them out, but Bousman and his team managed to steal these shots \u201cwhich I\u2019m pretty proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>3.<\/strong> A physical manhole was built, but it was \u201ca Canadian manhole\u201d that stood three feet above the ground. It was nixed in favor of a visual effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>4.<\/strong> Bousman wanted a subway tunnel, but he was told the logistics just weren\u2019t in the budget. He held his ground, and they eventually built a subway tunnel set to meet their needs. It\u2019s a super small set that uses forced perspective to make things look bigger than they are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>5.<\/strong> The opening kill in <em>Spiral<\/em> was originally written to have fish hooks piercing Det. Boswick\u2019s (<strong>Dan Petronijevic<\/strong>) tongue, but Bousman is a firm believer in having traps that would physically work the way they\u2019re suggesting \u2014 and fish hooks would have simply shredded the tongue as opposed to ripping it out. They changed it to a vice, and \u201cwhen one of the producers showed up on set they were not h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>y.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>6.<\/strong> Surprising no one, Det. Zeke Banks\u2019 (<strong>Chris Rock<\/strong>) introductory scene was essentially written by Rock himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>7.<\/strong> Banks\u2019 undercover \u201crobbery\u201d was shot as a single shot, but it ran three minutes and they were worried they\u2019d lose the audience so it was trimmed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8.<\/strong> Bousman realized during production on <em>Spiral<\/em> that <strong>Marisol Nichols<\/strong> (who plays Cpt. Angie Garza) played Audrey Griswold in <em>Vegas Vacation<\/em> (1997), and he geeked out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9.<\/strong> Part of the appeal for Bousman in returning to the <em>Saw<\/em> universe \u2014 his first time back since <em>Saw IV<\/em> (2007) \u2014 was the opportunity change things up visually. He accomplished this with the help of cinematographer <strong>Jordan Oram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10.<\/strong> One of Bousman\u2019s few disagreements with Rock was about Banks not recognizing his best friend\u2019s remains. Rock thought he would, but Bousman felt the body was destroyed to such a degree that it would be impossible. They shot additional dialogue at the scene with Banks commenting to that point, but it was trimmed for time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>11.<\/strong> There was no puppet in the original script for <em>Spiral<\/em>, but Bousman insisted on its return in some form. The result was Mister Snuggles the marionette pig cop.<\/p>\n<p><strong>12.<\/strong> There\u2019s an extra in a black tank top during the police station scenes who kept \u201cfinding the camera\u201d and forcing Bousman to cut around or zoom past her.<\/p>\n<p><strong>13.<\/strong> The two big influences here outside of the <em>Saw<\/em> films are <em>Seven<\/em> (1995) and <em>48 Hrs<\/em> (1982).<\/p>\n<p><strong>14.<\/strong> Rock looked into the camera after his emotional outburst in the police station and said \u201cLest anyone forget, I was in <em>Pootie Tang<\/em>, so I have range.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>15.<\/strong> The director was unsettled while filming the first scene with Banks\u2019 father (played by <strong>Samuel L. Jackson<\/strong>). He told the actor what to do for a shot, and Jackson said \u201cnah\u201d and added that he was going to sit in a different spot instead. \u201cMy butthole puckered,\u201d says Bousman, but after speaking to a friend who had previously worked with Jackson he realized the actor was just testing him to see if he was a filmmaker who would stand up for what he wanted.<\/p>\n<p><strong>16.<\/strong> Det. Drury (<strong>K.C. Collins<\/strong>) originally had a bigger role and a \u201chorrific death\u201d scene but they cut it out for being \u201ctoo much.\u201d Other words used to describe the death and its practical effects include intense, gruesome, graphic, horrific, and mean-spirited \u2014 and they cut it to appeal to a more mainstream audience. What a terrible goddamn choice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>17.<\/strong> Jackson\u2019s very first line of dialogue on his very first day of production was\u2026 \u201cMother fucker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>18.<\/strong> The killer\u2019s voice went through numerous iterations as Bousman didn\u2019t want it to sound like Jigsaw. He preferred something akin to a child\u2019s voice, which didn\u2019t quite work, and they tried using <strong>Max Minghella<\/strong>\u2018s as well. They ultimately went with the underwhelming one we have now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>19.<\/strong> \u201cI get so fucking angry watching this,\u201d says Bousman during the finger-skinning sequence knowing that they lost so much of it to the whims of the MPAA. \u201cYou saw every finger break, every bone pop, every knuckle snap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>20.<\/strong> The meth dealer is played by \u201can insanely talented magician\u201d named <strong>Chris Ramsay<\/strong> whose <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCrPUg54jUy1T_wII9jgdRbg\">YouTube videos<\/a> helped teach Bousman magic tricks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>21.<\/strong> The scene in the church was originally set to be filmed in a basement, but Rock wasn\u2019t having it. He walked Bousman to a nearby church and said they should film it there, and while the director doubted they would be given access Rock made it happen. He did the same with an earlier scene moving it from a repeated location to a nearby diner.<\/p>\n<p><strong>22.<\/strong> Test audiences predominantly suspected Det. O\u2019Brien (<strong>Thomas Mitchell<\/strong>) as the killer, which is nuts seeing as Minghella\u2019s inescapably obvious Det. Schenk is right there. To that last point, there were some dialogue beats that Minghella didn\u2019t want to say as he felt they would give his guilt away.<\/p>\n<p><strong>23.<\/strong> They shot a brief look at Schenk\u2019s body hanging to help convince viewers he was actually dead, but they wanted to abide by the rules meaning they could only show things that actually happened.<\/p>\n<p><strong>24.<\/strong> The MPAA ripped into the skinning scene, insisting on shots being cut by mere frames at a time, and they also shredded the wax face peel. Because they\u2019re dicks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>24.<\/strong> Bousman\u2019s favorite trap in\u00a0<em>Spiral<\/em> is the wax waterboarding.<\/p>\n<p><strong>25.<\/strong> No one on the commentary explains why the police precinct\u2019s evidence room door has a combination lock.<\/p>\n<p><strong>26.<\/strong> Rock initially pitched the studio who put him in touch with producers <strong>Mark Burg<\/strong> and <strong>Oren Koules<\/strong>. They in turn contacted Stolberg and told him to make it happen. He and co-writer <strong>Pete Goldfinger<\/strong> worked with Rock starting from his original setup \u2014 he wanted to see what would happen if he\/his character woke up handcuffed to a pipe and was asked to cut off his own hand to escape.<\/p>\n<p><strong>27.<\/strong> There are no official plans for a sequel, but Bousman and Minghella had numerous conversations regarding the character and where they could go with him and the story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>28.<\/strong> Bousman asked Jackson why he agreed to play a character in a <em>Saw<\/em> film, and the actor said \u201cif there\u2019s an interesting death, I\u2019ll do it, and this is an interesting death.\u201d He\u2019s not wrong, and it\u2019s also the best scene in\u00a0<em>Spiral<\/em> as it marries the trap mechanics with a strong condemnation of the police mentality about shooting first and asking questions later.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\"><\/span>Best in Context-Free Commentary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote\">\u201cYour house was a musical instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I was fired this day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019ve not seen the movie, turn off the fucking commentary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t use this room because it was used in <em>Saw<\/em> blankety blank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have those fingers sitting on my desk at home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a fucking filmmaker you design a fucking shot, you\u2019re like look at this awesome oner oh wait it\u2019s cut into twelve pieces now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know that James [Wan] knows who I am to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts_on_the_Spiral_Commentary\"><\/span>Final Thoughts on the Spiral Commentary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><em>Spiral<\/em> remains an odd duck of a franchise entry \u2014 the core concept involving bad cops is great, but the movie itself is not. Happily, Bousman gives a fantastic commentary track. His enthusiasm is evident throughout as he shares production details, anecdotes, and the thought process behind what works and what doesn\u2019t. Fans should definitely give it a listen \u2014 and then go sign the petition for a director\u2019s cut as Bousman\u2019s constant references to unseen gore and one-shot sequences cut by editing has me wanting to see more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Read more Commentary Commentary from the archives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/spiral-commentary\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=spiral-commentary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#28 Things We Learned from the Spiral Commentary&#8221; Welcome to\u00a0Commentary Commentary, where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter listens to the filmmakers behind this year\u2019s Saw reboot, Spiral. The Saw franchise is one of the horror genre\u2019s longest-running and most&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":304065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/spiral.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[22447,90306],"class_list":["post-304064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-commentary-commentary","tag-spiral"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}