In-Theater Audio Commentary

In-Theater Audio Commentary is an idea coined by Kevin Smith of going to see a movie at the theater, and after having downloaded onto one's iPod a podcast of an audio commentary, returning to the theater a second time to watch the movie while listening to the commentary at the same time. As of right now, only 2 films have attempted to utilize this idea. Since this idea is so new, the only "rules and guidelines" listed for how to go about doing this are posted on John August's blog.^[1]

Clerks II

Kevin Smith first recorded a commentary track for Clerks II around May 2006 a few months before its theatrical release that was to be downloaded through iTunes and listened to in the theaters, which was meant to appeal primarily to Smith’s hardcore DVD-purchasing fan base.^[2] The Weinstein Company, Kevin Smith, and iTunes were all aboard, but theater owners felt that allowing people to bring outside devices would be distracting and disrupting to other audience members with people laughing at otherwise silent parts of the film.^[3] The commentary track was never released for download while the movie was in theaters and was instead included on the 2-disc Clerks II DVD as the third of three audio commentary tracks in the special features section as “Unused Podcast Commentary.” The commentary track features Kevin Smith along with producer, Scott Mosier, and actor, Jeff Anderson.

• During the commentary, Kevin Smith attributes the idea of in-theater commentary to that of the show, Battlestar Galactica, where one can download a podcast of an audio commentary and listen to the track while watching the show.

• During the commentary, they imply that one should ideally not be listening to the commentary track in the theater if it is his or her first time seeing it, even though they are attempting to make the commentary less scene specific.

• At one point in the commentary, the only time they really mention that their audience is in the theater, they discuss the phenomenon of people walking out in the middle of the theater to use the bathroom or to just randomly get food, and how it bothers them. Kevin Smith says during a montage shot “if you’re going to go get some popcorn or use the bathroom this is the time I guess you could do it because otherwise you’ll miss some key dialogue.”

The Nines

In August 2007, writer/director John August utilized the same idea by creating an audio commentary track featuring himself along with actor Ryan Reynolds discussing August’s film The Nines and posted the track in m4a and mp3 formats onto his personal blog, JohnAugust.com, so that people could download it and listen to it while viewing the movie in the theaters. This film had a considerably more limited release than Clerks II, featured in only 5 theaters in the U.S.,^[4] and thus they were more easily able to get away with doing it. August also lists a number of “guidelines, ground rules, and helpful hints” for listening to the track in the theater in his blog with particular emphasis on being respectful to other audience members and on the fact that one should not listen to it on his or her first viewing or without the movie. The commentary track was also later released as the first of two tracks in special features section of the Nines DVD.

• August points out during the commentary that “it's not perfectly synchronizing, since you're not watching it on your disc [as per usual]...but if it's a little bit out of sync that's kind of okay...I doubt we'll be referencing too specific of things."

• A final bit in the commentary is August's joke to Reynolds that he will give him a copy of the film for his iPhone so he can watch it again maybe at 2 in the morning or whenever to which Reynolds responds that he can "quietly hold himself."^[5]

References