MovieChat Forums > Tim's Vermeer (2014) Discussion > Few moments looked like they were Staged

Few moments looked like they were Staged

posted 10 years ago by A-Guna14
22 replies | jump to latest

1. Not sure if Tim was allowed to see Vermeers painting in Buckingham palace. There was audio video mismatch when he was explaining how emotional it was for him to see the painting in real. I don't think he was allowed to see the painting.
2. The story about the heater being brought inside the house and they going cuckoo on account of that seemed like a plot filler.
3. So did the thing about mental block, while he was drawing/copying the blue chair.
4. Finally, and most importantly Tim's crying in the end looked very artificial. I don't think an inventor can really feel emotional about art. I feel Tim is more of a guy who tries to solve problem and move on to the next one. This painting is one such thing to him. It would have looked very real if he had hi-fied or hurrayed in the end, but crying... i don't think that is fitting.

I do think it's a great documentary, but i feel there is a bit of tweaking by directors to connect with audience.

[–] sick_n_tired 10 years ago

I don't think an inventor can really feel emotional about art.

that is the hugest load of bull I have read in a while.

[–] cellphonefred 10 years ago

Wait a minute...are you inferring that a film made by two gentleman who make their livings deceiving people via illusions and trickery might not have made an honest document?

"She filled the blank with a tube of denture cream and a false sense of superiority."

[–] jab670 10 years ago

Two men who are also known for revealing many of their tricks or other people's tricks.

As for the crying, you spend 3 years working on one thing and not feeling any catharsis when it's done.

[–] punishable-by-death 10 years ago

Not to mention they hosted a show called BULLSHT

--
"Some may never live, but the crazy never die"
[url]www.epilepticmoondancer.net[url]

[–] Korios 10 years ago

4. Generalizing much?

Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.

[–] vicdmise-318-644671 10 years ago

Penn and Teller are honest liars. If they're going to lie to you, they'll tell you. I find the movie to be very genuine and pretty amazing.

And the statement that inventors can't be emotional about art might be the craziest thing I've heard in a while. Inventors ARE artists; that's the point of the documentary. Not that Vermeer was an artist and not a technologist or that Tim is a technologist and not and artist, but that they are one and the same.

[–] rockmail 9 years ago

Sorry but no. As much as I enjoy Penn and Teller and their shows and stage act, and having spoken to them in person a few times, they are not superhuman paragons of virtue and right. They lie just as much as the next shyster when the situation calls for it, but they are more friendly and approachable.

I'm not saying that they are outright frauds, but they certainly do have agendas in their presentations that are not the pure unvarnished truth.

I loved their show *beep* but even after watching a few episodes, I could see that they had to pick a very simplistic viewpoint on all topics, one which indeed "lies" through omission or inclusion of information to create drama or an impression of expertise.

[–] Dave_8675309 10 years ago

On "going cuckoo" because of the CO... Tim says in some of the extra stuff on the DVD that he was joking about drawing an elephant.

[–] A-Guna14 10 years ago

I do not know the background of the directors. I might not have felt this way had i known about their previous works. Just because they reveal secrets of others, it doesn't mean all their works are true. If it is true, they might some day show that this docu was also an eyewash. In any case im not influenced by their prior works. I just saw these guys in a roast video of Cheech and Chong. I still feel all the 4 scenes mentioned above are staged.

I take back the statement that inventors cannot be emotional about art, as many of you think its a stupid statement. I will ponder over that statement to know more about how an inventor really feels.

Thanks for responding to my post.

[–] punishable-by-death 10 years ago

"In any case im not influenced by their prior works. I just saw these guys in a roast video of Cheech and Chong. I still feel all the 4 scenes mentioned above are staged."

Some somewhat conflicted opinion there, unless you mean you saw them on stage after you saw the doco. But still, no influence by prior works? Please. If you weren't, this thread wouldn't exist.

Oh, and you do realise that they hosted a show that debunked BS myths and pseudo-sciences. They are more than freaking magicians. I'm still amazed that someone could think this was staged.

No influence by their prior work my arse!

"Some may never live, but the crazy never die"
www.epilepticmoondancer.net

[–] A-Guna14 10 years ago

The only video i saw the host/makers of this documentary was in the show i mentioned and i thought it was bit odd for comics to host a piece about an art. It makes sense now as they were involved in revealing the secrets of magicians and such.

What i mean by not being influenced by their work is my ability to doubt their work. If i had known about their past work, i too might not have had any doubts about the whole documentary.

After all a documentary is also a kind of a movie. From that perspective one of the main objective of a documentary is to look real. Its only fair to point at the portions that doesn't look real.

Its not sensible to argue that a person must not doubt a work just because it is done by so and so persons. Its healthy to speculate any person's work. If it turns out to be real, its good. There is no harm in being doubtful is what im saying.

[–] punishable-by-death 10 years ago

Too true, I can't disagree with you there on anything. Personally for me, after having followed this pair for so many years - this doco is almost a perfect culmination of everything they had done previous. It may have been great acting, but both Penn and Tim were seriously stressing when the deadline was getting closer; Tim's stress seemed very real!!

I still feel that I have never seen anything quite like this, nothing even close!! i really wish that it got more attention, but thems the breaks I guess

"Some may never live, but the crazy never die"
www.epilepticmoondancer.net

[–] NAHNCEE 9 years ago

Poster's name is Something 14. The 14 is either the poster's age, or its IQ. Ignore it for a while, until it matures.

[–] coleman6 10 years ago

1. "Not sure," How convincing is this rebuttal? Think a moment, if the Buckingham Palace visit was fictional, why would they do that? It would absolutely destroy all credibility Tim's efforts were trying to establish. The "visit" added little to the research, just not worth the risk to manufacture this segment. What I'm sure of is that it would be very easy to check with Buckingham Palace security on this accusation.

2. Probably was. It added an element of human interest. It detracted nothing form the main story line, and showed how truly committed all the staff were towards solving the mystery.

3. This was not a filler, in my view. After staring at something for days, weeks, I'd probably develop a mental block or two as well. This "plot filler" did exactly that.

4. Inventors are devoid of emotion. Such a sweeping statement is so vulnerable. One great inventor comes immediately to mind: Alexander Graham Bell was a very passionate and committed person. Read his biography. Creativity often comes from both the left-brain and the right.

[–] Naldoman 10 years ago

The whole documentary is filler. You film what happens and you film the motivation that inspired what happened and you film the research that supports what you are trying to do.

90% of the film will go in the trash - it's a lot of people staring at mirrors, staring at paintings, mixing paint, building props, adjusting light, and trying to get a little assistance from a bunch of nay-sayers who have no interest in your project.

So ANYTHING else that happens is a grateful reprieve from the montony of 130 days of painstaking painting. I'm sure other, much less interesting things happened too - stuff that isn't the least bit entertaining.

The point of the miscellaneous stories about heat and broken windows is to show that this wasn't a cake walk. Most of it was rather tedious color-matching and trying not to spill paint everywhere. The realization is that it was a hellava lot of work to make a painting this why - which might explain why there are A) So few of them and B) No contemporaries bothered to do this, if they knew how.

"Use mirrors and north-facing windows and lenses and head-clamps to do my painting? Eff-thee!"

[–] megArnold 9 years ago

"Inventors are devoid of emotion." Such a sweeping statement is so vulnerable.

OP doesn't seem to be around intelligent people much.

If you check the biography of any inventor, they have an intense passion for what they do, and this passion spills over to everything they tackle.

--
No, Schmuck! You are only entitled to your INFORMED opinion!!
-- Harlan Ellison

[–] A-Guna14 9 years ago

Hmmm...Ok.Everybody seem to be furious about my fourth point. I will take it back and read few books recommended by few considerate users. My opinion about 4th point is changed because of The Codebreaker movie. I rememberd this post when i was watching that movie.

I'm surprised at most of the scathing remarks at me for being a bit inqusitive. I have crealy used verbs like think, feel etc, which means-"I'm not stating any facts there"In any case you have already discredited me of my IQ. I shall atleast prove my EQ by replying. Thanks for replying.

[–] trancos-arg 9 years ago

The thing is that you sound a little bit paranoid! Check it out :P.

Regarding the movie I liked it, it was very interesing, but as Naldoman points out (99% agree on your review, man), it was boring sometimes, which makes its rating quite high taking into consideration that movies are supposed to, at some point, entertain.

The remaining 1%: I would add that Tim's crying at the end, even if it was prett awkward (the guy is no 'regular' guy), was genuine, maybe he even repressed it a little. Think about finally finishing something that took you more than 800 days of work, how would you feel!

PS: The latest daughter of Tim was pretty hot right? The model of the painting ;)

[–] rmontro 9 years ago

2. The story about the heater being brought inside the house and they going cuckoo on account of that seemed like a plot filler.

If he really did paint an elephant onto the painting (while suffering from the carbon monoxide poisoning), I would have liked to have seen it :)

[–] A-Guna14 9 years ago

yes...that wasn't shown in the doc...you are right...that would have made it more believable.