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April 19, 2011 at 5:50 am #598665
elisabethfMemberHaven’t seen anything about this so I figured I’d start a thread.
“The Killing” on Sunday night on AMC is a murder mystery serial that takes place in Seattle (though it’s filmed in Vancouver BC). It’s very noirish… constantly raining, depressed-looking characters. Also intriguing as in who murdered the victim? (My money’s on the victim’s best friend.)
But the writers obviously don’t know what they’re talking about as far as locale goes. The dialog has a character saying “I picked her up in a bar in Tukwila” as if that says it all about the “her” that got picked up. And this last Sunday’s episode managed to top that. The mayor of Seattle remarks about his own high position, “Not bad for a kid from Highland Park! Where you from?” to somebody or other. The other person replies “Pigeon Point. White trash.”
In the same episode, the detectives uncover evidence that the victim had been regularly riding a bus from her home in (presumably) Ballard that goes to an exclusively Afro-American neighborhood. Only black people ride this bus! Why would a white person be on this bus?
I guess I am a naive Seattleite for not realizing that it would be a miracle for somebody from Highland Park to be voted mayor, that everyone is Pigeon Point is white trash, and that Seattle has an exclusively Afro-American neighborhood where no white person would ever dare venture.
Comments, anyone?
April 19, 2011 at 7:32 am #722801
cjboffoliParticipantI just caught up on the first four episodes and I have to say that I’m perplexed at all of the great reviews the show has been getting. It is not nearly as well-produced as AMC shows like Breaking Bad or Mad Men. The lead actress is excellent. But the plot is glacially paced and the whole political arc is such a cliche. Aside from establishing helicopter shots it seems the entire show is being produced in Vancouver. Of course it has to rain in every scene though. It’s Seattle, right? I’ve lived in this city for six and a half years now and I think I could probably count on one hand the number of torrential, heavy rain storms like the ones they seem to be depicting in every scene.
April 19, 2011 at 8:04 am #722802
Admiral935ParticipantApril 19, 2011 at 3:08 pm #722803
inactiveMemberI haven’t watched any of this (no TV), but as a Highland Park homeowner I am a little stunned HP even made it into a movie when so many folks in West Seattle don’t even know where we are! ;)
It might be kind of interesting to know if any of the writers are Seattleites.
April 19, 2011 at 3:30 pm #722804
cjboffoliParticipantThe show’s creator, Veena Sud, is not from Seattle. And it shows in the way she seems to be pulling the names of random places off of maps and assigning wild characteristics to them that don’t fit. Here is a bit of what Sud said in a recent interview about the selection of Seattle as the backdrop for the series (which incidentally is based on an original series set in Denmark):
“Part of the compelling nature of the series is the world reflects the internal life of the characters because it’s go brooding and tragic and rainy and still beautiful there. Not like some bummed-out place where you don’t want to be. You want to be there. But part of you knows that it’s a dangerous not quite safe place to be. So I started to do some research and choose different cities, and obviously Seattle in the Northwest was kind of in that wheelhouse. But Seattle specifically vs. other cities because it’s a city of contradictions. It’s a city on the edge of civilization. It’s beautiful skies, the frigid Puget Sound that’ll kill you if you fall into it. The most liberal, the most literate city in America. The hunting grounds of the Green River Killer. So there’s black and there’s white and there’s tragedy and there’s beauty in almost everything, just in that one place, that serves as the backdrop. “
April 19, 2011 at 3:36 pm #722805
HelperMonkeyParticipantwe gave it a 1/2 hour before we shut it off in disgust. I was looking forward to it, but it was so ridiculous on so many levels (the rain that cjb mentioned in particular – we got a good larf out of that) – also, if you’re going to set it in Seattle, FILM IT IN SEATTLE. not just B-roll. Our state needs to step up its game and stop letting all the filming take place in Vancouver BC.
I suppose if you’re not from Seattle, these little things wouldn’t bother you, and you’d be able to enjoy the show. Not me! :)
April 19, 2011 at 3:49 pm #722806
JoBParticipantAt least the comic riff on Portland is filmed in Portland…
April 19, 2011 at 3:59 pm #722807
DPMember‘dood, I’m inspired to think that a humble pooch from Highland Park could grow up to be on the Internets.
If re-elected Governor of King County, I promise a TV in every Highland Park home, free trailer removal for the people of Pigeon Point, and a jobs training program for the fallen women of Tukwila.
–Rod
April 19, 2011 at 4:12 pm #722808
JanSParticipantgeez, DP, did you have to? His picture gives me the willies…
April 19, 2011 at 4:26 pm #722809
odrokuParticipantWhy so serious?
April 19, 2011 at 11:25 pm #722810
desertdwellerParticipantThe Killing is a shot-for-shot remake of a Danish T.V. show called Forbrydelsen. The original Danish show is slow-paced at the beginning but gets better the more one watches it. I believe Forbrydelsen is on its third season and is so popular that the BBC has slapped sub-titles on it and is showing it in the UK.
I watched the first double episode of the American version and found it to be pretty good. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief about Seattle’s landscape for a good TV show!
April 20, 2011 at 3:17 am #722811
elisabethfMemberGreat responses, folks, thanks!
April 20, 2011 at 3:39 am #722812
JiggersMemberHow do they do those excellent rain scenes?
April 20, 2011 at 4:28 am #722813
cjboffoliParticipantJiggers: First, you need really big raindrops as light rain doesn’t read very well on film. Most productions use a devices called rain bars which get rigged up over the sets. They’re either connected to a hard water line or, if on location without a piped source, a water truck. Rain bars come in a number of sizes big and small, depending on how much rain you want. Some of the Hollywood studios use rain bars that are so big they actually generate their own micro-climates while in use. The grips tend to hate them because it means they have to deal with both the high-voltage cables for lights and massive quantities of cold water – two things you usually try to avoid mixing.
April 20, 2011 at 4:32 am #722814
JimmyGMemberIt’s a fictional TV show people, don’t take it so personally.
April 20, 2011 at 7:10 am #722815
elisabethfMemberIt’s not the rain scenes that get me, it’s, as Christopher says above, “pulling the names of random places off of maps and assigning wild characteristics to them that don’t fit.”
Maybe it takes an outsider to see our fair city as brooding and tragic and rainy. Go rent “Trouble in Mind” from Netflix! Not so much rain, though in that movie Seattle is dubbed “Rain City,” but plenty broody. At least they actually filmed that one in Seattle.
Oh well, I am enjoying the show when not jolted by Tukwila tramps and Pigeon Point white trash and dangerous black hood references. I guess I’d be a Junction jezebel.
April 20, 2011 at 7:57 am #722816
metrognomeParticipantI agree with cjb’s take on this series; I also don’t think it’s cast very well. I do like the lead actress, but am not impressed with her partner or her boyfriend. It’s darkness also kind of reminds me of the Kenneth Branagh ‘Wallander’ series on PBS. I will probably continue watching it only because we are entering the dead zone for new episodes of most of my favorite shows and in the hopes that desertdweller’s assessment will come true.
As far as the racial issues, I’ve been here long enough to remember the racial divisions in the 70’s when what is portrayed in the series was more likely to exist. There were a lot of white folks who wouldn’t go into the CD or certain other neighborhoods at night and there were areas where the mere presence of a black man with an Afro would result in a patrol car rolling up pretty quickly. I think these overt situations still occur to a minor degree today but not to the level the series indicates. There are routes in the Metro system that reflect the ridership in the series. How’s that for being obtuse?
Another interesting (notice I didn’t say good) movie that was actually shot in Seattle is ‘McQ’, one of John Wayne’s last films. The famous Bullitt-like chase scene is almost as laugable as his hairpiece because it couldn’t possibly have happened in the order shown. For info (spoiler alert — pretty much gives away the entire plot but not the actual ending): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McQ
hmmm … Junction Jezebel … that has possibilities. Too bad Almost Live isn’t still in production.
April 20, 2011 at 8:22 am #722817
metrognomeParticipantshoulda thought to check YouTube before I logged off … here’s the McQ chase scene, annotated for folks who didn’t live here in the mid-70’s:
I’m not sure how accurate the annotation is and the comments don’t always help figure out the details, but still fun. The multiple identical delivery trucks are important because the one he starts out following contains the stolen drugs.
Here’s the trailer (recognize the actor playing the pimp?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX0GsD2K8tc
McQueen’s Stang was much cooler. Wait … McQ … McQueen … hmmm.
Sorry for threadjacking … back to The Killing …
April 20, 2011 at 9:21 am #722818
Admiral935ParticipantThe Killing is a classic Noir flick directed by none other than some guy named Kubrick staring Sterling Hayden. WhateverAMC<sharkjumpers,hahahaha
April 20, 2011 at 1:32 pm #722819
redblackParticipanthelper monkey: didn’t we recently vote on funding the state’s film commission? maybe in the last decade?
the city hall scenes feature shots of downtown, from downtown, in roughly the right location. not sure if they are projected, or if some of those scenes were filmed here. i’m guessing the former.
city of contradictions, indeed. denizens complain about the wettest, coolest april on record in one thread – then complain about seattle’s portrayal as a cold version of vietnam in another.
know why it’s not “cast very well?” it was cast and shot in canada. they just don’t have the star wattage of america’s cast and casting companies.
another thing canadian-shot shows and movies lack:
product placement and endorsement.
at the risk of being called a fanboy, i like the series well enough to while away an hour a week with it. someone above said something about suspending disbelief and getting immersed in the story, which i think is compelling enough. yes, it has a slow pace. it’s a series. like twin peaks. and breaking bad. and dexter.
i’m from lesser seattle, so i’m not sure how i feel about the rest of america thinking that vancouver is seattle. maybe we shouldn’t put our fair (unfair?) city out there. you know, keep the riff-raff – like veena sud – away.
April 20, 2011 at 3:48 pm #722820
cjboffoliParticipantredblack: The actors are most likely shot on a stage with green screens outside of the windows. The static or moving images of Seattle are composited in later in post. It is really astounding what they can do with backgrounds these days: http://www.vimeo.com/8337356
While it’s true that Canada lacks the star wattage we have here in the States, don’t forget that many of our stars are Canadian (Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Dan Akroyd, John Candy, Ellen Page, Pamela Anderson, Keanu Reeves, Michael J. Fox, Anna Paquin, Martin Short, William Shatner….. just to name a few).
A lack of stars doesn’t seem to be stopping them. They just borrow them from us. Vancouver has become the third largest film and television market in North America. They do more than $1.5 billion in production business annually. They have the trained labor and specialized facilities to have forty simultaneous productions going on in the city if they need to. The Canadian government gives a 30% rebate for labor costs, a strong incentive to shoot there. There are provincial tax credits that apply too. So you’ve gotta give them credit for the production mecca that Vancouver has become. It’s pretty impressive for a country that totally lacks a discernible national cuisine :-)
April 20, 2011 at 4:23 pm #722821
JiggersMemberI find murder mysteries kind of drab. Anyone remember the TV series Millenium which was also filmed in the Seattle area?
April 20, 2011 at 4:34 pm #722822
chrismaParticipantIt’s pretty impressive for a country that totally lacks a discernible national cuisine :-)
I thought TimBits were the national cuisine of Canada.
April 20, 2011 at 4:41 pm #722823
dhgParticipantMillenium: was that the one with the young girl sitting on the edge of a ruined space needle? That was filmed in Vancouver and I recall seeing the peculiar sci-fi vehicles they used in the shots all parked along Yale Town.
My favorite Seattle movie: House of Games. David Mamet. Lindsey Crouse. The lobby of 1001 4th ave gets used.
April 20, 2011 at 4:43 pm #722824
JiggersMemberI thought Disclosure( filmed in Seattle) was good.
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