MovieChat Forums > Frank (2014) Discussion > Twitter posts on screen

Twitter posts on screen

posted 10 years ago by zap24
32 replies | jump to latest

I mean seriously, this is getting really old really fast. The last 3 movies I've seen from this year (The Fault in Our Stars, Chef and Frank) have all been using this. And it's not like this is the first time we see it. Do they really expect the audience to go like oooh wow look at that f-ing twitter post on the screen omg so edgyyy

Well, at least some of the posts in Frank were funny... Oh, and I really liked the movie tho, it's just this part that annoyed me.

[–] madameduran 10 years ago

Twitter and other forms of social media are a big part of modern life. Why wouldn't they be depicted on film in some way? Every change in technology is reflected in art. Has nothing to do with being "edgy" but everything to do with reality. *shrugs* Seeing tweets onscreen doesn't bother me at all.

[–] trueweapon 10 years ago

I don't really use twitter anymore but I'm totally ok with this as long its part of the narrative. It's just a way to see what a character is doing in that situation. The only time I think it's always out of taste to use hashtags is during tv shows where the producers want the viewer to advertise their show by using a tag that they display.

[–] daftspunk 10 years ago

Watch this.Its interesting.
http://vimeo.com/103554797

[–] tucotuti 9 years ago

I was going to link this exact video! It's very good.
The way they use messages in Frank is way more efficient than showing the screen or using that camera over the shoulder.

[–] matthew-vaughn-141-344338 9 years ago

Well that was the perfect reply.

[–] eljefemartin 10 years ago

I think social media is quite important for the movie, because it signifies success and big business. The struggle of the artists, albeit comical and confusing, is nothing but a piece of voyeurism for the social media crowd. They just wait for someone to have a nervous breakdown, so they have something to laugh about. Having 25 000 views on Youtube means nothing, as some girl stated in the movie. They don't really care, they just need something to watch.

The fact that the keyboarder types stuff into Twitter that a) isn't true ("writing songs aaaaall day") and b) is completely insignificant ("going to have dinner") is a true representation of todays society where taking a selfie is viewed as an achievement and promts comments and congratulations. True art cannot be done by such extroversion. It is always a look inside your own and a focus on a piece of your own experience. In Frank I started thinking that the band are actually the only people that make some sense. The rest of the world is just always washing their cars or partying.

[–] nomadprog 10 years ago

Bravo

[–] palle-suyin 10 years ago

I agree with the previous reply - bravo.

[–] AwjitA 10 years ago

I think you're all evading the OP's point. He's not complaining that the character in the film is using social media. It's that giant intrusive word bubbles pop up on the screen, taking us out of reality. Yes, Social Media is important to our world, but there are no giant word bubbles popping up. It did actually bug me and does appear to be an attempt at being hip to today's culture (like all the cell phone commercials.) And, like someone else said, films that utilize this tactic will certainly seem dated in a few years.

For me, it didn't ruin the film, but I definitely took notice and didn't like it.

[–] ThomasStone 8 years ago

It's hard to satisfy everyone but I think that Twitter and Facebook will stick around longer than MySpace so yeah, maybe it's gonna look dated in a few decades but then again 90's films do so as well today.
Also, reality? You realize movies are a work of fiction right?

[–] zohair-salama 10 years ago

Bravo!

[–] Stirchley 8 years ago

I think it was Jon's first onscreen twitter post we saw that showed him having fewer than 20 followers. (Can't remember the exact figure.). Which was sad & funny because it is hard to tweet at first when hardly anyone gives a damn.

[–] M_Exchange 10 years ago

I saw the two movies that you referred to there plus "Wall Street 2" and a couple of others where they used it. It really takes me out of it almost every time. I feel like in just ten years or so people will laugh at the rudimentary social media that we have today, and it's going to be as obsolete and funny as the music in "Karate Kid."

[–] tonematrix 10 years ago

It's not getting old. Chef & Frank imho both warrant the twitter/social media on screen. Bands connect with their fans and Food Trucks connect with their customers via social media. I don't understand why this is annoying. I thought it flowed well with the movie. I didn't go OHHHH that's so edgy. Nor do I think the writers expected you to. It's a part of the story. We live in a digital/social media age and I thought it showed (granted in a short amount of time) just how much someone can become a viral sensation thru the use of social media. Oh well, I liked it. Peace!

[–] Screen_Queen 10 years ago

I don't understand what you're complaining about. That they're using Twitter in their movie, or the way they're displaying it on the screen? If it's the latter, I don't know how else you would visually display text on a screen without having us actually read it off a screen in the movie, which is a big no-no. If it's the former, usually, usually, they use Twitter for a reason. It was actually very relevant in Frank, which I liked. If you want a completely irrelevant use of Twitter, try the stupid hashtag promotions that are appearing on every show on TV these days, trying to get people to Twitter about shows in real time. Or displaying tweets in real time. That sh!t is annoying as hell.

You heart me? What is that? Is that like I love you for pussies?

[–] texagander 10 years ago

I'm tired of people talking on the phone in movies. I mean, the phone is like 140 years old. Is that supposed to seem edgy? Almost every movie seems like it has a phone scene. It has gotten so old. We aren't impressed.

[–] Monknificent 8 years ago

I'm always annoyed to see people breathing onscreen. How's THAT for old hat? I mean, COME ON, humans have been doing that for absolutely THOUSANDS of years! I saw damn breathing in the last 12 films I watched.
Is that supposed to be edgy or cool?

"It's too late... Always has been, always will be...
Too late."

[–] hoyo-mont 10 years ago

Completely agreed with the original post, having just seen Chef & Frank back to back. Text on screen seems to be the modern equivalent to the split screen telephone conversations that were popular in the 1960s films - http://folksonomy.co/attachment/5331_doris-day-in-pillow-talk-doris-da y-11787795-953-536.jpg
(although done in film as far back as the silent days).

In Frank, this annoying graphic is displayed always from the point of view of the creepy character Jon, so it makes sense in the context of Jon being the equivalent of his cliches – his Twitter & Youtube life, his awful songs, his ass-kissing attitude, and desire to be "in" with the SXSW crowd. All of this is shown at the end of the movie to be superficial, and counter to creativity.

I never would have finished watching this film if I hadn't seen it while stuck on an airplane -- it took until about half way through to understand that Jon wasn't the protagonist and that the point of this film wasn't to sympathize with this goon.

[–] M_Exchange 10 years ago

Outstanding post.

it took until about half way through to understand that Jon wasn't the protagonist and that the point of this film wasn't to sympathize with this goon.

which is why I didn't really recognize its greatness until near the end

A lot of people dislike/hate the ending. I think it's one of the most brilliant endings I've ever seen.
I'm a stage performer (comedy). The way that the director set up the shots of that dive bar in which the performers are just pouring their hearts out to each other in a beautifully artistic manner while the patrons literally have their backs turned to them or turned completely to the side is just sheer genius and an honest reflection of how it really is in the arts.
Then Jon made his silent exit while the real artists were bonding in obscurity.

A+

[–] civildiscussion7 10 years ago

Agree. I didn't understand why he didn't join in w/ them (I expected a bookend of his first time with them on the keyboard)...until i realized he wasn't really a kinsman "band-member".

He didn't understand the process of creation that the other band members were after. They didn't want to be BIG MUSICIANS--they wanted to make art, and they wanted to connect with the people they were creating with.

They were the true artists and he was more like a patron.

I loved the ending because it made sense to the characters.