the rehearsal final

The podcast episode discusses the film strategies and techniques used in the HBO show The Rehearsal. The show involves Nathan Fielder helping people confront emotionally difficult situations by rehearsing different scenarios. The use of cut scenes and transitions is a key aspect of the show, allowing viewers to distinguish between reality and simulation. The transitions serve to captivate the audience and reinforce the concept of hypermediacy. The show also utilizes match cuts to create visual continuity between different scenes. Overall, the use of these film techniques contributes to the show's success in portraying reality and engaging the audience. Hey guys, welcome back to the JAK podcast. I'm your host, Ayasolama, and today I'm joined with our film experts for the day, Chris Gonzi and Jacob Rivera. On this episode, we're going to decipher into the film strategies and techniques used in the HBO hit The Rehearsal, directed by Nathan Fielder. Now, the show The Rehearsal, it's a strange show. It's one that you wouldn't find on any other streaming website. The Rehearsal is a show in which Nathan Fielder brings out people who seek his help and literally preps them to confront a real-life emotionally fraught situation. It's absolutely mind-blowing because Fielder literally prepares his subjects by placing them into a simulation in which they rehearse every possible scenario over and over again to create systematic responses and reactions. In this social experiment slash documentary slash comedy or whatever you want to call it, they would recreate an entire set and hire seemingly unlimited actors to play out the scenes of subjects to address an issue at hand in which the subject will later replicate in their life. The way Fielder somehow shows his audience what is real and what is fake is through the use of cut scenes and transitions. Nathan loves manipulating the viewers with this interesting film technique throughout the entire show. Like, let me explain how. Let me explain, okay? Like, in the midst of a subject quote-unquote rehearsing a scenario, Fielder would confuse the viewers by, you know, like, inserting a brief transition from either the rehearsal to reality and vice versa or by swapping out hired actors with the actual person that is being confronted. So, like, in a little discreet split second, we see the transition, you know, but sometimes barely notice it. Now, everybody, let's hear what our film experts have to say about Nathan Fielder and film transitions. What are these film techniques, Jacob? Cut scenes and transitions is basically when there's a shot, there's actors acting, and they just stop rolling the cameras and it cuts, you know, and then it instantly goes from the scene it was previously filming to a new one. And it helps with moving along the story and, you know, cutting out some dead wood. And in this episode, you're going to see a lot of information about transitions and cut scenes primarily. For example, you're going to see things specific from the show. You'll see analysis from Fielder's message and even some in-depth examples to provide evidence. And you're going to see some examples from the rehearsal itself with multiple different types of transitions and their effects to the viewer itself. If you guys can incorporate into your films in however way you might choose to do so. Yeah. So what effect does these film techniques have? Does it contribute to the show at all? Do they spark some type of reaction from the audience and viewers? Yeah, the way the rehearsal uses is extremely effective. The strategic use of these cut scenes, the line between acting versus reality, more apparent to both the viewers and the subjects, allowing it to be arguably the most effective way that Nathan communicates to the audience. And there are multiple types of transitions. Now, what are these transitions? What we pick up to in-character transitions and actor to actor transitions. In-character transitions occur when the actors are continually playing the subjects. So say you have an actor and he's playing a part. There's a cut when he goes from playing the part to playing the same part, but a rerun of what he's supposed to do. And the other one, actor to actor, the transition happens when there's a shift in the focus from the actor playing in the show to the character they're playing. You can even see this mimicry in a whole bunch of different scenarios. So when there's a cut from the actor to the person they're playing, you can often see these smoothness and the skill that the actors are given for training while acting. When you mean smoothness, do you mean like how the scene runs or how the scene essentially blends reality and simulation together? That brings up a point on the whole notion of hypermediacy. Hypermediacy is not, it does pose like a very good contribution to film and just film techniques in general. Hypermediacy at its simplest form is when two different mediums or more even can be used together to remind the viewer of different scenarios being taken place, even though it might seem very, very smooth. It's what brings the viewer back into like the sense of reality of the two different scenarios in itself. So you would say they're being more aware of the medium? Yeah, yeah, I would. It kind of acts as like preventing the line between reality and simulation from getting too blurred and kind of sets a little boundary that makes both the viewer and patient noticeable. So like Deadpool? Yeah, you could say Deadpool in a way. Yeah, you know, breaking the fourth wall and you know all that. Breaking the fourth wall moment could be hypermediacy, right Krish? Yeah, yeah, most definitely. Yeah, yeah, I agree. And when the scene cut transitions to the actor, it serves as a reminder to the viewer that this is not the real situation, but merely a simulation. You know, it's just like not a part of our world and what we think of it. Yeah, some might even say that like Nathan Fielder himself is trying to mirror our world in a way. It brings up the notion of like simulacra and stuff, the way he engages his actors into a similar, almost exact with the environment. And you can see it all across with like the bar replica and things like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When he sets up the bar, he just sets it up in a warehouse. So using the transitions, there's a little part where he opens the door and we can tell what's the real bar in episode one and what's the fake bar because there's a transition and then it pans out to the bar in the warehouse. So he's using simulacra of the way that he's building the set. He's getting everything in order. He's making everything very precise in the seating arrangement, the way the tables are set up, the drinks even. But we know that's in a warehouse through the use of transition because without the transition of him going out and zooming out and showing the warehouse, we would just think it's in the bar again because, you know, he set it up exactly how it actually is. Yeah, even in like episode one, when Cora comes to the actual bar, the real bar itself for the confession, there's a period where it kind of reminds the viewer, oh, there is some few mistakes with the set itself because once again, Nathan Fielder himself couldn't take into account every single possibility. But with that transition, comparing the set to the actual real, although it's almost exactly the same, there are a few differences, but it does remind the viewer what was reality, what was simulation. That kind of goes based off what you were saying, Jacob, I believe. But yeah, just like, you know, we're in a simulation. Or so we think. No, we are. Oh, we are? Yeah. Interesting take. Interesting take. I'm not sure how many of the viewers at home might agree. Let us know what you guys think. Reach us in like an email or something, maybe a phone call. But you know. Yeah. Yeah. So another like, honestly, very intriguing example from the show was with Nathan himself, actually. So we've talked about how Nathan's been like on the side watching and analyzing different scenarios, especially with Cor, watching how he interacts with the actors. Yeah, Nathan. Yeah, Nathan Fielder. But later on, Nathan physically gets into the acting himself, where he pretends to play a child to help a different woman get better with becoming like a mother herself. So he tries to get into that role and he does. And the audience itself knows who Nathan is. But the notion of him actually doing the acting himself throws the audience off a little bit and really captivates them. And it reinforces the hypermedia-sy. Because when it transitions from Nathan to the part that he's playing, the audience is like, oh, yeah, I know that's him, but it's not him. You know? Yeah. And it even goes from like transitioning from him playing like a father to playing the child. And just that aspect was like really crazy to think about, because that's not something you see all the time. He completely switches roles and just takes the viewer by surprise. And I just think that the hypermedia-sy and the transitions when it cuts, it's giving a sort of a mental break to the audience, I feel like, because there were a lot of points that were extremely hectic. And you can look anywhere online and you can see, oh my gosh, all these reviews. They're like, it can be confusing. It can become undigestible at times. But through the use of transitions, we can clearly define what part is which, to where all the acting rules and all the ensembles and everything doesn't, you know, they don't mesh together. And so it gives the audience, like, it allows them to think deeply, but at the same time, they aren't overflowing with information. It's important for you guys, whenever you guys start using such film techniques that you might see in the rehearsal or any other TV show or movie, take it step by step. Don't overload yourself. Do whatever feels right in the scene of the moment. And I can promise you it'll turn out good. That's how you get masterclass videos or movies and things like that. I think it's interesting, Chris, that you mentioned in the moment, because that's exactly what they did not do in the rehearsal. Right, with Trisha, they created a montage using quick transitions, quick repeated transitions, where they got the actor for Trisha, and they just kept going over and over again, replaying the scenario of Corey confronting her about, you know, his fake degree. It's just cool because he uses the quick cutscenes and transitions to signal what a lot of times happens to us. You know, when we're thinking of situations, there are points where we create different scenarios in our head, and it just keeps going. And we think of the different ways a conversation can go, and we keep practicing, like rehearsal says. And really effectively is encapsulated there when they keep bringing the different Trisha on in a montage, where he says different things to her, and there's different outcomes. And again, that happens to us. Yeah, in the montage, specifically, the cameraman, he used what's called static shots. So static shots and their transitions associated with them. They also help Nathan like display his messages across the viewer. So essentially, a static shot is when the cameras locked in place, and it gives a very like hard transition and framing itself. WolfProduct.com specifically, and I quote, states, by keeping your camera locked off, you can guide the audience's attention to focus on specific actions, or lack thereof, if the script calls for it. As the story unfolds, this can help to intensify the feeling the audience is experiencing, as their attention is drawn deeper into the action. And like Jacob said earlier, it really does encapsulate the audience with the montage itself, because it gives the audience a good understanding of Trisha and her personality traits. And as it's reflected upon like the actor playing Trisha as well. With the static shots itself, it keeps a sense of fluidity in the conversation, almost a sort of like continuity when you transition from the actor to the real person. So in the case of episode one, the actor playing Trisha to Trisha herself. And by keeping that fluidity, it shows the skill of the actor when it comes to her job, because the way that she transitions from her role to the real person itself, it seems almost like the same person. Yeah, I mean, they are actors, they were chosen to specifically play that person and feel all their movements, do their styles, their style, still the way they talk to the audience, of course, it gives them a little bit of a sense where they can't distinguish what's the act, or they can distinguish it, but they know that everything that is incorporated to the actor is actually a part of, again, continuity of the real life person. Yeah, yeah. But it's actually kind of ironic because when you flip it completely, going from the real person like Trisha to the actor herself, it provides the opposite effect. It provides a sense of juxtaposition in a way, some might even dare to say a hypermediacy, because it once again reminds the viewer that they are not in fact the same person, sometimes there will be errors. Like it's like Nathan would just keep switching back and forth between immediacy and hypermediacy. I know, right? It's crazy, but that's what captivates the viewer, right? Like it gives that sense of really good film techniques to give the success of the show. Keeps them on their toes. Yeah, it does keep the audience on their toes. Gets their mind sharp, you know? Yeah, yeah. It feels like the show is acting inside of acting inside of acting, so it's extremely important that he includes these transitions so that we can tell what's real and what's fake. However, there is yet another mode that Nathan Filder uses to throw, I wouldn't say throw off, but sort of mesh together the different scenes and make them more fluid called match cuts. For those who don't know, what are match cuts, Krish? So match cuts defined by Adobe.com in specific is an edit in cinematography that uses elements of one scene in the transition to the next scene. The purpose usually is to create a visual match for different scenes that are not inherently linked, like scenes set in different locations by having a second shot that in some way mirrors the first. You can see that by a lot of actual directors themselves. I believe Christopher Nolan does it with like eye transitions. So a dummy dumb version of it is like TikTok when people are like time to get changed, like they're they're in their PJs and then they jump up and then it quickly transitions and when they jump down it's like the clothes that they're actually going to wear. Yeah, yeah, that trend. Yeah, it's like that and you can see that in like the rehearsal when it transitions from like the actor to a real person. To sum all of this up, what Krish and Jacob are trying to say is that cut scenes and transitions account for the overall success of defining reality and avoiding unnecessary disparity in the rehearsal. Thank you all so much for tuning into this episode. This has been your host Aya Salama with Jacob Rivera and I'm Krish Ghanzi and we're out. See you next time.