Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 March 9

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March 9

Taqwacore movie places of shooting

Where did they shoot the movie, The Taqwacores? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.89.41.250 (talk) 02:39, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

According to our article, Cleveland, Ohio. Rojomoke (talk) 06:26, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

Actor payments

In Hollywood, do the superstars get their entire payment before the movie is out, or do they also get a cut of the box office revenue? 24.5.122.13 (talk) 21:33, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

It all depends on what they negotiate. Donald Sutherland is probably still kicking himself for taking $35,000 instead of "15% of the film's gross" for Animal House. At the other extreme, Marlon Brando got "$3.7 million ($14,399,725 in today's funds) plus 11.75% of the gross profits for 13 days work" on Superman but then the Kryptonian Actors Guild has a lot of clout. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:04, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

So in other words, actors sometimes get a cut of the box office revenue, right? In that case, does anyone know if Clooney or Bullock are getting part of the revenue from "Gravity"? BTW, I never knew that Superman's father was actually in the Italian Mafia! 24.5.122.13 (talk) 03:37, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Bullock sure is: "$20m (£12m) plus 15% of the film's first dollar gross – effectively 15% of studio Warner Bros's share of the box office haul." Clarityfiend (talk) 03:51, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! And Clooney? 24.5.122.13 (talk) 05:38, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I can find lots of articles detailing Bullock's deal (because she'll turn out to make a financial killing given how successful Gravity has been), but none mention a similar deal for Clooney. He likely negotiated a flat fee, but I haven't been able to find out for how much. --Xuxl (talk) 11:50, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Piano concert

Recently I attended a solo piano concert. Everything was very formal and I want to ask if these things are common:

- The booklet with the program cost extra.

- During the break, there was someone tuning the piano. Is this that necessary? The piano had probably been tuned right before the concert.

- The pianist put the bouquet received after his main program on the piano and it stays there during the encores.

- Between the encores, the pianist stood up, took a bow for applause, walked away and came back for another one. This repeated. After the third bow, he sat down again and continued his encores. --2.245.242.27 (talk) 23:10, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

Yes, all of those are normal behaviours. The tuning at interval bit is somewhat unusual, but I have seen it. (Some pianists have particular requirements about this and other things.) Some performers can't wait to get to the encores, but others have to be cajoled (or at least they want to appear reluctant until the audience demand becomes implacable). The bouquet remains there until such time as the pianist has had enuf, and taking it with them when they exit the stage is a pretty good indication there will be no more encores, even if they do come back to acknowledge continuing applause. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 23:21, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

Being almost a total ignoranimus about musical instruments, I must ask: Is the frequency of the need to tune an instrument a function of the humidity level and/or other environmental factors? Seems to me that guitars, violins, etc. require fairly frequent tuning. Is that somewhat the case with pianos also? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:48, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

And on a lighter note, regarding encores, Myron Cohen used to tell one about a guy at La Scala who was called back for seven encores of an aria, and finally had to tell the crowd he was running out of energy. Someone in the audience yelled, "You gonna sing-a dat thing until you get it right!" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:48, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Regarding the re-tuning, one distinct possibility is that the musical temperament was being adjusted for the latter half of the performance (at a guess, from a more esoteric temperament back to a standard one). — Lomn 02:05, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

In short, to make the piano sound differently, yes? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:39, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Yes, Bugs, but that sounds a little unlikely to me, Lomn. Do you know of that being done very often? I've never heard of it, I must say. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 10:47, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

It would certainly take quite a bit longer than micro-fine-re-tuning during intermissions (see Bugs above, because of changes due to humidity, temperature, the piano being played, etc.). Using two (or three ...) pianos seems more likely to me when different tuning is required. Not an answer to this question, but an opportunity to plug a very enjoyable and fascinating documentary on piano tuning at the highest level: Pianomania. ---Sluzzelin talk 12:09, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Sluzzelin is correct; having multiple pianos would indeed be far more likely for managing various temperaments in one performance. To Bugs' question, I would instead phrase it as "to make the piece sound differently", which is admittedly a fine distinction. Temperament is about the harmonization of multiple notes rather than about the quality of any particular note (which is what I'd characterize as "the piano sound[ing] differently"). — Lomn 17:49, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Encores are pure ritual, but every concert I've ever been to there's been someone near me who doesn't know about it and tries to leave after the performers leave the stage the first time, only to have it explained to them by a companion. I have a bootleg of a Jake Thackray gig where he says he can't be bothered with any of that rigmarole, so "that was the last song. Here's another one."

The program booklet cost extra? I haven't had that experience; maybe it depends on where you are. Tuning during the intermission is not typical, but yes, sometimes it's necessary. The other things are completely standard, but I would note that bouquets are optional. ReverendWayne (talk) 20:15, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

I have had free programs, but they were usually small-time performances in local halls etc, and just monochrome printed double-sided (or maybe just single-sided) on a single sheet of paper; quite unlike the glossy full colour mini war-and-peaces full of adverts for highly priced luxury goods (oh, and some information about the music you're about to hear) that typically attend ballet, opera and symphony orchestra performances. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:11, 11 March 2014 (UTC)