We had wall to wall hot cars and hot cans in our episode on the Fast and
Furious movies, followed by ass-kicking explosions and
Black Widow's hot cans with the Avengers.
So we knew we had to keep that momentum going by doing an episode
on acapella musical comedies.
Here are seven things you didn't know about Pitch Perfect, probably.
(Sound) >> Hands in, one, two,
(Music)
>> If you're going to star in a movie about acapella, you're going to need to
have some really good pipes, which is why Adam DeVine didn't even want to try out
for the role of Bumper. >> No, hard pass.
(Sound) >> Initially,
DeVine turned down the opportunity to audition for
the film because he doesn't sing.
Unless, of course, he's explaining the plot of entrapment.
(Music)
>> Anyway, we know how this story ends, it turns out, yes, Adam DeVine, does sing.
I guess being a pretty good singer was just a thing Adam DeVine didn't
know about himself.
(Sound) Even though it's
hard to imagine Pitch Perfect with out Cynthia Rose,
Ester Dean was a last minute addition to the cast.
(Music)
You probably recognize the song she's singing here at the Riff Off, S&M,
made famous by Rhianna.
But I'll bet you didn't know that Ester Dean actually co-wrote that song.
That's right, na, na, na, na, na, come on, she freaking wrote that.
It took her and like three other people to come up with that, which is,
you know, still kind of cool.
Ester Dean is actually a very accomplished songwriter with a bunch of credits for
artists like Beyonce, Mary J Blige, and Kelly Clarkson.
In fact on the day they were filming this scene, Ester was really distracted and
on her phone a bunch between shots.
Which wasn't sitting too well with the director for
obvious reasons. >> This is hard for
me to admit to you guys. >> I think we all know where this is
going, lez be honest. >> Turns out she had the best excuse ever,
she had just found out that she'd been nominated for a Grammy.
So yeah, go ahead and look at your phone a bunch.
>> (Laugh) I'm all in bitches.
(Sound) >> To secure Pitch Perfect's PG-13 rating
there were quite a few things that had to be changed or cut out.
Including a bunch of improv between Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine that was way,
way too blue to be family friendly.
One key line that had to be cut came after this one.
>> Does anyone here have anything to
confess? >> It was an accident, I-
>> Turn in your scarf and go-
>> The original line there was,
it was an accident, it landed in my hand.
Which is still pretty tame as far as hand job jokes go if you ask me, but
what do I know?
Contrary to popular belief I've never actually given a hand job.
So I don't know what I'm talking about, next thing!
(Music)
>> Is it me or did we take a left turn into snoozeville?
>> In addition to
appearing in Pitch Perfect, Elizabeth Banks was one of the film's producers and
she directed the upcoming sequel.
But Pitch Perfect 2 wasn't technically her first time directing because she's
also directed some porn. >> Ooh,
that's right John, I'm going to have to excuse myself to freshen up the downtown.
>> Remember this part from the first film,
when all the guys are hanging out in the hot tub watching porn together like
a bunch of totally normal guys would?
Well, the cleaning fetish porn playing on the TV was shot specifically for
the film and it was directed by Elizabeth Banks.
Shooting their own porno was a lot easier than trying to get clearance for someone
else's and trying to find clips from it that would still be PG-13 friendly.
Hey, I've said it a million times, nothing prepares you better for directing feature
length musical comedies than directing fake background fetish porn.
(Sound) Speaking of how hard it can be to
clear stuff the filmmakers ran into some problems getting permission to show all
the real album covers in this scene.
Which explains this album cover with the baby on it.
That's baby Felix, Elizabeth Banks's real life son with her husband and
fellow Pitch Perfect producer Max Handleman.
And not to sound like a douche or
anything but I really like baby Felix's older stuff better.
You know, before he sold out, before he went all emo.
(Sound) Remember the montage of all the different
groups competing at the ICCAs?
What you probably didn't know is all of the groups we see in the montage
are actually singing the same song, and that song was Happy Birthday.
No, cut that off, cut that off, we can't afford it.
(Cough) As I was saying, all of the acapella groups in this montage
are actually just extras, except these guys.
Those are the Hullabahoos and they're a totally real acapella group.
But everyone else just sang Happy Birthday, and
they were taught some basic choreography by the first AD to do for the scene.
The filmmakers knew that since it would be in slow motion,
it wouldn't be obvious that everyone was singing the same song.
And since everyone knows Happy Birthday, don't play it, don't you do it.
They didn't have to worry about teaching a bunch of extras the lyrics to
an unfamiliar song, that is some savvy film making, filmmakers.
(Sound) Let's wrap
this up with a running that you probably never noticed.
This guy on The Troublemakers was meant to be known as Unicycle.
Seriously, that's even how the actor was credited on IMDB.
And that's because he was supposed to be riding his unicycle in pretty much
every scene they were in.
Michael Viruet spent nearly all of his downtime on set
practicing riding the unicycle, so he was definitely committed to the bit.
Sadly, in the end, the joke was cut for time, but you can still see Unicycle with
his unicycle pretty consistently throughout the film.
And you kind of get to see him riding it right here.
(Noise) >> So yeah, all those hours spent learning
to ride it weren't a complete and utter waste of time.
It comes pretty damn close, but it's still not technically a complete waste of time
since it is in the movie, for about two seconds.
And there you have it,
hopefully you are seven things smarter than you were before about Pitch Perfect.
Even though marketing more or less recycled the exact same campaign from
the first movie to promote the sequel, and I'm pretty sure that that tagline doesn't
even make sense. >> Aca-scuse me?
>> Let us know if you're hyped for
Pitch Perfect 2.
Thanks for watching, and be sure to check out Cinefix.com and subscribe for
more true-ish things about movies.
And sometimes, my favorite hand job jokes and methods,
right here on Things You Didn't Know.
I'm just kidding, I'm not giving away my methods.
(Music)