200 Motels Press kit - Revision history

Spider of Destiny at 22:23, 6 June 2026

2026-06-06T22:23:30Z

Duncan at 11:18, 14 December 2021

2021-12-14T11:18:12Z

Duncan at 10:46, 14 December 2021

2021-12-14T10:46:51Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 17:00, 21 October 2021

2021-10-21T17:00:04Z

Jason.Kreitzer at 01:58, 16 July 2021

2021-07-16T01:58:44Z

Spider of Destiny at 13:04, 22 November 2011

2011-11-22T13:04:10Z

Propellerkuh at 04:41, 25 July 2007

2007-07-25T04:41:32Z

Emdebe: Category:1971

2007-04-14T20:41:10Z

Category:1971

Propellerkuh at 21:17, 22 January 2007

2007-01-22T21:17:29Z

Propellerkuh at 21:16, 22 January 2007

2007-01-22T21:16:49Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:23, 6 June 2026
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	[[Category:Articles by Zappa]]		[[Category:Articles by Zappa]]
	[[Category:1971]]		[[Category:1971]]
		+	[[Category:Interviews with Zappa]]

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 ==Notes==
-The Press Kit was reproduced in the progamme notes for the [[200 Motels Concert]] in London.
+The Press Kit was reproduced in the progamme notes for the [[200 Motels Concerts|200 Motels Concert]] in London.
 [[Category:Articles by Zappa]]
 [[Category:1971]]

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 '''YEAH, BUT HOW'D YOU GET ANYBODY TO PAY FOR THIS THING?<br>
-FZ: After having several appointments with people who normally finance films, and having them run screaming into the distance after a partial explanation of the project, by mere chance we took it to United Artists. Mr. Picker looked over our folio (10 pages of "treatment", 2 boxes of tape, and some clippings in case he never heard of our group) and said: '''"You have a deal ... get me a budget"''' (Perhaps it was a little more elaborate and erudite than that.) We left the office, got a budget and a bunch of lawyers and work began in earnest. (Pre-production actually began in1968. I had been working on and off since that time to prepare the choral and orchestral music, composing about 60% of it in motel rooms after concerts on the road with THE MOTHERS.)
+FZ: After having several appointments with people who normally finance films, and having them run screaming into the distance after a partial explanation of the project, by mere chance we took it to United Artists. Mr. Picker<ref>Head of United Artists [[wikipedia:David V. Picker|David Picker]] was actively looking for music people interested in expanding into films. Picker said the plan was for UA Records and the films to be sympathetic to the creative desires of young people - Billboard 23 January 1971</ref> looked over our folio (10 pages of "treatment", 2 boxes of tape, and some clippings in case he never heard of our group) and said: '''"You have a deal ... get me a budget"''' (Perhaps it was a little more elaborate and erudite than that.) We left the office, got a budget and a bunch of lawyers and work began in earnest. (Pre-production actually began in1968. I had been working on and off since that time to prepare the choral and orchestral music, composing about 60% of it in motel rooms after concerts on the road with THE MOTHERS.)
 '''WELL ... SO TELL ME ... WHAT IS IT?<br>
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 '''I HEARD THIS MOVIE WAS SHOT ON VIDEO TAPE<br>
 FZ: The video-tape-to-film process used in 200 MOTELS could easily start a new production trend. 200 MOTELS is the first full-length feature film to use this system, and some of the new optical effects made possible by this electronic technique are bound to attract the curiosity of adventurous film makers. One of the best things about these visuals is that most can be done while shooting (not in a lab where controls are uncertain and costly) and instant decisions can be made about colors, textures, shapes, superimpositions, electronically with amazing precision. Other effects are possible (such as the combination of several scenes, each of which is already a montage) during the video tape editing stage. 200 MOTELS was shot in seven days, with video editing for 11 days, followed by refinements in the 35mm stage (at the usual film-handling work rate) of 3 months, sandwiched in between several concert tours. I personally supervised all stages of editing.
 '''WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS WEIRD MOVIE?<br>
 FZ: For the audience that already knows and appreciates THE MOTHERS, 200 MOTELS will provide a logical extension of our concerts and recordings. For the audience that doesn't know, doesn't care, but still takes a chance every once in a while on a new idea, 200 MOTELS will provide a surprising introduction to the group and its work. For those that can't stand THE MOTHERS and have always felt we were nothing more than a bunch of tone-deaf perverts, 200 MOTELS will probably confirm their worst suspicions.
 [[Category:Articles by Zappa]]
 [[Category:1971]]

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 '''WHO'S IN IT BESIDES THE MOTHERS?<br>
-FZ: [[Theodore Bikel]] plays RANCE MUHAMMITZ, [[Ringo Starr]] plays LARRY THE DWARF, [[Keith Moon]] plays THE HOT NUN, [[Jimmy Carl Black]] (The Indian Of The Group) plays LONESOME COWBOY BURT, [[Martin Lickert]] plays JEFF, [[Janet Ferguson]] & [[Lucy Offerall|Miss Lucy Offerall]]l (GTO) play THE GROUPIES, [[Don Preston]] & [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood|Motorhead Sherwood]] play slightly modified versions of THEMSELVES, [[Dick Barber]] (our Road Manager) plays THE INDUSTRIAL VACUUM CLEANER, and Miss [[Pamela Miller]] (GTO) plays THE ROCK & ROLL INTERVIEWER. [[Mark Volman]] and [[Howard Kaylan]], the group's two lead vocalists are featured, also playing modified versions of THEMSELVES.
+FZ: [[Theodore Bikel]] plays RANCE MUHAMMITZ, [[Ringo Starr]] plays LARRY THE DWARF, [[Keith Moon]] plays THE HOT NUN, [[Jimmy Carl Black]] (The Indian Of The Group) plays LONESOME COWBOY BURT, [[Martin Lickert]] plays JEFF, [[Janet Ferguson]] & [[Lucy Offerall|Miss Lucy Offerall]]l (GTO) play THE GROUPIES, [[Don Preston]] & [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood|Motorhead Sherwood]] play slightly modified versions of THEMSELVES, [[Dick Barber]] (our Road Manager) plays THE INDUSTRIAL VACUUM CLEANER, and Miss [[Pamela Miller]] (GTO) plays THE ROCK & ROLL INTERVIEWER. [[Flo & Eddie|Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan]], the group's two lead vocalists are featured, also playing modified versions of THEMSELVES.
 '''ARE YOU IN IT?<br>

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 '''WHO'S IN IT BESIDES THE MOTHERS?<br>
-FZ: [[Theodore Bikel]] plays RANCE MUHAMMITZ, [[Ringo Starr]] plays LARRY THE DWARF, [[Keith Moon]] plays THE HOT NUN, [[Jimmy Carl Black]] (The Indian Of The Group) plays LONESOME COWBOY BURT, [[Martin Lickert]] plays JEFF, [[Janet Ferguson]] & [[Lucy Offerall|Miss Lucy Offerall]]l (GTO) play THE GROUPIES, [[Don Preston]] & [[Motorhead Sherwood]] play slightly modified versions of THEMSELVES, [[Dick Barber]] (our Road Manager) plays THE INDUSTRIAL VACUUM CLEANER, and Miss [[Pamela Miller]] (GTO) plays THE ROCK & ROLL INTERVIEWER. [[Mark Volman]] and [[Howard Kaylan]], the group's two lead vocalists are featured, also playing modified versions of THEMSELVES.
+FZ: [[Theodore Bikel]] plays RANCE MUHAMMITZ, [[Ringo Starr]] plays LARRY THE DWARF, [[Keith Moon]] plays THE HOT NUN, [[Jimmy Carl Black]] (The Indian Of The Group) plays LONESOME COWBOY BURT, [[Martin Lickert]] plays JEFF, [[Janet Ferguson]] & [[Lucy Offerall|Miss Lucy Offerall]]l (GTO) play THE GROUPIES, [[Don Preston]] & [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood|Motorhead Sherwood]] play slightly modified versions of THEMSELVES, [[Dick Barber]] (our Road Manager) plays THE INDUSTRIAL VACUUM CLEANER, and Miss [[Pamela Miller]] (GTO) plays THE ROCK & ROLL INTERVIEWER. [[Mark Volman]] and [[Howard Kaylan]], the group's two lead vocalists are featured, also playing modified versions of THEMSELVES.
 '''ARE YOU IN IT?<br>

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:04, 22 November 2011
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	QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS<br>		QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS<br>
	(Text from the original press-kit, 1971)<br>		(Text from the original press-kit, 1971)<br>
		+	Interview by [[Co de Kloet]]<br>

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 '''WELL ... IF YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT IT IS, TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS IN IT... SOMETHING ... ANYTHING ... HELP ME ... ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHH!<br>
-FZ: First of all, there is no chronological continuity stressed. This is done to convey the sort of time-space reference alteration a group can experience on tour. On the road, time is determined by when the road manager wakes you up, when the plane or bus leaves, when you set up equipment at the hall and check your sound system, when you play your concert, and what you do for recreation after the show. Space is indeterminate. Motels resemble each other. The same for planes and buses. Concert halls may vary a bit, but over a period of years they also blend together. Audiences vary/blend in a similar way. When we go on tour, especially long tours, life in the group begins to resemble life in the army. Each concert is a campaign. On such tours it is possible to not know where you are ("Is this really Vienna?"), sitting in your room, dealing socially most of the time with other group members, you might as well be in Los Angeles. We seem to carry a "mystery bubble" of L.A. consciousness along on the road. Inside of this "bubble", strange things happen. The situations contained in 200 MOTELS were organically grown inside 4 years worth of these "bubbles". These concepts extracted from within the various time-warps, with as much care as our $600.000 budget would permit, form the basis of the filmic event.
+FZ: First of all, there is no chronological continuity stressed. This is done to convey the sort of time-space reference alteration a group can experience on tour. On the road, time is determined by when the road manager wakes you up, when the plane or bus leaves, when you set up equipment at the hall and check your sound system, when you play your concert, and what you do for recreation after the show. Space is indeterminate. Motels resemble each other. The same for planes and buses. Concert halls may vary a bit, but over a period of years they also blend together. Audiences vary/blend in a similar way. When we go on tour, especially long tours, life in the group begins to resemble life in the army. Each concert is a campaign. On such tours it is possible to not know where you are ("Is this really [[Vienna]]?"), sitting in your room, dealing socially most of the time with other group members, you might as well be in Los Angeles. We seem to carry a "mystery bubble" of L.A. consciousness along on the road. Inside of this "bubble", strange things happen. The situations contained in 200 MOTELS were organically grown inside 4 years worth of these "bubbles". These concepts extracted from within the various time-warps, with as much care as our $600.000 budget would permit, form the basis of the filmic event.
 '''WHO'S IN IT BESIDES THE MOTHERS?<br>

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:41, 14 April 2007
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	FZ: For the audience that already knows and appreciates THE MOTHERS, 200 MOTELS will provide a logical extension of our concerts and recordings. For the audience that doesn't know, doesn't care, but still takes a chance every once in a while on a new idea, 200 MOTELS will provide a surprising introduction to the group and its work. For those that can't stand THE MOTHERS and have always felt we were nothing more than a bunch of tone-deaf perverts, 200 MOTELS will probably confirm their worst suspicions.		FZ: For the audience that already knows and appreciates THE MOTHERS, 200 MOTELS will provide a logical extension of our concerts and recordings. For the audience that doesn't know, doesn't care, but still takes a chance every once in a while on a new idea, 200 MOTELS will provide a surprising introduction to the group and its work. For those that can't stand THE MOTHERS and have always felt we were nothing more than a bunch of tone-deaf perverts, 200 MOTELS will probably confirm their worst suspicions.
	[[Category:Articles by Zappa]]		[[Category:Articles by Zappa]]
		+	[[Category:1971]]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 FZ: This is a "Rock & Roll Movie" and it is also an "Or What". Granting the fact the THE MOTHERS tend to operate somewhere on the outermost fringes of your real-life Rock & Roll Consciousness, the film is an extension and a projection of the group's specialized '''view''' of and '''participation''' in this intriguing area of contemporary human experience. In other words, 200 MOTELS, deals with things like:
 <blockquote>Groupies<br>
-<blockquote>Life On The Road<br>
+Life On The Road<br>
-<blockquote>Relationship To Audience<br>
+Relationship To Audience<br>
-<blockquote>Group Personality-Chemistry<br>
+Group Personality-Chemistry<br>
-<blockquote>Macrobiotic Food & Tie-Die Shirts<br>
+Macrobiotic Food & Tie-Die Shirts<br>
-<blockquote>Etc.</blockquote>
+Etc.</blockquote>
 ... but deals with these things in ways you might not expect (or approve of), simply because THE MOTHERS is not your average sort of Pop Group, and if, for instance, we have experiences with '''Groupies''' on the road, these experiences will not be very ordinary. Our '''Relationship To Audience''' is not ordinary. Our '''Group Personality-Chemistry''' is not ordinary ... therefore an ordinary documentary based on our exploits wouldn't be ordinary, and a SURREALISTIC DOCUMENTARY '''extended''' form these circumstances might seem to be just a little peculiar at first.