Filmmaker Kevin Smith has revealed that his upcoming Clerks 3 will be in both color and black and white. The third entry in Smith’s cult-favorite franchise came very close to not happening at all, with Smith himself having previously announced that Clerks 3 was dead in the water. Thankfully for fans, this situation changed and shooting on the sequel officially began in Smith’s hometown of Redbank, New Jersey, on the director’s 51st birthday.
Though Clerks II arrived in 2006 to considerable enthusiasm from fans, the film still failed to bring in the sort of box office numbers that Smith’s original 1994 film did. Today with CGI blockbusters dominating the mainstream, it’s hard to put into perspective just how much of a gamechanger the release of Clerks was. The film marked Smith’s first attempt at bringing a feature to life, and although a budget of $27,000 was still considered microscopic back then, for Smith, it was a considerable struggle to raise even that much. The results were a comedy that may not have a high production value but still attracted viewers thanks to its humor, reliability, and fresh take on how a film could be made. Thanks to Clerks, a new era of independent filmmaking was ushered in, giving hope to an untold number of filmmakers.
At the same time, regardless of how lo-fi the production value of Clerks was, part of its charm was found in the fact that the film wasn’t crisp and perfect. Grainy black and white gave it an aesthetic that carried a sort of authenticity, the likes of which will be included in Clerks 3. With filming currently underway on Clerks 3, Smith has been careful not to say too much about the project. However, in an interview with Comicbook, the 51-year-old filmmaker explained he would keep the nostalgia factor high by reverting to black and white footage throughout Clerks 3. As Smith revealed:
"It's both [black and white and color]. The premise of the movie, of course, is that they make a movie, so the movie they make is in black and white. The movie's in color, but [it's black and white] when they shoot their version of Clerks -- which is called Inconvenience. That was the original title for Clerks. ... The black and white movie they're making is called Inconvenience, that's their version of Clerks. There's a lot of us replicating the scenes that you know insanely well from Clerks, and the beautiful thing is they're replicated with all the same people, and we're all so f**king old."
The decision to revert to black and white footage is a definite nod to Smith’s past, but it also creates a strange sort of meta-framework in which Smith relives his past through his present. The aforementioned 2006 sequel wasn’t filmed in black and white, making Clerks 3’s inclusion of both color and black and white a further nod to the franchise itself. What’s more, by allowing his characters to make a film about life as a convenience store worker, Smith is perhaps afforded the opportunity of tweaking aspects of the original Clerks in ways that he wasn’t previously able to. The end results are sure to be something that takes fans on a fun nostalgic trip while acknowledging the importance of the Quick Stop in Smith’s life.
Throughout his rather extensive career since Clerks, Smith has worked with numerous high-profile celebrities and found success with a variety of other titles. But for some fans, nothing will ever top what Clerks had to offer. In this way, Smith has a bit of a challenge ahead of him with Clerks 3. It’s tough to make obvious references and comparisons to something that so many love while balancing all that with something new. But Clerks has always been a passion project of Smith’s, something that is still clear almost 30 years later.
Source: Comicbook