Filmmaker John Wilson turned a 2015 assignment to capture David Byrne’s multimedia arena tour, Contemporary Color, into a fourteen-minute true-crime short titled Temporary Color after getting sidetracked by two convicts on the lam whose escape route mirrored the tour’s itinerary.
Film Combines Music Tour with True-Crime Investigation
- John Wilson’s 2015 short Temporary Color combines David Byrne’s arena tour with a true-crime narrative about two fleeing convicts.
- The project originated when filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross hired Wilson to help document the multimedia concert series.
- The fourteen-minute film merges Byrne’s musical presentation with an unexpected investigation into a real-world criminal escape path.
From Concert Assignment to True-Crime Pursuit
The project began when directors Bill and Turner Ross brought Wilson on board to help document Contemporary Color, Byrne’s large-scale arena tour featuring unique musical collaborations. Instead of delivering a straightforward concert film, Wilson shifted his lens. As the article noted, Wilson realized that the tour’s stops corresponded directly with the escape route of two convicts fleeing the law. That realization hijacked the original assignment, transforming a standard music documentary into a strange blend of live performance footage and true-crime investigation.
The Cinematic Legacy of David Byrne in Texas
While Wilson explored the intersections of live music and crime in 2015, Byrne’s cinematic history is deeply tied to earlier explorations of the American landscape. Texas Monthly explored the enduring legacy of Byrne’s 1986 comedy True Stories, noting how the Talking Heads frontman built a fictional town called Virgil on the edge of exurban development. Byrne based the film’s characters on wild tabloid headlines, casting figures like a lovelorn bachelor played by John Goodman and a bedridden woman portrayed by Swoosie Kurtz.
Shot across locations including historic downtown McKinney, True Stories utilized the stark Texas landscapes to give its visuals a distinct pop. Byrne recalled in the film’s companion book that after an initial scouting trip, it was hard to imagine the story taking place anywhere else. The production leaned on inexpensive local crews operating largely outside traditional Hollywood unions while capturing an eclectic soundtrack featuring Terry Allen and Pops Staples.
Evaluating the Scale of Byrneian Projects
Projects associated with Byrne consistently balance meticulous artistic direction with offbeat Americana, whether through fictional towns in Texas or unexpected documentary tangents. Below is a breakdown of key projects spanning his cinematic and documentary footprint.
| Project Title | Role / Involvement | Release Year | Primary Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| True Stories | Director / Writer / Narrator | 1986 | Fictional Texas town based on tabloid headlines |
| Temporary Color | Director | 2015 | Concert tour intersecting with a fugitive manhunt |
