Dune's Timothée Chalamet used to show off modded Xbox controllers on his YouTube channel

[midian182]

In context: Imagine going from a gaming-focused YouTuber with a small following to the star of one the biggest movies in recent times. For Timothée Chalamet, who plays Paul Atreides in Dune, this really did happen, though there was quite a long gap between operating a channel and sharing the screen with sandworms.

Vice carried out an extensive investigation into rumors that Chalamet had once been the presenter of ModdedController360, a YouTube channel that showed off customized Xbox 360 controllers. The publication worked with Aric Toller, a researcher and trainer at Bellingcat, which is best known for investigating war crimes, to try and prove the claims.

The report examines hints that Chalamet is the person in the videos, whose face is never shown. Some of the most compelling evidence is the scar on both the actor's and the presenter's left ring finger, as well as images of Chalamet's room he previously posted on Instagram showing the same furniture seen in the vids. The YouTuber's voice also sounds similar to a young Chalamet when compared to clips of him acting at the time—his big break was a role in Law & Order in 2019, before the videos were filmed.

But it seems Vice could have saved a lot of time and just watched Fortnite Pro Nate Hill's YouTube channel. In an interview with Timothée Chalamet & Zendaya to promote their Fortnite skins, Chalamet admitted to his past hobby. "I had a YouTube channel people found," he said. "It's YouTube dot com back-slash 'ModdedController360. And I used to paint-mod controllers."

The actor said he would open up and paint the controllers for people when he was 15, charging them $10 for around five hours work. "I made 30 bucks," he added. Asked why he stopped, Chalamet said, "My parents were like, 'There's spray paint all over the house.'"

There are only three videos, all of them posted 11 years ago, on the ModdedController360 channel, which has seen its subscriber numbers jump by several thousand recently. Their view counts have also shot up since Chalamet confirmed he is the presenter.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/91975-dune-timothe-chalamet-once-had-youtube-channel-showing.html

 

[R00sT3R]

Good to know he can speak clearly and not the virtually unintelligible mumbling, that was his performance in Dune.

 

[noel24]

Good to know he can speak clearly and not the virtually unintelligible mumbling, that was his performance in Dune.

Well, that's what They call "acting".

;-)

 

[wiyosaya]

Well, that's what They call "acting".

;-)

Or crappy audio mixing/sound production values and/or crappy sound systems in theaters for all of which, there is no excuse in modern times, IMO.

 

[m4a4]

Or crappy audio mixing/sound production values and/or crappy sound systems in theaters for all of which, there is no excuse in modern times, IMO.

It was 100% the movie (as the theater's audio setup was upgraded recently). Felt like I needed subtitles some of the time.

 

[passwordistaco]

Vice and Bellingcat, working together to dive deeply into the important issues of our day.

 

[Reehahs]

It was 100% the movie (as the theater's audio setup was upgraded recently). Felt like I needed subtitles some of the time.

I thought the local IMAX screen was IMAX-lite and hence just crap.

All movies should be shown with proper subtitles below the screen.

 

[wiyosaya]

I thought the local IMAX screen was IMAX-lite and hence just crap.

All movies should be shown with proper subtitles below the screen.

I was just having a conversation about the sound at IMAX theaters with a friend. I think they fact that they have "horns" for tweeters (at least our local IMAX) seriously degrades the sound. They never used to have proper movies in IMAX theaters, and I don't think that the IMAX sound systems were envisioned to be able to accurately reproduce full-range audio. To me, they were more designed to knock the socks off the average audience with little thought to given audiophiles.

 

[m4a4]

I thought the local IMAX screen was IMAX-lite and hence just crap.

All movies should be shown with proper subtitles below the screen.

I slightly disagree. They would be distracting (to a point) to those that want full immersion. This, of course, is assuming the actors can be understood clearly.

And I'd rather not give directors any excuse to slack off with clarity (as being forced to read a lot of subtitles would be annoying to a lot of people).

 

[passwordistaco]

I've noticed a trend among streaming services that their audio mixing is terrible for dialog. I can't think of a reason for this to be intentional. Must be incompetence.

 

[Reehahs]

I was just having a conversation about the sound at IMAX theaters with a friend. I think they fact that they have "horns" for tweeters (at least our local IMAX) seriously degrades the sound. They never used to have proper movies in IMAX theaters, and I don't think that the IMAX sound systems were envisioned to be able to accurately reproduce full-range audio. To me, they were more designed to knock the socks off the average audience with little thought to given audiophiles.

Seems to be the case as you described, loud doesn't mean better.

I slightly disagree. They would be distracting (to a point) to those that want full immersion. This, of course, is assuming the actors can be understood clearly.

And I'd rather not give directors any excuse to slack off with clarity (as being forced to read a lot of subtitles would be annoying to a lot of people).

I see you point, I am thinking along the lines of accessibility. I wouldn't mind a NFC like tag, which can bring the subtitles to my phone in sync with the screen. Similar to hearing loops that you have at airports and banks.

The actor's voices were quite intangible when even the supposedly quiet parts were loud. The IMAX screen I went to didn't do justice to Hans Zimmer's sound track.

 

[wiyosaya]

I've noticed a trend among streaming services that their audio mixing is terrible for dialog. I can't think of a reason for this to be intentional. Must be incompetence.

Maybe if they were to go beyond Dolby Digital Plus for streaming. Both Netflix and Hulu have it at least in the US. I note, however, the Disney Plus has yet to jump on the bandwagon, and, IMO, their audio is poor at best. Then again, if they were to move to better audio formats, it would require more bandwidth. With fiber still rarely available in the US, I am willing to bet that most subscribers would not meet the download bandwidth requirements to use something like DTS HD Master Audio, though, IMO, the format is far better than DD+

 

[cliffordcooley]

Not very often the comments are more entertaining and worthy of its own article than the topic.

 

[wiyosaya]

Not very often the comments are more entertaining and worthy of its own article than the topic.

I agree.

Its kind of a long story, but I wanted to borrow Star Trek Discovery Season 3 on Blu-ray from my local library, and due to one of the libraries in the system mis-categorizing the DVD version of it as Blu-ray, I ended up with that instead. I watched that, and I then, finally, got the Blu-ray version - which I also watched.

As you may know, Blu-ray has a better audio format for both Dolby and DTS. I prefer the DTS-HD Master Audio track and listened to that on the Blu-ray, where as the DVD, I believe, only has Dolby Digital. IMO, there was a significant difference between the DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray and the Dolby Digital on the DVD. The sound on the Blu-ray was far more enveloping and created an environment all its own that was absent for the DVD version. For some movies, IMO, it makes the Blu-ray experience a completely different movie.

And Yes, absolutely, audio formats are a subject that is worthy of its own article, IMO. If you are able to do so, watch "Interstellar" streamed and on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray audio is another experience of "Interstellar" altogether, IMO, that streaming movie audio has yet match.