Marc-Henri Wajnberg's "Clapman"

[post 312]

I like to think of this blog as a hall of wonders, but what you are about to see — a web exclusive! — is a true marvel of sheer inventiveness and insane imagination in the noble cause of physical comedy.

Marc-Henri Wajnberg is a Belgian filmmaker who has recently won well-deserved acclaim for his 2012 documentary, Kinshasa Kids (see trailer here), as well as for other full-length movies, but the man has actually made more than 3,000 short films as well. Yes, you read that right.

Twelve hundred of these shorts form the series Clapman. Marc-Henri explains: "There are 1200 movies, each movie is 9 seconds. The television channels used those shorts before and after the commercial break, or before and after the news or the weather,  before and after the films .... These films have been broadcast several times a day for several years in fifty channels worldwide."

By my calculation, that comes to three hours of these variations on a gag! I've only seen about 20 minutes of these, and have culled this six-minute excerpt that Marc-Henri has so graciously allowed me to share with the readers of this blog — their only appearance on the web. I think you will enjoy the amazing resourcefulness, the blending of visual effects and visual comedy, and the non-stop creativity.

Special thanks to Geneviève Leloup and her manservant Billy Schultz for introducing me to Clapman!

Beating Yourself Up... the VFX Way

[post 189]

In July, I did a post on Beating Yourself Up for Fun & Profit.  Good stuff, if I don't say so myself. Planning my Bloomfield College visual effects class for the fall reminded me of this pretty sharp VW commercial. All VFX, but a variation on the same theme...

Physical Comedy in the 21st Century — Circoripopolo

[post 011]

I don't necessarily think that performance — or any other art form — has to be avant-garde to be valid, but still I would like to showcase work that pushes boundaries. Thus this series, Physical Comedy in the 21st Century. I'm looking for all kinds of innovative work, and I'm hoping that at least half of the millions of you reading this blog will turn me on to some cool stuff. Our first piece by the Belgian comic duo Circoripopolo involves some neat digital tricks, but please don't think that means that I'm only interested in work that involves technology. In fact, I've been especially excited by the nouveau cirque work I've seen, which has a strong emphasis on live performance. So... let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend.

Two warnings about this piece: Number one, it may not work on all computers and on all browsers. If it doesn't work for you, my apologies, but I also urge you to try to access it again somewhere else. Number two, it will play some tricks with your browser. Please don't adjust anything while it's playing. And when it's done you'll probably have to hit your back button to return to this blog.

Just click on the image below and enjoy!