the commentary: 04-21-06

From zefrank

(the show: 04-20-06 | the replay)

the long intro graphic in the start of this video is a mistake. there were many episodes where I missed these sorts of edits and they wound up remaining in the final because it was a huge pain to re-render, upload, etc.

The little gnome coming out the corner with a sped up voice and the switch to a stoned voice near the end were the start of a series of fun little segments. I did a number of these sorts of editing, expectation and framing gags throughout the show and they became more specific to the medium of video blogs and iPods as the show went on. It was pretty wide open territory, I wasn’t aware of anyone playing like this at the time – except for a brilliant gag that amanda congdon set up when rocketboom went HD and she pushed the 4×3 frame outwards in the beginning of the show. The videoblog format set up a rediscovery of these sorts of stunts and delightful moments because of some of the subtle ways that it was different from TV.

Of course when TV was just getting warmed up – Ernie Kovaks was the most brilliant prankster in terms of playing with the expectations of the frame. His side-leaning table gag is genius and can really only have that impact on a television screen. I highly encourage you to look at whatever is available from him online.

The very end of the episode, where i pull my nose down, is something I used to play with my friends in high school. It’s trying to find the smallest thing you can do with your face that completely changes how you look, preferably in a negative way.