Here's a brief scene from the Buster Keaton classic, Sherlock Jr. from 1924. The bit referred to in the heading starts at the 1:38 mark, if you want to skip ahead (though if you do, you'll miss some other good stuff). By the way, the music is not from 1924.
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4 comments:
Dr John,
Loved the music, any idea of the artist/title? It seemed to have been composed to this film - just amazing! By the way I have to say that Buster Keaton is one of my all time favorite physical comedians. I know they didn't have the technology to do those stunts like today (computers) but do you think there was any film manipulations to get those shots?
Lil' Sis
Lil Sis,
The only part fo the sequence that looks like it might be camera tricks is when he cuts in front of the locomotive. That looks like some kind of rear projection to me. But the rest of it, I'm certain was all choreography and timing. Keaton was famous for working out elaborate gags and then trusting that they would come out the way he mapped them out (and they generally did). I'll have to see if they have the short Cops on YouTube, and if so post it as another great example of his abilities.
Dr. John
Lil Sis,
Forgot to mention that I do not know who the music is by. I'd be surprised if it was created for the film, but if so, I really doubt it was done in an official capacity (that is, I don't think you'd find it on the soundtrack to a DVD release). But I could be wrong.
Dr. John
Dr John,
Ok I did a bit of research on the net and found the music is called Sexy Boy by the French duo Air. While doing research on this I found out that Buster was actually the double for the cop (when they bump in a ditch and he falls off the bike), and then sometime during the shooting of this movie he actually broke his neck but didn't discover it till later. Just goes to show what a true artist to his craft he was!
Lil' Sis
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