Experimental Film

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 00:38, 27 May 2005

Strong Sad does some filming

Strong Sad and The Cheat make a video for They Might Be Giants.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Sad, Tentacle Skull, John Flansburgh, John Linnell, The Cheat, Gavin, It's a lion!, Homestar Runner, Strong Bad, Strong Mad

Places: The Field, The Football Field

Date: July 13, 2004

Running Time: 3:00

Page Title: So a guy walks up to an ATM...

Lyrics

The color of infinity
Inside an empty glass
I'm squinting my eye
And turning off and on and on
and off the light

It's for this experimental film
Which nobody knows about, and which
I'm still figuring out what's going to go
In my experimental film

Yeah, you're all gonna be in this experimental film
And even though I can't explain it
I already know how great it's

I already know the ending
It's the part that makes your face implode
I don't know what makes your face implode
But that's the way the movie ends

And in my experimental film
Which nobody knows about
But which I'm still figuring out
Your face implodes at my experimental film

Yeah, you're all gonna be in this experimental film
And even though I can't explain it
I already know how great it—
Even though I can't explain it
I already know how great it's

The color of infinity
Inside an empty glass
It's for this experimental film
Which nobody knows about, and which
I'm still figuring out what's going to go
In my experimental film

Yeah, you're all gonna be in this experimental film
And even though I can't explain it
I already know how great it's gonna—
Yeah, you're gonna be in this experimental film
And even though I can't explain it
I already know how great it—
Even though I can't explain it
I already know how great it's

Easter Eggs

• You can click on "Directed by Strong Sad & The Cheat" before the video starts to get a commentary by Homestar Runner characters.

Commentary Transcript

STRONG SAD: Oh, hello, this is Strong Sad—

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat makes The Cheat noises which sounds like, "And The Cheat!"}

STRONG SAD: —and we're the co-directors of this video.

THE CHEAT: {Meh!}

STRONG SAD: Uh, so my portion of this video details the life of a very lonely individual named Rondell who can't deal with the decisions of day-to-day life.

STRONG BAD: We interrupt this whining to bring you this important headline: "World bored to death by Strong Sad commentary."

STRONG SAD: Agh, what are you doing here? You're hardly even in this video!

STRONG BAD: Yeah, well I woulda been the one directing it if weren't for those Super Giant guys.

STRONG SAD: That's not what they're called.

STRONG BAD: Whatever they're called, that one right there with the glasses, he started talking all these vocabulary words at me and confusin' me and the next thing I know, I was relegated to this crappy bit part. {Referring to the top of two heads (one is wearing glasses, likely They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh)}

STRONG SAD: Hey, "relegated" sounds like a vocabulary word.

STRONG BAD: I'll relegate your face to a...bloody pulp!

THE CHEAT: {Coffee was being hit with a drumstick} {The Cheat noises}

STRONG SAD: Oh, that part represented hitting coffee with a drumstick. Okay.

STRONG BAD: {upon seeing a picture captioned "our gracious host"} Ahh! More like our "I'll murder you in a back alley" host.

STRONG SAD: Uh, so this next part {referring to tiny Cheats erupting from cracks in Rondell's hands} is an allusion to one of my very favorite experimental films called--

STRONG BAD: Boring Johnny and the Get Bored Crew.

STRONG SAD: {exasperated} Would you quit it with the "boring" comments?

STRONG BAD: Look, if it weren't for that tentacle skull riding the old-timey bike, this video would have nothin'!

THE CHEAT: {barely comprehensible} You don't like the video, huh?

STRONG SAD: Oh, yeah, the first question on that pop quiz was, "Are you all going to be in my experimental film?" {Referring to Pop Quiz in clip}

STRONG BAD: {the tentacle skull is seen in ink on lined paper} Oh, look, there he is! Keep on old-timey bikin', tentacle-skull. {Gavin is seen} Hey, is that Gavin? I didn't know he was in this video. He's got, like, as much screen time as I do!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey guys, is this the Super Giants video?

STRONG SAD: That's not what they're—

STRONG BAD: Yes. But they cut us out of it.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, weird—then why'd they bother getting somebody who looks just like me? {Seeing himself in the clip}

STRONG BAD: No, that is you, I just mean they mostly—

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {Seeing Strong Bad and Strong Mad in the clip} And that guy looks just like you! And that big guy {referring to Strong Mad} looks just like Coach Z!

STRONG BAD: Now this part accurately represents what it feels like to watch this video. {Ticking clock shown}

STRONG SAD: {exasperated} Ohhh! This next part {as a film with Rondell's face on tears, ignites and disappears to reveal an animated Rondell} is all about Rondell's transformation into a new man.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I thought you said that was just an accident that happened because you loaded the film wrong. {Rondell turns into animated Rondell}

STRONG SAD: {embarassed} Uhh, why don't you shut up, Homestar?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I dunno... 'cause I guess I got a lot of stuff to say.

STRONG BAD: {when he, Strong Mad and Homestar are seen dancing} Check out my dance! Ooh, ah, ooh side-swipe! {The Cheat joins in} Ooh, ah, ooh side-swipe! {Homestar joins in} Ooh, ah, ooh side-swipe! Ooh, ah, ooh side-swipe!

STRONG SAD: Ahhh, this is the worst commentary ever!

STRONG BAD: That's what I've been saying this whole time!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah, me too. Worst commissary ever!

STRONG SAD: {during the portion where components of the film are seen pogoing} At this point reality and fantasy have collided and everybody... pogos.

THE CHEAT: {as an animated Rondell walks up to an animated ATM} {The Cheat noises}

STRONG SAD: {angry} What do you mean you tried to be as dumpy-accurate as possible?

STRONG BAD: {as Strong Bad is seen dancing, with the words "Real Smooth Moves" is seen above him} Let's talk about how "Real Smooth Moves" is like the best band name ever. The old Supreme Giants boys could take a cue from that one.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {as an animated table with a muffin on is seen} I'm gonna take a cue from that kitchen table and go get me a blueberry muffin! (Pronounced bluebree)

STRONG SAD: Ohh, what a disaster. I hope I still get paid.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• This toon was made for the first single from They Might Be Giants' tenth studio album The Spine. The song is called "Experimental Film".

• The two head-tops belong to They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh and John Linnell. The one on the left is Flansburgh, as he has black hair and wears glasses, and the one on the right is Linnell.

• The answers for the "pop quiz" most likely refer to the cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized the cotton-growing industry; Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, a town famous as the location where the American Civil War ended; and the all-time career record for home runs in Major League Baseball (755), set by baseball player Hank Aaron. The first question was "Are you all going to be in my experimental film?"

Trivia

• This toon was originally posted on The Brothers Chaps' thoraxcorp.com, but was quickly taken down.
• This toon was released at approximately midnight, Atlanta time, on 13 July 2004—the release date of The Spine.
• As of January 2005, the toon is now available through the iTunes Music Store (requires iTunes 4.6 or later)
• The joystick Homestar is using is for an Atari 2600.
• According to this Wired interview, TMBG will be making a separate video for the MTV crowd. Choice quote: "I feel like if MTV and Homestar collided, the world might explode."
• Despite "resolving not to feel so bad about wanting to hit Homestar so much" (see Strong Sad's Blog), the commentary shows the first time that Strong Sad has stood up to Homestar. As expected, Homestar doesn't take him very seriously.
• The first frame of the actual song is labelled "viderostart" internally (this label is used by the commentary scripts).

Remarks

• The first line of the song is "The color of infinity inside an empty glass." Strong Sad's glass is full.

• The wrecking ball that swings between Strong Sad and the ATM in one shot is actually the swinging light bulb painted black.

• Even though Strong Sad says he can't jump in his blog, he jumps here and in A Jumping Jack Contest.

• After you see the clip of Strong Sad shaving, you see a close-up of The Cheat shaving.

Goofs

• The clock has six(6) seconds between the three(3) and the four(4).
  • This adds to Strong Bad's argument during the commentary that "this part accurately represents what it feels like to watch this video."

Inside References

• Gavin, the cockroach from the Easter egg in personal favorites, makes a cameo appearance.

• When "It's a lion!" pops up for the first time, the lion is wearing Homestar's hat.

• Near the end, the crowd flips the cards to a picture of an olive on a toothpick. This was the eye from the Homestar Jr. in Where's The Cheat?

• When the people in the grandstands flip the scenery cards to the mountain scene, it slightly resembles Main Page 2.

• "Our gracious host" bears a striking resemblence to Monte Negro in Malloween Commercial.

They Might Be Giants References

• United States presidents are a common theme in TMBG's work; they have no fewer than five songs about U.S. presidents, an album called Lincoln, and frequently mention presidents in songs and on stage. Their website is also presidentially themed.
  • It should be noted, however, that while the band chose the album title Lincoln fully aware of its presidential overtones, the album is actually named after Lincoln, Massachusetts—the town where the two Johns grew up.

• Skulls (i.e. the Tentacle Skull seen riding the bicycle) are another frequent TMBG theme. In addition to being mentioned in several of their songs, it appears on the cover of their Back to Skull EP and on the back of their John Henry album. The skull might also be the Skullivan, as mentioned in the companion EP for The Spine, The Spine Surfs Alone.

• Coffee is yet another common theme in the work of TMBG. The earliest videos and promotional matierials from the 80's show TMBG with cups of coffee. In the film Gigantic, TMBG confesses that they are insanely dependent on coffee.
  • This may also be the reason one of the Johns was spotted wearing the Homsar shirt, which says "Rased by a cup of coffee." (See: They Might Be Giants)
• In the commentary, both Strong Bad and Homestar get TMBG's name totally wrong (both "Super Giants" and "Supreme Giants" are mentioned). This is, of course, not the first time this has happened. In fact, one of their early EPs included an answering machine message in which two people discuss "There Must Be Giants" and "There May Be Giants" and appear to be confused about the whole experience. Also on their song They Got Lost on their live album Severe Tire Damage, the song starts with an announcement of "Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for They Must Be Giants!"

• The finger that comes up at one point might be a reference to the thumb on the cover of TMBG's "Dial-a-Song" album.

Real World References

• Strong Sad meeting the Grim Reaper through split screens is a reference to Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

• Much of the imagery, and especially the scenes of Strong Sad watching film sprocket holds go by, is likely a reference to one of the first great experimental films, The Man with a Camera by Dziga Vertov, which has a section in which the sides of the film are exposed, and the characters look outside their own frame/world at the holes running by.

• Ants crawling out of holes in Strong Sad's hands is a reference to Luis Buñuel's Un Chien Andalou ("An Andalusian Dog").
  • The "ants" are actually little The Cheats.

• The swinging light is an image found at the end of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and was also used at the end of TMBG's music video for The Guitar

• In the commentary, Strong Bad interrupts Strong Sad with the phrase "Boring Johnny and the Get Bored Crew". This is most likely a reference to the hip hop group "Doug E. Fresh And The Get Fresh Crew".

• Homestar can be found playing a game much like Space Invaders, only with presidents instead of aliens.

See Also

• The visuals that occur during the Experimental Film.

External Links

• watch "Experimental Film"
• view the Flash file for "Experimental Film"
• forum thread re: "Experimental Film"
• Download the song at theymightbegiants.com.
• This Might Be a Wiki: Experimental Film