Posts Tagged ‘Comedy’

The Awkward Date

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Dating is a strange phenomenon practiced by humans to get to know the other sex better and find out if they’re compatible. We strive to find someone to live with, I think, because nobody truly wants to be alone. This leads to many awkward situations and set ups with complete strangers. People have different expectations, and expect certain mannered behaviour.

 

The date scene is something of a dead horse beaten over and over because even if you’ve never been on a date, you can relate to the awkward situations they create. The challenge was to add a Srizzil spin to it.  My biggest concern on releasing the video is that it may be so awkward it’s difficult to watch. But for people with a sense of humour like mine, you’ll find the awkwardness of two strangers trying to find something to say to each other hilarious in itself.

 

My friend Kate had made some date videos for her youth and was keen to do a Srizzil video, I suggested we do an awkward date video together. Kate and I hashed out some random ideas and my friends Jonathan and Graham added some great laughs. Soon we had a video.

 

Thanks to some connections another friend, Jared, organised for us to film at Blockman’s Grill in Pinetown. The staff were super accommodating, and let us film for the full six hours it took to get through shooting. At literally a moments notice, more amazing friends Ross and Kirsty (she’s the waitress serving us), dropped everything and rushed over to help us film. Jin, the man with an answer to all your girl problems, was on hand to help direct and record sound while I jumped in front of the camera.

 

I think what I’m getting at here is this was an awesome collaborative effort, and I’m super grateful to all those involved. Since exams finished I’ve been dieing to shoot another video and we got it done.

 

I’m most excited to note that the sound issues should be pretty much gone and quality will continue to improve as I get used to my great new sound equipment. I also pulled out the keyboard and weird opera voices to create some background music which you can see me putting together in the Behind the Scenes video:

Granny Robber

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

From the brain boxes of Jason Du Randt and Marc Williams comes the outrageous idea that a Granny as cute as Diana Chevalier would rob someone as innocent looking as Byron Langley. Apparently, according to news reports, grannies have in fact been known to rob people. Perhaps, however, none are as flippant as ours.

 

This time we set up at the Du Randt household, thanks to the amazing hospitality of the family, we took over their entrance way for a good few hours and got to work. Yet again Byron Langley brought his game face and we introduce the amazing Diana Chevalier. If you watch the Behind the Scenes I think you’ll easily agree that she has to be one of the coolest grannies you’ll ever meet. She’s an undiscovered gem of an actress and it was an honour to work with her. Jared Price, a new addition to the Srizzil crew, brought his beautiful granny car and gaffer skills to the shoot. And Christy Kiggan, Diana’s unofficial handler, was there to make sure everything ran smoothly.

 

After sound issues on the last video for people with dodgy laptops, I tried my utmost to make the sound better in this one. Some people may see an improvement, some may not. But trust me I tried hard to improve the sound with the software I’ve got. I hope you also notice some beautiful shots thrown into this video, if you’re an arty type I trust they made you smile.

 

For more laughs, maybe even more so than the actual video, watch the Behind the Scenes including discussions and outtakes below:

Jin: Guide to girls

Friday, November 26th, 2010

My friend from Korea is constantly going on about girls. He comments on the way they talk, the way they dress, what they do, what they don’t do and how to avoid being beaten up by them. Most of the time, the advice is bad. But every now and then he has something intelligent to say.

When Jin wanted to do a video for Srizzil we decided to put his rambling thoughts on girls into a video. His odd tips mixed with his crazy accent makes for some hysterical moments. You may need to watch this one a few times to get the full extent of what he’s saying.

Without further ado, here is a guide to girls by Jin:

Watch some outtakes from the Making of Jin: Guide to girls

Fanboys

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Review

Fanboys follows five friends on a weird road trip across the country to break into the Skywalker Ranch and watch Star Wars: Episode 1 before it comes out. This is Star Wars Nerd utopia, with an unquestionably viva nerd vibe sprinkled over the already undercooked and over expired geek fest.

Let’s be perfectly honest here, Fanboys is nothing to write home about. It’s filled with pro-geek gibberish that most people, like me, who haven’t been able to stay awake through a Star Wars movie will find little to enjoy. We’ve seen the same characters before. There’s the slacker, the two former best friends fighting, the biggest nerd of the group who can’t talk to woman and the girl who has a crush on him. It’s been overdone, overworked and as much as the team tries it’s just too difficult to turn tired jokes into fall of your chair fun.

But let’s look at it from a casual movie goer perspective. It’s not going to be the best movie you’ve seen but it’s certainly not the worst. If there’s nothing better to watch at the movies this weekend Fanboys will provide a few light laughs and may even make you feel better about yourself in some weird way.

4/10

Marley and Me

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Review

Dog’s are arguably one of God’s greatest physical gifts to man kind. Those that have them know that no matter how much trouble they are they love you unconditionally. They don’t care if you’re rich or poor, smart or dumb, ugly or beautiful; you’re always the best thing in their eyes. This is the surface message of Marley and Me, but there’s so much more.

Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson star in a movie that will be adored by dog lovers everywhere. Successfully mixing comedy and drama in a two hour heart warming storing that’s deeper than you might expect. Great acting and brilliant direction gives this it a depth and uncompromising honesty. If you walk out this movie with dry eyes you probably don’t have a heart.

The chemistry between Aniston and Wilson is believable and entertaining but the real star of the film is Marley, affectionately labelled the worst dog in the world by his owners. The dog manages to cause every kind of trouble as this family goes through the ups and downs of life. Wilson’s character struggles between his wife, his kids, his work and his over active dog, thus creating a wonderful commentary on the juggle of work and home.

The movie isn’t perfect, at times opportunities for extreme laughter or heart wrenching moments are missed, but overall the movie is difficult not to love.