B:
ROX #23 may have been largely improvised, but ROX #24 was the only show in the whole series that was entirely scripted.
For the most part, we don't use scripts at all. If it sounds like we're just making this up as we go along, that's becuz we are.
But for “A Badly Dubbed Foreign Film,” we came up with a different concept. While J and I sat in front of the camera, TBlack and Eric White sat behind the camera and read our lines for us.
We tried to mouth along to the words. Of course we were way, way off. Our lips didn't match the words at all. This made it appear as if we were in a badly dubbed foreign film. Thus, the title.
I wrote the script, so J had absolutely no idea what was coming next.
This entire episode was shot in one evening at Mr. G's apartment. Mr. G also worked the camera. In fact, he's presented here as Camera Operator A. We didn't call him Mr. G until he started teaching.
The lighting is uniformly atrocious throughout. Eric brought some clip-on incandescent lights, but nevertheless the whole program is dim, grainy and yellow — exactly the effect we were going for.
Even though we never left the apartment, we did feature three short “foreign films” to break up the monotony. (I use scare quotes because these films were neither foreign nor, technically, films — Two were shot on video.)
The featured pieces are:
1. Pledge: This is a short video from my first full length TV show, aptly entitled “Video Shorts.”
2. Seasons in the Sun: Actually shot on film! Which means I didn't have anything to do with the production. Except, wait, yes, I was in it, playing an evil homoerotic stoner. The film also features Samuel Womelsdorf and Dara Cox. This was a student project which was written and directed by Scott Fredette, shot by Nick Litwinko, and edited by Wendy Fenster.
3. J&B's Video Erotica: Actually that's the title we gave to this unnamed piece. It came from some folks down in Lexington, KY — the same people who brought you “Disturbed Monkey Love.” It is notable in part becuz this segment did not gain the approval of the Monroe County Public Library Board of Censors. Apparently they couldn't tell a fake dick when they saw one. We thought it was pretty obvious, especially when... but I don't want to spoil the surprise.
