Friday, February 12, 2010

Buster Keaton


Buster Keaton as Johnny Gray, taking on the Union Army from the front end of a moving train, in "The General" (1926).

War, twisters, the sea...
There exists no foe too grand
for The Great Stoneface.



FILMED BEFORE THE DAYS OF SPECIAL AND DIGITAL EFFECTS: Yes, he really did this.




Anything for a laugh!

Hit play to view the following:

CAMERAS WERE HAND CRANKED: The performance sequences were achieved through real-time multiple exposures by masking off areas of the lens, backing up the undeveloped film and shooting each position individually, over and over. There was no video playback, no means of checking what was being done. It was all accomplished with an impeccable sense of timing on the part of both subject and cameraman.

2 comments: