blur_CrankYankers

PROJECT

CLIENT

FORMAT

Crank Yankers

Comedy Central

TV Series

 

ABOUT

 

I had the opportunity to direct several segments for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers revival. As an editor on the show myself, I utilized the experience I gained from cutting many previous sketches and brought that with me as a director. I was also given considerable freedom and trust from our showrunner to stage the scenes and add visual detail and humor to the story.

Working with puppets and the puppeteers that give them life was beyond exciting. But filming puppets brings unique challenges. First, where do you hide all the performers? Beyond the traditional raised sets, I carefully considered the placement of set dressing and props to allow the puppeteers maximum flexibility while also concealing them from the camera. Sometimes this required completely rearranging the set from the initial drawings.

When working with a pre-recorded audio track– in this case, a prank phone call– you have to consider that 'baked-in' timing when blocking the action. Without the ability to 'open up' a line of dialogue, a character's movement must be precisely choreographed to make sure the jokes land for the audience. Our puppeteers brought their own unique nuance to their performances, which further enhanced the scenes.

PROJECT

Crank Yankers

CLIENT

Comedy Central

FORMAT

TV Series

ABOUT

I had the opportunity to direct several segments for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers revival. As an editor on the show myself, I utilized the experience I gained from cutting many previous sketches and brought that with me as a director. I was also given considerable freedom and trust from our showrunner to stage the scenes and add visual detail and humor to the story.

Working with puppets and the puppeteers that give them life was beyond exciting. But filming puppets brings unique challenges. First, where do you hide all the performers? Beyond the traditional raised sets, I carefully considered the placement of set dressing and props to allow the puppeteers maximum flexibility while also concealing them from the camera. Sometimes this required completely rearranging the set from the initial drawings.

When working with a pre-recorded audio track– in this case, a prank phone call– you have to consider that 'baked-in' timing when blocking the action. Without the ability to 'open up' a line of dialogue, a character's movement must be precisely choreographed to make sure the jokes land for the audience. Our puppeteers brought their own unique nuance to their performances, which further enhanced the scenes.

STILLS

Crank Yankers

STILLS

Crank Yankers

Kevin Nealon prank calls a flower shop in a sketch directed by Todd Bishop for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers
Bobby Fletcher (Jim Florentine) prank calls a debt collector in a sketch directed by Todd Bishop for Crank Yankers
Female debt collector answers the phone on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers
Female debt collector talks to Bobby Fletcher from a scene from Crank Yankers directed by Todd Bishop
Kevin Nealon taunts his cubicle mate Randal on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers directed by Todd Bishop
Bobby Fletcher looks out the window on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers in a call directed by Todd Bishop
Linda the debt consolidating goat from a scene directed by Todd Bishop for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers
Bobby Fletcher gets a visit from his bookie in a scene from Comedy Central's Crank Yankers directed by Todd Bishop
Kevin Nealon's puppet prank calls a flower shop in a scene for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers directed by Todd Bishop
A flower shop worker answers a call from Kevin Nealon in a sketch directed by Todd Bishop for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers
Spoonie Love (Tracy Morgan) visits a flower shop in a Crank Yankers scene directed by Todd Bishop
A female debt collector answers a prank call in a scene directed by Todd Bishop for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers
An angry flower stomps into a flower shop on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers
Kevin Nealon's puppet gets hot coffee poured on him in a sketch directed by Todd Bishop for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers
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