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
