Blooper Reel
| Related terms: | blooper tape, blooper video |
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A blooper is a mistake in filming, a misspoken word, a set mishap, a wardrobe malfunction, a continuity error, and/or deliberate clowning around by actors and production staff.
The collection of these bloopers, first on movie film, and later in other forms such as VCR tapes, is called a blooper reel or a blooper tape, or sometimes just, bloopers.
Changes in Blooper Reels
The original fandom bloopers such as Star Trek Blooper Reels were originally compiled only for the amusement of the show’s stars and creators (and later used for promotion and entertainment at conventions).
Later bloopers, such as those for The Sentinel and X-Files were very likely were a product of the "observer effect." This meant that the creators of these bloopers were aware that they were interacting with the system and the content was included or altered because of it.
Third wave bloopers, as it were, are not bloopers at all, but self-aware "mistakes" or winks to the audience that are created simply as entertainment. These "bloopers" are sometimes included at the end of a film as Easter Eggs during the credits.
The Star Trek Blooper Reel
View the original blooper reels here [1]
The first blooper film was the Star Trek blooper reel and was originally compiled for the amusement of the show’s stars and creators. It contained some humorous outtakes from the filming of the series that were created by the production crew after each season. Later when Gene Roddenberry saw the value, financial and otherwise, of appearing at conventions, he brought the blooper reel, along with episodes on film, to show to fans.
For more, see Star Trek Blooper Reels.
Blooper Tapes and Other Fandoms
- According to an article in Southern Enclave in 1984, there was a Raiders of the Lost Ark blooper reel shown at the 42nd WorldCon.
- a 1988 zine has a con report for Closet Con and a fan writes of watching "a showing of Starsky & Hutch bloopers" [2]
- Sandy Herrold remembers Escapade 1995: "The vid room went to Open Video this year, and got a real work out. I showed Megan's Starsky and Hutch blooper tape to a few people, who then showed it to a few more...It must have been played 20 times during the weekend. They also had the B7 and Red Dwarf blooper reels..." [3]
- see X-Files Bloopers
- The Sentinel has a particularly famous blooper reel, which was also distributed via fannish tape circle. These bloopers featured not only many hilarious outtakes by all cast members, but was particularly known for its slashy vibe. The two main actors near-kissed and flirted a lot, often breaking up laughing during the show's homoerotic scenes or making the show's subtext into text. For instance, in one notable outtake from "Dead Drop," in which Blair and others are trapped in a sabotaged elevator, Richard Burgi abandons his script to ask, "Blair, honey? Is that you? I don't care about the others, let them all die, crushed like little ants, but are 'you' okay?" [4]
- And from the first WOAD Society tape: “The concept of Highlander bloopers to kazoos was irresistible and seemed like a good way spend my time waiting for results from the 2000 presidential elections.” [5]
Bloopers as a Source Material
In the Highlander fandom:
The blooper reels also gave credence to a possible relationship between Methos and Amanda. In a later short film, Reunion, Methos and Amanda state explicitly that they have never had a romantic relationship, but that film is not necessarily considered canon.[6]
In 2004, Sandy Herrold moderated a panel at Vividcon. The panel description:
Once upon a time, there was an unwritten rule that fannish vids must only use source from the show. is this still true? When does it work to use deleted scenes from DVDs, bloopers, home-shot footage, clips from other shows, animated sequences, and other "out of bounds" footage? When does it cause cognitive dissonance in the viewer? the use of voiceovers has grown in recent years, as has the use of audio from our source shows, while credit sequences and added text have become a form of creative expression and vidder commentary. When do these "extras" work to help a vid? When don't they? (follows the Breaking the Rules vidshow).[7]
Blooper Tapes As Victims of Permissions and Personal Embarrassment
A fan in 1995 writes that she'd love to see a specific collection of bloopers: "To celebrate 30 years of ST, how about a video of bloopers from all the series and films? I'm sure non-fans would love it as well" is discouraged." - The response: "Bloopers are not distributed anymore since permission would be required of everyone in the film, and that would include any actors in the background. Getting all those permission is considered too complex." [8]
In 1988, a Beauty and the Beast fan asked one of the show's actors about a blooper tape and was told: "Oh, there's lots of good out-takes. I'm hoping that some day Witt Thomas will sell some of these out-takes to Bleepers and Bloopers because I think they're worth seeing. But a lot of producers don't for some reason, and I don't know the reason behind that. But some producers do not like to sell to that show. And it not just that show, it's any of those kinds of shows with that format, because some actors find it very embarrassing." [9]
Examples of Blooper Tapes
- the original Star Trek blooper reels are here
- other examples?
References
- ^ [1], Star Trek Prop Authority, accessed 9.7.2011
- ^ from On the Double #9
- ^ Escapade/Escapade_1995, in a con report posted to Virgule-L
- ^ See Sentinel Bloopers on Youtube, clip posted by rodneyscat. (Accessed 15 August 2009)
- ^ The WOAD Society: Dramatic License
- ^ Highlander page at Fanlore
- ^ Vividcon 2004
- ^ both comments from Multi-Species Medicine #18
- ^ from Beauty and The Beast: The Newsletter #4