Evil Enters the Kitchen
March 8, 2012 11:16 AM Subscribe
I'm working on a project featuring actors and actresses playing the role of the villain and I need some help.
It will be shot for both print and broadcast. Minimal props and a simple white background. The finished product will ideally look something like this.
There is a twist. Each scenario will be presented as though the actor is committing some act of evil, whether strangling a helpless victim or poisoning someone's soup. But it only appears that way. For example, shooting from behind we see a man violently and repeatedly bringing a bloody hammer over his head and smashing it downward. And then we throw in a caption like: "Boris Karloff in his kitchen at home tenderizing a steak." The classic misdirect.
So I have at least six or seven actors and just one solid idea so far (see above). Anyone feeling inspired out there?
It will be shot for both print and broadcast. Minimal props and a simple white background. The finished product will ideally look something like this.
There is a twist. Each scenario will be presented as though the actor is committing some act of evil, whether strangling a helpless victim or poisoning someone's soup. But it only appears that way. For example, shooting from behind we see a man violently and repeatedly bringing a bloody hammer over his head and smashing it downward. And then we throw in a caption like: "Boris Karloff in his kitchen at home tenderizing a steak." The classic misdirect.
So I have at least six or seven actors and just one solid idea so far (see above). Anyone feeling inspired out there?
One of those Snidely Whiplash types apparently tying a woman to the train tracks, but he's really a Pilates instructor.
posted by xingcat at 11:20 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by xingcat at 11:20 AM on March 8, 2012
Best answer: Someone apparently strangling someone else from behind, but they are really just helping them tie a necktie.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:22 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Rock Steady at 11:22 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Someone seeing a shadowy figure through a window shade raising a butcher knife and lowering it repeatedly in a stabbing motion. In reality it's Joan Crawford or whomever ripping the upholstery on an old feather-stuffed living room chair.
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:41 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:41 AM on March 8, 2012
Response by poster: And xingcat, thank you, that's headed in the right direction but the deal with this project are that all these actors and actresses are playing themselves. And they are all pretty well-known, especially for past roles as villains. And so this is just them being themselves, only with an evil atmosphere surrounding their otherwise mundane actions in the garden, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, etc.
posted by mister nice at 11:44 AM on March 8, 2012
posted by mister nice at 11:44 AM on March 8, 2012
Reese Witherspoon is shown in silhouette repeatedly stabbing a knife towards someone but as the lighting changes it becomes obvious that she is merely explaining a joke.
posted by bondcliff at 11:53 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by bondcliff at 11:53 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
A silhouetted actor pounding his/her fists downward, only to be revealed as over-enthusiastic bread-kneading.
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:59 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:59 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
This might be tricky to do in print, but Tony Sirico brandishes a gun at a person who appears to be reaching for a shoulder holster. The other person pulls out a pack of cigarettes from an inside jacket pocket, and Paulie Walnuts pulls the trigger to reveal that the gun is a novelty lighter.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:14 PM on March 8, 2012
posted by Rock Steady at 12:14 PM on March 8, 2012
Best answer: violent shoulder actions over another person who is head-down in a sink or bathtub.... red trickle down the drain... but our protagonist is just helping a friend dye their hair red
rhythmic shoveling noise, disgusted look, mysterious cry.... but our protagonist is just scooping the cat litter
roomful of lit screens with apparent surveillance video, mastermind checking in on control screens, issuing sinister commands like "scrub them out" etc.... but our protagonist is just talking to household cleaning staff thru in-house camera/intercom
giant eyes with frenzied precise chopping and slicing.... our protagonist is cutting tiny decorative food sculptures, or arranging flowers etc
a figure with its back to us, on a bridge - our protagonist suddenly shoves the figure off.... but it turns out they are bungee jumping partners
rainy night and a figure is roughly stuffing a large covered bundle into the trunk of a car... but then a child's voice, and we see that dad is putting a large sized carnival-prize stuffed animal into the trunk.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:56 PM on March 8, 2012 [4 favorites]
rhythmic shoveling noise, disgusted look, mysterious cry.... but our protagonist is just scooping the cat litter
roomful of lit screens with apparent surveillance video, mastermind checking in on control screens, issuing sinister commands like "scrub them out" etc.... but our protagonist is just talking to household cleaning staff thru in-house camera/intercom
giant eyes with frenzied precise chopping and slicing.... our protagonist is cutting tiny decorative food sculptures, or arranging flowers etc
a figure with its back to us, on a bridge - our protagonist suddenly shoves the figure off.... but it turns out they are bungee jumping partners
rainy night and a figure is roughly stuffing a large covered bundle into the trunk of a car... but then a child's voice, and we see that dad is putting a large sized carnival-prize stuffed animal into the trunk.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:56 PM on March 8, 2012 [4 favorites]
I'm pretty sure my 4-year-old thinks I'm murdering her when I brush her long hair, judging from her screams.
Other questionable-looking things I have done lately:
* Lit the fuse on a bomb....before throwing it (the smoke bomb) down a groundhog hole
* Removed the grisly entrails...of a turkey
* Viciously attacked bushes with sharp loppers
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:36 PM on March 8, 2012
Other questionable-looking things I have done lately:
* Lit the fuse on a bomb....before throwing it (the smoke bomb) down a groundhog hole
* Removed the grisly entrails...of a turkey
* Viciously attacked bushes with sharp loppers
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:36 PM on March 8, 2012
You mention "poisoning someone's soup" as an example above. Could that be the mistaken interpretation of someone sneaking medicine into a child's soup because it tastes too awful to get them to take it straight?
posted by tkolstee at 1:30 PM on March 9, 2012
posted by tkolstee at 1:30 PM on March 9, 2012
Or subbing low-sodium "salt" for regular salt, to watch dear old dad's blood pressure.
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:56 PM on March 9, 2012
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:56 PM on March 9, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:18 AM on March 8, 2012