Men in blackthe ultimate sci-fi comedy
In 1997, Barry Sonnenfeld made a model of the sci-fi comedy genre, Men in black. In this hilarious comedy, we follow two agents of the secret organization “Men in Black” (MIB), an organization in charge of regulating the presence of extraterrestrials on earth and keeping this presence ignored by the population. To do this, they have very advanced technologies, including a device that allows it clear direct memory human witnesses of events involving extraterrestrials.
The two agents, a veteran played by Tommy Lee Jones, “Agent K”, and a more extravagant young man played by Will Smith, “Agent J”, will have to learn to work together and protect the Earth from a giant cockroach-like alien…
Critical and financial success, Men in black paves the way for three sequels, of decreasing quality, despite the presence of the acting duo for Men in black 2 AND Men in black 3. A drop in quality that can be explained by the peaks reached by the first film. Because in addition to the great artistic direction of Men in blackfrom his music composed by Danny Elfman and song by Will Smith, its comedy mechanics work beautifully.
And to do that, Barry Sonnenfeld framed and edited certain sequences in a specific way, using practical effects as much as possible. Example with one of the cult sequences of the film: give birth to an alien in the car.
Two different actions in one frame
In this sequence, which in the story takes place during “J”‘s first day as an agent of the “Men in Black”, they intercept Redgick, an alien who has assumed human form and takes his wife, about to give birth in the hospital. She will then give birth in the backseat of the car to an alien with tentacles. A birth that “J” will manage as best he can.
In an interview granted to the DGA (Directors Guild of America), Barry Sonnenfeld explains how he built this sequence to be such a comic success. So he chose to use static shots and “tracking shots” (camera moves) instead of “pan strokes” (the camera rotates horizontally), so that the viewer feels closer to the characters. Most importantly, for the passage where “J” is swung in all directions by the alien’s tentacles, let this action in the background to soberly close-up filming a very realistic interrogation of Redgick by “K”.
What makes this scene so funny is that in the foreground we learn important information – given head-on, totally in the NYPD log, but in the background the craziest and most surreal thing happens: Will Smith gets jostled by an alien. We filmed Tommy Lee Jones and Patrick Breen in New Jersey, and Will Smith in a green screen studio in New York. The challenge was that by making a single shot, without a cutaway, you couldn’t play with the rhythm during editing. (…) I think editing is the enemy of comedy, and nothing is worse than close-ups.
So here are two shots in one, two different actions taking place the same frame and it is this which gives all its comic strength to the sequence. To top it off with a practical effect that disgusted Will Smith.
“Here, Will isn’t playing, it’s just Will Smith and he’s disgusted”
All moved by the big-eyed alien baby, “J” gasps before getting a squirt of vomit in his face. As Barry Sonnenfeld points out, there is no CGI in these plans, since two puppets were built to represent the alien, equipped with a tube to propel liquid. A practical effect which disgusted the actor, and of which he is therefore the reaction perfectly authentic.
It’s real, no CGI, so Will had to hold the baby’s head at a specific angle. We can’t see it, but the puppet’s tether is hidden behind Will’s back and the liquid is actually squirting out. There’s this thing about Will: Will hates getting dirty. He hates having slime on him so well, Will isn’t playing, he’s just Will Smith and he’s sick of it.
Source: Cine Serie
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