DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

EVERYTHING YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT MR BIFFO'S FOUND FOOTAGE

11/9/2017

45 Comments

 
Destiny 2 can wait, because today I am obviously going to be writing about Mr Biffo's Found Footage instead. I mean, I've been working on the ruddy thing for almost a year, so you can indulge me on this. 

​Here's a breakdown of Episode 1: Dream Drawings, full of trivia from the making of the episode.

We're going to have a special Found Footage Friday Letters Page this week. Please send your thoughts on the ep, your questions, and theories to: digitiser2000@gmail.com

WARNING: Do not read unless you've watched Mr Biffo's Found Footage - Dream Drawings.
THE INTRO SCROLL
Picture
Car boot sales are kind of depressing aren't they? People getting up at 6am to stand in the cold and wet to sell their possessions in order to make a few quid. In the past, I used to sell stuff at car boot sales quite frequently. Mainly, in fact, when I was writing Digi and would get sent games to review; they were always guaranteed sellers. Also: video tapes. 

After filming the pilot sketches for last year's Digifest, I was fishing around for a concept, and was keen to avoid it being a load of random stuff with no rhyme or reason.

I wanted some sort of structure which could be messed around with - but one that could always snap back to a baseline. I'm pretty sure it was my other half who suggested that the "found footage" look WAS the format, but then I started asking "Where did it come from ? Who made it?! Why is it so weird?! Who is Goujon John?!?" 

And that was when I realised that the questions themselves were the series.

The conspiracy stuff also helps avoid comparisons to certain Adult Swim shows. I can't pretend that the editing in the original Digifest videos wasn't influenced by the likes of Tim & Eric, The Eric Andre Show, and - the ones we all owe a debt to - Wonder Showzen and Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast, but I couldn't find another way to give the material the same feel as Digitiser.

When we did Biffovision it always troubled me that it looked so "clean"; complete randomness is something that feels like it has been lost in British comedy. The Pythons, Spike Milligan and The Young Ones did it so well, but somehow modern British comedy often - to me - seems a bit self-conscious and overly curated.

In my defence, I've been writing surreal, stream-of-consciousness nonsense for decades. The lo-fi look was as much inspired by the fact that the Digi spoof ads were funnier when done in teletext graphics. Somehow, looking like an old thing made them weirder. And I also wanted reveal-o-joke pop-ups, and the best way to do that seemed to be cutting away to other stuff via glitchiness.
THE MAN OF THE HOUR
Picture
The video which started it all, really. I knew Goujon John would be popular, because the teletext spoof ad it was based on was popular. Then the performance of GJ himself just elevated it to another level. And yes - he has seen the videos, and is very much in on it all...

Incidentally, I added the intro text scroll and the original Goujon John video only last Friday. I decided I wanted a way to get people up to speed, who might not have seen the earlier episodes, so that the series - starting with this first new ep - was self-contained without needing knowledge of anything which has gone before.

It also helps to set up the mystery, and place "Mr Biffo" as a character himself, thus avoiding a bit of my discomfort that it might appear like I'm some rampant egomaniac who has to have his own name - even though that isn't my name - in the title of all the things he's made.
CASUALTY
Picture
This was filmed at the Royal Derby Hospital training facility - basically an entire hospital wing that - on the Saturday we filmed there - was entirely empty.

That's Horsenburger on the left. The Xenoxxx nurses are played by my stepdaughter Gaia and Steve's daughter Louise, while the head nurse is Tori Baker, who works at the hospital and got us access. You'll be seeing a lot more of it over the course of the series.

Who's the figure in the cape? Time will tell...
A CELEBRITY CAMEO!
Picture
Why, it's Ry MacLeod from Consolevania and VideoGaiden! I knew that I needed to do something new with Goujon John if I was going to bring him back. GamesMaster seemed like the perfect fit - given that we're all a bunch of geeks - and meant I could crowbar cameos from known people into the show relatively easily.
HELLO, YOU!
Picture
That's top YouTuber Larry Bundy Jr as the Coffee Ghoul. It won't be the only time you see him this series.

​Tea Prancer was another popular spoof ad I'd done on Digi, and seemed like a natural fit for the show. I slightly love Starboy 5,000 who - like Goujon John - was found on Fiverr.

My only real regret about the show is that it's very male and very white. The truth is, I tried really hard to find people who weren't, but nobody quite had that slight edge of weirdness that Found Footage needs. I'll try harder next time.
SCHOOL DAYS
Picture
My oldest and dearest friend Jon is the one flicking the Vs there. That's Murray "Delightful Spread" Haynes spinning the ruler, and Gregory "Pegs" Greenfield on the right. He pops up again later flicking the Vs in a lift. 

The footage was all taken from a tape we made in lunchtimes at school - around rehearsals for a ridiculous end-of-term show I'd written - and a school trip to Holland over Easter 1986. Given that The Hoon Show was the first script I ever had performed - age of 15 - and Found Footage is the latest, I liked the sense of linking them somehow. Plus... it meant that I didn't have to actually find footage from elsewhere.

Somewhat appropriately, Saturday night's launch party was held at the Harrow Arts Centre about two minutes from my old high school where a lot of this was shot.
MY PARENTS' HOUSE
Picture
My mate Anthony plays the Haireater, and that's my other half Sanya in the bed, wearing the same wig I wore in the Sexy Christmas (USA) video. And that's my actual mother's bed she's in. 

The close-up shots in the Haireater video are of my mouth, because every time Anthony tried to chew the hair he started retching. 

There are various members of mine and Anthony's families glimpsed throughout the sequence, which was filmed following the Enhance My Tarp shoot (in my dad's garage).
SAUSAGES
Picture
It's worth you putting the text in this clip through Google Translate. It won't make any more sense but, well, it's one word repeated over and over. 
PUCK ON
Picture
Puckles The Cuckold was a very, very old Digi character. It irritates me that the word "cuck" has come into popular parlance among certain unpleasants, but I wasn't going to let it stop me; I'm reclaiming the word for all good cuckolds!

This was one of the very first sequences I made for the series. I actually did the animation first as a sort of test, before I knew what it was for. Working out what Puckles was saying took a while. I even sent it to Digi's Mr Hairs and asked him to help.

He didn't have any ideas beyond Puckles starting by saying "Hello, I'm James Bond."
ALL THE JOKES
Picture
The Funtron 8 is the predecessor to the Funtron 9 that is featured in Biffovision. It's just an Easter egg really, for everyone who saw Biffovision, and a way to get Man's Daddy-type jokes into the show.

This is Yiannis Vasiliakis and Tom Webster, who crop up again over the course of the series. I was put in touch with them by Stuart Ashen. Yiannis is also in the finale as a main character.

​True fact: Tom (right) designs covers for the Big Finish range of Doctor Who audio stories.
ASPERGER'S ARE THEM
Picture
This is Jack Hanke from Asperger's Are Us (the group's Ethan Finlan also appears in this ep). These talking head clips are from a session we filmed backstage at Colchester Arts Centre. I wrote down some lines, but we just let the boys riff around them. I sort of like that they're not-quite-funny and more unsettling. 

Watch the documentary about them on Netflix. Then go and see them live if you can; they are genuinely amazing, and I hope I get to work with them again. 
Picture
Lovely Paul Gannon here, shot during our day filming at the Centre For Computing History (go and listen to Paul's manic Cheap Show Podcast).

​Our cast were very well behaved, and rarely corpsed during takes. The same cannot be said for the crew (well, Sanya and I) who ruined multiple takes with laughter. 

The robot sketch was the worst. It was the way the robot (played by Yiannis) sings "Eat your snack, don't look back - yeah!" that got me. Every. Single. Time. We had to re-record his lines afterwards because of my unprofessional nonsense.
TEAAAAAAAAAA!
Picture
And here we have the Tea Prancer again - the brilliant Chris Coltrane. For someone who mostly does political stand-up around some big topics, Chris is a ridiculous man who has the capacity for enormous silliness. He's also very kind, and sweet, and generous, and smart, and loves his video games.

​Please watch his stuff on YouTube. He's also got a FREE gig coming up with the brilliant Stuart Laws. You can get tickets here. Go along and ruin it by shouting "Teeeeeeaaaa!" at him (please don't ruin it).

True fact: originally, Stuart Ashen filmed the Tea Prancer stuff, then I realised we'd forgotten to give him any tea cups, so we had to shoot it all over again. The leotard wasn't washed inbetween. Sorry, Chris.

Chris's climactic cry of "Teeaaaaaa!" was actually recorded backwards! 

Also in this clip, not that you can tell, is me - dressed in a deeply unflattering green bodysuit, for the purposes of "special effects".

Same time next week then?
Picture
45 Comments
RichardM
11/9/2017 10:49:12 am

Loved it. Need to sit down at lunchtime and watch it all in one go - last night's viewing was disjointed because children - but really enjoyed what I saw. Think the Haireater was my favourite (after Goujon John), still humming the tune this morning.

Reply
Mr Biffo
11/9/2017 11:08:28 am

I'm happy that people seem to have different favourite things.

Reply
Paul
11/9/2017 10:52:09 am

I watched it again this morning. I hadn't noticed the people standing around slightly in/out of shot last night. Added to the creepiness of that sequence (not that it needed much more adding, to be fair).

Reply
Mr Biffo
11/9/2017 11:08:44 am

Yeah, I like that about it too...!

Reply
John Veness
11/9/2017 11:19:30 am

Part of the reason I love Visit Scotland so much is the way that the klaxon sounds all stuttery and worn out, like someone is pressing the button *really* hard. It's like you can imagine what's going on behind the scenes, when on the screen is mostly just static!

Reply
John Veness
11/9/2017 11:21:30 am

Also, the way that the same sound effect pops up just a few seconds later in Puckles the Cuckold raises an instant smile, with the tension that it's all going to kick off again.

Reply
Mr Biffo
11/9/2017 11:22:22 am

That was entirely accidental! Only notice when I watched the episode back in order. It made me very pleased.

Glyn
11/9/2017 12:12:17 pm

It was the repeated insistent nature of it, as though it couldn't stress enough how much you shouldn't do it.

No!

No!

NO!

Don't Do it!

NO!

The random timing of it also heightened anticipation.

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
11/9/2017 11:57:26 am

Great first episode. Hair eaters was truly hilariously disgusting, and I'm glad that some of my money went to making that terrible thing a reality.

Reply
Chris
11/9/2017 12:15:19 pm

"My only real regret about the show is that it's very male and very white."

I noticed that. It doesn't detract from the show, but I did keep thinking "where are all the women? Has Xenoxx locked them up or something?"

The witeness can be solved with Mr T. He can appear on the goujonlation zone and sign off by telling Goujon Jon to stop putting goujons in his bins.

"The truth is, I tried really hard to find people who weren't, but nobody quite had that slight edge of weirdness that Found Footage needs."

There are some weird women out there. Maybe try Carly Smallman or Vicki Stone on Twitter. Not sure BFF is up their street but they might be willing to do something for you (I'm thinking goujolation zone, but you never know!) for a bit of free promotion.

Reply
Mr Biffo
11/9/2017 12:31:09 pm

There's still work to be done... so I'll try. There was a far broader mix of people behind the scenes at least.

Reply
John Veness
11/9/2017 12:33:47 pm

I'd love to see more of the Swan Paint guy and Benji Coleslaw from the pilot. OK, still both male and one is white (although not British/American), but there is some diversity there!

Reply
Mr Biffo
11/9/2017 12:36:11 pm

I want more Swan Paint guy too... but he has been on holiday. Benji Coleslaw wasn't great, sadly. The only bit of his that worked was the tiny bit you saw - he originally did the whole ad, but I decided to replace him with GJ.

John Veness
11/9/2017 01:09:05 pm

Shame about Benji Coleslaw - I loved his voice.

Sam
11/9/2017 01:33:44 pm

Yes. More Swan Paint!

Matthew Long
11/9/2017 11:05:52 pm

I miss Flansy C-Bong from the pilot. Not necessarily the actor, who could be replaced, but the name. Just hearing it makes me laugh.

Bunty
11/9/2017 10:25:33 pm

I'm a weird woman, and I offered to be the Tea Prancer! But I think it's clear it was Chris's destiny to play that role.

Reply
Nick
11/9/2017 12:39:18 pm

Loved it! Really loved it. I'm sorry to have missed the screening but this brightened my Sunday no end.

Reply
Tinker's Cuss
11/9/2017 12:56:36 pm

Puckles' gob, what's going on with that? Looks like he pinched it off a Guild Navigator out of that there Dune film.

Reply
colincidence link
11/9/2017 11:43:09 pm

Biffo Mouth is an unexplainable phenomenomenomenome

Reply
THX 1139
11/9/2017 01:42:44 pm

I never knew I wanted a British Wonder Showzen until this started. It's not a straight copy, because it's taking the public information film route rather than the kids TV route, but it's making me laugh just as much.

Best bit for me was the joke robot. You're making a virtue of that budget.

Reply
Paulvw
11/9/2017 01:52:28 pm

I'm still unsettled

Reply
Biscuits the character
11/9/2017 04:29:33 pm

OK, no bullshit, no sycophancy; honest opinion incoming...

Loved it. For real. FF status: smashed it

I've never heard of Consolevania or Videogaiden but him being 'The lead singer from Judas Priest' was my second biggest laugh (after the Haribo robot) of the ep. The whole Goujmaster thing was superb. In total I reckon I laughed in double figures, which is really good for 18 minutes. It also flew by!

And was there ever any doubt Goujon John was in on the gag? Just watch him describing dry goujons again, the man's a genius. The cast in general were really enjoyable and funny all the way through. I have to wonder if Biffman still throws GJ a fiver for every appearance he makes

The pilot came on afterwards and I realized I've probably seen it 5-6 times now, and I went in again without any hesitation. The amount of movement and different ideas flying around makes it very difficult to get bored. FF is shaping up to be a great body of work, and I'm proud to share it in an attempt to make myself look cool.

Thank and congration Biffo!

Reply
John Veness
11/9/2017 04:40:42 pm

Oh yes, the Haribo thing. I loved the little recreation of the tune at the end. Do you think you'll get away with that, Paul? I'd hate for them to slap a copyright notice on you.

Reply
Mr Biffo
11/9/2017 05:11:18 pm

We DID re-record it at least. But we'll see. If needs be we'll just remove it.

John Veness
11/9/2017 05:54:36 pm

I know there are "fair use" rights for parodies, although I don't know if that's just a US thing.

CJJC
12/9/2017 03:13:45 am

If they do crunch it, we'll just do it again in the minor key.

Mrtankthreat
11/9/2017 04:55:41 pm

The sausage klaxon thing was staring to wear thin and I figured you were going for that whole thing of it being so long it stops being funny but continuing to go on so it becomes funny again, like the puking scene from Team America or a Stewart Lee bit, but then it transforms into Visit Scotland and becomes infinitely funnier. Also the music throughout is fantastic.

Reply
King of Duckhenrys
11/9/2017 05:14:59 pm

I noticed that Puckles and the Tea Prancer had the same mouth/facial design. Any significance to that?

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
11/9/2017 06:51:19 pm

The weird strap-mouth thing has appeared in basically everything Biffo's ever done. BUT WHAT IS IT? I have wondered for years, but I also fear that having the mystery removed would spoil it...

Reply
CJJC
12/9/2017 03:16:46 am

I've asked Biffo on at least two occasions, and got what I reckon was the genuine answer, but for some reason the information absolutely will not stay in my mind. It's quite amazing.

MrDrinks
11/9/2017 05:16:41 pm

The voice of the Funtron is what makes it for me, that weird mix of human and robot stating the answers/punchlines as simple fact.

Reply
Treacle
11/9/2017 06:31:13 pm

Watched again today and really enjoyed the haireater song. Given that this us the third musical interlude from Found Footage, can I look forward to more (and maybe a limited edition compilation CD)? Honourable mention to the Tea Prancer, especially the green screen floating hat and cups shenanigans. I get the feeling that the more I watch the more favourite bits will emerge.

Reply
Mr Biffo
11/9/2017 06:43:57 pm

Yes you can. In fact... there are no fewer than THREE songs in the next episode.

We'll look into making the songs available somehow.

Reply
Nikolay Yeriomin link
11/9/2017 08:15:53 pm

For some reason that episode was not as tickling for the funny bone... But it was weirdly enjoyable and inspiring. I caught myself in a desperate need to do some writing for my own web-shows just as I've finished watching it.

Said web show, "The Bucket", by the way has an "inspirational thanks" credit for a certain genius fellow named Paul Rose and there are a lot of weird coincidences with the "Found Footage". We also have someone named The Seller as a character, we also released our 2nd episode in September 2017, and prior to that we had an Unaired Pilot, a first episode and a Christmas Special, just like "Mr. Biffo's Found Footage".

Reply
Dunc
11/9/2017 08:32:23 pm

Well I probably shouldn't have watched it just before bed last night as it weirded me out (in a good way). Reminds me a little of Chris Morris's Jam! Look forward to more next Sunday.

Reply
Paul Milne
11/9/2017 08:34:37 pm

The hair-eating song was great! Very catchy and sincere.

Favourite bit (other than the sudden 'VISIT SCOTLAND') was the whole robot section. Some very good exasperated acting there. And gross robo foodnips

Reply
Nikolay Yeriomin link
11/9/2017 09:11:13 pm

"Visit Scotland" scene was indeed hilarious! It is especially hilarious if you know Russian, because gag works in that language as well. And Paul Gannon is a great actor and an overall charming fellow. Apart from CheapShow podcast he is really entertaining in "Barshens".

Reply
FatDave
11/9/2017 09:55:29 pm

I thought the tea prancer was great. I imagined you'd found him in kidderminster as you filmed in the drakelow tunnels (incidently my secondary gritting run takes me right past them) as the way he speaks reminds me of the way some of the folks in kiddy' speak with a bit of a high pitched whine mixed in with the black country farmer accent

Reply
Big eggo
12/9/2017 12:22:50 am

That was ace! You'd be ace at being a Doctor Who showrunner!

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
13/9/2017 11:53:43 am

I've said something like this somewhere before, but that's a terrible fate to wish on someone. Rusty ended up being seen as tiresome, Moffat ended up utterly loathed, and poor Chibnall is next on the chopping block the second he upsets a fanbase that pretty much only knows how to hate whoever is writing a children's sci-fi fantasy show.

Reply
Waynan The Barbarian
12/9/2017 09:09:57 am

Bizarre. Just so bizarre.

See you next week :)

Reply
Bruce Flagpole
12/9/2017 02:58:47 pm

True story.
I started watching this at work, plugging some headphones into the computer. Turns out the audio jack must be dodgy, or perhaps in on the whole thing. You see, I still got audio in both ears, and everything seemed normal - except Goujon John. Anything he said just came out as short digitised noises, but the music and other people like 'the guy from judas priest' sounded normal.
It's testament to how weird the whole thing is that I watched for about 5 minutes like this before I was convinced something was wrong rather than it being intentional! :)

Reply
John Veness
12/9/2017 03:09:39 pm

Haha!

I *thought* you were going to say that the headphone plug wasn't in but you hadn't noticed, and so sound was instead coming out loudly from speakers and so that everyone else at work heard!

Reply
Sam
12/9/2017 03:23:01 pm

I thought the same!

I watched 'The Awakening' again at lunch time and a colleague walked past during Sting's Interactive Storybook. All I heard was "EEEUUUURGHHHH"




Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ