Errol Morris’ film “Fast,Cheap & Out of Control”(1997) is abundant in allusions, hommages and what can be seen as cinematic quoting. In this wackily interwoven sequence of b-roll, talking heads and found footage, things are presented out of their original context, taking on new meanings through the artistic practice of decontextualizing. This book takes a close look at the original sources that are integrated into the documentary: 6 works of film & animation. We take a look at the original context of these works: the year of production, their plot and what images are most commonly linked to them, be it a poster, a character, a logo, or a screenshot. This small collection shines a new light of Errol Morris’ film and, hopefully is interesting to browse and read for those, whose initial reaction to the film could have been “Fast, Cheap and Out of Context”.
contextomy [kon-teks-tuh-mee] noun 1. the practice of misquoting someone by shortening the quotation or by leaving out surrounding words or sen tences that would place the quotation in context. 2.an instance of this.
1. “King of Jungleland” — pp.3/4
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2. “Zombies of the Stratosphere” — pp.5/6
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3. ”The Deadly Mantis” — pp. 7/8
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4. “The Big Cage” — pp. 9/10
5. “Challenge of the Gobots” — pp. 11/12
6. “Gigantor” — pp. 13/14
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number of times appearing on screen
3
3/4
“King of JungleLand” (1936)
This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a Mascot Pictures serial called “The Lost Jungle”, also starring Clyde Beatty.
directed BY: B. Reeves Eason & Joseph Kane Cinematography: Edgar Lyons & William Nobles
It was intended as the second serial featuring “new hero” Commando Cody and the third 12chapter serial featuring the rocket-powered flying suit introduced in King of the Rocket Men (1949). Instead, the hero is “Larry Martin”, preventing Martian invaders from using a hydrogen bomb to blow Earth away from the Sun so that Mars can take its orbital place. In 1958 a feature film called Satan’s Satellites was made by re-editing footage from this serial. directed BY: Fred C. Brannon written BY: Ronald Davison Cinematography BY: ohn MacBurnie
5/6
“Zombies of the stratosphere” (1952)
“The Deadly Mantis� (1957)
directed BY: Nathan H. Juran written BY: William Alland, Martin Berkeley Cinematography BY: Ellis W. Carter
7/8
A 1957 science fiction film produced by William Alland for Universal-International Pictures. It was directed by Nathan Juran from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley, and starred Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, and Pat Conway. It was filmed in black and white and runs for 1 hour and 19 minutes.
9/10
“The Big Cage� (1933)
The Big Cage is a 1933 circus film released by Universal Pictures starring Clyde Beatty and Anita Page and featuring Raymond Hatton, Wallace Ford, Andy Devine and Mickey Rooney, with Walter Brennan and Louise Beavers in bit roles.
directed BY: Kurt Neumann written BY: Edward Anthony Clyde Beatty (book) Edward Anthony (screenplay) Ferdinand Reyher (screenplay) Clarence Marks (additional dialogue) Cinematography BY: George Robinson
Challenge of the GoBots is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, based on the Gobots toy-line released from Tonka. The show originally debuted in animated form as a five-part miniseries, which aired in syndication from October 29 - November 2, 1984. A regular series followed the next year, premiering on September 16, 1985 as part of the new weekday/weekend morning programming block called The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. The series was later rerun on the USA Cartoon Express.
Executive producer: William Hanna Production Company: Hanna-Barbero Hasbro Production Studios
11/12
“Challenge of the Gobots” (1984–1985)
13/14
“GIGANTOR” (1956)
An American adaptation of the anime version of Tetsujin 28-go, a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama released in 1956. It debuted on U.S. television in 1964. As with Speed Racer, the characters’ original names were altered and the original series’ violence was toned down for American viewers. The series “was resurrected, in color, as The New Adventures of Gigantor, by the Sci Fi Channel in 1993.”
CREATED BY: Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Fred Ladd
15/16
Images: “Fast, Cheap & Out of Control” (199&), Errol Morris http://www.westernclippings.com/sr/serialreport_2010_22.shtml
TEXT: Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons; Dictionary.com Imdb.com;
19/20
Polina Godz Making Meaning, 2014 Ben Shaykin RISD GD
Printed on: Neenah Classic Crest Antique Grey Typeface: TSTAR PRO