Blooper Reels

[AntoniaTiger]

This is supposed to be a TV show, right.

And Hollywood has been doing blooper reels  for a long, long, while.

Else-forum, in a post about emergency rations for the betas, I mentioned MREs as something that some characters would know about. And, thinking about how they're packed, and the contents, and the need to get food in a hurry, the idea of a blooper reel came to mind.

In a way, it's very alternate universe, which is arguably fanfic territory. Instead of Chaz, ravenous, you have an actor ripping open the poich of some cold, rather goopy, food, and trying to eat it enthusiastically, and then one of the other actors starts giggling, and the director shouts "Cut!".

And there's the makeup and costume people trying to clean up any spillage as the scene gets reset.

This is so breaking the fourth wall.

Of course, some of the ideas could go either way. Imagine Chaz doing one of the Dirty Harry routines, the one about not remembering how many bullets he's fired. And the howls of disbelief from the others at the thought of Chaz not counting things.

[Elizabeth Bear]

Any blooper reel would definitely have to include Beto getting hit in the face with the frog. *g*

And there's something else upcoming that we know at least made it into the actors' DVD commentary. ;-)

If you look under "Meta" you will see that there's a "Shadow Unit: The TV Show" thread. I think what I shall do it make a board just for talking about that.

Inventing blooper reels sounds like a *lot* of fun.

[BruceCohenPDX]

AntoniaTiger,  for some reason your blooper makes me think about the old indigestion aid ad where the actor has to eat the spaghetti and meatballs for take after take, and, after groaning and having to take some of the nostrum they're selling, ends up flubbing the line by saying, "Speecy, spicey, meatball!".

Oh, and obpedantic: MREs are not bad at all*, most of the meals** are designed to be reheated.  Not great food, but a lot better than what most people carry in their packs for a few days' hiking.

* Believe me, I once had a meal from WW!! surplus C rations, and they were *nasty*.
**  they're packaged as whole meals with multiple courses, hence the name

[BruceCohenPDX]

You could get a great blooper take out of everybody cramming into the "briefing closet" in a tense opening scene, only to have it prove just a little too small: one of the cardboard walls gets pushed out and falls down, revealing the sound man and a very startled 2nd AD.

[Elizabeth Bear]

Oh, and obpedantic: MREs are not bad at all*, most of the meals** are designed to be reheated.  Not great food, but a lot better than what most people carry in their packs for a few days' hiking.

If you don't mind the Distinct Chemical Aftertaste they're sort of fine. If you're nota picky eater. (Dunno about other services, but the regular Army (what travels on its stomach) refers to them as "Meals Rejected By Everyone.") But they're honestly no worse than Chef Boy R Dee.

...actually, I kind of like the graham crackers.

(swampyankee4u, on this board, is a RL friend of mine, and she once showed me how to make Ranger Cookies. Oh, the entertainment value!)

[BruceCohenPDX]

If you don't mind the Distinct Chemical Aftertaste they're sort of fine. If you're nota picky eater. (Dunno about other services, but the regular Army (what travels on its stomach) refers to them as "Meals Rejected By Everyone.") But they're honestly no worse than Chef Boy R Dee.

...actually, I kind of like the graham crackers.

(swampyankee4u, on this board, is a RL friend of mine, and she once showed me how to make Ranger Cookies. Oh, the entertainment value!)

The actual Army name is somewhat rougher than that, it's "Meals Ready to Excrete".  That's mostly just the soldiers right to bitch being exercised in its most poetic (?) form; my son, the ex-reservist, who told me about that name, also said he and his buddies thought they weren't too bad.  And, as I say, it used to be a lot worse.

[lunarsara]

If you don't mind the Distinct Chemical Aftertaste they're sort of fine.

I never noticed that, but the last time I ate an MRE I was still a smoker so make of that what you will.

Not great food, but a lot better than what most people carry in their packs for a few days' hiking.

I donno... I've been known to skip hot food in favor of gorp.  Granted, my gorp usually has cashews and pecans and dried Michigan cherries and dried blueberries and sometimes M&Ms and whatever else looks good along with the standard raisins and peanuts.  I guess it's gourmet gorp.  nomnom! 

[MadGastronomer]

In a moment of synchronicity, I stumbled across this Salt Lake City Tribune article, in which top Utah chefs rated MREs.
I was amused.

[Emma Bull]

All Shadow Unit BBS topics will sooner or later arrive at food.

[MadGastronomer]

All Shadow Unit BBS topics will sooner or later arrive at food.

MWHAHAHAHA!  Infectious food-meme!

[AntoniaTiger]

All Shadow Unit BBS topics will sooner or later arrive at food.

{looks over shoulder}

Hafi, go put the bread buns in the oven.

Thanks.

[rekre8]

The MRE problem, it seems to me, is the sameness.  I believe the packs are delivered in cases rather randomly, so it's up in the air if you will get 14 assorted meals or 14 servings of chicken ala king for a 2 week deploy.  A single MRE isn't bad (I like the beef stew).  However, do you want to eat the same thing over and over and over and over . . . .

[Emma Bull]

My favorite outtake from the Season One blooper reel so far is when Brady comes into the warehouse, gun drawn, and the cast and crew burst into (to the tune of the Aerosmith song), "Brady's got a gun, / Gamma's on the run." And Greg Collier, playing Brady, staggers, sits on the floor, covers his face, and yells, "You ALL SUCK!"

[MadGastronomer]

My favorite outtake from the Season One blooper reel so far is when Brady comes into the warehouse, gun drawn, and the cast and crew burst into (to the tune of the Aerosmith song), "Brady's got a gun, / Gamma's on the run." And Greg Collier, playing Brady, staggers, sits on the floor, covers his face, and yells, "You ALL SUCK!"

*dies laughing*

[Elizabeth Bear]

My favorite is the take where Chewie bailed out of the chopper without making sure her harness was unfastened, first....