# Identify this weird short film...

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 25, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565 "2003-10-25T22:29:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/1 "2003-10-25T22:29:00Z")

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I don’t remember a great deal about this short film I saw, but I remember finding it entertaining.

The action consisted of a group of people in an apartment (not their own apartment, I think they had broken in or something), moving to a room, then calmly playing a weird sort of percussion music with the objects they found there (leaving the room in a total mess with items broken and spilt) - after a while, one of the group would check the time, signal the others and the playing would abruptly stop, whereupon they would move to another room and start again using different objects.  
There was no spoken dialogue. There was little or no facial expression.

I’m pretty sure I’ve also seen a car commercial based on the same idea, but it’s the name of the original short film I’m after.

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### Author: ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/2 "2003-10-25T22:38:45Z")

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This sounds like something John Cage-ian. Percussion, random sounds with objects, rigorous timing w/ performers running around with stopwatches…

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### Author: ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/3 "2003-10-25T23:31:39Z")

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This sounds like something John Cage-ian. Percussion, random sounds with objects, rigorous timing w/ performers running around with stopwatches…

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### Author: ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/4 "2003-10-26T01:04:45Z")

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This sounds like something John Cage-ian. Percussion, random sounds with objects, rigorous timing w/ performers running around with stop watches and 1920’s style “Death Rays”…

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### Author: ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/5 "2003-10-26T02:00:25Z")

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Might the answer to [this question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=191901), then, also be John Cage-ian? If so, I burn with the anger of a dozen 1920’s SDRs, since I didn’t get a single MFing response.

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### Author: ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/6 "2003-10-26T03:00:06Z")

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Perhaps a minor work of Samuel Beckett or one influenced by him, you’ll have to give us more to go on. Probably not Cage, if there’s no percussion…or death rays.

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### Author: ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/7 "2003-10-26T16:22:28Z")

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Dammit, I’ve seen this short too but I don’t remember where or anything about it other than it was most odd.  
I’ve asked around a bit but just got accusations of mild mental disturbance.

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### Author: ![ekirneh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a87d85/32.png) [@ekirneh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekirneh)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/8 "2003-10-26T17:57:54Z")

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It sounds like this one: Music for one Apartment and Six Drummers.  
(I only watched the beginning of it.)

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### Author: ![ekirneh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a87d85/32.png) [@ekirneh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekirneh)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/9 "2003-10-26T18:01:55Z")

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Sorry, forgot the link: [http://www.villagefilm.com/cgi-bin/dbview.pl?catalogo.out+dbviewer.htm+120](http://www.villagefilm.com/cgi-bin/dbview.pl?catalogo.out+dbviewer.htm+120)

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### Author: ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/10 "2003-10-27T03:31:26Z")

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Well, FWIW, I think I’ve at least found my play. I think it’s “All in the Timing” by David Ives, which is a series of short vignettes.

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### Author: ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/11 "2003-10-27T08:08:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ekirneh \*  
> \*\*It sounds like this one: Music for one Apartment and Six Drummers.  
> (I only watched the beginning of it.) \*\*

Yes! That is definitely the one I was thinking of. Thanks.

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### Author: ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-short-film/209565/12 "2003-10-27T11:25:18Z")

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OK… next question… does anyone know where I can get hold of a copy of the film (ideally on DVD)?
