Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 November 25

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November 25

Mike Nichols

The article on Mike Nichols states that, after age 4, he lost all of his hair and he wore wigs for the rest of his life. There is a photo of Nichols to the top right of that article. In that photo, that cannot possibly be a wig, can it? That seems like his natural hair, given the hairline, the part line, etc. Am I mistaken? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:05, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

The article doesn't say that he lost _all_ his hair. Looking at other photos of him (here, for instance), he appears to have had a large bald patch on the right side of his head, and a fairly normal hairline otherwise. The photo in the article is a bit grainy and over-exposed, but he might very well be wearing a small toupee at the front centre of his head, with his natural hairline visible at the left. Tevildo (talk) 18:59, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

You're correct. The article says that "he lost his hair", not that he lost "all of his hair". I mistakenly inferred/assumed that part myself. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:47, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

"I won't let you down" umbrella syncing

OK Go's beautiful video clip to "I won't let you down" ends with about 2000 of umbrellas closing and opening to form patterns and moving text in English and Japanese. Was that done using special effects editing, or is it real? And if real, how could each of the umbrella carriers be "programmed" to open and close to form the patterns? Any reference would be great. Gil_mo (talk) 20:39, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

The article is "I Won't Let You Down", and there is a lot of information in its subsection "Video". No special effects, all filmed in one shot (though at half the speed), diligently choreographed by Japanese choreographer Airman, directed by Morihiro Harano. See "OK Go Deconstruct Their Drone-Filmed 'I Won't Let You Down' Video": 'Kulash says the dancers "were like automatons. One of [Airman's] deputies would shout something to this whole battalion of Japanese schoolgirls, and they'd run like they were in military school, and nail it every time. It was a real treat to behold." ' One of the means for precise co-ordination was to "set up enormous speakers and play the song at half-speed". The Billboard article also mentions that it took "approximately 50 to 60 tries to get it right" ---Sluzzelin talk 22:29, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, but there's no one 'command' to shout for the last scene - each umbrella girl has to do something different. The section in the article doesn't refer to that. Gil_mo (talk) 04:39, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

It would seem fairly simple to tell girl A to do one thing on the command of "one!" and girl B to do something else. Provided they remember which actions correspond to the commands, you get synchronisation. MChesterMC (talk)

It's an awesome feat of synchronisation - I watched in amazement! But not surprised that they shot it in one take (albeit after many many attempts) - their previous one-take videos are all works of visual art... gazhiley 11:42, 26 November 2014 (UTC)