Fish Eye Lens

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Revision as of 19:22, 4 October 2014

"Things are about to get bulbous!"

After five years, Strong Bad and Coach Z give the pyorple what they want!

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Coach Z, Homestar Runner, The Barbershop Trio (Easter egg), Old-Timey Strong Bad (Easter egg), The Cheat (Easter egg)

Date: Friday, October 3, 2014

Running Time: 3:20

Page Title: Things are about to get...

Transcript

{The basement is dark. Strong Bad is asleep, half on the couch. Coach Z pops up from behind the couch.}

COACH Z: {whispering loudly} Strong Bad! Strong Bad, wake up!

STRONG BAD: {mumbling} ...Blackthorne... {more mumbling}

COACH Z: The people need your help!

STRONG BAD: {suddenly awake and upright} Wait, the who?

COACH Z: I mean the pyorple!--

STRONG BAD: There you go!

COACH Z: --They need your help! It's been too long since they had a number one jam. They been scrapin' dope rhymes up off the kitchen floor, just to survive!

{Music starts playing.}

STRONG BAD: {increasingly complaining tone of voice} Another number one jam? All right, I'll do it. ...For the pyorple. {jumps off the couch onto the floor}

{transition into Powered by The Cheat}

STRONG BAD: Woke up this mornin' in a rap song video
COACH Z: Can ya help me with my hip hop ditty-o?
STRONG BAD: Well, Coach Z, that all depends
Can ya get ya green mittens on a fisheye lens?

{A synth bass plays two notes}

COACH Z: I'm sorry, did you just say, "Waughmp waughmp"?

STRONG BAD: That's right! {smiling} And you know what that means:

COACH Z: I don't!--

STRONG BAD: Things are about to get... bulbous.

TOGETHER: Waughmp waughmp!
I want a fisheye lens
And make a rap video
With a couple of friends
It goes, waughmp waughmp!
All the ladies and mens
They know everything is better
With a fisheye lens

COACH Z: Hey, that chorus wasn't kidding! Check out how cool my rap points look!

STRONG BAD: With a fisheye lens, you don't need to know how to rap, or skateboard, or do anything well!

Just put the camera on the ground
And aim it up
COACH Z: My kicks look huge
And my crew looks tough
STRONG BAD: We got bulbous hands
COACH Z: And bulbous feet
STRONG BAD: Turn your back to the camera
TOGETHER: Shake those bulbous cheeks!

COACH Z: Aw, look at that! I've got a considerable rear shelf!

STRONG BAD: That makes me uncomfortable!

TOGETHER: Waughmp waughmp!
I want a fisheye lens
And make a rap video
With a couple of friends
It goes, waughmp waughmp!
All the ladies and mens
They know everything is better
With a fisheye lens

COACH Z: And once you use the fisheye
Well, you just can't stap
It used to be kind of expensive
But then the price draeerrrrrrped

STRONG BAD: {shouting, words overlap each other} I jumped in slow motion
Off the curb
Without a skateboard
That should look absurd
But with my fisheye lens
Hey, haven't ya heard?
I got the moves so smooth
Make ya mom say:

YOUR MOM: Those are some exceptionally smooth moves!

STRONG BAD: Coach Z!
COACH Z: SB!
STRONG BAD: Whatcha got for me?
COACH Z: I got the
STRONG BAD: F!
COACH Z: I!
STRONG BAD: S!
COACH Z: H!
STRONG BAD: E!
COACH Z: Y!
STRONG BAD: E! Lens!
COACH Z: Let's pretends I got ten girlfriends
And make amends in my Benz
With a fisheye lens
It goes—

TOGETHER: Waughmp waughmp!
I want a fisheye lens
And make a rap video
With a couple of friends
It goes, waughmp waughmp!
All the ladies and mens
They know everything is better
With a fisheye lens

STRONG BAD: Man, fisheye lens, I bet you could make even lame stuff look cool!

COACH Z: Yeah, yeah!

STRONG BAD: What about {singing}tax papers?

COACH Z: Oh, look at how cool those papes look!

How about a pair of tan pants!

STRONG BAD: Ooooh! Somebody say country dish towels!
AUDIENCE and COACH Z: Country dish towels!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Ahem! I have an idea
Of what we could try
What happens if you point it
At a real fish eye?

{Homestar points the lens at a real fish. Using software menus, the animator applies a twirl effect. The scene spins as if down the drain. Back in normal styles, Strong Bad, Coach Z, and Homestar appear in the basement dressed in old-timey Dixieland jazz band outfits. Strong Bad has a trumpet with plunger mute. Coach Z has a banjo. Homestar is holding a fishbowl with a dead fish floating in it. An SLR camera with a fisheye lens is submerged in the bowl. The music finishes in an old-timey flourish.}

STRONG BAD: Aw, man!

COACH Z: Aw, dag! What happened to the honeys?

STRONG BAD: Bring back the fisheye! Homestar, you broke our rap song video!

COACH Z: You turned us into a Dixieland {drawn out}jazz band!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Why y'all gotta be dissin' on Dixieland? I think it's great! It's got several syncopations. {singing, brandishing his hat, and kicking his legs} Several syncopations—

STRONG BAD: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww! COACH Z: {simultaneously} Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeehhorrrrrp!

{Strong Bad and Coach Z throw their arms up and exit.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {continued} —Several syncopations! Several syncopations tonight!

{Closeup on the fish bowl with a "waughmp waughmp" sound effect. The word "eND" appears over the fisheye lens.}

Easter Eggs

• Click on the "D" in "eND":

ONE OF THE BARBERSHOP TRIO: Several syncopations tonight!

{The rest of the trio appears behind him.}

THE OTHER TWO IN THE TRIO: {overlapping} Several syncopations tonight!

{Whip-pan to Old-Timey Strong Bad. He has an old-timey movie camera with a fish roped to it. As he says "Waughmp waughmp", the word appears on top of him.}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Waughmp waughmp, I say! Waughmp waughmp! Everything is better with this pescatary occulation!

• Click on the dead fish:

{Strong Bad and The Cheat are sitting at Monosodium Dreams. The twirl effect is still visible on the screen.}

STRONG BAD: The Cheat! That was incredible!

{He begins babbling as if at a loss for words. He keeps babbling in rhythm. The Cheat pulls out his keyboard and drops a beat in time with the babbling. The rave lights come on.}

STRONG BAD: {overlapping himself} I'm buying you a pizzzzzza!

{The music stops as he says "pizzzzzza". A pizza falls from the ceiling and covers their heads. The Cheat makes a "da-ta-da!" noise.}

STRONG BAD: Whoa! Guess I can conjure ceiling pizzas now.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image.
• A Benz is a Mercedes-Benz automobile.
• Syncopation is a musical term that means accenting beats which are normally not accented. It was commonly used to describe early jazz and ragtime music.

Remarks

• This toon has no "back" button.
• This is the first non-holiday themed toon released since videography, released October 5, 2009—just two days shy of five years apart.

Goofs

• The sound of record pops and hiss from the Old-Timey Easter egg can still be heard at the beginning of the Easter egg in front of Monosodium Dreams.

Inside References

Everything is better with a fisheye lens!

• The profile picture of the @StrongBadActual Twitter account was taken with a fisheye lens.
• This is an instance of Couch Mumbling.
• Coach Z sometimes pronounces "video" as "videro".
• When the fisheye lens is pointed at the real fish eye and the twirl effect is applied, one of the items in the software menu is "paint daubz".
• The Easter egg with Strong Bad and The Cheat at The Cheat's computer is a callback to the ending of Everybody to the Limit.
• The fish eye effect used in this toon is similar to one used in Rap Song.

Real-World References

• Blackthorne is a video game for the Super Nintendo, making its reference here an example of Couch Mumbling.
• This toon is heavily influenced by the Beastie Boys. Many of their music videos and publicity photos were shot using fisheye lenses. The music video for their song Hold It Now, Hit It was the first to be shot entirely using a fisheye lens.

See Also

• The visuals for this video

External Links

• watch "Fish Eye Lens" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "Fish Eye Lens"
• watch "Fish Eye Lens" on YouTube
• forum thread re: "Fish Eye Lens"