Weapon of Choice

July 24, 2024 12:06 AM

St Wilfrid's Catholic School in Crawley have produced an end of year video featuring their headmaster - a faithful shot by shot remake of Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice. There's even a side-by side comparison.
posted by jontyjago (23 comments total)

It turns out that the video I was thinking of when I clicked through was DJ Shadow's Nobody Speak, which would be much harder to pull off with an after school budget.
posted by kaibutsu at 12:11 AM on July 24 [6 favorites]

This is good.
posted by Klipspringer at 12:18 AM on July 24

I’m a little disappointed they didn’t strap the guy into a harness and fly him around like Walken, but the rest of the teachers doing the dance was a nice tonal substitute. Probably a little difficult to fit into the school budget.

In the side by side you can see how Walken’s dynamism and bodily control really make a difference, his tap dance training comes through so clearly. I remember at the time thinking of the video as charming, that Walken was a weird guy who did strange roles in a lot of movies all of my film buff friends always tried to get me to watch (and I sometimes indulged, I was just as snobby as them), but Walken’s lighthearted energy and his obvious skill really took me by surprise. I imagine that the kids of this school got a similar level of wtfery watching him go from regular headmaster to surprisingly capable and willing dancing guy as I had in 2001 about Christopher Walken going from offbeat creepy white guy with unpredictable line delivery to cheerful and expressive flying soft shoe dancer.
posted by Mizu at 1:07 AM on July 24 [14 favorites]

wow, this is a delight
posted by DoctorFedora at 1:18 AM on July 24 [5 favorites]

This is such wholesome fun!
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 1:22 AM on July 24

Mr Michael Ferry is clearly one of the good ones. You can tell right away from his desk & office space.
posted by chavenet at 1:43 AM on July 24

How is this on less than ten thousands views? It is unquestionably the best of the web.

Also, as my 16yo commented, it looks like a pretty nice school.
posted by Hogshead at 2:16 AM on July 24 [4 favorites]

In the side by side you can see how Walken’s dynamism and bodily control really make a difference, his tap dance training comes through so clearly.

By contrast - for someone who didn't have that same dance training and experience, Mr. Ferry does pretty good.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:14 AM on July 24 [19 favorites]

I had 12 years of Catholic education (and it shows) but never went to a school this cool.
posted by tommasz at 4:44 AM on July 24 [3 favorites]

The stunt work here is incredible, this was very charming, and this school has a lot of funding. I'm happy for the students who get to go here.
posted by phunniemee at 4:45 AM on July 24 [2 favorites]

now invite walken to return the favor at your school.
posted by lalochezia at 4:46 AM on July 24 [1 favorite]

I love it.
posted by biogeo at 5:41 AM on July 24

I'm impressed by the quick-cuts. They did a good job faking the flips and rolls. Also, the group dancing was a good cover for the obvious lack of flying rigs by getting other people into an otherwise one-man video.

I'd only seen Nobody Speak once before, but it was awesome then and just as awesome now. Both lyrics and imagery.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:41 AM on July 24

St Wilfrid's Catholic School in Crawley? Isn't that where Robert Smith of The Cure went?
That is a really clever video! I like it a lot!
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:07 AM on July 24

Delightful! Absolutely delightful!
posted by Kitteh at 6:13 AM on July 24 [2 favorites]

This brought a smile to my face! The principal is a good sport and did surprisingly well for someone untrained in dance. Delightful indeed.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:23 AM on July 24 [4 favorites]

That was AWESOME!
posted by Zumbador at 7:05 AM on July 24

I've probably watched the original video more times than I've watched most videos ever made and this was utterly charming. Very cool of their headmaster to be willing to do this and commit to the bit so thoroughly.
posted by potrzebie at 8:05 AM on July 24 [1 favorite]

Fabulous! The headmaster even has a resemblance to Christopher Walkin.
posted by bluesky43 at 9:44 AM on July 24

"Walk without rhythm and you won't attract the worm."

I wonder if this is why Villeneuve picked him for the emperor...
posted by kaibutsu at 2:33 PM on July 24 [4 favorites]

2:55 - those are some mature-looking students?
2:56 - oh, faculty and staff are also game for this, nice
3:02 - Janeane Garofalo?!?
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:56 PM on July 24

Fantastic!

I loved being part of high school staffs that did something imaginative and generous for the kids’ farewells at the end of their school years, or their schooling in general.

As the head of Lit, [and a fkn funny loudmouth anyway] I was always commandeered to write a parody play each year for our staff to perform. We would have the principal as part of it, video inserts, picking parts of the year and various spoofable events to put in it. The joy on the kids at having their teachers show them something of themselves, loosening up and having fun, their laughs at having their moments in the year and their language, trends, jokes, habits, rule-breaking, common memes noticed, just made them light up.

This video took me back to some of the great fun you could have as a teacher in a caring school, and how so much of that caring ethos comes from the top. When a principal can do this - with joy and vulnerability - it sets a great tone for the whole school. Also, drama staff rule.

Loved it, thank you for posting.
posted by honey-barbara at 12:27 AM on July 25 [7 favorites]

Mod note: [btw, Mr Ferry and his clever students have been added to the sidebar and Best Of blog!]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:16 AM on July 30 [1 favorite]