Domino Theory in Motion

September 19, 2006 6:46 AM

What do you get when you take a ton of dominos, insert a lot of creativity, and put it online in a non you tube format? Genius . Via
posted by wheelieman (25 comments total)

This is on Youtube too, but I decided why not link to a great blog and have Cheney shoot 2 trial lawyers with one gun? I really like this, however the editing spoils the effect.
posted by wheelieman at 6:48 AM on September 19, 2006

I really like this, however the editing spoils the effect.

Agreed. Was this really done in one take? I could see getting this 90% set up, only to sneeze AND not have the cameras rolling.
posted by itchylick at 6:57 AM on September 19, 2006

I wonder ... since a bunch of those scenes show an unmoving camera, either he had a bunch of cameras set up, or this wasn't one continuous domino set up, but smaller set ups, shot individually. Not that that detracts much. I think domino drops are infinitely watchable -- more watchable than those Rube Goldberg machines.
posted by crunchland at 6:58 AM on September 19, 2006

I prefer this. For one thing, the creators don't feel the need to insert their name or initials all over the thing.
posted by dobbs at 7:07 AM on September 19, 2006

...either he had a bunch of cameras set up, or this wasn't one continuous domino set up

It says at the beginning it's "created with the magic of montage".

Nevertheless, I enjoy the kinetics and rhythms, thanks!
posted by MetaMonkey at 7:19 AM on September 19, 2006

I don't mind the initials. That TF piece was spectacular and the credit is well deserved. The Japanese "Domino Effect" w/ household items was great too and more satisfying because you can hear the crowds delighted oohs and aahs (even if it is a studio audience), whereas the epic TF experience seemed like it was happening in a vacuum. And you know if a domino falls in the woods and all that....
posted by Skygazer at 7:21 AM on September 19, 2006

My 4-year-old son is obsessed with dominoes, so he's watched the many on youtube, including this one (we even posted one). The intro to Tim Fort's works says "created with the magic of montage," so I'd assume it's not all one run. Besides, think of how many dominoes he'd have to have! If you have a chop saw/miter saw, you can make your own dominoes out of 1 x 2 hardwood. And as I tell my son, if you knock them down accidentally, just set them back up again.
posted by rikschell at 7:21 AM on September 19, 2006

Wow, cool. I missed the "magic of montage" bit, but the tipoff to me was that the guy must have had MILES of hardwood floors to be able to shoot all of this in one shot without having fallen dominos show up in the background. Cool stuff though; I especially liked the falling-down-stick bits, and the exploding-stick bits at the end.
posted by craven_morhead at 7:24 AM on September 19, 2006

Oh, sorry. My eyesight isn't what it used to be. That sign was just a blur, and, come on! hurry up with the domino dropping already!
posted by crunchland at 7:26 AM on September 19, 2006

I especially loved the exploding part of the sticks, definitly something I wasn't expecting which made the video entertaining in a different way than normal domino entertainment.
posted by cleverusername at 7:38 AM on September 19, 2006

pretty incredible, even if it wasn't done all in one take. not your average dominoes!
posted by geeky at 7:48 AM on September 19, 2006

awesome.
posted by NinjaTadpole at 7:54 AM on September 19, 2006

I misread it as a ton of onions. I was disappointed.
posted by bayliss at 8:03 AM on September 19, 2006

That was great!
Anyone have a link to a larger, clearer version? That one was a tad on the "hard-to-see-clearly" side of things.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:07 AM on September 19, 2006

Very, very cool -- but Tim's website makes the baby Jesus cry.
posted by delfuego at 8:15 AM on September 19, 2006

I enjoyed it. The bit with the paper roll sliding off the table took FAR too long though.

My interest waned.
posted by knapah at 8:24 AM on September 19, 2006

Thorzdad, in the comments is a link to archive.org, which has a huge MPEG2 version.
posted by zsazsa at 8:30 AM on September 19, 2006

Me too knapah... but then there were cool exploding sticks and things. That won me over :)
posted by antifuse at 8:36 AM on September 19, 2006

He's got more domino fun videos on his site, including some how tos and stuff, though much appears to be tiny realmedia files. Some higher quality stuff of his on revver
posted by MetaMonkey at 8:36 AM on September 19, 2006

Sweet!
Thanks zsazsa!
posted by Thorzdad at 9:07 AM on September 19, 2006

Fantastic stuff. I liked the bit with the monkey on wheels in particular - "is he going to miss? No! Hurray...". Great post.
posted by greycap at 10:23 AM on September 19, 2006

Good god, it just keeps going and going. Amazing.
posted by quin at 10:24 AM on September 19, 2006

I actually liked the paper bit. I was a little anxious. Will it makei it? Will it reach the end in the right place? Of course, the fact that it was edited together takes away from the suspense but I still thought it was a neat idea. A few seconds of quiet. I also loved the bit with the flipbook effect.
posted by LeeJay at 10:31 AM on September 19, 2006

I wish the video was big enough to see.
posted by mrnutty at 10:33 PM on September 19, 2006

mrnutty, see zsazsa's comment
posted by MetaMonkey at 1:01 AM on September 20, 2006