I recently watched Albert Brooks’ writer/director debut Real Life. It’s basically a meta take on Reality TV before there really was any Reality TV.
Made in the late 70′s, it can feel a bit dated now, in the same way that The Social Network will probably feel dated in 30 years… You know, because of technology and culture always morphing and changing and moving forward and stuff like that…
In any case, the funniest gag in the whole movie is actually a direct result of the era in which it came (the pre-awesome-little-video-cameras era). The camera crew wears these hilarious looking camera helmet hybrid things… With microphones right where your ears go! Technically the device is called the Ettinauer 226XL, but I prefer Cameraheads.
Not only do these Cameraheads document the action, but they are also part of the story within the story within the story…. They pop in and out of shots and eventually, one Camerahead even becomes a therapist of sorts for Brooks during a moment of crisis.
Good stuff.
