Using the early special effects film pioneer Georges Melies' technique used of showing multiple images of himself on the screen, Buster Keaton in the first half of October 1921's "The Play House" plays every role in a opera house setting. To accomplish the goal of displaying nine portrayals of himself at once, he had his tech crew devise a multiple-shutter device on the camera. One shutter was activated to film Keaton playing an instrument, then the the film was hand cranked back to the starting point before another shutter was activated to capture Keaton playing another instrument, and so forth.
In several sequences Keaton is shown dressed as a woman, or as a stage hand, etc, with the same principle applied. His initial idea was to play every single character in "The Play House," but as production churned on he realized his viewers would become bored with his one-trick joke. He later regretted giving up his original scheme since he looked at the short as a parody of producer Thomas Ince, who had a habit of listing himself several times in his movies' credits, even in the most mundane tasks.
"The Play House" is one of Keaton's tamer physical movies. He had broken an ankle while filming an earlier picture and was forced to refrain from his stunts and pratfalls so commonly employed. The experience of his restrained physicalities helped Keaton mature his comedic skills in future projects.
In several sequences Keaton is shown dressed as a woman, or as a stage hand, etc, with the same principle applied. His initial idea was to play every single character in "The Play House," but as production churned on he realized his viewers would become bored with his one-trick joke. He later regretted giving up his original scheme since he looked at the short as a parody of producer Thomas Ince, who had a habit of listing himself several times in his movies' credits, even in the most mundane tasks.
"The Play House" is one of Keaton's tamer physical movies. He had broken an ankle while filming an earlier picture and was forced to refrain from his stunts and pratfalls so commonly employed. The experience of his restrained physicalities helped Keaton mature his comedic skills in future projects.