Shrink Exercise: Buster’s Unfolding

September 21, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Buster Keaton GIF by Maudit

Buster Keaton was a master of visual comedy in the era of the silent movie. His use of props and perspective often brilliantly deflates presumptions on how things are supposed to be. In the opening scene of The High Sign (1921) the simple gesture of unfolding a newspaper turns into a beautiful shrink/growth exercise; in many ways more accurate than our A01 to A07 Exercise. Is the newspaper growing or is Keaton shrinking? And is it a coincidence that a small man appears on the pages?