Ben goes slapstick

Ben decides to create a slapstick film in black and white, which takes place on a construction site.

Ben is wearing a bow tie and hat, and holding an umbrella. After somebody wolf-whistles at him, his umbrella floats up into the sky, accompanied by a noise ascending in tone.

Ben approaches Paul, who is wearing a hard hat and carrying a ladder. As Paul spins around holding the ladder, there is a whooshing noise, and Ben crouches to avoid being hit. The pair then repeat these actions again.

Ben then appears as a construction worker, puffing as he strains to pick up an exercise ball with the words ‘1 Ton’ written on it. He then drops it off the balcony just as another character is walking underneath, but it just misses them. We hear a thud as the ball hits the ground, and then a “Boing!” as it bounces up again.

Ben’s character from the start of the film is then seen humming and picking up a bike. The bike’s movement is accompanied by a clicking sound, like a bike’s chain. Ben cycles over a plank of wood set up like a see-saw, an action which is accompanied by a whistling noise. He then cycles through some cones, before picking up his umbrella, at which point a triumphant horn sounds.

In the studio, Jeremy says it’s nice to see that someone has actually watched a silent movie. Ben reassures everyone that he is fine after performing all of the stunts. When Jeremy points out that there was a minimal amount of sound and dialogue, Ben stresses that this is typically the way with silent movies.

Jeremy decides that the stakes in the film were quite low, so Ben earns just 2 points.

(Written by JoGo and proofread by Karl Craven)