Analysis on Silence: Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton is possibly the most notorious silent comedian, known best for his incredible, life-threatening stunts and being one of the first deadpan film comics (earning him the title of "stone-face"). As a stunt man, having a background in circus acrobatics, he always relied on real danger to make the jokes authentic. His athleticity would always allow him to really chew the scenery, and it was always really funny and well-timed when he would get out of really tight situations very intricately and in a fast paced manner. The level of exagerration in his performance tends to vary, even during his stunts; an example of that is his most famous stunt in Steamboat Bill Jr. in which part of a building collapses around him, with him just standing casually in the spot where a gap would be.

Fun fact: you can actually see his arm getting hit by the window frame.

It's very a iconic stunt for a number of reasons. Firstly, how the shot is composited leads the viewer to think that the wall will land directly onto him, and they expect that to happen because of it. Secondly, the pacing of the shot is done so that the audience feels a very sudden bit of tension to surprise. The wall's slow start up up to its eventual hit to the ground has that very subtle bit of tension that makes final moment that much more surprising. Furthermore, since that's a real wall collapsing, it adds to the authenticity, and the tension more real because of it. The humour part of it comes from the overall surrealism of it, that a seemingly well-constructed house would have a wall that breaks off so neatly like a slice of bread is such a mix of surrealism and misfortune for the lead that it maintains a comedic atomosphere. If the building had collapsed into a pile of bricks behind for instance then it would not have been nearly as humourous, and if it was a fake wall with not as much weight to it then there would be no tension. Most significant of all is Buster Keaton's performance here, which he plays very calmly, not even flinching or showing any kind of concern for what is happening around him (which is very daring even for a professional stuntman), until after he survives his near death experience, where he would then respond to it. Overall, this one moment is a spectacle of a performance, and represents pretty much everything that goes into a Buster Keaton stunt. It looks surreal and plays with our expectations.

It actually parallels this common gag, and many other slapstick moments from Looney Tunes. A combination of surrealism and misfortune that plays with audience's expectations. The audience expects the character to fall off the cliff as soon as they are far off the edge, but instead they hover in the air first and assess the situation only to finally fall to the ground. Much like a Buster Keaton stunt, the gag varies, where sometimes a character will actually manage to save themselves or they'll hold the pose in the air for a longer time. There may not be a direct influence here but the jokes are very similar in nature, and the way Keaton performs his stunts could be seen as just as "toony".