The cinema and television arts major and his friends decided to put a twist on the classic sitcom introduction.
With some extra time on their hands, Sam Porozok ’22 and his classmates recreated “The Brady Bunch” intro starring themselves. And, yes, this is exactly why YouTube exists.
The Please Clap! Bunch video was created when Porozok and his friends from Please Clap! Improv, Elon’s improvisation comedy club, were on a video call on March 31 enjoying some digital College Coffee. “Someone pointed out that the grid of everyone’s screens in the web call looked like the grid they use in the ‘Brady Bunch’ intro,” said Porozok, a cinema and television arts major and Communications Fellow.
Anyone who knows Porozok knows about his love of script writing, video editing and digital art. But since being in quarantine, Porozok said he has had difficulty staying motivated and creative. “For obvious reasons, I’ve had a hard time getting interesting footage lately,” Porozok said.
Cue the “Brady Bunch” theme. (FYI, the iconic sitcom aired from 1969 to 1974 and was sort of a big deal back then.)
“The recording itself only took a few minutes,” said Porozok. “We just had each person look in specific directions so that it seems like they’re looking at each other in the intro. Then I spent the better part of the day putting all the footage together, editing it, and adding some text in After Effects.”
The clip stars Porozok, Caleb Dunham, Emily Wilbourne, Mercedes Ruiz, Lauren Memery, Katelyn Rivenbark, Evan Ward and Tyler Chavez, all members of Please Clap! Improv at Elon.
Porozok has been social distancing at his home in Roanoke, Virginia. While away from campus, he has worked on a few fun projects, like the Please Clap! Bunch video, alongside his school work. He said he has enjoyed having at-home access to the Adobe Creative Cloud, provided by the School of Communications.
“I’m really grateful that we’ve been provided with the Adobe suite because it’s allowed me to keep practicing my editing, and to continue to make videos while I’m away from campus,” Porozok said.
Porozok created the video just as his quarantine boredom started to get the best of him. This was just one way he has been able to remain creative and sharpen his skills. “I didn’t make the Please Clap! Bunch video for a class or anything, I did it for fun and for editing practice,” said Porozok.
To stay productive, Porozok has also been creating digital art and uploading it to his Instagram account, sam_pro_art. In addition to his improv group, the sophomore also serves as a graphic designer and cartoonist for Elon News Network and The Pendulum.