

The whimsical but surprisingly dark world of Rube Goldberg machines - Hooke
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/22/8381963/rube-goldberg-machine-contest-history-ideas

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Nursie
With no mention of Heath Robinson?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Heath_Robinson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Heath_Robinson)

I had to look up Rube Goldberg when I started getting exposed to more US
culture. But it has a direct translation into UK culture, W. Heath Robinson
had a similar reputation for drawing absurd, complicated machinery.

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hellbanner
Interesting.

"It was also the era of increasing automation, and increasing concern about
automation, exemplified in Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 masterpiece Modern Times.
One of the film’s dystopian curiosities, the Billows Feeding Machine, invented
by Mr. J. Widdecombe Billows, has a distinctly Rube Goldbergian quality to it
— this is likely no coincidence, as Goldberg and Chaplin were friends. "The
Billows Feeding Machine will eliminate the lunch hour, increase your
production, and decrease your overhead," the film’s narrator announces. "Don’t
stop for lunch: be ahead of your competitor." A factory worker is strapped
into the feeding machine by his neck; the device malfunctions spectacularly."

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swamp40
Funniest clip ever!
[https://youtu.be/n_1apYo6-Ow](https://youtu.be/n_1apYo6-Ow)

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hxrts
Requisite Pitagora Switch Rube Goldberg compilation video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzAQ-
jYfEqA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzAQ-jYfEqA)

~~~
evincarofautumn
I love these videos, but I have to watch them on mute because the jingle makes
me furious. Probably just misophonia.

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abruzzi
One of the most impressive recent rube goldbergs was a commercial Honda did to
advertise their Accord. It was made with parts from the car and shows off
several technologies such as automatic windshield wipers:

[http://youtu.be/bl2U1p3fVRk](http://youtu.be/bl2U1p3fVRk)

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w-ll
I question the authenticity of this now. I remember this coming out, but from
what i've recently learned about the automotive ad industry is that this is
all cg. And basically all car commercials in the last decade have actually
been some of the most advanced "realistic" rendering.

It's still a cool vid tho.

Edit: Watched it again, it is clearly cg.

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joshu
You are wrong.
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_%28advertisement%29](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_%28advertisement%29)

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w-ll
Well, Its not sans-cg. There are parts thats scream cg to me, and while I
believe it's possible over all, there is still a lot of post going on. The
wiki doesn't give any definite answers other than it's clearly both.

Edit: the part that tells me the most is near the end when they show the full
console, and then the speakers on dowel rods.

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grkvlt
> "The final cut of "Cog" consists of two continuous sixty-second dolly shots
> taken from a technocrane, stitched together later in post-production [...]
> needed only limited post-production work, as the decision had been made
> early on to eschew computer-generated imagery wherever possible. [...]
> Several sections also required minor video editing, such as re-centering the
> frame to stay closer to the action, removal of wires, highlighting a spray
> of water, and adjusting the pace for dramatic purposes"

I have also seen the 'making of...' short film about 'Cog' and that, too,
confirms that CG was not used to create the machine. All the interactions
between the car parts are genuine physical interactions.

I believe you're correct about post-production, though. It seems from the
references in the Wiki article that the usual editing and manipulation took
place, but none of that added any fake car parts or fake interactions.

