Around the middle of last year, “Weird Al” Yankovic performed a veritable video blitz by releasing eight different videos over the course of eight days in support of his album, Mandatory Fun. The first of which was “Tacky,” a parody of Pharrell Williams’ ubiquitous (an Oscar-nominated) “Happy.” The video was a singular long shot across multiple levels of a building involving the likes of Yankovic, Aisha Tyler, Margaret Cho, Eric Stonestreet, Kristen Schaal, and Jack Black sporting various levels of tacky attire and even tackier dance moves. The entire video was done in one take, but in order to ensure coverage they ran through it four times.
Now the Yankovic completist/ADHD-afflicted can enjoy the four different versions all at once thanks to a four-panel video constructed by Nerdist. It’s interesting to see the little deviations in moves that each performer brings to his/her segment, all while trying to hit specific marks. One of the best moments is Jack Black determining when is the best time to bust out his twerking “skills,” and then watch Black twerking in unison in four quadrants. It’s a cool behind-the-scenes look at what it took to achieve the impressive long-take music video.