Lights, camera, improvisation! We're diving into the world of movies that were either clearly ad-libbed or surprisingly spontaneous. From comedies to dramas, these films prove that sometimes the best moments are unscripted and completely unexpected.
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00:00Dear Galinda, you are just too good How do you stand it? I don't think I could
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the films that let its actors
00:10run wild with ad-libs and unscripted antics. Let me say something! Let me say something!
00:21Number 5. Obvious – Let Them All Talk
00:25Released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, director Steven Soderbergh shot this 2020 film
00:31aboard the real Queen Mary II, and the close quarters of the ship really added to the end
00:35result. The work that she did right is groundbreaking, and I think it's important that we all
00:45somehow share the work before we go and stand at her grave. Thank you.
00:55Starring Meryl Streep as an author traveling with her friends and nephew,
00:58the movie features a cast of great actors making up the words as they go. Its conversational
01:05dialogue and shoestring production, which uses only natural light and a small crew,
01:10is pretty clear from the get-go. You know what, it's like polishing the vase when the house is
01:15falling down. You don't know. This is a movie made up of pauses, imperfect language,
01:27and the moments when people can't figure out exactly what to say.
01:46Number 5. Surprising – Coherence
01:52This micro-budget science fiction horror story has a lot of ambition.
01:56Presenting a dinner party assailed by a passing comet, which spins a group of friends' perception
02:01of time and space way out of whack, you'd think the script would need to be super precise.
02:06Not the case here.
02:27In spite of its twisting narrative and cerebral themes of alternate realities,
02:31its actors were given a lot of room to play.
02:55Writer-director James Ward-Burkett cast an ensemble with experience in improv.
03:00He gave them an overall outline of the plot and characters,
03:03and let them essentially add all the shading.
03:24Number 4. Obvious – Spinal Tap
03:28This mockumentary about an eccentric heavy metal band is more than just an elaborate sketch
03:33stretched out into 82 minutes. Co-creators and stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest,
03:53and Harry Shearer are joined by a whole team of actors,
03:57who were clearly cast based on their ability to improvise.
04:00Most of the dialogue was made up on the spot.
04:24The whole movie has a very realistic feeling. When you pair that documentary style with the
04:36kinds of insane things actually being said in the movie, it becomes even clearer just
04:41how loose this whole thing is. There are some lines that come completely out of nowhere.
04:46They're so totally authentic that it's hard to imagine anyone would actually sit down and
04:51write them. Number 4. Surprising – Wicked
05:14The 2024 adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical has set the box office alight.
05:20A big budget musical requires a lot of precision,
05:24but that doesn't mean there can't be some room to improvise thought.
05:28While it's important to hold space for the work that went into designing these
05:32insanely good musical numbers, you might be surprised how free the actors were allowed to be.
05:51John M. Chu kept the camera rolling for takes that went a little off script.
06:01Many of them were included in the film, and went on to become some of the best moments.
06:21Number 3. Obvious – Waiting for Guffman
06:25This Christopher Guest comedy takes the mockumentary style that was so successful
06:30in This Is Spinal Tap and gives it a theatrical twist.
06:51Set amid the rehearsal process for a small town musical,
06:54Waiting for Guffman saw most of its dialogue created by its cast.
06:59And when you have a cast like this, it's hard to argue with the results.
07:03In addition to director and star Guest, the cast includes Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara,
07:08Parker Posey, and several others. Guest likens the process to making jazz music.
07:19Everyone was given a general direction of the piece and what shifts in the story should happen.
07:24The whole movie is full of spontaneous magic that only great
07:28comic talent and very long takes can produce.
07:31Number 3. Surprising – Blue Valentine
07:52Some breakup movies are heartbreaking, but they often come with a kind of Hollywood
07:57romance attached to them. That's not the case with Blue Valentine.
08:01Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams take us through a very realistic relationship
08:06and follow it through to its tragic and gut-wrenching end.
08:28Their connection feels genuine and very lifelike. That may be because the writer-director allowed
08:35them to improvise much of their dialogue, and the two prepared for these roles by
08:39actually living together for months. It's genuinely shocking how
08:57much creative freedom these actors had in this hard-hitting drama.
09:00In this movie, it's not jokes that are improvised. It's the pain.
09:05Number 2. Obvious – The 40-Year-Old Virgin
09:21Several scenes in Judd Apatow's raunchy romantic comedy about Steve Carell's title character
09:37feel like the director just never said cut. In fact, that's exactly how it was made.
09:51There are moments when Carell, Seth Rogen,
09:56Paul Rudd, and the hysterically funny supporting cast are just riffing for minutes on end.
10:01Insults and length descriptions of vulgar acts have never been so funny.
10:06One infamous scene sees Carell's character getting his chest waxed.
10:10His profanity-laden cries of pain are his own invention.
10:14A lot of the best jokes seem to be the ones that were cut together from different takes
10:23instead of taken off the page. Number 2.
10:43Surprising – The Blair Witch Project
10:54In 1999, horror was changed forever by a found footage movie that purported to be a real-life
11:00recording of three college students who disappeared while researching the legend of a witch.
11:05Its handheld camera, black-and-white photography,
11:08and the realism of its performances made it a sleeper hit.
11:13But for all its ingenious filmmaking, bare-bones thrills, and masterfully crafted tension,
11:35the filmmakers behind it only had an outline. The screenplay runs 35 pages. The rest was up
11:41to its three principal actors, who improvised their dialogue as they filmed their seemingly
11:46endless trek through the woods. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel
12:07and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified
12:13for occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings
12:18and switch on notifications. Number 1. Obvious – Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy
12:31Will Ferrell's narcissistic news anchor was a fountain of strange insults and even stranger
12:37verbal tics. A lot of the movie's most iconic moments were spontaneous. While filming,
12:43director Adam McKay stuck to the script… for a while. Then, once every line of written dialogue
12:49had been said, all bets were off. The scene would continue for more takes, with the actors given
13:02more freedom to add, subtract, and rewrite as they saw fit. Much of the movie's most explosive
13:08and iconic jokes were born out of this atmosphere. In fact, the set came off more like a
13:32bunch of comedians trying to make each other laugh than a traditional set. A lot of that fun
13:37is present in the final cut. Number 1. Surprising – Jaws
13:54Scenes of savage shark attacks and dangerous sea stunts don't leave much room for spontaneity.
13:59However, the actors in Steven Spielberg's terrifying creature feature found room to play
14:05when they weren't at the mercy of the notoriously finicky shark animatronic. Apparently, the shark
14:12constantly breaking down may have been what inspired actors Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss,
14:18and Robert Shaw to add their own ideas to the constantly changing screenplay.
14:22Sharing meals together during the shoot, the three would come up with some of their own
14:33dialogue. That may explain why the most famous line in the movie was not in the script.
14:38What movie were you shocked to learn was largely improvised? Let us know in the comments.
14:57Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo
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15:08Thanks for watching.