Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Case Study No. 0993: "The Librarian's Quest"

Nathan For You: Librarians Quest
1:17
In order to covertly research businesses that may need his help, Nathan hides inside a replica of a boring video arcade game to secretly observe his potential clients.
Tags: Nathan For You Nathan Fielder Comedy Central Video Games Funny Videos
Added: 6 months ago
From: comedycentral
Views: 26,477

[scene opens with Nathan Fielder speaking directly to the camera]
NATHAN: From doing this show, one of the most common questions I get is, "How do you come up with your ideas?" The answer is simple ... research.
[cut to "hidden camera" style footage of Nathan walking through various stores while wearing a number of different (and obviously fake) beards]
NATHAN: [in voice over] When I wanna get a sneak peek at a business, I'll often go ahead of time in disguise. This allows me to take a quick look at how the place is run, and helps me come up with ideas. But if I wanna observe a business for a longer period of time without arousing suspicion ...
[cut to a closeup of an arcade cabinet entitled "The Librarian's Quest", featuring a male librarian (bald, thick glasses, brown moustache, suit and tie) reading a book on the marquee, and a bookcase on a cliff overlooking the ocean painted on the side]
NATHAN: [in voice over] I'll use the "The Librarian's Quest."
[cut to a closeup of the cabinet's control setup]
NATHAN: [in voice over] Designed to look like a boring eighties arcade game ...
[cut to two men helping Nathan fit into to hollowed-out cabinet by slipping him through a "trap door" built into the back of the machine]
NATHAN: [in voice over] The body has been completely gutted out and rebuilt to fit a man of my proportions.
[Nathan slides into the machine and sits on the stool inside, then one of the men closes the door behind him]
NATHAN: [in voice over] To get inside the business, I have my crew say they're a moving company whose truck broke down ...
[cut to black and white footage of Nathan taken from a camera inside the machine, then cut to the two men (posing as movers) wheeling the cabinet into a store]
MOVER: Hey, do you mind if we just keep this here for a few minutes? Our truck broke down.
NATHAN: [in voice over] More often than not, store employees will agree to let them leave the game ...
[cut to the two men setting up the cabinet in the corner of the store, then cut back to the black and white footage of Nathan inside]
NATHAN: [in voice over] Allowing me to secretly observe how the business is run when they think no one is watching.
[cut to a camera simulating Nathan's POV (as if he is watching the store through a hole from inside the cabinet]
NATHAN: [in voice over] Because I'm often in there for long stretches ...
[cut to a cameraman holding the power cord for the cabinet, then placing it inside a plastic cup of iced coffee]
NATHAN: [in voice over] The game's power cord is conveniently a straw ...
[cut back to the black and white footage of Nathan, as he takes the other end of the "power cord" and places it in his mouth]
NATHAN: [in voice over] Which enables my crew to discretely drop off drinks to keep me hydrated.
[cut back to an exterior shot of the cabinet, as the cup of iced coffee "mysteriously" begins to empty itself]
NATHAN: [in voice over] And with an exorbitant price ...
[cut to a closeup of the cabinet's coin slot, which reads "$0.25 x 80 per play"]
NATHAN: [in voice over] And boring moves ...
[cut to another closeup of the cabinet's controls, with buttons labelled "Read," "Index," and "Shhhh ... "]
NATHAN: [in voice over] I can also feel safe that no one will try to play it.
[cut to "hidden camera" style footage of a customer walking next to the cabinet (with no apparent interest in playing it), then cut back to the black and white footage of Nathan as he takes a cellphone out of his pocket]
NATHAN: [in voice over] Then, when I've seen enough, my crew comes back and retrieves me.
[cut to the two men returning and wheeling the cabinet out of the store]
MOVER: Thanks again!

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From wikipedia.org:

Nathan For You is a live-action television comedy series that airs on Comedy Central. The series stars Nathan Fielder, who uses his business degree and life experiences to help struggling companies with strategies that no traditional business consultant would dare to attempt.

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From wordpress.com:

Season 1, Episode 3: "Clothing Store/Restaurant"

Original Air Date: March 14, 2013 (Thursday)

This week we dive a little deeper into Nathan research techniques for gathering information on the businesses he plans to help. One of his favorite techniques his hiding inside his custom made "Librarian's Quest" arcade game. No one would would want to play that boring game ... Perfect!

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From twitter.com:

On the original Librarian's Quest the guy had hair, but we made him bald so the game would be more boring: pic.twit ter.com/fYKCILOra0
7:41 PM - 14 Mar 13

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