Happy Belated Groundhog Day

I’ve blogged about this particular piece of film genius before, but I recently came across a brilliant video mash-up of all Ned Ryerson’s scenes. And what’s so great about this video, beyond the fact that it’s hysterical, is that it highlights the beauty of set-ups and pay-offs — a dramatic technique that’s usually a lot harder to see or show.

Normally, a writer has to work to bring things around, full circle, in order to show character change, making it a bit more difficult to pick out and showcase the set-ups and payoffs. But the “stuck in the same day” premise of Groundhog Day removes that difficulty, allowing the creation of mashup like the one below. A mashup that perfectly demonstrates the beauty of set-ups and pay-offs : )