If you had any doubt about the dramatic potential of Three's Company, Catherine Ross' "Thrilling (2006)" loop project will convince you otherwise. Using footage from the television sitcom, Ross compiled and edited an endless scroll of the most emotive gestures, also creating a short loop of each gesture, forming an entirely new narrative. An improvised and particularly panicked trumpet soundtrack from Taylor Haskins adds even more tension to the the scroll of twitches and shaking hands. [via Dangerous Minds]

Artists Dora Budor & Maja Cule, known as Dora & Maja, first started working on their KnockOff performance during a residency at Tanzfabrik Uferstudios in Berlin. The residency was held in studios for dance projects, but the pair was interested in creating a performance more grounded in reality than a contemporary dance. They drew inspiration from a fascination with the “making of” extras on DVDs, and conceived of a staged performance/video art piece with local MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighters filming action movies in front of an audience.

For their first performance in Berlin, Dora & Maja spent five days convincing members of a local Turkish fight club to participate in the show. Their next two performances included a former breakdance champion in Norway and a group of aspiring soldiers in Croatia—all well-versed in action movie stars and stunts.

The performance is a nod to an obscure "knockoff" film genre—sometimes known as "mockbusters"—which use elements from actual Hollywood blockbusters and poorly shot green-screen footage in the production of borderline counterfeit films on a fraction of the budget. For their performances, D+M scour YouTube for clips of semi-famous crime scenes, security camera footage, and city panoramas. The pair intends to keep growing their library for future shows.

The live KnockOff performance alters the traditional cinematic experience by showing the audience the production and the final product at the same time. Seeing both stages at once replaces the "magic" of filmmaking for the visceral response to live violence. The rotating cast of local fighters and constantly expanding video library make every performance of KnockOff slightly different. The artists believe the small differences force the audience to simultaneously watch the counterfeit copy and the sequel at once.

It turns out even the title of the project has a simultaneous meaning: the choreography is based on Jean-Claude Van Damme's 1998 film Knock Off, in which he and Rob Schneider find themselves involved in a counterfeit denim ring.