Dive into something new!

 

In this quite unusual situation, many people turn to humour as a kind of coping mechanism and it is certainly a good way to spend your time as well. An alumni couple of the University of Pécs, Fanni Kovács and Norbert Hosszú recreated famous movie-scenes while staying at home, and their photos have gone viral, making people smile all over the world. I made an online interview about their #stayathome journey towards fame.

 

 

Both of you graduated from the University of Pécs. What did you study?

 

I have a bachelor in pedagogy from the Faculty of Humanities and Norbert has a BA in cultural management and he trained to become a moderator at the Faculty of Adult Education and Human Resource Management, now also part of the education portfolio of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pécs.

 

What do you do for work?

 

We do many things, actually. We are both leaders of the Improvokál Társulat improvisational theatre group. Norbert also works at Red Nose Clown Doctors Foundation as a clown doctor. We also help in the organization of festivals, we do improvisational theatre and applied improvisation as well. We hold communication and team-building trainings, workshops, competitions, games of different kinds, kid’s activities; we also work as masters of ceremony at weddings. We sometimes also do various different jobs as well, such as floral design from time to time.

 

 

How do you cope with life in quarantine?

 

Thankfully, we have worked on a flexible schedule even before this, so this adjustment was not very difficult for us. We have established a comfortable routine, we try to go outside as rarely as possible. We try to focus on those activities, that we did not have the time for before: we make online content, learn new things (e.g. crochet, exercise), we draw, cook, play board games, watch films, we keep in touch with family and friends online.

 

You have recreated iconic scenes of famous movie films in your homes with whatever you have at hand in lockdown, and the photos have made thousands and thousands of people laugh all over the world. Where did the idea come from?

 

We have been planning to reenact movie scenes for some time. Because Norbi works as a red nose clown doctor, we already had a camera stand for the online visits, since they also do the visits of their little patients online. I was just about to make Hungarian potato scone, and I reached for the eggs, that was the moment when we realized, we could use the eggs, the baking process, and anything that we find around the house to recreate iconic scenes from movies. All the rest came naturally, we got the hang of it and then we could not stop.

 

 

You are very creative! How long does it take to create one photo of a scene?

 

That is different each time. Sometimes we find the right angles instantly, like in the case of my personal favourite, the MIB inspired eggs in the fridge photo, which was done from start to finish in 10 minutes. In other cases, we might need 1 hour or more to find the best angles or the right spot in our flat. We always think about what gimmick to add. Most of the time, nothing is what it seems on the pictures! A white shirt can also play different roles in ten shoots.

 

Were any of the pictures a challenge to recreate, or did you have favourites in the process?

 

 

My favourite was the one from Men in Black, Norbi’s favourite was the scene from Commando with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which was relatively easy to recreate, we only needed the idea. We have worked the most on the photo for the scene from Titanic, which should not be a very difficult one. However, I realized, that I am simply unable to curl my hair with a flat iron, in spite of the thousands of video tutorials online. Nevertheless, in the end we managed to take that picture too.

 

Very popular Hungarian and international sites shared your hilarious pictures as well, such as The Sun, the Daily Mail or BoredPanda. What does that feel like?

 

The right way to put it would probably be surreal. We were quite busy with our everyday lives, and we honestly did not expect to become so famous taking funny pictures in our homes. At the same time, it makes us very happy to make many people smile all over the world. We would like to take this opportunity and thank you for all your kind messages, nice comments and calls.

 

 

You mostly recreated scenes from internationally well-known movies. Are you planning feature some Hungarian ones as well?

 

The beloved Hungarian classic, Indul a bakterház has already been ‘redone’, and we are planning to add more iconic and popular movies to our repertoire.

 

Every picture contains a little Hungarian twist, or hidden message, right?

 

Yes, you are right. We are so glad to see Hungarian Rama margarine, sausage, and many other very characteristically Hungarian things shared all over the world, things that many people do not even know are have not tried before. On one of the pictures, you can even see part of a portrait of Pál Győrfi, head of communications at National Emergency Services of Hungary, who appears many times these days on Hungarian screens to share the messages concerning the pandemic. His picture might evoke a familiar feeling in Hungarian people.

 

What do you think, are you going to continue remaking movie scenes after the quarantine is over?

 

We do not know yet for sure, however, so many of our ongoing projects had to be postponed, that we will probably be prioritizing to restart and continue those. The interest in the pictures will definitely plummet in the future, the latest when people’s lives return to normal, since this current unfavourable situation gives the pictures their essence and sarcastic sense of humour.

 

 

Why do you think it would be important to keep our sense of humour and creativity?

 

We think that especially in situations like this it is very important to keep our minds occupied. Creativity is a skill, not something that you are born with per se, you can become better with practise. The more you practise, the better you will become. If we have a message, that is the following: you should start new things, new projects at home, that you did not have the time for before, which you now have. Do not be afraid of new ideas!

 

Do you have a message for the students, staff and citizens of the University of Pécs?

 

To live in Pécs and to belong to the Pécs community is good, even if you have to stay at home for some time. The times, when we can sit in Szent István square, when we can take a walk in the historical city centre or when we will be able to say hello to the flower man at Kórház square are not far away.

 

Mariann Tóth