The genre film me and my group have chosen for out film is Comedy. We have chosen this because our group is comical and comical situations and sketches naturally come to us.
Comedy Sub-Groupings
Comedy falls under two main sub-groupings.
1. The Comedian-led film - Where is is structured through gags and sketches
2. The Comedy situation - Where the film has more coherent narrative
Comedy Elements
In a comedy film, people react to two different comedy elements:
1. The Gag - Visual, aural, verbal jokes, carefully timed and delivered for maximum impact
2. Comic Situation - This is narrative comedy and this happens when people in the film are developing relationships between characters and the social environment that causes us to laugh
Types Of comedy
Slapstick - Slapstick is 'visual and vulgar'. It is in one sense primitive and universal, relying on our almost instinctive reaction to characters assailed by danger, pain etc. At the same time it requires great timing and all round performance skills. And in the form of the traditional cinema cartoon it can become a highly sophisticated exploration of human behavior.
Observational - Observational comedy is gentler and more subtle and presents everyday life as quirky with unusual behavior in a realist context. Parody mocks existing forms, requiring audiences to have specific knowledge of media texts, although in its current incarnation as the 'spoof', this knowledge could be limited to what is available on mainstream television.
Satire - Satire is comedy used to make political and social commentary. This requires analysis of the whole social context, implying an educated audience. These different types can be mixed together.
Codes and Conventions of Comedy
1. Film Language
The secret of comedy is timing and performance. A person could analyse routines, gags etc. and see how they are used within a narrative feature. It would be interesting to compare a visual gag with a classic suspense sequence. Both involve a careful playoff between what we know as the audience and the awareness displayed by the character. Our pleasure comes from the gleeful anticipation of the humiliation of the comic character or our fear for the hero.
2. Representation
Possibly the most productive approach, analysis of character 'types' and situations should open up comedy films for student analysis. Comedy, like drama, depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters. Much comedy arises from the success of the weak in deflating the powerful. On the other hand, comedy is also a weapon against fear of the unknown or 'the Other', so that the basis for comedy becomes racism, sexism etc.
3. Audience
The advantage of comedy to producers is that it appeals across all audience groups. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy. In the UK these are often class differences and age differences.
4. Institutions
Comedy films may be quite good for studying institution. Historically, various cycles of films can be traced back to their origins in other forms such as music hall, radio and television and in the last twenty years, from club 'stand-up'.
1. Film Language
The secret of comedy is timing and performance. A person could analyse routines, gags etc. and see how they are used within a narrative feature. It would be interesting to compare a visual gag with a classic suspense sequence. Both involve a careful playoff between what we know as the audience and the awareness displayed by the character. Our pleasure comes from the gleeful anticipation of the humiliation of the comic character or our fear for the hero.
2. Representation
Possibly the most productive approach, analysis of character 'types' and situations should open up comedy films for student analysis. Comedy, like drama, depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters. Much comedy arises from the success of the weak in deflating the powerful. On the other hand, comedy is also a weapon against fear of the unknown or 'the Other', so that the basis for comedy becomes racism, sexism etc.
3. Audience
The advantage of comedy to producers is that it appeals across all audience groups. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy. In the UK these are often class differences and age differences.
4. Institutions
Comedy films may be quite good for studying institution. Historically, various cycles of films can be traced back to their origins in other forms such as music hall, radio and television and in the last twenty years, from club 'stand-up'.
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