GEORGE PEARSON
MOSSBOURNE COMMUNITY ACADEMY
CANDIDATE NUMBER: 5150
PEARSON STUDIOS
Comedy is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. These films are designed to entertain the audience through amusement, and most often work by exaggerating characteristics for humorous effect. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (the black comedy being an exception).
Comedy is one of the oldest genres in film. It goes back to times before the first 'talkie' was made as Charlie Chaplin was famous for adding humour to his performances by using a variety of slapstick and wild facial expressions to indicate humour.
Elements of Comedy:
- Slapstick: The exaggeration of physical violence to the point where it becomes humourous
-Comic timing: The pace or delivery of a joke to enhance the humour
- Pregnant Pause: Used by building the suspense of a situation to accentuate a comedic element
In more modern comedy films there is an abundance of mocking famous scenes from other movies or typical movie cliches
Rom-Com
'A film or play that deals with love in a light, humorous way'
SOUND
- Over the top music
- Diegetic sound used: 'One-liners'
Mise en scene
- Flamboiant clothing used with bright colours to symbolize an out of the ordinary character.
- Abundance of lighting
Editing
- Shot-reverse shot to show the reactions of characters to something funny
-Close-ups for exaggeration
Camera
- Exaggerated camera movements to add humour
- Pan to set up comedic setting
Love Actually
The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress. Set primarily in London, the story begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out in a weekly countdown until the holiday.
Some brief examples of Romantic Comedy films
Knocked Up
It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a slacker and a just-promoted media personality that results in an unintended pregnancy.
Sex and the City
About the lives of four women dealing with their single lives in New York City.
Romantic comedy films are a certain genre of comedy films as well as of romance films, and may also have elements of screwball comedies and stoner comedies. Some television series can also be classified as romantic comedies.
In a typical romantic comedy the two lovers tend to be young, likeable, and apparently meant for each other, yet they are kept apart by some complicating circumstance (e.g., class differences, parental interference; a previous girlfriend or boyfriend) until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally wed. A wedding-bells, fairy-tale-style happy ending is practically mandatory.
Every Romantic - comedy film will base their plot on these conventions in order to reach their target audience
What are the different types of comedy?
Parody
Parody is where a work deliberately mimmicks the style of another for comic effect or ridicule.
Spoof
Spoof is light parody or gentle imitation. Is it not necessarily intended to ridicule or make fun of the thing being spoofed but the comedy happens in the recognition of the piece being spoofed. For instance, a woman in glasses with tied up hair who is obviously beautiful anyway takes off her glasses and then unties her hair and shakes it loose. As she does, her wig falls off. We all recognise the Hollywpood moment and so this is funny not just because her wig falls off but we are fully aware of the reference and know that usually this is not supposed to happen.
Satire
Satire is where a section of society or politics is deliberately mimicked and mocked in order to poke fun at them and point criticism using humour. e.g. Catch-22 is a satire of war.
Irony
Irony is where the opposite of what is expected happens or where someone says the opposite of what they mean. The lack of harmony between something that is expected and the reality (so if you moved jobs from being a dustman to being in a bank but were being paid less then some would point out a certain irony.)
Sarcasm
sarcasm is where an insult or quick remark is fired at someone with the intention of causing injury. It is often used in repsonse to an initial statement or comment in order to pour scorn on the stated idea or statement. Sarcasm often features irony (for instance, someone drops a tray and someone else shouts "Ooh, that was SO clever.")
Farce
This is where comedy is achieved through exaggeration and extreme characters in preposterous circumstances that seem to spiral out of control and become ever more ludicrous.
Black comedy
This is a dark comedy where a light humored touch is applied to very dark and serious subject matter in order to ease the pain or make some specific point by juxtaposing the humour and the sadness.
Surrealism
Throwing together completely disjointed concepts and random ideas to weave together something bizarre. (I once heard a very funny stand up comedian come out with: "Suppose you're a fish... (pause) how the f*** you suppsoed to get to the airport?... (pause) They don't make rivers go that way."
Spoof movies
This type of comedy is a unique aspect of the comedy genre. The aim of a spoof movie is to mock generic conventions of other movie genres. For example, Scary movie is a spoof of many different horror films includng Scream and the blair witch project, it also spoofs dramatic films such as the usual suspects and action movies such as the matrix all to comedic effect. One of the main conventions of a spoof film is for the characters to appear as unprofessional as possible to the point where it is laughable. Some features of a spoof film will include over - exaggeration, cameos and simplicity. See below for an example of a spoof movie
Classic Comedies
Airplane is an amazing example of a classic comedy as it conforms to many conventions that are evident in a generic comedy movie. It involves 4th wall breaking to make jokes about a particular scene, exaggerated flashbacks, innapropriate jokes, humourous misinterpretations such as 'she has to be taken to a hospital' 'what is it?' 'It's a big building with patients, but that's not important' and 'surely you can't be serious?' 'yes i am serious and don't call me Shirley' etc.
Superbad is also an ideal watch as it portrays the struggles of teens trying to 'get laid' by struggling to get alcohol for a party. The perfect casting of Jonah Hill and Micahel Cera portray the awkwardness that people experience at that age. This is coupled with an array of outrageous situations they find themselves in including 'period blood on pants' and other hilarious encounters. It doesn't only target teens there is also a variety of adult humour that helps it appeal to all audiences and that is why it is a classic, must see film.
The Hangover is a modern classic as it portrays the aftermath of a drunken night in vegas before a wedding. It introduces a perculiar trio together in their attempts to remember what happened last night. Like Superbad, The Hangover is filled with unusual and hilarious situations and the awkwardness of the relationship between the trio helps it to become a modern classic and is up there with the greats of comedy.
