Week 3 Reflection

Throughout week three, we mainly discussed the comic frame- being the conditions, codes, and conventions that comedy films and TV shows practise to convey to the audience the comedic nature of what they are watching. The example of an episode of Kevin can F*** Himself  (2021) was used as an example of the comedic frame in sitcoms, which was made an even better example when stuck in contrast to the shows more serious and tense scenes. The sitcom element of the show included a laugh track, stereotypical live sets, and exaggerated acting performances – which as described in Voths article talking about the comic frame, contextualises what we are watching to be put into a comic frame, in effect setting up methods such as incongruity and benign violation to be effective forms of humour.

In addition to investigating the comic frame, we also looked into a reading by Joe Toplyn – who explains the key elements of writing a sketch for late night talk shows. Although being written for specific circumstances, these points were certainly helpful when making my own sketch this week. The main point I took from this class was to have a character who a) has one or two exaggerated traits, b) want to achieve something, and c) will do anything to achieve their goal.

compared to past weeks, this advice made the creative process of conceiving an idea much easier. I began by walking around my house and street thinking of circumstances where somebodies extreme dedication to achieving something relatively mundane could be captured in a humorous way. After considering my own experience with video games, and how you never want to end on a loss to your friend, I thought this idea was funny because a) it is relatable for anyone who has played video games, and b) because the addition of the skeleton and persistent nature of the main character can be taken to an extremely exaggerated level the audience would not expect. If the sketch could go for longer  I think I could have improved the central idea/gag through adding more shots to indicate the passing of time – for example, an establishing shot outside the house during the day time, then a shot after a couple of rematches of it being night time outside the house. I also could have added the protagonist delivering lines insinuating they haven’t moved, for example, lines about being dehydrated or malnourished.