Reflection –

This week we focused on Satire as a mode of comedy. Having just completed parody, we discussed the similarities and differences between the two types of Comedy – finding that satire intends to criticise or make a specific comment on its subject (whilst also presenting it in a comedic manner), whereas parody seeks to humorously imitate its main subject. Our group decided to satirise the cost of living and rental crisis in Victoria. We decided a funny way we could do this was through creating a fake episode of House Hunters – as it is an easy set-up for students seeking to rent, and we could easily exaggerated the features of the show in a way that could reflect the issues that people face during these crises. Similar to last week, we came up with a basic structure for the way our episode would unfold – coming up with the three locations, and basic ideas for scenes. After agreeing on our basic storyline, we bounced ideas for jokes off one another. On the day, filming ran smoothly and we were able to gather a wide range of jokes and takes for all the scenes, many of which were improvised. I think this was a terrific way of finding the funniest possible jokes for the satire. Aside from the obvious lack of proper housing Made available to the contestants in the show, we also included key lines which linked the cost of living and rental crisis to the comedic elements of our sketch, ensuring that the piece could indeed be read as a satire.

I would say that our satire kept a considerable distance from the genuine issue, not referencing the issues deeper impacts and causes, or offering a possible solution to the crises – but rather broadly commented on the issues relevance in todays society, placing an emphasis on its relevance for university students.