Week 7

This week we screened our final group sketches for Assignment #2, and begun the passage towards our final media product. Based on previous group sketches, Nia, Zach, Yusuf and I knew we would have a similar vision and comedy style that we wanted to emulate in our final project for the studio. I had been set on making a mockumentary since before semester had begun, so I was elated when my group were also down to make something in that realm.

We were heavily inspired by the comedy aspects and style of the series American Vandal, a comedy-documentary about an incident that occurs at a high school and the students that uncover the truth surrounding the crime and other school drama along the way. As we are also a group of sitcom-lovers, we wanted to include that as an aspect of the film, also making sure our narrative didn’t overlap with that of American Vandal too much. Hence, we settled on the premise of an incident occurring on a sitcom set, centred around a set of wacky characters with humorous secrets. We have not yet ironed out the details of these characters or the incident that occurs, but we have currently decided that we want this story to take place over two 10 minute episodes so it would feel like a series.

The biggest comedy theory we discussed when brainstorming ideas was benign violation. We want to take both genres of sitcom and mockumentary and commit to the tropes of both. This is especially the case for the documentary parts of the short film as that’s what made American Vandal so successful as it really takes the tropes of documentary/true crime seriously whilst cutting on the absurd to have comedic effects.

Our group contract and vision board: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rHSXvnQhAbTrI2WDlKHQ5PsEFaJ1cez-6AsBTcBd1DQ/edit?usp=sharing

References:

1. Warren, C. & McGraw, A.P. (2015), “Benign Violation Theory” in Attardo, S. (ed), Encyclopedia of Humor Studies, Los Angeles: SAGE Reference.

Week 4: https://www.mediafactory.org.au/chloe-roussy/2024/04/05/beyond-a-joke-beyond-a-genre-week-4/

Week 5: https://www.mediafactory.org.au/chloe-roussy/2024/04/14/beyond-a-joke-be…d-a-genre-week-5/

Week 6: https://www.mediafactory.org.au/chloe-roussy/2024/04/21/beyond-a-joke-be…d-a-genre-week-6/

Week 6: Genre Hybridisation / Documentary & Reality Comedy

This week’s topic was probably the most confusing to differentiate from parody and other comedy forms. We focused on hybridisation, and essentially how comedy is added to another non-comedy form or genre. One of the examples we watched in class was ‘American Movie‘ (1999), which was a documentary-comedy hybrid. What differentiated it from a mockumentary or parody was that it was a real documentary but the comedy was found mostly through the unique characters and edits such as cutting right as someone finishes saying something, turning it into a punchline.

As for our sketch, we were tossing between choosing romance, horror or crime/mystery as our main genre. Eventually, we settled on making a crime/mystery sketch where the focus is an interrogation of a few bizarre subjects. This was also inspired by Middleton’s discussions of how “‘offbeat character studies’ alternately position viewers to laugh at and laugh with the subjects,” so we really honed in on these characters and tried to make them believable within the mystery genre.

Some advice that our group was given when confused about what hybridisation meant, especially in comparison with parody, was that you have to imagine being in a world where the sketch we make would be a genuine show and not intentionally funny. From there, it was actually a bit difficult to not add in an excessive amount of jokes. However, I do think that we successfully differentiated our sketch from a parody sketch and it was definitely my favourite sketch that I’ve made since starting this studio.

Now that we’re about to start working on our final products, I have been thinking about making a mockumentary for a while, and I’m so excited to continue collaborating with my classmates as that has led to some sketches that I’ve been really proud of.

Genre Hybridisation sketch: murder, she won’t

References:

1. Middleton, J. (2002), “Documentary ComedyLinks to an external site.“, Media International Australia, 104(1), pp. 55–66.

Week 5: Comedy as a Mode / Satire

Figuring out the difference between parody and satire as forms of comedy was quite confusing for me at the beginning, but in class it was described as a broader commentary on a certain topic. The explanation of this that made it make the most sense to me was “where parody, draws on – and highlights – aesthetic conventions, satire draws on – and highlights – social ones” (Neale, S & Krutnik, F., 1990). Greven (2014) highlights this and notes that the reason both forms are usually confused is that they can function together.

The examples that we discussed three examples of satires that were commentaries on drug use/policies. First was Brass Eye — episode 2, “Drugs” (1997), the second was Chappelle’s Show — “Tyrone Biggums” sketch from season 1, episode 2 (2003) and the third was Corey White’s Roadmap to Paradise — season 1, episode 10, “The War on Drugs” (2018). We compared the three and I realised that all three were based on the same topic but it was debated within the class which one was the most ‘effective’ in encouraging change in terms of drug use/policies.

When planning our next group sketch, we found that our ideas fit more into the parody form so we had to build upon a more relatable experience (the use of dating apps) and the bad experiences associated around it. This week my group (Nia, Bobby and I) put more time in filming and editing than all the previous weeks of sketches. There were quite a few different bits and segments that we wanted to do and for it to all reinforce the central idea: the cycle of dating apps negatively affects us yet we still continue to use them, and that’s comedic in itself. I’m very happy with how it turned out, and I think we successfully created a satire sketch, the only thing I would’ve fixed if we had more time is some editing issues (the transitions could have been smoother).

Sketch: UNHINGED

References:

1. Greven, D. (2014) Book Excerpt: Psycho-Sexual: Male Desire in Hitchcock, De Palma, Scorsese, and Friedkin by David Greven, Roger Ebert website, accessed 14 April 2024. https://www.rogerebert.com/features/book-excerpt-psycho-sexual-male-desire-in-hitchcock-de-palma-scorsese-and-friedkin-by-david-greven 
2. Neale, S. & Krutnik, F. (1990), “Definitions, genres, and forms” in Popular Film and Television Comedy. London: Routledge, pp. 10–25.

Week 4: Comedy as a Mode / Parody

This week we explored parody. I learnt that parody is about being aware of the conventions of a certain genre and working with them in a different way to create comedic effect. Toplyn (2014) describes it as “the concept of commenting on the original work” so it is vital to be aware of the conventions of a form before making an effective and comedic parody of it.

This was the first week that we did sketches as a group and I really enjoyed riffing off of Zach and Nia’s ideas to come up with a parody sketch. We decided that a form we already find funny is the reaction videos that have been in abundance on platforms such as YouTube. In order to make our parody close to the original form, we used ‘funny videos’ that are commonly used by reaction YouTube channels in it to stay true to the form and Zach’s commitment to the character made it all very believable. We flipped the form/genre by using incongruity and making it seem like the YouTuber had a stalker. In order to make it still fit within the genre, however, we made a plot twist at the end, where it was all a planned ‘prank’ by the YouTuber.

Our parody sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxHbgMgsxNE 

This week we also had comedian, writer, and performer Hannah Camilleri come in to talk to us about working in the industry, and we watched her web series Little Shits which was a series of short episodes that introduce a few characters who live in a share house. I was quite inspired by the form, and the small ensemble, which is something that I want to consider when it comes to the final project for this studio.

References:

1. Toplyn, J. (2014), “Parody SketchesLinks to an external site. to an external site.” in Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV, New York: Twenty Lane Media, pp. 239–261.

Week 3: The Comic Frame / Comedy Mechanics

Delving into sitcoms this week felt more up my alley compared to the sketch comedy shows that we have been studying so far. I found it very interesting to get into the science behind sitcom humour and sketches as I am definitely a huge sitcom watcher. Some of my key takeaways from this that I took into consideration when making my sketch was the focus on relateability and how the humour ties in with the story.

This week I got feedback from my peers on my previous sketch, which was really helpful in my approach to the third and final solo sketch. I was told that a lot of the humour in my second sketch was visual and I didn’t need to depend so much on the text. Basically I learnt that I didn’t need to do so much to force my audience to laugh and I could’ve had more trust in the visual aspects of my sketch.

Toplyn (2014) lays out the the structure of a story sketch as having a “beginning that gets you excited, a middle that grips you and an end that delivers,” which I used as a template for my sketch as I have 3 different shots in my sketch that fit in with beginning, middle and end. For my third and final solo sketch, I knew that I wanted to implement a lie that either gradually gets worse or more believable. I think that I ended up drawing from relateability within the context of having uni students as my audience. My sketch is about how extension requests are quite common but sometimes once given it we end up taking our time with the assignment until the new due date regardless. We were also sliding around the room in chairs before I came up with the ending to this sketch and it made us laugh so I thought it would work in video form as well.

Experiment #3: Situation Comedy – My Extension Request

Sound effects ‘Whoosh sub’ and ‘f_Synth_Whoosh_21.wav’ sourced from freesound.org

References:

Toplyn, J. (2014), “Story SketchesLinks to an external site.” in Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV, New York: Twenty Lane Media, pp. 221–238.

Sketches & Reflections

Week 1: The Comic Event / Surprise / Incongruity 

https://www.mediafactory.org.au/chloe-roussy/2024/03/08/beyond-a-joke-beyond-a-genre-week-1/   

Week 2: Benign Violation / Relief

https://www.mediafactory.org.au/chloe-roussy/2024/03/15/beyond-a-joke-beyond-a-genre-week-2/

Week 3: The Comic Frame / Comedy Mechanics

https://www.mediafactory.org.au/chloe-roussy/2024/03/22/beyond-a-joke-beyond-a-genre-week-3/   

Week 2: Benign Violation / Relief / Silent Comedy

“For a violation to produce humour, it also needs to seem OK, safe, acceptable, or, in other words, benign” (Warren & McGraw, 2015)

The concept of benign violation was slightly confusing to me until Warren and McGraw use the example of how we only laugh from tickles when they’re from someone other than ourselves. The unexpected (as long as we know we’re safe) makes us laugh due to our relief about the situation.

I had to leave the makeup studio class after 1 hour as I had a scheduled seminar/class that I had to attend, hence I did not get feedback on my week 1 sketch, but my friends who watched my sketch complimented my use of facial expressions and sound effects, but some people also found the whole situation in the sketch a little confusing. Hence this week, especially with the topic of silent comedy, I wanted to create a clear sketch that didn’t need dialogue or sound to be funny.

For experiment #2, I was inspired by a scene in a Buster Keaton movie, where there is a banana peel on the floor but no one ends up slipping on it as expected, as this is a cliche in comedy. My sketch was based around this cliche but going against it and hopefully surprising the audience into laughing or even just giggling. I also drew a lot of inspiration from the style of silent films that cut between text and visuals to encourage the audience to laugh. However, I am now questioning if I overused text in a supposedly silent comedic sketch (which is something I’ll ask my peers when I get feedback).

Experiment #2: Silent Comedy – Harmless Banana Peel?

Sound effects sourced from freesound.org

References:

Warren, C. & McGraw, A.P. (2015), “Benign Violation TheoryLinks to an external site.” in Attardo, S. (ed), Encyclopedia of Humor Studies, Los Angeles: SAGE Reference.

Week 1:

Theories of Humour: The Comic Event / Surprise / Incongruity

Comedy as a form relies on feeding off of its audience. In the reading of the week, ‘Six Small Essays About Comedy’ (Simons, 2023) Simons claims that “[people laugh] because they hear something surprising… because they hear a funny sound,” which I took onboard when planning, filming and editing my sketch. I also didn’t use sound effects until the last 10 seconds of the sketch, aimed at adding another element of surprise at the end. Part of comedy as a genre is initiating a push and pull experience, as comedy relies so heavily on audience reaction.

My first experiment was inspired by in-class discussion about incongruity, as in creating and breaking expectations. I did this in my sketch by setting the expectation that two people are having a conversation, especially when I don’t cut to the shampoo bottle the first time that the second voice is heard. Once the audience is used to this, I suddenly cut to a shampoo bottle with stuck-on sunglasses and hair, revealing that the character is talking to herself. This makes the rest of the sketch seem even more absurd. I’d say it’s a lighthearted demonstration of a woman speaking back to the voices in her head, but the use of a shampoo bottle and outro is so unexpected that it’s comical.

Through learning about incongruity, I’ve found the concept of ‘surprise’ and breaking expectations to be very common within the comedy genre. One of the examples in class that I thought was really funny was the I Think You Should Leave ‘Zipline’ sketch. It sets up the expectation of a typical dating game show, but delves into absurdity by making the whole sketch about one of the contestant’s obsession with the pool and zipline instead of finding love. It’s so unexpected that you can’t help but laugh. I’ve also recently started watching the show PEN15, which sets up the expectation of being about two girls in middle school, but breaks expectations as the two main characters are played by women in their early 30s. It also fits under the genre of ‘Cringe Comedy,’ which inspired the style of acting I wanted to portray in my sketch, such as leaning into awkwardness and secondhand embarrassment.

Experiment #1: Sketch – International Women’s Day

Sound effects sourced from freesound.org

References:

Simons, S. (2023), “Six Small Essays About Comedy”, Humorism, <https://www.humorism.xyz/six-small-essays-about-comedy/Links to an external site.>.Simons, S. (2023), “Six Small Essays About Comedy”, Humorism, <https://www.humorism.xyz/six-small-essays-about-comedy/Links to an external site.>.

1> From your studio, reflect on an aspect of two other students/group’s media work on the website in terms of specific insights they produced about a key idea addressed by the studio? 

Sonny Vaughn (by Aditya Karatagi)

Sonny Vaughn, written, edited and directed by Aditya Karatagi made me physically uncomfortable from the jolts and movements and cuts between shots. What I found the most interesting about Adi and his process with his short film was that he looked into music to use prior to even creating a storyline. Similarly to my short film, Adi’s Sonny Vaughn was “an exercise in style and mood” (via. Adi’s reflection on the Uncomfortable Filmmaking studio site) rather than a narrative-based storyline. What I found very insightful was the way he edited very much coherently with the music that he chose. Audio is something that I want to work on in future films and projects, so this aspect of his film stood out to me. The music in Sonny Vaughn is very experimental and electric, which really tied in with the intention of causing discomfort and eeriness. I think it worked well especially because the entire film was built based upon this genre of music too. The music really added to Sonny Vaughn as it quite literally evoked a sense of paranoia and dizziness alongside the jolty movements of the camera. I really enjoyed Sonny Vaughn, and it definitely succeeded in making me physically uncomfortable. 

The It Girl (by Sarah Goh)

Conceptually, The It Girl directed, written and edited by Sarah Goh really stood out to me. This studio theoretically taught us the rules of filmmaking so we would know how to subvert these rules. What The It Girl did was took the trope of the archetypal ‘It Girl’ character and subverted audience expectations. We’re made to feel empathetic, but also critical of this character. This was done specifically through subversion of genre, jumping from the audience’s expectations of a lighthearted romance to a sudden jump to surreal horror (knives, fake blood and green colour grading!). I think this jump from one genre to the other was uncomfortable in itself. It builds up audience expectations by encouraging us to root for them to be a couple. This included typical tropes such as sharing music taste, a house party, and a wingman friend. Once we’re built up to the height of romance, it suddenly shifts dramatically. Colour grading changes and The It Girl stabs the boy who likes her. Alongside the subtitles as commentary, we are made to empathise with the It Girl, but we’re confused and made uncomfortable because she physically hurt a likeable character. By the end, there is no conclusive ending, and you’re left to sit with the feeling of shock and confusion. I genuinely loved The It Girl, and I may be biased because I was on set and saw just how hard Sarah planned, worked and delegated to make filming go smoothly, but I truly think that the concepts worked well theoretically and in practise to create an entertaining and subversive short film. 

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2> Choose one other studio from this list (we suggest selecting a studio that you would not normally be interested in). Then describe a key idea that you think the finished media/studio work communicated with reference to two specific examples (i.e. particular individual/group works) – Please note the name of the studio and the name of the work

ANOTHER STUDIO – Shock! A New Horror

The Newsroom (directed and written by Jasmin Gould)  

What I noticed that made The Newsroom differ from a lot of traditional horror films is that it takes place in a more common space (a newsroom, workplace break room, not associated with horror), utilises silences, and most of the sound effects used were not typical to horror until around the halfway point of the short film. I thought it was interesting how it flips the expectation of a woman getting attacked at night to her attacking him back, but it’s also interesting how it doesn’t paint her as strong or liberated. She is filled with remorse. It demonstrates an internal conflict, rather than an external threat. Despite overpowering a man, she is still a victim. One of the biggest subversions in contemporary horror is subject matter, so the focus on the themes of misogyny and victim blaming are what really defined it as a contemporary work of horror. 

Gooey (directed and written by Luciana Nicolaci)

I think that the acting in Gooey plays a significant role in making the audience feel scared, when I watched it I felt like something was looming. Throughout it there is a build up of tension through the tense acting style used by the characters, but it doesn’t feel like it does it the way a traditional horror movie does it. There was a lot of relatable dialogue, but it was flipped on its head and felt unfamiliar. The tropes of a creepy house, unfamiliar family members, mystery and goo (unidentifiable fluids/textures) all came into play. But somehow, this short film felt different from horror films I’ve seen. I feel that this short film was a representation of difficult family conversations and awkward family gatherings but with something deeper and darker at the centre of its story. The main character is also still alive at the end and it leaves us with questions after watching.