I hope our short film Rogue engaged the audience with the multiple types of comedy we utilised. A key concern of the studio, Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre, was exploring how to creatively think of comedy ‘within and beyond genre, form, and media’. We wanted to explore comedy through mode and genre, as comedy does not just have to be a genre on its own, but can be mixed in to others as well, known as genre hybridisation. We combined an action/spy film with comedy, with films like Johnny English serving as heavy inspiration. Being a genre hybridised film, we didn’t want to just rely on verbals jokes from dialogue, we wanted to have visual and situational comedy to keep the audience entertained. An example of this is when Agent Whyte asks the café goer if he’s seen Agent Wolley and shows a photo of her. Unbeknownst to them, Wolley appears behind the window, sees them, and runs away, while all characters are still in frame. Furthermore, we introduced elements of satire, a mode of comedy, satirising aspects of modern life. We also added aspects of parody but were careful to not turn it into a parody of a spy film. The intention was instead to take conventions of a spy film and add comedy to them, most evident during the stand-off and fight scene at the end. I hope these engaged the audience, especially through our goofy yet loveable main protagonist Agent Whyte.
If we were to keep working on Rogue, there are a few small things that I would tweak. There are a couple of shots that are slightly out of focus and some that had dodgy audio quality (due to the lapel microphone issues). Of course, we were on an extremely tight filming schedule and had no time to re-shoot any of this once we noticed it in post-production; if we had more time to continue working on this film, I would like to re-shoot those scenes to make the editing process smoother. Cleaning up these small technical issues could make the film look and sound more polished and professional. That being said, I think our editing team did a fantastic job to fix the audio quality in some shots that were disastrous to begin with. I would also like to extend the beginning of the film, establishing the time (1964) and setting in more detail. This could be achieved through props or title cards on the screen. Moreover, I would like to have had more aspects of satire – attacking or making fun of a social issue. This was an idea that was discussed in pre-production, to use our film to satirise aspects of modern day life, such as social media, public transport, technology, and other social norms. While we did include satirical elements, such as making fun of ridiculous coffee orders and vaping, I would have liked more of it to emphasise the incongruity of our main character in her new surroundings.
From my studio, Alex, Jazmin, Luciana, Claudia, and Jayden addressed some key ideas of the studio in their short film Operation Superstar. I really enjoyed the dialogue in their film, especially by their two slightly delusional protagonists Harry and Fergus. Writing for comedy is exceptionally challenging and I think this group wrote a great combination of subtle and obvious jokes. Their film addresses many of the theories and ideas explored in the studio, such as satire, incongruity, and absurdity. This film is strangely wholesome, a story about friendship and following your dreams. This also addresses an insight of the studio, which is that comedy doesn’t have to be ‘in your face’ the whole time; this is easily also a coming-of-age type of film, showing how they have incorporated genre hybridisation. Also from my studio, the short film Trip Up by Angus, K, Giorgio, Ben, and Saskia, addresses some key ideas. I loved the camera work in this film that enhanced the chaos experienced by the characters in their trip, as well how ridiculous they look from an outsider’s view. For example, they repeatedly have shots from a low angle just beneath the characters’ chins, which creates such a hilarious look, as the characters appear so disoriented. This demonstrates the use of visual comedy, the idea that not all comedy has to come from dialogue.
From another studio, Visual Blueprint, I believe the short film Three Strikes by Elsa Walsh, Victoria Riyadi, Lloyd Fitzgerald, and Lexie Hakim, portrayed key ideas of their studio amazingly. From the studio descriptions, a main idea of their studio was to focus on the visual aesthetic of a film in order to enhance the narrative. Three Strikes had some beautiful visuals, and I love how the setting of all the characters compliments their personalities. For example, Lady Butterfly is a gorgeous fashionista, and she is first seen in a pink tinted bathroom having a bubble bath. Spi is a nerdy, awkward guy who aims to please, and he is seen in his living room with movie posters on the walls and surrounded by mess on the table. The shots transition smoothly from one location to another, despite the setting often being very different. They have thoughtfully placed the camera in places that are visually pleasing and demonstrate good technical skills. A good example of this is the shot of the Professor opening the letter while leaning against the wall. He’s in the centre of the frame, with one half of the screen being the alleyway surroundings and the other half being the wall. It’s a really cool visual and I can tell they’ve carefully thought about the placement. This film demonstrates some beautiful cinematography and thoughtful visual placement, which I believe is a focus of their studio.