Select a social issue, event, or theme and create a piece of media that engages with that topic in a comedic way

In class, we discussed how satire is a mode of comedy that is related to, but distinct from parody. Parody will approach a chosen genre, replicating and subverting its tropes and conventions with the intent to ridicule that genre. Satire uses comic tools and techniques (including parody) in order to comment on, ridicule, or attack social norms, ideas, or events outside the satirical text.

We wanted our sketch to be a comment on toxic diet culture and the absurdity that arises from those that partake in it. The sketch centres around an office lunch break with everyone about to eat lunch.  Each person takes turns saying what they’re eating, their meal being an exaggerated version of current diet trends. These characters represent a subsection of diet culture, for example I played the raw meat carnivore, Claudia is the typical almond mum/supplement abuser, Luciana is the intermittent fasting dieter and Jaden is the “locally sourced”, unhomogenised milk drinker. This exaggeration was to ultimately expose the normalisation of disordered eating and body dysmorphia, poking fun at the absurdity that is what people consider “clean” and “healthy” eating. The sketch ends with the faster passing out on the ground, a regular occurrence according to the others, a comedic ending that still attempts to send out a message that condemns the harmful ways in which people try to lose weight. 

We adopted The Office style of filmmaking, being the most fitting for our office lunch break setting. We adopted the use of zoom-ins to capture people’s reactions and create tension as well as the “cameraman”/”POV” to create a casual atmosphere and surprise the viewer in a comedic way e.g. When Luciana passes out, we hear the noise first before the camera turns to reveal her.

In the week 5 reading, Caterson states that “most effective satire blurs irretrievably the line between fact and fiction” (Caterson 2005). With this in mind, I would potentially redo the sketch, and approach it through a more realistic lens, as opposed to overexaggerated caricatures. This would potentially reflect the gravity of the social issue for effectively and elevate the humour with a more subtle progression from a regular lunch, to an unhinged “diet-friendly” one.

Link to Sketch: https://youtu.be/ZltPOGDTVec?si=e2AeD-PgltUh3d7L

References 

Caterson, S. (2005), “A Preposterous Life“, Griffith Review, 8 (June 2005), pp. 186–192.

Create a piece of media that parodies any conventionalised media format or genre

In the week 4 reading,”Parody Sketches”, parody in comedy writing is identified as “a funny imitation of an artistic work that wasn’t intended to be funny” (Toplyn 2014). 

We found that there was a lot of room to experiment with the form of documentary, with the use of both the camcorder/found footage style and professional, dramatic depictions that use high quality shots. In conjunction with the reading, we used our sketch to tap into the uber serious approach to investigative journalism and the type of documentaries that aim to `uncover dark secrets’, and turn it into something absurd. The reading also states the importance of studying the style of the source material in order to properly mimic it. This is so that “the punch lines you write into your parody will be even more surprising and therefore funnier” (Toplyn 2014). We drew from typical tropes seen in documentaries such as Talking Heads interview, B roll footage and emotional music and stories. We then created incongruity by introducing an absurd character such as Mark, a delusional, self righteous, unhinged documentarian. 

We tapped into a comedic formula. Much like Hannah Camilleri said she did for her web series, “Little Shits’. The formula was that Mark’s words continued to be proven wrong, contradicted or shut down by either the people around him e.g. the Gardener and the intern or by what is being visually shown to the audience. An example of this is when Mark was discussing the sheer amount of sex that went on in the community garden with footage of a pumpkin shaped like a bum, and him leering at a fully clothed woman who is innocently weeding only to be completely rejected.

One of the major challenges was trying to condense our initial idea down into a three minute clip, as we all had funny lines and actions that we wanted to contribute. However, I think having a small time frame challenged us to present the premise for the sketch more succinctly and get to the real meat of the jokes.

Link to Sketch: https://youtu.be/x8AcoZT23dI

References

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.

Theories of humour: The Comic Frame / Comedy Mechanic

This week, we discussed how context, symbolism and structure work to establish a comic frame, in which the audience recognises the scenario/characters/setting as comedic and adjusts their consumption of the content accordingly.

In this experiment, I aimed to follow the steps detailed in the week 3 reading, “Story Sketches” (Toplyn 2014) in order to create my own story sketch.  My comic character, the leopard print lady, had a want. To successfully do very bizarre, unsexy roleplay with their date. The “straight man” aka cap guy continuously shuts down the weird requests, asking for another option and then, eventually, leaving the situation entirely. The weird date’s roleplay ideas get increasingly more obscure and unfitting resulting in the comic character not getting what they want. In the reading, “The Semiotics of Humour” a technique in bringing humour is “disappointments and defeated expectations, in which a person’s expectations (often of a sexual nature) are led on and then denied as a result of an accident, coincidence, misunderstanding” (Berger 2023). I adopted this as the overarching plot of the skit, with two people potentially about to have a night of passion, only for them to disappoint each other due to absurd suggestions and a severe lack of chemistry.

In regards to the feedback from my week 2 experiment, I received a positive response on my physical and facial performance and so I wanted to continue highlighting that in this sketch. I was also encouraged to provide more exposition and context for my jokes, to allow a more comedic result. I attempted to better set the joke up by having a corny title card saying “Date Night” and a romantic piano play in the background. Following this with the lighting of a candle to “set the mood” and hint at an intimate moment between two people.

Link to Clip: https://youtu.be/YNBwzZ2mczA

References 

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

Berger, A.A. (2023), “The Semiotics of Humour: Universal Humour Techniques in Comedy Writing ” in Audissino, E. & Wennekes, E. (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Music in Comedy Cinema, Cham: Springer International, pp. 25–42. 

Theories of humour: Benign Violation / Relief

In this sketch I wanted to play with black and white to conceal the truth and transition to colour to reveal a twist, creating a comedic scenario. It emphasises the stupidity of the character in not realising sooner and for leaving such a ghastly thing out in the open and in a typical glass. While potty humour is notoriously childish and often deemed as lazy humour, I often enjoy it in moderation and thought it could be a fun way to avoid a language-based comedy, by going back to basics (bodily functions)

“Peripeteia is the moment when the fortunes of the principal character are reversed” (Palmer 1988/2018). This can absolutely be seen in my character, who seemed to innocently be enjoying a crisp glass of water, only to realise far too late that it is straight from the toilet. I wanted to call back to the classic use of the banana peel seen in classic silent films such as  The “High” Sign (Buster Keaton, 1921). In my clip, the character is seen eating a banana in the beginning, hinting at a potential slip later on. With the intense absurdity occurring within the clip, the audience will hopefully forget about the initial banana, only for the character to abruptly slip on the peel in the final scene, and delightfully surprise the viewer, inciting laughter.

In the Week 2 reading the “Benign Violation Theory” Warren builds on the idea humour is evoked when the circumstance occurring is breaking social norms whilst also being good-hearted in nature (Warren 2015). There are numerous factors that make something feel benign, the factors that I utilised were “a playful motivational state, cues that a situation should not be taken seriously or a low commitment to the person or norm threatened by the violation.” (Warren 2015). 

I attempted to utilise this theory by:

1. Creating a violation e.g. The character drinks poop water.
2. Making it benign by having the character be “playful” and silly in their facial expressions and body language and creating a low commitment as the character only exists within the 1 minute sketch.

This week’s experiment certainly challenged me and helped me realise how much I lean on and value bouncing off other people and how I struggle to create silent comedy, despite myself enjoying it as a spectator. 

Link to video: https://youtu.be/BUUNdPatHP4

References

Palmer, J. (1988/2018), “The Logic of the Absurd” in Marx, N. & Sienkiewicz, M. (eds), The Comedy Studies Reader. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 51–54.

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

Theories of humour: The Comic Event / Surprise / Incongruity

With this short piece, I wanted to evoke the feeling of incongruity from the audience by having the scene take place in an emotional setting, hence the therapy session. We expect the tone to be a drama, or maybe a coming of age, however the twist of the client having comically small hands suberts those expectations, the physical humour stripping the realism from the scene and introducing an air of ridiculousness. Something that one would notice (and hopefully find funny) after a second watch is that the topic of conversation uses words such as “grip” and “palm of his hand”, a hint at the clients later reveal.

This also feeds into the discussion that was had with my group in class in which we were tasked to answer the question “What is Comedy?”. We suggested that comedy is a coping mechanism for humanity, having the ability to find a lightness in dark topics. With this in mind, I used the often overwhelming and vulnerable position of being open with a psychologist and combined it with the absurd, making light of an otherwise intimate moment. 

In our week 1 reading “Six Small Essays”, Simons states that “The funniest thing is something exploding that you wouldn’t expect to explode” (Simons 2023). Inspired by that, I introduced a final act of randomness by ending the scene with an explosion following the client’s line “I think i’m going to be okay…”. Not only is the explosion completely out of pocket, but it contradicts what the audience believes is an honest statement. By ending on a fiery death, there is no closure or happy ending. The audience has had no time to get to know these two characters, therefore the level of misfortune feels comical. 

In regard to my own research, I was certainly inspired by the works of Youtuber, TomSka, specifically his sketch comedy series, ASDF, that consisted of a compilation of short clips with simplistic animated characters. The series utilised dark humour, absurdity and randomness, being a time capsule for early to mid 2000s YouTube comedy.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/BCGNkyLAucM

Starring:

Noah Lissarrague as Small Handz

Stock video and sound from Pixabay

Link to ASDF Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYnsfV5N2n8&list=PL6HF94r1ogByYa2xFAXIE_1Pw-K0AU_Vd

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? 

Shock! A New Horror

It was incredible to see the finished pieces on the big screen, amplifying the horror elements of the short films. According to the evolving genre, “Post-Horror” films go beyond the typical horror route of jumpscares and shallow plots with a focus on character’s emotional  journeys, and a discussion of deeper themes, often related to current cultural and/or socio-political issues. These qualities and the quote “Just because it’s a horror film doesn’t mean it can’t be deep” by Jennifer Kent can certainly be applicable to the works created in this studio. The Newsroom, explored the male dominated field of journalism and broadcast media and the rape culture that accompanies that. The super-close-ups of the protagonist, the out of focus frame and muffled voice worked to emphasise the woman’s sense of isolation and disconnect from those around her, her trauma unravelling throughout the film. The final lines from the film, “most girl’s couldn’t overpower me” reflects how despite his death, he continues to haunt the protagonist and perpetuate the normalisation of assault and harassment for women in the workplace. 

Gooey explores the fear of disappointment and the pressure to live up to one’s family’s expectation, exaggerated through body horror.  Super-Close Ups of mouths and the grandma’s face reflect the claustrophobia and discomfort that the protagonist feels in the presence of her conservative, guilt inducing family. The use of a slimy, skin-melting like substance symbolises the suffocating,  and all consuming desire to impress those around us and the awkward conversation students like ourselves are forced to have about taking an arts/communications degree. Both films included core themes that related to the current contextual climate. They were uniquely explored and challenged through the mode of Post-Horror, raising awareness for real-life horrors as well as underrated, relatable horror in one’s day to day life.

2> Choose one other studio from this list. 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)

Uncomfortable Filmmaking

After attending the screening and exploring the website of the Uncomfortable Filmmaking Studio, my initial perception of its meaning changed. I had first thought that the studio centred more around the plot of a film and characterisation; making cringey dialogue and awkward situations in order to create the feeling of discomfort. However I see it now as more of a subtle, artistically inclined approach to filmmaking, utilising pacing, music, shots and movement to subvert the audience’s expectations and defy the typical, “comfortable” film format. I formed this opinion after watching works such as Do Geese See God (DGSG) and Sonny Vaughn. In DGSG, The actor performed entirely backwards so that, when reversed, everyone around him was moving backwards. This evoked discomfort from the audience, watching the unnatural movements of the people, and reflecting the psyche and sense of loneliness felt from the protagonist. There was zero dialogue that also contributed to the feeling of miscommunication and disconnect from the protagonist and the other characters as well as the audience and the film. 

Sonny Vaughn took an even more abstract approach, focusing on feeling rather than plot and character.  The protagonist’s face is concealed by a mask throughout the film, which resulted in myself as the viewer feeling disconnected from him as well as feeling left in the dark as to who he was, being accustomed to seeing characters on film in their entirety. The use of quick camera movements and cuts worked to reflect the protagonist’s growing paranoia and sense of urgency, and evoked a feeling of motion sickness and anxiety. Nearing the end, the music that remained a constant throughout the film cuts to silence, followed by a wide shot of the protagonist’s target and a close up of the protagonist’s eyes. This change of pace and unexpected silence raised the tension in the room astronomically, the audience sitting in their discomfort as they waited for the protagonist’s next move. This studio, which I initially saw as quite a simple approach to filmmaking, was surprisingly enlightening. It pushed me to reconsider how, by taking the audience on an unexpected journey and evoking unease and uncertainty from the individual, one can provide a more potent viewing experience and portray emotions and relationships in a uniquely powerful way.