I hope my artefact engages the audience by combining humor with social commentary, using satire to reveal the absurdities of comical objects. By juxtaposing a 1960s protagonist with modern-day elements like TikTok and vaping, the film invites viewers to reflect on how different the culture has vastly changed, often in bizarre ways. It aligns with the studio’s key concern to embed comic events in the “non-comedy” genre like drama or documentary, allowing for more suspenseful intersections of comedy.
If I continued working on my short spy film, I would focus on refining two key elements to enhance the overall quality and impact. Firstly, I still see the underperformance in the set design. As we do not have enough resources to create the exact look of the ’60s era, we slightly create unfavorable loopholes. Agent Whyte and the boss are from 1964, but the agency’s setup and characters’ dialogue do not belong to 1964. After re-watching the 1964 scenes multiple times, I would love to create a better interpretation – how people interpret meanings through social languages (narratives, gestures, and so on). Furthermore, we lack concentration on the side character’s storytelling. Most events revolve around Agent Whyte most of the time; thus we waste opportunities to invest in potential characters such as Agent Whollie. One technique I learned from sketching the story is to identify the goals of your comic characters to expose their stagnant characteristics, and their actions in pursuit of goals should match their traits (Toplyn 2014). We neglect the drive of Boss to hunt down Agent Wollie for the file and the schemings of Wollie against the Boss. It lacks the condensed background to build up the character’s motives, leaving the film flat with easy resolution
Secondly, improving logistics and pre-production is also important. My initial lack of experience with shot lists and storyboards was a hurdle. On the first day of shooting, I was lost in keeping up with the schedule. Staying too long at one scene held us back from keeping the progress on time. Therefore, I felt the need to have an intricate production sheet where I planned what activities I had to follow during the day and the timelines for them. I watched a helpful YouTube tutorial, “How To Storyboard Even if You Can’t Draw”, and found out that even if I can not draw, executing good direction lines beneath each scene is viable enough. Moreover, I used the Shot Design App to create a 2D model of the shots. It was a supportive document on set, especially when actors understood their characters most thoroughly and might not have the best understanding of the director’s terms. Speaking to them clearly about your shoot intention and getting feedback from them come up with spontaneous ideas that were not part of the initial plan.
Reflecting on the media works “Operation Superstar” and “Situation Tragedy” from our studio, I gained specific insights into the key idea of Benign Violation, which explores how deviations from social norms can trigger laughter (Warren and McGraw 2014). This concept also aligns with the Story Sketch idea, emphasizing that every character needs a motive, and their personalities are crafted to highlight that motive (Toplyn 2014).
In “Operation Superstar,” Paul’s actions create a sense of unease as he desperately seeks attention by violating norms. His character shows a serious motive after being overwhelmed with being unnoticed, in that he puts a condom in a cast member’s sandwich and openly admits it to everyone. Still, it fails to get the attention he craves, nevertheless the horrible things he did. His extravagant behavior is an act of norm-breaking, meant to provoke laughter through discomfort and absurdity. Similarly, in “Situation Tragedy,” the characters Kevin, Adam, and Josh embark on a wild adventure in search of Millie Bobby Brown. The drug hallucination leads to absurd and humorous actions, such as the boys neglecting Kevin when he gets lost in the water or meeting the pirate. This scenario highlights their carefree and spontaneous nature despite facing consequences, that defy the logical senses. Again, these examples underscore how the careful construction of character motives and personalities can effectively utilize the benign violation theory to elicit laughter.
In engaging the media work “Picture the Moment” from the Scene in Cinema Studio, its focus is to recreate the vibe of inspirational Ghibli films. I understand that this final project requires you to draw your personal feelings from inspirational cinematic experiences and recreate them using your vision. The producers intend to create a lo-fi nature-type look that speaks to the common aesthetic design in Ghibli films. It requires a sophisticated analysis of Ghibli’s films to conclude what makes Ghibli’s animation mesmerizing and tranquil. Ghibli’s stories speak to morally humane themes and catalyze nature to emphasize its influence on expressing the inner moods of characters. Therefore, they employ static shot composition, which captures the nature around the in-focus character, with the support of minimalist camera movements. The narrative, centered on a photographer reminiscing about a lost friend through capturing silent moments in nature, further highlights the themes of memory, connection, and solitude.
Reference List:
Toplyn, J. (2014), “Story Sketches” in Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV, New York: Twenty Lane Media, pp. 221–238.
Warren, C. & McGraw, A.P. (2015), “Benign Violation Theory” in Attardo, S. (ed), Encyclopedia of Humor Studies, Los Angeles: SAGE Reference.