YouTube link: 73 Q’S With Chet Bordeaux
This week, week four, was our first hybridisation exercise and our first of many media artefacts to be complete in a group. And, despite not being in class due to the strike and Easter break, I’d say it went pretty well all things considered. The first hybridisation exercise focused on parody. According to Joe Toplyn, “a parody is considered to be a funny imitation of an artistic work that typically wasn’t intended to be funny”. Our parody was based on Vogue magazine’s ’73 questions with’ series on YouTube, in which they interview a plethora of celebrities, the likes of Nicki Minaj, Zac Efron, and of course, James Corden, with 73 questions. These videos–while clearly scripted–are intended to feel improvised. Zendaya’s “73 Qs” for instance begins with her picking lemons which segways us into the interrogation. The questions are often vague, allowing for short and sweet answers, but sometimes are more thought-provoking. In Jennifer Lawrence’s 73 questions she is asked, “when was the last time that you played mini golf?” (as they were at a mini golf course), and just a few questions later, was asked, “what is your favourite movie?” Needless to say, the questions vary in simplicity and relevance, but the format does ultimately work. We came to this idea, not only because it’s very parodiable, but also because it would require minimal editing. Typically, these interviews are done in one shot and aside from some colour grading and a title card, don’t require really any editing (seemingly anyway). We then talked about different names for our celebrity, coming to Chet Bordeaux, a trashy, self-centred actor. We also threw in some simple, vague questions, alongside more specific (potentially invasive) questions, including ones suggesting some controversy around our character. Meanwhile the answers, which including name-dropping Troye Sivan and Dannii Minogue, really allowed the character to become very trashy and douchey, aided by Lewis’ performance of the character. Overall, considering the interruptions in class as well as it being the mid-semester break, I think we articulated the point of the exercise brilliantly, and were able to make a pretty good parody, (in 3 minutes exactly btw).
Toplyn, J. (2014), “Parody Sketches” in Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV, New York: Twenty Lane Media, pp. 239–261.