What makes for a great comedic protagonist?
How does the actor need to portray him?
-Find the truth
-make quirky behavior come from a psychological need, not because its written as quirky.
-Never play the funny
-play the opposite
-playing the funny becomes obvious and the audience tunes out.
-Highest stakes possible..that's what makes it funny.
-getting worked up over what essentially is a minor problem is funny.
Can comic characters have an arc?
-Most comic protagonists don't arc. That's what makes them funny. They don't learn from their mistakes.
-Not much of an arc: Ferris Beuller, Alvy (Annie Hall), The Geek (16 Candles), Bugs Bunny, Bill Murray, Groucho Marx
-Big arc: Michael Dorsey (Tootsie), Tom Hanks (Big), Jack Lemmon (The Apartment)
Therefore, 2 types of comedic stories. Farces (Animal House, Stripes, Airplane) and tales (The Apartment, Election, Big).
What is the main source of antagonism for a comic protagonist?
-Bumbling characters are their own worst enemy (Inspector Closeau, Michael Dorsey, The Geek, The Jerk)
-Smart Ass characters fight the world (Bugs Bunny, Groucho, Ferris)
-Wimpy guys/boy-men usually fight off A) bullies who are manlier than them or B) The establishment which is riddled with bullies (Animal House, Blues Brothers, SuperBad)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Shooting Comedy
Let's talk about how to shoot comedy. There's a right way, and a wrong way.
CAMERA WORK
I'm gonna pick on 1941 again. It tries so hard to be funny and that's where it fails.
Here are the problems with the way its shot:
1. Its too busy. The wind blowing, the smoke, the camera moves. It doesn't FEEL like a comedy.
2. Camera moving on the jokes. If you move the camera, the joke gets lost.
3. Lighting is dark (actors reactions sometimes in shadows).
NEVER move the camera on a punchline. NEVER.
NEVER obscure a reaction from camera (frame and light actors CLEARLY).
Check out this clip from Curb:
It works because the camera work is simple. Its only to service the performers. The lighting is high-key, and though the camera is 'shaky', it never moves during a funny bit. Overall, the humor is supported by the filmmakers as opposed to being trampled.
What about night scenes? If most comedies are high-key lighting (brighter) then how does one pull off a night shot?
Annie Hall:
Notice that Walken is partially obscured by shadows, which adds a creepy flavor to his character...which is the the joke. But the laugh comes on Woody's reaction to him. Which is very well lit. In both reactions from both scenes.
REALISM OF THE WORLD
Here's the opening of DATE MOVIE:
Its tonally 'silly'.
Which means its more akin to animation, which excels at characterizations.
When you do this in live-action, you take away any sense of reality. The characters are doing silly things, trying to be funny, and it doesn't work. Why? Because they haven't explained why the characters act this way.
In the clip above from Airplane!, they play it totally straight.
Its a silly world, but they don't mug for the camera. The actors always have big stakes, they REALLY want to do what they're doing.
The reason Airplane is a classic and Date Movie is in the bargain bin, is that right off the bat with Date Movie, it doesn't make sense. Why is this chick dancing?
In Airplane, they set it up right away...the stewardess wants to do something nice for the sick girl. We can all relate to that, so we're down.
If you're going to have a comedic stylized world, HAVE IT BE BASED IN TRUTH.
PRODUCTION DESIGN CREATES TONE
How you design the world will inform the audience of what the tone is.
Pluto Nash:
What's the tone???? Everything is muddled. There's no style or charm. And if the audience can't figure the tone out instantly, they check out. Why? Cause they figure you (as a storyteller) aren't doing your job. So why listen to you?
A great world that supports the characters is The Muppet Movie.
Its whimsical and stylized and perfectly compliments the characters. They shot it at real locations, but they picked props (the Studebaker) that have a sense of fun. And since they've introduced puppets as the leads, they can do wacky things like have it snow for one shot.
Once they set up those rules, and stick to them, we buy it.
Annie Hall:
Notice how Woody keeps it fairly toned down. Its silly, he pulls a character from offscreen. But the acting is realistic and you know what the motivations are. Also the camera work is fairly minimalist. Even the lighting looks natural.
Beetlejuice:
Here is a really stylized world. Its consistent. And the camera work leads you to the jokes. Burton will reframe quickly and then lets his camera settle.
Here is a list of comedies that visually range from stylized to more naturalistic. Notice how they all have simple camera work, very defined visual palates, and consistent rules (talking to camera, pulling things offscreen).
Also, even near the 'naturalistic' side of things, they're fairly stylized (both Annie Hall and Ferris Beuller break the 4th wall.)
1. Grease
2. Airplane
3. Muppet Movie
4. Dr. Strangelove
5. Friday
6. Ferris Beuller
7. Annie Hall
8. Tootsie
9. Sixteen Candles
All the above films have in common:
1. They respect the main characters. They laugh with, but never at.
2. They set the world up in the beginning and then never break their rules.
3. The stakes are big for the characters, so the harder they keep trying (and failing) the more we laugh.
4. The emotions are all real. Nothing wacky.
CONCLUSION
The number 1 rule to shooting comedy is let the world/camera work/production design support the characters.
The tone should support the personalities of the characters.
Never let the camera move on a punchline.
Never have a reaction in shadow or obscured from camera.
Never have the world be too unrealistic that we can't relate or are confused.
Never be inconsistent with your tone. DON'T BREAK THE RULES OF YOUR WORLD.
CAMERA WORK
I'm gonna pick on 1941 again. It tries so hard to be funny and that's where it fails.
Here are the problems with the way its shot:
1. Its too busy. The wind blowing, the smoke, the camera moves. It doesn't FEEL like a comedy.
2. Camera moving on the jokes. If you move the camera, the joke gets lost.
3. Lighting is dark (actors reactions sometimes in shadows).
NEVER move the camera on a punchline. NEVER.
NEVER obscure a reaction from camera (frame and light actors CLEARLY).
Check out this clip from Curb:
It works because the camera work is simple. Its only to service the performers. The lighting is high-key, and though the camera is 'shaky', it never moves during a funny bit. Overall, the humor is supported by the filmmakers as opposed to being trampled.
What about night scenes? If most comedies are high-key lighting (brighter) then how does one pull off a night shot?
Annie Hall:
Notice that Walken is partially obscured by shadows, which adds a creepy flavor to his character...which is the the joke. But the laugh comes on Woody's reaction to him. Which is very well lit. In both reactions from both scenes.
REALISM OF THE WORLD
Here's the opening of DATE MOVIE:
Its tonally 'silly'.
Which means its more akin to animation, which excels at characterizations.
When you do this in live-action, you take away any sense of reality. The characters are doing silly things, trying to be funny, and it doesn't work. Why? Because they haven't explained why the characters act this way.
In the clip above from Airplane!, they play it totally straight.
Its a silly world, but they don't mug for the camera. The actors always have big stakes, they REALLY want to do what they're doing.
The reason Airplane is a classic and Date Movie is in the bargain bin, is that right off the bat with Date Movie, it doesn't make sense. Why is this chick dancing?
In Airplane, they set it up right away...the stewardess wants to do something nice for the sick girl. We can all relate to that, so we're down.
If you're going to have a comedic stylized world, HAVE IT BE BASED IN TRUTH.
PRODUCTION DESIGN CREATES TONE
How you design the world will inform the audience of what the tone is.
Pluto Nash:
What's the tone???? Everything is muddled. There's no style or charm. And if the audience can't figure the tone out instantly, they check out. Why? Cause they figure you (as a storyteller) aren't doing your job. So why listen to you?
A great world that supports the characters is The Muppet Movie.
Its whimsical and stylized and perfectly compliments the characters. They shot it at real locations, but they picked props (the Studebaker) that have a sense of fun. And since they've introduced puppets as the leads, they can do wacky things like have it snow for one shot.
Once they set up those rules, and stick to them, we buy it.
Annie Hall:
Notice how Woody keeps it fairly toned down. Its silly, he pulls a character from offscreen. But the acting is realistic and you know what the motivations are. Also the camera work is fairly minimalist. Even the lighting looks natural.
Beetlejuice:
Here is a really stylized world. Its consistent. And the camera work leads you to the jokes. Burton will reframe quickly and then lets his camera settle.
Here is a list of comedies that visually range from stylized to more naturalistic. Notice how they all have simple camera work, very defined visual palates, and consistent rules (talking to camera, pulling things offscreen).
Also, even near the 'naturalistic' side of things, they're fairly stylized (both Annie Hall and Ferris Beuller break the 4th wall.)
1. Grease
2. Airplane
3. Muppet Movie
4. Dr. Strangelove
5. Friday
6. Ferris Beuller
7. Annie Hall
8. Tootsie
9. Sixteen Candles
All the above films have in common:
1. They respect the main characters. They laugh with, but never at.
2. They set the world up in the beginning and then never break their rules.
3. The stakes are big for the characters, so the harder they keep trying (and failing) the more we laugh.
4. The emotions are all real. Nothing wacky.
CONCLUSION
The number 1 rule to shooting comedy is let the world/camera work/production design support the characters.
The tone should support the personalities of the characters.
Never let the camera move on a punchline.
Never have a reaction in shadow or obscured from camera.
Never have the world be too unrealistic that we can't relate or are confused.
Never be inconsistent with your tone. DON'T BREAK THE RULES OF YOUR WORLD.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Comedy
I've rolled my sleeves up for the last 6 months and analyzed the f#ck out of comedy structure. Even went so far as to take a stand up comedy class. My findings:
COMEDY IS HARD
1. Set the joke up CLEARLY. If the audience isn't 100% clear on what the concept behind the joke is, the punchline is meaningless. Just like a feature film, you can spend a little longer up front making sure everything is clear.
2. Keep it real. If the joke isn't based in fact, then the people who like Gallagher and Carrot Top will think you're great. But the other 98% of the population will be lost. Look at John Hughes movies (the early ones). They work because all the humor comes from real life, things we can relate to. As soon as you strip that away you're fighting an uphill battle.
3. Keep it simple. Economy of words/thoughts/time. If the audience forgets what the set up was cause you've led them down some tangents or took your sweet time...you've killed the joke.
4. Have a strong attitude. I found that the delivery is more important that the joke. Let me restate that...how you tell it is as important as what you say. Case in point, Robin Williams. 80% of the jokes he tells aren't funny on the page...but when he acts them out...its funny.
5. Suspense. Listen to a great joke..its like a mini-story. The audience wants to know 'what happens next?'. If you pause for a bit, right before your reveal, the tension is released and the laugh is bigger.
6. Target. Who is the joke aimed at? If you don't aim a joke at a target, then it probably will only get a minor laugh. Always have a target. Ex wives and bosses always make for great fodder.
The interesting thing here to note is that all those principles of telling a joke apply to storytelling.
Jokes are, as stated previously, little tiny stories. And those principles that work for stand up are the foundation of all larger jokes (ie, bits in movies).
Most film comedies, or at least the ones I like, exist in an honest world. Annie Hall. Tootsie. Ghostbusters. Superbad. Obviously those aren't realistic in relation to reality, but in the world they've set up, they make perfect sense.
Comedies that don't work so well are the ones where the world is 'wacky'. 'Meet the Spartans', 'Little Nicky', 'She's all That.' Funny is not mugging for the camera and shocking the audience. Comedy that stands the test of time let's the humor come from the character.
Watch this clip and make note of where you laughed.
In the above clip from Animal House the joke works because
A) Clear target. The pansy with the guitar.
B) Clear setup. Belushi, a rebel rouser, will undoubtedly hate this guy.
C) Suspense. The minute Belushi stops, we wait to see what will happen.
D) Punchline. Its not when Belushi destroys the instrument...its the reactions. The guy taking his guitar is funny, but Belushi, in character, sweetly saying 'sorry' is the capper.
Look at the shot structure.
1) guy with guitar.
2) LS, Belushi stops and reacts.
3) CU of Belushi, somewhat pokerfaced, so we're not sure what his reaction will be.
4) cut back to guitar guy....who is clueless. This creates suspense.
5) Cut back to CU of Belushi. Pause. Then he reacts...
6) Cut to a LS of him destroying the guitar. Note that this if violent, but because no one gets hurt or screams, it stays comic.
7) CU of guitar guy reacting. Its an honest reaction...he's a little in shock.
8) CU of Belushi reacting to his outburst. He does the opposite of what you'd expect (expressing anger) and he simply shrugs. This is where the big laugh, at least for me comes. Primarily because I didn't expect that reaction.
Check out this clip from Spielberg's 1941:
Not funny at all? Why?
What's the target? The gas station? Targets should be people or ideas that need lampooning.
What's the setup? It should be that the station owners are fixing up their business, and right when they've got it perfect Belushi rolls up and destroys it all. This could have been a quick shot of them finishing up a coat of paint on something.
Suspense? Not really.
Punchline. NOT FUNNY. Why? There is so much going on in the frame that we're not looking at the actresses reaction. And once she says her line, she moves. We don't get to process the joke.
COMEDY IS HARD
1. Set the joke up CLEARLY. If the audience isn't 100% clear on what the concept behind the joke is, the punchline is meaningless. Just like a feature film, you can spend a little longer up front making sure everything is clear.
2. Keep it real. If the joke isn't based in fact, then the people who like Gallagher and Carrot Top will think you're great. But the other 98% of the population will be lost. Look at John Hughes movies (the early ones). They work because all the humor comes from real life, things we can relate to. As soon as you strip that away you're fighting an uphill battle.
3. Keep it simple. Economy of words/thoughts/time. If the audience forgets what the set up was cause you've led them down some tangents or took your sweet time...you've killed the joke.
4. Have a strong attitude. I found that the delivery is more important that the joke. Let me restate that...how you tell it is as important as what you say. Case in point, Robin Williams. 80% of the jokes he tells aren't funny on the page...but when he acts them out...its funny.
5. Suspense. Listen to a great joke..its like a mini-story. The audience wants to know 'what happens next?'. If you pause for a bit, right before your reveal, the tension is released and the laugh is bigger.
6. Target. Who is the joke aimed at? If you don't aim a joke at a target, then it probably will only get a minor laugh. Always have a target. Ex wives and bosses always make for great fodder.
The interesting thing here to note is that all those principles of telling a joke apply to storytelling.
Jokes are, as stated previously, little tiny stories. And those principles that work for stand up are the foundation of all larger jokes (ie, bits in movies).
Most film comedies, or at least the ones I like, exist in an honest world. Annie Hall. Tootsie. Ghostbusters. Superbad. Obviously those aren't realistic in relation to reality, but in the world they've set up, they make perfect sense.
Comedies that don't work so well are the ones where the world is 'wacky'. 'Meet the Spartans', 'Little Nicky', 'She's all That.' Funny is not mugging for the camera and shocking the audience. Comedy that stands the test of time let's the humor come from the character.
Watch this clip and make note of where you laughed.
In the above clip from Animal House the joke works because
A) Clear target. The pansy with the guitar.
B) Clear setup. Belushi, a rebel rouser, will undoubtedly hate this guy.
C) Suspense. The minute Belushi stops, we wait to see what will happen.
D) Punchline. Its not when Belushi destroys the instrument...its the reactions. The guy taking his guitar is funny, but Belushi, in character, sweetly saying 'sorry' is the capper.
Look at the shot structure.
1) guy with guitar.
2) LS, Belushi stops and reacts.
3) CU of Belushi, somewhat pokerfaced, so we're not sure what his reaction will be.
4) cut back to guitar guy....who is clueless. This creates suspense.
5) Cut back to CU of Belushi. Pause. Then he reacts...
6) Cut to a LS of him destroying the guitar. Note that this if violent, but because no one gets hurt or screams, it stays comic.
7) CU of guitar guy reacting. Its an honest reaction...he's a little in shock.
8) CU of Belushi reacting to his outburst. He does the opposite of what you'd expect (expressing anger) and he simply shrugs. This is where the big laugh, at least for me comes. Primarily because I didn't expect that reaction.
Check out this clip from Spielberg's 1941:
Not funny at all? Why?
What's the target? The gas station? Targets should be people or ideas that need lampooning.
What's the setup? It should be that the station owners are fixing up their business, and right when they've got it perfect Belushi rolls up and destroys it all. This could have been a quick shot of them finishing up a coat of paint on something.
Suspense? Not really.
Punchline. NOT FUNNY. Why? There is so much going on in the frame that we're not looking at the actresses reaction. And once she says her line, she moves. We don't get to process the joke.
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