This is the focus group meeting which we carried out for further research on our comedy opening sequence, after asking our target audience on what they would expect to see in comedy genre films and what they find appealing about them, they gave feedback. We then told them what our actual idea was and they all seemed to like it. This meeting gave us a much clearer idea of the kind of comedy which needs to be included in order to target this specific audience.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Main post 6
History of Comedy
Comic films began to appear in significant numbers during the era of silent films, roughly 1895 to 1930. The visual humor of many of these silent films relied on slapstick and burlesque. A very early comedy short was Watering the Gardener (1895) by the Lumière brothers. In American film, the most prominent comic actors of the silent era were Charlie Chaplin (although born in England, his success was principally in the U.S.), Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. In his native France and throughout the world, Max Linder was a major comic feature and might qualify as the first true film star.
A popular trend during the 1920s and afterward was comedy in the form of animated cartoons. Several popular characters of the period received the cartoon treatment. Among these were Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Betty Boop.
1930–1950s
In the United Kingdom, film adaptations of stage farces were popular in the early 1930s, while the music hall tradition strongly influenced film comedy into the 1940s with Will Hay and George Formby among the top comedy stars of the time. In England in the late 1940s, Ealing Studios achieved popular success as well as critical acclaim with a series of films known collectively as the "Ealing comedies", from 1947 to 1957. Among the most famous examples were Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955). 
The British film industry produced a number of highly successful film series, however, including the Doctor series, the St. Trinian's films and the increasingly bawdy Carry on films. John and Roy Boulting also wrote and directed a series of successful satires, including Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right, Jack (1959). As in the United States, in the next decade much of this talent would move into television.
1960s–1980s
The next decade saw an increasing number of broad, star-packed comedies including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and The Great Race (1965). Peter Sellers found success with international audiences in his first American film The Pink Panther. The bumbling Inspector Clouseau was a character Sellers would continue to return to over the next decade.
Most British comedy films of the early 70s were spin-offs of television series, including Dad's Army and On the Buses. The greatest successes, however, came with the films of the Monty Python team, including And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Monty Python's Life of Brian in 1979.
1990s–2010s
Probably more representative of British humour were the working class comedies Brassed Off (1996) and The Full Monty (1997). Other British comedies examined the role of the Asian community in British life, including Bhaji on the Beach (1993), East Is East (1999), Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Anita and Me (2003).
In mid 2000s the trend of "gross-out" movies is continuing, with adult-oriented comedies picking up the box office. But serious black comedies (also known as dramatic comedies or dramedies) were performing also well, such as The Weather Man, Broken Flowers and Shopgirl. In late 2006, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan blended vulgar humor with cultural satire.
1895–1930
Comic films began to appear in significant numbers during the era of silent films, roughly 1895 to 1930. The visual humor of many of these silent films relied on slapstick and burlesque. A very early comedy short was Watering the Gardener (1895) by the Lumière brothers. In American film, the most prominent comic actors of the silent era were Charlie Chaplin (although born in England, his success was principally in the U.S.), Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. In his native France and throughout the world, Max Linder was a major comic feature and might qualify as the first true film star.
A popular trend during the 1920s and afterward was comedy in the form of animated cartoons. Several popular characters of the period received the cartoon treatment. Among these were Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Betty Boop.1930–1950s
Toward the end of the 1920s, came the introduction of sound into movies, this made it possible to create dramatic new film styles and the use of verbal humor. During the 1930s the dialogue from film comedians such as the W. C. Fields and the Marx Brothers replaced the silent movies. The comedian Charlie Chaplin was one of the last silent film hold-outs, and his films during the 1930s were devoid of dialogue, although they did employ sound effects.
In the United Kingdom, film adaptations of stage farces were popular in the early 1930s, while the music hall tradition strongly influenced film comedy into the 1940s with Will Hay and George Formby among the top comedy stars of the time. In England in the late 1940s, Ealing Studios achieved popular success as well as critical acclaim with a series of films known collectively as the "Ealing comedies", from 1947 to 1957. Among the most famous examples were Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955). With the entry of the United States into World War II, Hollywood became focused on themes related to the conflict. Comedies portrayed military themes such as service, civil defense, boot-camp and shore-leave. The war-time restrictions on travel made this a boom time for Hollywood, and nearly a quarter of the money spent on attending movies.
The post-war period was an age of reflection on the war, and the emergence of a competing medium, the television. In 1948 TV began to acquire commercial momentum and by the following year there were nearly a hundred television transmitters in American cities.
By the 1950s the television industry had become a serious competition for the movie industry. Despite the technological limitations of the TV medium at the time, more and more people chose to stay home to watch the television. Several comic forms that had previously been a staple of movie theaters transitioned to the TV. Both the short subject and the cartoon now appeared on the TV rather than in the theater. As TV became filled with family-oriented comedies, the 1950s saw a trend toward more adult social situations.
The British film industry produced a number of highly successful film series, however, including the Doctor series, the St. Trinian's films and the increasingly bawdy Carry on films. John and Roy Boulting also wrote and directed a series of successful satires, including Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right, Jack (1959). As in the United States, in the next decade much of this talent would move into television.1960s–1980s
The next decade saw an increasing number of broad, star-packed comedies including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and The Great Race (1965). Peter Sellers found success with international audiences in his first American film The Pink Panther. The bumbling Inspector Clouseau was a character Sellers would continue to return to over the next decade.Toward the end of the 1950s, darker humor and more serious themes had begun to emerge, including satire and social commentary. Dr. Strangelove (1964) was a satirical comedy about Cold War paranoia, while The Apartment (1960), Alfie (1966) and The Graduate (1967).
Among the leading lights in comedy films of the next decade were Woody Allen and Mel Brooks. Both wrote, directed and appeared in their movies. Brooks' style was generally slapstick and zany in nature, often parodying film styles and genres, including Universal horror films (Young Frankenstein), westerns (Blazing Saddles) and Hitchcock films (High Anxiety). Following his success on Broadway and on film with The Odd Couple playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon would also be prominent in the 1970s, with films like The Sunshine Boys and California Suite. Other notable film comedians who appeared later in the decade were Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and Burt Reynolds.
Most British comedy films of the early 70s were spin-offs of television series, including Dad's Army and On the Buses. The greatest successes, however, came with the films of the Monty Python team, including And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Monty Python's Life of Brian in 1979.In 1980 the gag-based comedy Airplane!, a spoof of the previous decade's disaster film series was released and paved the way for more of the same including Top Secret! (1984) and the Naked Gun films. Also popular were the films of John Hughes such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He would later become best-known for the Home Alone series of the early 1990s. The latter film helped a revival in comedies aimed at a family audience, along with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and its sequels.
1990s–2010s
One of the major developments of the 1990s was the re-emergence of the romantic comedy film, encouraged by the success of When Harry Met Sally... (1989). Other examples included Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Clueless (1995) and You've Got Mail (1998) from the United States, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Sliding Doors (1998) and Notting Hill (1999) from the United Kingdom. Spoofs remained popular as well, especially with the Scary Movie series and Not Another Teen Movie series.
Probably more representative of British humour were the working class comedies Brassed Off (1996) and The Full Monty (1997). Other British comedies examined the role of the Asian community in British life, including Bhaji on the Beach (1993), East Is East (1999), Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Anita and Me (2003).Also there were "stoner" comedies, which usually involve two guys on an adventure with random things happening to them along the way. Big movies of this sub-genre would be Dude, Where's My Car, Big Nothing, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Pineapple Express. These movies usually have drug-related jokes and crude content.
In mid 2000s the trend of "gross-out" movies is continuing, with adult-oriented comedies picking up the box office. But serious black comedies (also known as dramatic comedies or dramedies) were performing also well, such as The Weather Man, Broken Flowers and Shopgirl. In late 2006, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan blended vulgar humor with cultural satire.Codes and Conventions of Comedy
1. Film Language
The secret of comedy is timing and performance. A person could analyse routines, gags etc. and see how they are used within a narrative feature. It would be interesting to compare a visual gag with a classic suspense sequence. Both involve a careful playoff between what we know as the audience and the awareness displayed by the character. Our pleasure comes from the gleeful anticipation of the humiliation of the comic character or our fear for the hero.
2. Representation
Possibly the most productive approach, analysis of character 'types' and situations should open up comedy films for student analysis. Comedy, like drama, depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters. Much comedy arises from the success of the weak in deflating the powerful. On the other hand, comedy is also a weapon against fear of the unknown or 'the Other', so that the basis for comedy becomes racism, sexism etc.
3. Audience
The advantage of comedy to producers is that it appeals across all audience groups. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy. In the UK these are often class differences and age differences. The distinctions were particularly strong in earlier periods when genre production was still possible in British Cinema - e.g. the 1950s with Norman Wisdom (working class) v. the Doctor series (middle class).
4 Institutions
Comedy films may be quite good for studying institution. Historically, various cycles of films can be traced back to their origins in other forms such as music hall, radio and television and in the last twenty years, from club 'stand-up'.
1. Film Language
The secret of comedy is timing and performance. A person could analyse routines, gags etc. and see how they are used within a narrative feature. It would be interesting to compare a visual gag with a classic suspense sequence. Both involve a careful playoff between what we know as the audience and the awareness displayed by the character. Our pleasure comes from the gleeful anticipation of the humiliation of the comic character or our fear for the hero.
2. Representation
Possibly the most productive approach, analysis of character 'types' and situations should open up comedy films for student analysis. Comedy, like drama, depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters. Much comedy arises from the success of the weak in deflating the powerful. On the other hand, comedy is also a weapon against fear of the unknown or 'the Other', so that the basis for comedy becomes racism, sexism etc.
3. Audience
The advantage of comedy to producers is that it appeals across all audience groups. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy. In the UK these are often class differences and age differences. The distinctions were particularly strong in earlier periods when genre production was still possible in British Cinema - e.g. the 1950s with Norman Wisdom (working class) v. the Doctor series (middle class).
4 Institutions
Comedy films may be quite good for studying institution. Historically, various cycles of films can be traced back to their origins in other forms such as music hall, radio and television and in the last twenty years, from club 'stand-up'.
Comedy itself is a very popular genre currently and has been since it began, this is because all audiences like to laugh. Comedy can also be widely adapted to fit many sub-genres (black comedy, ROM-COMS and stoner comedies). Comedy is also very popular as it is family orientated, this allows the audience to relate to the characters as they may have shared similar situations to that of the characters, not many however can say that when watching a horror film that they have experienced something of that nature as it is usually supernatural and if did happen to someone they would of been unlikely to survive let alone watch a film with the same ideas about what happened to them. To avoid our film being a flop we will incorporate the element of humour immediately to keep the audience hooked, we also develop a character(s) that the audience can relate too, this will hopefully make the audience want to watch more as they want to know the final fate of that character. These two things will hopefully prevent our film being a flop as we intend to draw the audience and get them involved in the film when watching.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Main post 5a
As we have decided to make a comedy genre opening sequence, I am going to further explore comedy opening sequences that we aim to make ours similar to as they have previously proved to be successful.
Opens with the studio's name and non-diegetic music starts straight away.
Norbit:
Opens with the studio's name and non-diegetic music starts straight away.
Narration and dialogue voiceover throughout, all of which are funny, which immediately establishes the comedy genre.
Fitting music, relaxing/ bouncy and happy, at walking pace, no heavy dramatic drum beats.
Comedy element already present via dialogue and visual codes.
Text of famous actors/directors with star power displayed.
Name of film displayed.
Names written in white onto a black background in soft sans-serif font, but their job written in a flowing 'hand-written' style serif font.
Shows the progression of title character's childhood and life until the present day - setting up the story for the main part of the film.
Monday, 31 January 2011
main post 5
Title Timeline:
From this sequence, it has shown me that the opening sequences are smooth flowing and there are little if any jumps in time or cuts. Therefore, in our opening sequence we will try to do the same, as it seems to be successful for typical comedy opening sequences. Additionally, this title sequence uses a lot of objects to display the credits on, allows credits to blend in, it also alows us to add another element of comedy if we strategicly position them and it is set in a school like our sequence, and so we know that this method for displaying credits works quite well for this genre. Therefore, we will also use this method to display most of if not all of the credits.
main post 4
MINUTES:
GENRE DICSUSSION
2:50- Casey said: I think either a comedy, action or rom-com would work well.
2:50 Tom said: Yes, they would work best, and a comedy would be fun to produce.
2:51 Fathema: Its easier to do comedy so I agree.
2:51 Casey said: it might be hard to get the comedy element across though..
2:52 Tom: comedy opening sequences aren’t always funny though, the opening sequence just needs to give the impression that the film will be funny, like Napoleon Dynamite.
2:54 Tom: I’ve got an idea of what we can actually do, when we’re filming, the way we’re presenting could be like a picture book.. Like with the pages showing the picture and the credits to set the scene.
2:55Fathema: is that going to be ‘comedy’ though?
2:56 Tom: it’s different.
2:56 Casey: I think a Rom-Com might be easier to do, but if we did do a comedy I think we’d have to base it on something like ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid,’ a teen-comedy.
2:56 Tom: the opening sequence did make the film look like it was going to be a comedy.
2:56: Casey: a comedy sequence would be do-able for us as well as it can be basic but also look really creative, unlike an action genre for example which would need lots of explosions and fast paced/ fancy/ high budget editing.
Tom: Comedy sequences incorporate the use of bright colours into it so it catches the audiences’ eye.
Fathema: Comedy films are often aimed at a family audience, so basing it in a school is something they could relate to.
Tom: Filming it in school would be easy and has a lot of potential. We can relate to it too.
Casey: I found a graph for one of the researching posts, which showed that last year the most popular film genre was comedy with 22%, so comedy is definitely a popular genre.
Fathema: And the results from the questionnaires suggested that comedy was the most popular/ most enjoyable genre too.
Tom: And it was also suggested that the audience wants to see more of them.
2:57: We all agreed on the concept of having a comedy genre opening sequence that would be filmed in the school.
PLOT DISCUSSION AND BASIC OPENING SEQUENCE DISCRIPTION.
School based.
Casey: who’s the main character going to be? He/ she should probably be a stereotyped character.
Tom: We could Americanize it a bit
Casey: A typical comedy is more likely to be a ‘nerdy’ character
Fathema: Like with glasses on, trousers done up high, ect.
Casey: there should be a bully as well.
Tom: in the opening sequence, we need to establish the setting.
This is our final sequence idea in a nutshell; in brackets are the names of the people of who came up with what.
(Casey) Nerdy character walking around with credits displayed over the top, name of film displayed in a 'doodle' style on a book. (Fathema) The main character will be holding books, wearing glasses, very stereotypical, and (Tom) narration over the top, something like (Tom) “this is the story of how I went from this..”(Casey) cut scene to a comical ‘fail’, “to the most popular girl in school. (Casey)” (Tom) Bell ring at the end of the sequence.
GENRE DICSUSSION
2:50- Casey said: I think either a comedy, action or rom-com would work well.
2:50 Tom said: Yes, they would work best, and a comedy would be fun to produce.
2:51 Fathema: Its easier to do comedy so I agree.
2:51 Casey said: it might be hard to get the comedy element across though..
2:52 Tom: comedy opening sequences aren’t always funny though, the opening sequence just needs to give the impression that the film will be funny, like Napoleon Dynamite.
2:54 Tom: I’ve got an idea of what we can actually do, when we’re filming, the way we’re presenting could be like a picture book.. Like with the pages showing the picture and the credits to set the scene.
2:55Fathema: is that going to be ‘comedy’ though?
2:56 Tom: it’s different.
2:56 Casey: I think a Rom-Com might be easier to do, but if we did do a comedy I think we’d have to base it on something like ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid,’ a teen-comedy.
2:56 Tom: the opening sequence did make the film look like it was going to be a comedy.
2:56: Casey: a comedy sequence would be do-able for us as well as it can be basic but also look really creative, unlike an action genre for example which would need lots of explosions and fast paced/ fancy/ high budget editing.
Tom: Comedy sequences incorporate the use of bright colours into it so it catches the audiences’ eye.
Fathema: Comedy films are often aimed at a family audience, so basing it in a school is something they could relate to.
Tom: Filming it in school would be easy and has a lot of potential. We can relate to it too.
Casey: I found a graph for one of the researching posts, which showed that last year the most popular film genre was comedy with 22%, so comedy is definitely a popular genre.
Fathema: And the results from the questionnaires suggested that comedy was the most popular/ most enjoyable genre too.
Tom: And it was also suggested that the audience wants to see more of them.
2:57: We all agreed on the concept of having a comedy genre opening sequence that would be filmed in the school.
PLOT DISCUSSION AND BASIC OPENING SEQUENCE DISCRIPTION.
School based.
Casey: who’s the main character going to be? He/ she should probably be a stereotyped character.
Tom: We could Americanize it a bit
Casey: A typical comedy is more likely to be a ‘nerdy’ character
Fathema: Like with glasses on, trousers done up high, ect.
Casey: there should be a bully as well.
Tom: in the opening sequence, we need to establish the setting.
This is our final sequence idea in a nutshell; in brackets are the names of the people of who came up with what.
(Casey) Nerdy character walking around with credits displayed over the top, name of film displayed in a 'doodle' style on a book. (Fathema) The main character will be holding books, wearing glasses, very stereotypical, and (Tom) narration over the top, something like (Tom) “this is the story of how I went from this..”(Casey) cut scene to a comical ‘fail’, “to the most popular girl in school. (Casey)” (Tom) Bell ring at the end of the sequence.
Main post 3a
As a group we have decided to make a comedy genre opening sequence, this was due to us thinking it would be achievable and it was the most popular and most demanded amongst the questionairres. I am going to take a more detailed look into a comedy opening sequences that we aim to make ours similar to as they have previously proved to be highly successful successful.
Opens with the studio's name and non-diegetic music starts straight away.
Norbit:
I chose Norbit as the opening sequence is based around kids, although younger to what we had initially planned, this will give us a further in site to making a successful opening sequence.
Opens with the studio's name and non-diegetic music starts straight away.
Narration and dialogue "voiceover" throughout the opening sequence, all of which are funny, which immediately establishes the comedy genre what we are trying to produce.
Fitting music, relaxing/ bouncy and happy, at walking pace, no heavy dramatic drum beats. This calms the audience allowing them to take in and understand the jokes better as they are not put on edge.
Comedy element already present via dialogue and visual codes.
Text of famous actors/directors.
Name of film displayed.
Names written in white onto a black background, but their job written in a flowing 'hand-written' style serif font.
directly links to the change from childhood and life until the present day of the main character Norbit - establishing the main plot of the film.
main post 3
Research into opening sequence designs
Watching the Kyle Cooper Interview:
After watching the two clips on views and tips on a good title sequence should be formatted, I now realise the importance of a title sequence is and how just the title sequence sets the mood and initial thoughts for the rest of the film.
After watching the two clips on views and tips on a good title sequence should be formatted, I now realise the importance of a title sequence is and how just the title sequence sets the mood and initial thoughts for the rest of the film.
When watching the two clips from Kyle Cooper, I have now realised that the title sequence itself requires a lot of work as this will determine weather the audience watch the rest of the film. When creating a title sequence, the tips Kyle gave us were that the font is crucial to the opening sequence as it must relate to the plot of the movie to help give the viewer a better idea of what is in store with the film. He also said how important the small details are and that effects can be created so easily and simply. Music is also important when creating a title sequence because the choice of music sets the mood of the scene and helps the audience to make assumptions on what rest of the film will in tale. Kyle Cooper also encouraged to experimented with different ideas because some work will fit better than others, the first idea is not always the best. A title sequence is the first impression of the film and it is crucial that it matches what the film is about.
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