Summer Objectives

1. Choose a decade to focus on- 1950s/1960s, 1980s/1990s
2. Get a hold of comedy texts on the chosen era and analyse them- how laughs are created/ MIGRAIN
3. Rent out comedy history books/from a decade or form of comedy e.g. slapstick
   
4. Social History- looking at how comedy deals with the family/women/ homosexuality
5. Choose whether to focus research on British or American/ TV or film
6. Look at social context in film- immigration/ war etc
   

Buster Keaton: Early silent comedy

Buster Keaton was ofter considered as one of the famous comedians of the silent film genre. Keaton was iconically involved with physical comedy, of which , Charlie Chaplin was mainly involved. Keaton was renowned for his deadpan facial expression, though entertained the masses through his ludicrous antics. As well as his acting career, Keaton was also famed as a director, as he was acclaimed as the seventh greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly. A 2002 poll by Sight and Sound magazine voted Keaton's 'The General' as the 15th best film of all time.

This clip from Keaton's film 'Sherlock Jr' (1924) features Keaton as a projectionist who falls in love with a lady. When he proposes to her, his rival steals the lady's watch and frames him in the process. Whilst projecting a film, he reminisces of his love to be a detective. Through, the lady discovers the truth and seeks to free the projectionist.

The film follows the generic conventions of early silent comedy, as most of the emphasis is on actions and accidents. By showing physical comedy, the audience can be considered as sadistic and can gain gratifications from watching Keaton getting hurt. Though, this film uses titles conveying written dialogue, as evident with the lady in the shop, thus making the audience identify with the plot. Another such convention in the film is the use of contrapuntal and parallel sound of percussion instruments. By using this music, dramatic tension and suspense is created, whilst at the same time being entertaining.

The Kid: Charlie Chaplin 1921

The Kid (1921) is a silent movie which included the iconic comedian of the early 19th century, Charlie Chaplin. The film is a linear narrative which revolves around a mother who drops her baby with a pleading note in a limousine and commits suicide. The limo is stolen by thieves who dump the baby in a bin. Charlie the Tramp finds the baby and makes a home for him. Five years later Edna has become an opera star but does charity work for slum youngsters in hope of finding her boy. A doctor discovers the note with the truth about the Kid and reports it to the authorities who come to take him away from Charlie. Before he arrives at the Orphan Asylum Charlie steals him back . The proprietor reads of a reward for the Kid and takes him to Edna. Charlie is later awakened by a kind policeman who reunites him with the Kid at Edna's mansion.

In regards to this film, many of the films were silent comedies, as the use of sound was non existent. These films relied on the use of actions and gestures, in order for the audience to identify with the characters and the plot. In addition to this, the films were in black and white, as colour was not yet invented. By relying on actions, most of the comedy was created through slapstick, as constant fumbles and accidents such as getting pied in the face, falling off a ladder were typical forms of humour in silent films. Most of these silent films revolved around social issues such as poverty, as evident in The Kid (1921). By conveying these issues in a light hearted way, the audience could identify and understand social issues. Though most audiences during this time seeked to watch silent comedies as a means of escapism, due to the financial crisis of the Wall Street Crash.

In silent comedy films, most of the characters including Charlie Chaplin wore formal suits and hats, though some of the characters, such as the Kid are dressed in scruffy clothes, as there was a rise in orphans, due to social crisis and death due to environmental conditions. Most of Chaplin's films were situated in urban towns, which were industrialised, polluted due to fumes from factories and were very cramped in terms of living space. Chaplin is fairly represented as a carer and passionate guardian who loves the kid and is against the authorities who want to give the kid back to his mother. As coined by Strauss, the binary opposition is evident, as Chaplin is against the authorities and wants to look after the kid, who was abandoned by his mother.

In 'The Kid', the use of a fast paced, drums and violins connote drama and suspense, as the opening conveys Charlie Chaplin, with the kid, who is being taken away from Charlie, therefore drama is created as Charlie is trying to protect and doesn't want to leave the kid, who he has gotten close to , after he was dumped by his mother. However, this includes some emotional aspects, as the use of the crying facial expression by the kid connotes desperation and sadness, as he doesn't want to leave Charlie. Though humour is generated in the film,as the Kid hits the two men over the head with a hammer, which is comedic, as a child would not be expected to hit an adult, and is a form of physical and slapstick humour. Chaplin is iconic as being a pioneer of comedy, as seen in the film, when he is trying to climb over the roof. This use of humour could make the audience identify with Chaplin, as he wants to do good by caring for the kid and has good intentions.

Different types of comedy films

Comedy films are usually split into two main categories : comedian-led (with well-timed gags, jokes, or sketches) and situation-comedies, which are told within a narrative.

Comedy hybrids collaborate with genres, such as musical-comedy, horror-comedy, and comedy-thriller. There are also sub genres such as romantic comedy, crime/caper comedy, teen comedy etc. There are also various types of comedy, such as :


Slapstick
Slapstick was predominant in the earliest silent films, as an alternative to sound.They were popular with non-English speaking audiences in urban areas and were also used as a means of escapism and induced sadistic pleasures out of audiences, as they would laugh at the character(s) foolish behaviour. The term slapstick came from the wooden sticks that clowns slapped together to promote audience applause.

Slapstick involves aggressive, physical, and visual action, including harmless or painless cruelty an violence and often sight gags (e.g., a custard pie in the face, collapsing houses, a loss of trousers or skirts, runaway crashing cars, people chases, etc). Slapstick often required exquisite timing and well-timed performance skills. Notable comedians of slapstick were Laurel and Hardy, W. C. Fields, The Three Stooges. Slapstick evolved in the form of screwball comedies in the 1930s and 1940s.

Examples of slapstick include and Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (1993) and The Mask (1994).

The Blake Edwards series of Pink Panther films with Peter Sellers as bumbling Inspector Clouseau (especially in the second film of the series, A Shot in the Dark (1964) are successful examples.

Screwball
Screwball comedies, a sub-genre of romantic comedy films, were predominant from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s. The word 'screwball' denotes lunacy and erratic behavior.

These films combine farce, slapstick, and the witty dialogue of more sophisticated films. They were light-hearted, sophisticated romantic stories, which focused on a battle of the sexes in which both co-protagonists try to outwit or outmaneuver each other. They usually include visual gags (with some slapstick), wacky characters, identity reversals (or cross-dressing), a fast-paced plot, and wise-cracking dialogue which reflect sexual tensions and conflicts in the relationship , as seen in The Awful Truth (1937).

Black or Dark Comedy

These are dark, sarcastic, humorous, or sardonic stories that examine darker subjects such as war, death, or illness. Two of the greatest black comedies ever made include Stanley Kubrick's Cold War classic satire, Dr Stangelove:How I Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb(1964), which spoofed political and military institutions with Peter Sellers in a triple role (as a Nazi scientist, a British major, and the US President), and Robert Altman's M*A*S*H (1970), which was an anti-war black comedy set during the Korean War. Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988) was also an example of black comedy.

Parody or Spoof

These specific types of comedy (also called put-ons, send-ups, charades, lampoons, take-offs, jests, mockumentaries.) are usually a humorous take-off that ridicules or imitates the style, conventions, characters , or motifs of a serious work, film, performer, or genre, including:

• 
• Military spoof (Stripes 1981), Sgt Bilko (1996),
  
• Quasi-horror film Young Frankenstein (1974) ,
  
• Science fiction spoofs such as Spaceballs (1987), Mars Attacks (1996)
• Jim Abrahams' comedy Airplane! (1980) - a parody of the earlier disaster series of Airport (1970) films
  
• The Naked Gun (1988) series parodied TV cop shows
• Abrahams' military comedy Hot Shots! (1991) was a genre parody/spoof of Top Gun (1986)
  
• Carl Reiner's Fatal Instinct (1993) spoofed suspense thrillers and murder mysteries such as Basic Instinct (1992)
  
• The Austin Powers films (1997, 1999, 2002) parodies of the James Bond 007 films
• The Scream films (1996, 1997, 2000) spoofs of slasher horror films
• Barry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black (1997) - a sci-fi comedy farce based on a comic book series that poked fun at alien invasion films, with Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as government agents battling about 1500 Earth-dwelling, other-worldly extra-terrestrials in the New York area; a sequel appeared in 2002
• Last Action Hero (1993) - a spoof of action films

This category may also include these widely diverse forms of satire - usually displayed as political or social commentary, for example:

• Terry Gilliam's hilarious Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) and The Life of Brian (1979) - an irreverent parody of religious films, which was controversial due to its satirical biblical references
  

In many comedies, there is much overlap with the category of 'farce', since the term has now been broadened and extended (from the early part of the 20th century). Now, farces and farcical elements in films, may include fairly outrageous plots, unlikely and absurd circumstances, frantic-paced action, mistaken identities, lots of verbal humor and physical slapstick. Recently, farces have deliberately and satirically begun mocking established genres and standard film conventions themselves, such as

• Scary Movies series, Epic Movie(2007), Disaster Movie (2008), Meet the Spartans (2008) Superhero Movie (2008), Date Movie (2006) mocked Hollywood blockbusters such as 300, Fantastic 4, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Cloverfield and other successful films
• UK comedies: the British Ealing Studios comedies (The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), the grotesque commentaries found in the Monty Python films, Tom Jones (1963)
• Other recent examples: There's Something About Mary (1998), South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), The Simpsons Movie (2007).

http://www.filmsite.org/comedyfilms.html

History of the Comedy genre

1895- 1930s

Comic films began during the era of silent films in 1895 to 1930. The visual humor of these silent films relied on slapstick . A very early comedy short was Watering the Gardener (1895) by the Lumiere Brothers. In America, the most prominent comic actors of the silent era included Charlie Chaplin who was mainly successful in America.

In the 1920s, comedy was present in the form of animated cartoons, with iconic characters such as Felix the Cat and Betty Boop.

1930–1950s

The invention of sound into films enabled new dramatic film styles, with verbal humor. During the 1930s, silent film comedy was replaced by dialogue from film comedians such as the W.C. Fields and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardey, used sound to deepen their well-formed screen characterisations and to enhance their visual humour, and were a great success in talking films or 'talkies'. Though, the comedian Carlie Chaplin was one of the last silent film hold-outs, and his films during the 1930s did not include dialogue, although they did employ sound effects.

Screwball comedies, produced by Frank Capra, conveyed reassuring social values and a certain optimism about everyday life. Movies still included slapstick humor and other physical comedy, but these were now frequently supplemental to the verbal interaction.

In the UK, film adaptations of stage farces were popular in the early 1930s. However, music hall tradition influenced film comedy into the 1940s. In England in the late 1940s, Ealing Studios achieved popular success and critical acclaim for a series of films known as "Ealing comedies", from 1946 to 1956. These comedies commented on social issues and featured ensemble casts which included Alec Guinness or Stanley Holloway. Among the most famous examples were Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Lady Killers (1955)

With the ongoing conflict of the Second World War, 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. Television. In 1948, TV began to acquire commercial momentum and by the following year there were nearly a hundred television transmitters in American cities.

The British film industry produced a number of highly successful film series such as the St Trinian's films and the increasingly licentious Carry On Series in the 1960s. John and Roy Boulting wrote and directed a series of successful satires such as Private's Progress (1956) and I'm Alright 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). Some of the 1950s generation of American comedians, such as Jerry Lewis declined, while British comedian Peter Sellers found success with international audiences in his first American film The Pink Panther. Sellers played the bumbling Inspector Clouseau who was on the trail to find a precious diamond known as the pink panther.

Near 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 paranoia of the Cold War, while Alfie (1966) and The Graduate (1967) featured sexual themes , which would have been a taboo in previous years.

In 1970, black comedies such as M*A*S*H reflected the anti-war sentiment , as well as conveying the topic of suicide. M*A*S*H later became successful on television.

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 films such as Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Hitchcock film such as High Anxiety.



Most British comedy films in the early 70s were television series spin offs, such as Dad's Army and On the Buses. Though popular films included the Monty Python series such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975 ) and Monty Python Life of Brian (1979) which was subject to controversy following its biblical references.

In 1980s, the gag-based comedy Airplane!a spoof of the previous decade's disaster film series was released and paved the way for more spoofs including the Naked Gun series. Popular comedy stars in the '80s included Dudley Moore, Eddies Murphy and Dan Akroyd. Many had come to prominence on the American TV series Saturday Night Live, such as Chevy Chase and Steve Martin.

Also popular were the films of John Hughes such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughes also became well known for the Home Alone series in the 1990s. Home Alone sparked a series of comedies aimed at a family audience, such as Honey, I shrunk the Kids.

1990s–2000s

One of the major developments of the 1990s was the re-emergence of the romantic comedy film encouraged by films such as When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), You've Got Mail (1998) from the US. Britsh rom coms also flourished with the likes of Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Sliding Doors (1998) and Notting Hill in 1999. Spoofs remained popular as well, with the Scary Movies series and Not Another Teen Movie being successful.

In the UK, working class comedies such as Brassed Off (1996) and The Full Monty (1997) were popular. Other British comedies focused on 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).

The rise of sub genres such as "stoner" comedies became more influential, as the audience would laugh at the protagonist as they encounter random things on their journey. Films of this sub-genre would be Dude Where's My Car , Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Hangover, Pineapple Express. These movies usuallyhave drug-related jokes and crude content such as sex and casual violence.

In the millennium decade, the use of "gross out humour", became popular amongst a teenage audience. Films like There's Something About Mary, The American Pie series conveyed sexual openness and vulgarity. Also, black comedies such as Superbad and Porky's were also popular to other audiences. In late 2006, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan blended vulgar humor with cultural satire.


http://www.filmsite.org/comedyfilms.html

Aristotle and Comedy

Comedy

According to Aristotle (who speculates on the matter in his Poetics), ancient comedy originated with the komos, a curious and improbable spectacle in which a company of males sang, danced, and frolicked leisurely around the image of a large phallus.

As the origins of comedy concern worship to a phallic ritual or festival, comedy has involved a high-spirited celebration of human sexuality. Therefore, a more likely setting for comedy is the bedroom or bathroom.

As far back as Aristotle, the basic formula for comedy has had more to do with conventions and expectations of plot and character than with a requirement for lewd jokes or cartoonish humiliation. In effect, a comedy is a story of the rise in fortune of a sympathetic central character.

The comic hero

A comic hero or heroine usually has charm and wit which wins the audience's basic approval and support.

Aristotle suggests that comic figures are mainly "average to below average" in terms of moral character. The most ridiculous characters are often those who, although well-born, are merely proud or self-important instead of truly noble. Similarly, the most sympathetic comic figures are often underdogs, young men or women from humble or disadvantaged backgrounds who prove their real worth - in effect their "natural nobility"- through various tests of character over the course of comedic plot.

Ordinary People

According to Aristotle, comedy is more concerned with real life situations which involve ordinary people such as lower or middle-income husbands and wives, students and teachers, children and parents, butchers, bakers, and candlestick-makers ) instead of the kings, queens, heroes, aristocrats and heads of state. Comic plots concern everyday scenarios such as winning a new boyfriend (or reclaiming an old one), succeeding at a job, passing an exam, getting the money needed to pay for a medical operation, or coping with a bad day. Though laughter is not all that is needed for comedy, as sometimes it's the satisfaction the audience gain from seeing deserving people succeed.

http://condor.depaul.edu/~dsimpson/tlove/comic-tragic.html

What is comedy?

Comedy film is a genre of film which has emphasis on humour. Films in this genre usually have a happy ending, though may alter, in the case of black comedies. Comedy is one of the oldest film genres, with most of the first ever film s being silent comedies such as Charlie Chaplin . Comedy, tends to focus on individual stars, with many former stand up comics transitioning to the film industry due to their popularity. Some comedy films contain political or social commentary and seem to take serious issues in a light hearted way, for example Four Lions (2010) which mocks terrorists.

Planning from first meeting

By this week, I plan to:-

1. Research the history of comedy films
   
2. Mention the sub genres in comedy
   
3. Find early clips of comedy films (1900s and earlier) and analyse them using media concepts (MIGRAIN)
   
4. Research some directors and cult figures of comedy such as Laurel and Hardey