Lecture 6: Negotiating Story and Laughs

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Lecture 6Negotiating Story and Laughs
Very Bad Things (1998) Written by Peter Berg

• Professor Daniel Cutrara

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Previous Lesson

• Unity and Variety
• Pacing,Rhythm,Tempo
• Time Lock

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This Lesson

• The Problem of Comedy
• Subgenres
• Negotiating Laughs
• Assignments

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The Problem of Comedy
Comedy writers often feel that in their wild
world the principles that guide the dramatist
dont apply. But whether coolly satiric or madly
farcical, comedy is simply another form of
storytelling. -- Robert McKee

• Lesson 6 Part I

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Comedy

• According to McKee Comedy critiques society.
• Comedy is pure. If the audience laughs it works.
  If it doesnt laugh, it doesnt work.
• Comedy follows the rules of storytelling with
  only a few exceptions.

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Comic Design and Plot

• According to McKee Comedy has the luxury of
  stopping the narrative drive for the sake of a
  comic bit or scene.
• Fargo- when the police chief visits her old high
  school friend.
• According to Mckee

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Comic Design and Coincidence

• According to McKee Comedy can afford more
  coincidence than drama, and may even allow a deus
  ex machina ending if two things are done
  First, the audience is made to feel that the
  comic protagonist has suffered enormously.
  Second that he never despairs, never loses hope.
  Under these circumstances the audience may feel,
  oh hell, give it to him.
• Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush

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Comic Design and Structure

• Comedy is the most structured genre.
• Every gag needs built whether slapstick or
  dialogue.
• The director and actors must know when the
  audience is going to laugh, and give time for it.

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Comedy Subgenres

• Lesson 6 Part II

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Subgenres

• Satire
• Romantic Comedy
• Sitcom, Comedy of Manners
• Black Comedy
• Screwball Comedy
• Farce
• Parody

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Satire

• A literary work holding up human vices and
  follies to ridicule or scorn. Merriam Webster
  Online
• If they trivialize the exalted, pull the
  trousers down on snobbery, if they expose society
  for its tyranny, folly, and greed, and get people
  to laugh, then maybe things will change. -
  Robert McKee

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Romantic Comedy

• According to McKee Romantic Comedy satirizes the
  institution of courtship.
• The Lady Eve
• When Harry Met Sally
• Knocked Up

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Sitcom/Comedy of Manners

• According to McKee Sitcom is a satire of middle
  class behavior or special groups within
• Reno 911 - The Police
• The Big Bang Theory - The nerd
• In film, director Whit Stillman takes on the
  preppie crowd in Metropolitan and Barcelona.

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Black Comedy

• Treats serious events or topics with satire.
• Dr. Strangelove or How I Stopped Worrying and
  Learned to Love the Bomb
• Critiques nuclear war and the military

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Screwball Comedy

• Includes elements such as mistaken identities, a
  romantic storyline, and slapstick.
• Its classic period was in the 1940s.
• It Happened One Night
• His Girl Friday
• Bringing up Baby

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Farce

• Also referred to as broad comedy. Includes
  unlikely, improbable elements that are over the
  top.
• The Producers
• Bowfinger
• The Forty Year Old Virgin

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Parody

• A literary or musical work in which the style of
  an author or work is closely imitated for comic
  effect or in ridicule. Merriam Webster
  Dictionary
• Austin Powers (and sequels)
• Naked Gun (and sequels)
• Galaxy Quest

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Mixing SubGenres

• Comedy genres can be mixed to create new forms.
• Romantic Comedy mixed with Broad Comedy
• Theres Something About Mary
• The Wedding Crashers

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Negotiating Laughs
The Wedding Crashers (2005) Written by Steve
Faber and Bob Fisher

• Lesson 6 Part III

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The Wedding Crasher

• Pause the lecture and watch the first clip from
  the Wedding Crashers.
• Look at the various ways that comedy is created
  in this scene.
• Can you find examples of slapstick, caricatures,
  and situation comedy?

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Meeting the Guru

• Pause the lecture and watch the second clip from
  the Wedding Crashers.
• Look at the various ways that comedy is created
  in this scene.
• How does the scene twist our expectations?

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Poaching Funerals

• Pause the lecture and watch the third clip from
  the Wedding Crashers.
• As the comedy grows darker, notice how sympathy
  is maintained for the protagonist.
• The shift into a darker comedy is used to create
  a turning point for the protagonist.

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Summary

• Comedy is both more flexible than other genres
  and more structured.
• There are many different sub genres of comedy,
  yet they all critique human society.
• Writers make choices about how dark their story
  goes and how to create sympathy for their
  protagonist.

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Assignments
The Wedding Crashers (2005) Written by Steve
Faber and Bob Fisher
Lesson 6 Part IV
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E-Board

• No E-Board
• Instead of an eboard posting this week, your
  Script Analysis is due.

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End of Lecture 6
The Wedding Crashers (2005) Written by Steve
Faber and Bob Fisher

• Next Lecture Rules of Engagement