Assignment 3: genre exploration task

Chelsea Fashole-Luke12J

ComedyThe purpose of the comedy is to humour, amuse and entertain the audience. The general conventions of comedy are:• Humorous exaggeration of situations, people or places.• Observation of deficiencies, foibles and frustrations of life• Merriment and momentary escape from day to day life• Odd, humorous, and satirical characters

The comedy genre was established around 1890. It emerged because comedy was ideal for silent films, especially around 1895 to 1930, as they depended on physical humour and visuals instead of sound. Some examples of classic films are:• ‘Modern Times’ – starring Charlie Chapman• ‘Duck Soup’• ‘Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein’

Subgenres: Action comedyAction comedy: combines action with humour and relies on characters to bring out the humour. The actions scenes are less intense than traditional action movies. The purpose of the action comedy genre is to allow the audience to have a sense of escapism through the action aspects of the film, all while continuing to make them laugh through the comedic genre.

The general conventions of action comedies are:• Daring stunts done in a comedic fashion• One liners and sometimes put downs of other characters• Comedic ‘cat and mouse’ style chases Some examples of films to represent this subgenre are: 21 Jump Street Get Smart Date Night 30 Minutes or Less

Comedy horror

Comedy horror: combines comedy with traditional horror movie themes and characters. Aims to scare and amuse the audience.

The general conventions of comedy horror are:

• Slight mocking of traditional horror characters

• Gruesome yet comedic elements, e.g. Someone having their head chopped off in a comedic fashion

Some examples of films to represent this subgenre are:

• The Haunted Mansion• Fright Night (2011)• Hotel Transylvania• Zombieland

Rom-comRomantic comedy: aims to catch viewers heart with a combination of love and humour. It is usually light hearted and revolves around romantic ideal, such as true love.

General conventions of romantic comedy are:

• The ideal triumphs over the situation or obstacle, creating a happy ending.

• ‘meet-cute’ scenarios – the couple meet in an often awkward or strange situation

Some examples to represent romantic comedy are:

• My Big Fat Greek Wedding

• Valentines Day

• The 5 Year Engagement

• Runaway Bride

Sci-fi comedySci-fi comedy: exploits sci-fi conventions for comic effect. Often mocks or satirises standard sci-fi conventions such as alien invasion and future technology.

General conventions of sci-fi comedy:

• Comic hero(s) who save the earth

• Situations such as alien invasion, time travel etc. shown in a humorous light

Some examples of sci-fi comedies:

• Paul

• Men In Black

• Hot Tub Time Machine

• Monsters vs Aliens

Comedy dramaComedy drama: The drama and comedy is equally balanced and it provides ‘comic relief’ for the audience while addressing serious issues light-heartedly.

Conventions of comedy drama:

• Has a dramatic tone with important elements of comedy

• Serious, real life situations with comedic twists to keep audience entertained

Some examples of comedy drama movies:

The Family Stone

In Her Shoes

Daddy’s Little Girls

Adventureland

British comedyBritish comedy: is known for having consistently stereotypically british quirky characters, plots and landmark settings (the London eye, big ben etc).

Conventions of brit-coms:

• Over exaggeration

• Stereotypical British social groups (‘posh totty’, ‘chavs’ etc)

• Stereotyping of british accents/speaking (cockney, posh, street slang etc)

Some examples of brit-com films:

• Shaun of The Dead (also a parody)• St Trinians• Son of Rambow• Bridget Jones Diary

HybridsAdventure comedy: is a hybrid of adventure and comedy. It usually blends action and suspense as well as exotic locales and the heroic journey of adventure journey with light hearted comedic elements.

The purpose is throw the audience into the adventure of the film but allowing them to see the humour within it at the same time.

Convention of adventure comedy:

• Comedic action throughout

Adventure comedy films may include a mixture of:

• Comedy

• Action

• Thriller

• Romance

• Science fiction

Some examples are:

Black Knight

Looney Tunes: Back In Action

Rat Race

Criminal comedyCriminal comedy: comedy films where crime is a feature in the films plot.

Conventions of criminal comedy:

• Police/investigator is not the smartest of people yet solve the crime I n the end

• Criminals are constantly outwitted

Criminal comedy may include a mixture of:

• Comedy

• Action

• Adventure

• Romance

• Drama

Some examples are:

• The pink panther• Hot fuzz • Sister act• Home alone