Genre Research Activity-Comedy

 Vanessa Goetz P.8                                                                                             AICE Media Studies 

                                            Friday, November 3rd, 2023

Comedy (#1)

Comedic films are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. 

These films are usually made for the general public without a target audience-this can be limited through the use of G, PG, PG-13 ratings. 

The main purpose of movies in the comedy genre are to provoke enjoyment and entertain the viewers. 

Genre Conventions (#2) - Content 

- Many comedies have a hectic setting with many people around.

Ex. Schools, Offices

This is done as it allows characters to make a fool out of themselves as they are mostly in public 

- Opposite main characters 

Many movies use characters with completely different backgrounds, opinions, and styles to add to the movie and allow for comedy to bounce off their character.

Genre Conventions (#3) - Production

- Aims more towards naturalistic shots

Typically cinematography in comedy tends to use mostly naturalistic shots as in these films we typically grow close ro the character as we see their full personality. Additionally, in comedic films all characters are usually portrayed as equal, if there are 2 main characters one is not more important than the other as they work together. 

-Props 

In comedic films props are usually found to be thee center of many jokes and take much importance. 

Ex. Diary of a Wimpy Kid the prop is the slice of cheese 

Institutional Convenions (#4)

- Cast

Nowadays, people are highly influenced by the cast when deciding whether or not they want o watch a movie. If an actor/actress they know or is well known is acting then they are more likely to watch it. This is one way to market the film to customers without them realizing it.

-Thumbnail

Many comedy films have colorful, silly, and intriguing thumbnails which will catch customers attention. These thumbnails could be hung up in certain places or shown on billboards to market the movie. 

Film Sample #1 

Project X is a movie that was released in 2012 which follows a friend group of boys around for their friends, Thomas Kobb, birthday party in which they throw a massive party and end up wrecking the house. 

This film embodies a comedic movie because all throughout the movie the characters are doing things that are frowned upon and get into problems and get away with it sometimes. The movie is an overall very unusual situation for this group of Boyd to put themselves in as they are part of the "weird" part of their grade and aren't considered popular. As most actions taken we're out of their comfort zone and didn't line up with the characters style, the unusual actions made the movie funny and entertaining to viewers. This films audience was young adults and teens as adults watching the movie may have more conservative opinions about it and not find it comedic. 

Film Sample #2

Ferris Bueller's day off is a movie in which the main character, Ferris Bueller and his two friends try to take a day off from school and have an insanely creative plan to do so. This is also a teen comedy movie. Some of the main parts that bring laughter to the film are when the principle goes to extreme lengths to try and stop Ferris and catch him in the act of skipping school. Ferris' rebellious actions are very entertaining and funny. Because this film follows a very busy and hectic day for the friend group we get to see many scenes in which not only characters are stressed but also getting along and making eachother laugh which is overall funny to the audience. 

Other Movies to Check Out (#7)