Genre Research Blog (Comedy)

We decided to research the genre of comedy. There are many common camera angles found in comedy movies. These include:

• high angles
• low angles
• eye level

There are also commonly found camera movements in this genre that include:

•  tracking shots
• zooms

 Finally, some of the shots that are frequently used include:

• close-ups 
• extreme close-ups
• medium shots
•  two-shots
•  ariel shots
• point-of-view shots

Some of the common mis-en-scene elements found in comedy movies include:

• costumes: mismatched costumes, vibrant/bright colors, animal costumes
• acting: loud, expressive, funny (making jokes), talkative
• makeup: messy, vibrant/bright colors, specifically bright lipstick, blush, and/or eyeshadow
• props: books, glasses, tearaway pants, breakaway chair
• set: brightly-lighted sets, usually during the daytime

Some of the frequently used editing techniques in comedies include:

• cutaways
• shot-reverse shots
• eye-line matches
• jump cuts

Finally, some of the commonly used sound elements used in comedy films include:

• diegetic sounds
• non-diegetic sounds
• dialogues
• voiceovers
• incidental music

Examples of comedy films include:

• Booksmart (2019) by Olivia Wilde
• The Big Sick (2017) by Micheal Showalter
• The Death of Stalin (2017) by Armando Iannucci
• Knives Out (2019) by Rian Johnson
• Game Night (2018) by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein

Some elements of the genre that we like and would use in our film include eye-level angles, tracking shots, medium shots, point-of-view shots, acting, set, cutaways, shot-reverse shots, eye-line matches, diegetic sounds, dialogues, and incidental music. 

However, some of the elements of the genre that we do not like and would not use in our film include high and low angles, zooms, extreme-close-ups, ariel shots, heavy/extravagant costumes and makeup, jumpcuts, and voiceovers. Some of these elements, such as extreme-close-ups, we feel would not fit the overall mood we are trying to create for our film. Also, things like extravagant costumes or makeup wouldn't fit our film because it is supposed to reflect someone's daily life where they look like regular people. Additionally, some things we simply don't have the resources for. An example of this would be ariel shots. My group doesn't own something like a drone with a camera built-in, which is what it would take to be able to film a shot like this. Therefore, we need to refrain from elements like those.