Essay

In this essay, I will be analysing the change in comedy within the television and film
industry.
The genre of comedy has changed vastly over the years. Comedy has developed into
more of a subgenre because nowadays you see comedy in most films being featured.
This tells us that comedy is a versatile genre and we can expect to see it evolve more as
the years pass.
The first reason why people watch comedy movies and television is because they want to
be entertained. Recipients like to do be entertained because they want to relax and try to
escape from reality.
A lot of people have a stressful life, and they need time to rest and to calm down. So,
they try to escape from their hectic life by watching amusing stories. For instance, a
stressed worker can feel better while and after watching a humorous movie e.g. the
Simpsons Movie because the content is easy, light hearted and funny.
The advantage of comedy to producers is that it appeals across all audience groups of all
ages. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy.
Slapstick comedy appeals to a younger audiences such as Charlie Chaplin, whereas
quirky comedy appeals to a more intelligent and older audience such as television
program the office. Differences in class also lead to different audiences, for example, the
lower class may prefer to watch The Comedy the Royal family whereas the higher class
may watch something thats more intellectual such as have I got news for you which is a
slightly more intellectual.
A reason why it may be easy to understand is because of its simple structure and less
complex information. The same as television, watching a film means paying to go and
watch it, television allows you to do this for free. There have been a vast amount of
comedies on television over the years including Gavin and Stacey, The Office and the big
bang theory, which gives people that equal good feeling when watching it.
Television series also have a wide range of target audiences, I think they generally target
middle aged, like 30-40 and mostly females. An example is the programme Gavin and
Stacey that I think targets mostly women and men from 20-30.
The target audience of a comedy film is very dependent on the content of the film. For
example childrens films labelled as PGs or Us can have comical scenes in which would
link it to the comedy genre the films would appeal to young children as well as parents as
they are often family film, however the audience would be completely different for a
comedy film labelled as a 12 or a 15, these films have the target audience of the
certificated age given to the movie as the base, the movies are likely to appeal to people
over the labelled age of film simply because comedy has a large target market appealing
to larger proportion of the comedy theme market.

History of Comedy

Throughout the nineteen twenties, all movies were in black and white and silent, they
had captions explaining the story on the screen, in order for the actors to create the
humour, they acted out scenes and exaggerated all their movements on screen.
Cinematic comedy is considered the oldest film genre, and one of the most prolific and
popular. Comedy was ideal for the early silent films, as it was dependent on visual action
and physical humour rather than sound. Slapstick, one of the earliest forms of comedy,
poked fun at practical jokes, accidents, acrobatic death-defying stunts, water soakings, or
wild chase scenes with trains and cars.
Slapstick comedy originated and dominated the screens during the silent era until sound
forced comedy to take a slightly different turn. There are many different types of comic
narratives, all differing to adjust to the political and social issues of their specific time.
Early comedies were created for some of the very first feature length films, shot on tworeels, and lasting anywhere between eighteen and twenty five minutes in length.
These two-reel comedies consisted of randomly performed gags, such as physical
roughhousing, or unpredictable mishaps in unexpected scenarios. Mack Sennett from
Keystone was the first director to produce a two-reel comedy. His comedies were
extended into comedic chase sequences containing this physical slapstick comedy.
During the 20s, three major stars stole the comedic spotlight, all portraying a unique
style of self-expression depending on their personal interpretation of the industrial
movements they experienced.
Charles Chaplin was attached to 19th century values. He refuse to accept the change in
modern technology, and in turn, portrayed this in his comedies quite effectively. Most of
his films were in conflict with machinery, as in Modern Times, where he played a victim of
machinery inside of a factory; The Cure, where he confronted problems with a revolving
door, or One A.M., where he battled a folding bed. In his films, he rarely ended by
becoming victorious over technology, but rather he would find refuge by leaving the city
life and setting out to a new place.
Pioneers in the early days of silent cinema and film-making, the Lumiere Brothers,
included a short comedy film in their very first public screening in 1895 titled Watering
the Gardener or The Sprinkler Sprinkled (L'Arroseur Arrose).

During the nineteen twenties industrialization and modern technological changes altered
society and their behaviour. Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd all took this social change into
their own perspectives and interpreted it in their own personal views.
Many agreed upon his view of social change and could relate to him very well. For those
who did not agree on his view of machinery taking over, still found his sense of humour
flourishing and different possibly because these people may have already found their
place among the industrial revolution and it was enjoyable to watch a man in the films
struggle with success and give up. Keaton, who was portrayed as a workingman,
accepted and perfected the use of machines through knowledge and wit. He accepted
the fact that the world was changing and he wasnt going to wait, and changed with it.
Lloyd captured the fear of change, He accepted change and amongst the public eye he
was a model for achievement in a rapidly changing environment. He showed his
audience that change could be mastered.
Comedy in this era demonstrated to the public that all hope was not lost. It addressed all
social classes with different viewpoints on the industrial revolution and made it clear that
you can make good out of what may appear to be bad.
Codes and Conventions
Comedy can also be divided by the type of comedy for example spoofs may appeal to
some of the comedy target market as the style of genre is tailored towards a certain area
of the comedy market excluding some age groups and preferences of the comedy genre.
In turn this may make the movie popular with its specific target market for instance
Superbad this film audience has been refined to a teenager/young adult audience.

There are various codes and conventions in which we would couple with the comedy
genre, some of which are more obvious than others. Codes and conventions are
generally displayed in the form of what is on screen at any one time (mis-en-scene). But
also can be displayed through things like sound, as well as the use of gags or jokes. This
is typical of a comedy and is often responded too with the characters laughing or the use
of non-diegetic sound in the form of a laughing audience voiceover. An example of this
would be in friends episode eight, series nine. When a rumour is created about Rachel,
Ross says the rumour and then as soon as Ross has finished speaking, we here an
example of non-diegetic sound where the audience erupts in laughter.

Fast paced changing of

cameras is typical also within
an action program, but can
help to add to the comedic
values within a scene. This can
be done by quickly changing
camera angles, but also can be
used in the case of changing
focus in different characters.
Costumes
Generally bright clothing and
scenes. Particularly in
cartoons, but also in general comedies. The use of colour can be very effective in
portraying what is meant to be shown from the scene itself. For instance in the program
the Simpsons, the characters skin is generally yellow. This is unusual and immediately
seems comical. But it is also typical of this genre because it suggests to the viewer that
the program shouldnt be taken too seriously, but also by using the bright colours we see
the characters in a brighter, less realistic light. So we immediately assume more comical
things will occur.

Music
Upbeat music. This suggests the light heartedness of the program in question. Be it used
as an overlay throughout the program, or just at the start during the title sequence. All
evidence of this points towards the fact that the director is trying to make the program
seem appealing and immediately gives the viewer an idea of what we are to expect. An
example of this would be the Simpsons theme tune, it is light and quick. Suggesting the
fast paced, light hearted humour in which we are to expect.
Characters
Typically the characters are often quite spread out in there demeanours, with there being
distinct character differences. For instance there will usually be an incompetent
character, someone who makes mistakes easily, may not be very bright and often gets
into trouble. Then there will be the complete opposite, the hard working, clever character
who will get annoyed by the other characters incompetence. This opposite suggests
conflict but because of the genre and comical nature of the character we know that the
arguments which will follow will no doubt amuse us because of the unimaginable
annoyance in which the more clever character will be feeling. For instance in the
Simpsons, with homer being the typical character he is, in turn driving frank grimes to
mistakably killing himself. This is unfortunate yet somewhat amusing to the viewer. This
sort of scene is typical to comedies, with even the object of death being somehow
portrayed in a light-hearted manner.
There are many codes and conventions of comedy within film and television, one of them
being character types. Idiotic people are normally used in contrast with a group of normal
people, this shows contrasts of personalities and emphasis the stupidity. Also, slightly
above average intelligent people are used, for example the Big Bang theory, the comedy
is emphasised because they are smart but at the same time socially awkward, and

unaware of social boundaries

with so called normal people. A
common tribute within
characters is sarcasm.
Distribution
Comedy can be found
everywhere, TV, DVD, Mobile
phone, Netflix. Having a rise in
modern technology has meant a
huge increase of people
consuming film and television
via their phones, laptops and
tablets. I would say that comedy
is consumed by both, I feel it is
both spread out on television
and film equally.
Structure
Film trailers are also an engaging means to teaching fiction genres and narrative
structure. It is important that genre is established in a trailer as it grabs the attention of
audiences that studios know will want to see the film. The trailers voiceover or text on
screen will sometimes quite overtly compare a new film to a previous, successful film
that the studio released in the same genre e.g. From the people who bought you. Of
course, when choosing moments from the film the film studio will often choose a range of
sequences (action, romance, comedy) to show that their film has something for
everyone, meaning each of them meet there target audiences needs.

Typical narrative structure is often broken down in this way it begins with the Opening of
a scene which establishes setting and introduces character to the audience meaning
there faces will become more familiar to them meaning theyll connect to them more.
There is also a Build-up of Relationships, development of characters and their world
which helps the audience have more of an in-depth feel to the character. A Problem or
dilemma always occurs, Characters are faced with an obstacle to overcome a mystery to
solve, or often more than one. A series of events/action as characters try to overcome
obstacle, solve problem, discover truth and so on. Further complications may arise in the
process which keeps the audience gripped to the film or television. Resolution, problems
are solved, truth revealed. And the Ending characters often reflect on events, reinstate
relationships and look forward.
Types of Comedy
The humour in slapstick derives from its exaggerated physical gesturing, movements,
and situations. Its one of the sillier, simpler forms of comedy, and can be seen employed
by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in early silent era films, and today in
the Jackass movies and sketch comedy shows.
Deadpan
Deadpan is also called dry humour, and is defined more by its delivery than the actual
content, though there are certain types of jokes that work better delivered deadpan over
others. Deadpan is exactly what it sounds like, delivering jokes without any noticeable
change in emotion. The comedian should keep a rigid, monotonous, bored sounding tone,
making the joke or observation come off as scathingly blunt or sarcastic. The humour in

deadpan comes from the audiences connection between the joke and the contradicting
tone of its delivery.
Self-Deprecating
The humour comes in how mundane and relatable the topics of its jokes can be, with the
comedian joking about things like their own bad habits, being socially awkward, how they
always mess up dates, and so on. These are things that most common people can relate
to, and so it becomes a tension reliever to laugh at our own problems encompassed by
another.
Potty Humour
Maybe the lowest of the low brow types of humour, potty humour relies entirely on being
gross. Also called toilet humour or scatological humour, for obvious reasons, its a type of
humour that focuses on making the audience cringe. Its often in poor taste, vulgar, and
crosses the line for the sake of making people laugh. This type of humour can most
often be found in childrens cartoons, or for the more risqu material, adult comedies.
Topical Humour
The go-to form of humour for many late night talk shows, topical humour is exactly what
it sounds like: humour that focuses on topical events. This is the kind of humour youll
see on The Daily Show or The Onion. Its easy and accessible humour that makes fun of
current events. The way its delivered, of course, can overlap with any of the types of
humour on this list. The key is that its chock full of relevant pop culture references and
nudge-winks to recent goings-on. Learn great public speaking skills vital for a comedian
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