Com Arts 155 1st Edition Lecture 19 Outline of Last Lecture I Basics of the Moving Image II The Camera in Motion III Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead Outline of Current Lecture I Dramatic Structure Review II Humor III Audience Profile IV Storyboards Current Lecture If you know how to tell a story and you know how to tell a joke then you can make a career writing and directing in Hollywood Tom Shadyac The Pitch Beat Sheet A list of 8 12 bullet points that describe the key moments in your video Storyboards Overhead Storyboards Audience Dramatic Structure Review Structuring Scenes and Films Begin the scene at the latest possible moment end the scene at the earliest possible moment Begin the film at the latest possible moment end the film at the earliest possible moment Dramatic Structure Case Study Lunch Date Important Beats Actress missed train She runs into a man and drops everything snooty She orders a salad She leaves the table She comes back and a man is eating her salad Makes the decision to start eating it too Guy leaves and comes back with coffee Turning Point She leaves He seems disappointed She goes to the train but comes back for bag Reveal that it wasn t her salad Climax She laughs Walks to train These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Movie begins with her being snooty and it ends with a more cheerful tone Assumptions are being made about race and class in the movie Need clarity in beat sheet Humor What Makes Things Funny Four Theories Incongruity Comedy comes from having a certain set of expectations we think something is going to play out one way and then it happens differently Lunch Date We think that the man is eating her salad but really she is eating his Benign Penetration Acceptable limits of taste getting pushed beyond that Joke goes into territory that s naughtier It s pushing the envelope This is why it s not useful for the professor to tell us to keep our humor clean There are limits to how far you can push it For example The Interview pushed the boundaries too far for some people Social Interaction Use humor as a form of social interaction Add lightness to a situation Mark of Community Cultural reference It marks something in your community This kind of humor can be great for building a community and bonds It can have a dark side by excluding people though For example the blonde joke resurfaces when women make big strides in the workforce It tries to reinforce certain stereotypes How to tell a joke Set up Wait for it Punchline Tag it Jenna Marbles Structure Video has a title that is the set up then a whole lot of jokes come at you fast Class Thoughts on Why It Was Funny It s relatable Mark of Culture It s a series of punch lines It exaggerates things Some benign penetration Her presentation Willingness to make herself not look great Silicon Valley Ep 1 Good visual presentation of jokes Incongruity Theory The guy is performing on stage but there is no one there Comedy works best when it s told from an outsider standpoint For example you can make fun of billionaires but you can t make fun of people with less than you If you make fun of someone below you in cultural status you can run into problems Questions to ask yourself about your comedy and jokes Timing Can I improve it When you re working with video you can finesse it Who is the joke on Make sure you re not taking a dig on someone at a lower socio cultural status What s your identity as the joke teller Do you have authority to be commenting on this How will audiences interpret this Certain jokes you ll tell your best friend but not a whole community Audience Profile Who is the video for Who will take the time to watch it What are the tastes and habits of your audience members How will you reach your audience Being specific is better than being vague Storyboards Storyboarding Avoid the Comic Book Style These kinds of story boards are usually a waste of time Overhead Storyboards are much more helpful on set Quick sketches about where you ll put the camera in relation to actors Camera Movement in Boogie Nights Use of One Take Shows a network of how the characters are connected It gives us a sense of being physically there in space Juxtaposition between glamor and excitement of people in club with the dishwasher All the movements are deliberate and motivated by character movement