(RESIT JANUARY 2012) Research of animation prospect.

To help create a successful film you must imitate existing films conventions to insure a high potential audience views your work. Baring this concept in mind I have gathered further facts of comedy from IMDb (internet movie database) and have analysed my findings to insure a successful film.

Top-US-Grossing Comedies

Film	Gross
Shrek 2	$436M
Toy Story 3	$415M
Finding Nemo	$340M
Forrest Gump	$330M
Shrek the Third	£321M
Up	$293M

Out of the six top grossing comedy films, five are animated. I presume this is because these films attract all ages having a gigantic potential market. Considering this I question if my group could make an animated opening? We have little understanding of animation and do not have the resources to follow the pursuit to industry standards.

Aiming to compete with industry standards will push us to improve our work, making the animated thought irrelevant. Yet, I researched free programmes to see if the possibility of creating an animated comedy existed.

This video was created with the free animation software ‘Synfig’, which is available to PC’s.  Inspired by the work I downloaded the programme for myself to experiment with its tools and to access if it had the potential to create a comedy opening of industry standards.

However, due to the process of developing this type of art I had to abort my plans of creating a miniature piece for two reasons. Firstly, it was extremely difficult and secondly it was time consuming. This highlighted that creating an animated opening to industry standards is impossible with the resources available.

Example of an animated comedy from the list.

I think there are three factors which make animation films the top comedies. Number one was briefly spoke about in the above clip. The characters are fun, and a fun character is a likeable character which is ideal for an easy going humours film. Animation films can make characters perfectly but due to real life films actors have to create these likeable characters to the best of their ability which is normally short of perfect. None the less, by planning our characters as if we could create them perfectly with help of actors we can also make a near to perfect comedy ideal character.

Secondly, animation films can make films which are out of this world, literally. This can be shown in movies such as Toystory, Shrek, Finding Nemos and Monsters Inc. This ability to bring jokes to life in other worlds can make them cheesy but more humorous. For example the quote ‘Tell a person who cares.’ can be transformed to ‘Tell a fish who cares.’ for a film such as Finding Nemo; though it is incredibly lame in a cinematic atmosphere that would be humorous. This perk of making things funny which really aren’t can be extremely beneficial to cheap laughs.

Thirdly, the plot of animation films appears less serious making them easier to find funny. By having character suffer who aren’t real makes it seem okay to laugh about their misfortunes. This allows for an atmosphere where no boundaries hold animation films at bay.

(RESIT JANUARY 2012) History of Comedy Films

History of Comedy Films

By: Gene Rodriguez, III

The history of comedy films extends back (literally) to the beginning. The first movie copyrighted in the U.S., Fred Ott's Sneeze (1894), was a comedy. Comedies have evolved from the simple slapstick farces of the 1920s to the gross-out comedies of today. Well, maybe the term "evolved" is a bit strong.

The first copyrighted video of all time.

Just For Laughs: Comedies Through The Ages

• You can see it's funny. Due to the technology of the time, early comedy films were silent. The lack of sound meant that most comedic elements were physical or visual. Some of the masters of this form of comedy were Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. These actors were known for their expressive faces, their gymnast-like physical abilities or both.
• Of course, I can hear you! As sound technology was perfected in the 1930s, dialogue began to take center stage in film comedies. The sly humor of W.C. Fields and the rapid-fire delivery of Groucho Marx are early examples of comedy's new success with sound. The 1930s proved a transitional period, however, with comedians like the Three Stooges and Laurel & Hardy relying heavily on slapstick humor to spice up their films.
• But seriously… At the start of the 1940s, most comedy films were war or military themed. During the postwar period and into the 1950s, movies moved away from the simple storylines and began to seek out more mature audiences. The number of comedies produced also dropped significantly during the 1950s as Hollywood producers faced stiff competition from television-the new kid on the block.
• Transition. Although the 1960s produced a number of star-studded farces like It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) and The Great Race (1965), the decade also saw a move toward comedies that used satire to address social change (Dr. Strangelove (1964)) and movies that acknowledged the sexual revolution (The Graduate (1967)).
• Dark, but funny. The 1970s saw the rise of the dark comedy, with antiwar pictures like Catch 22 (1970) and M*A*S*H (1970). The 70s also saw the rise of parody with films that openly borrowed from classic genre films to generate stories and laughs. Mel Brooks was particularly successful with Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974).
• A new golden age? The 1980s saw a resurgence of comedy, as parody films continued to be successful and new players entered the stage. Many of the original actors from the TV show Saturday Night Live moved on to successful comedy films careers during the 1980s. The 1980's also saw a flood of teen comedies including Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Sixteen Candles (1984). The action comedy sub-genre also got its start in the 80s with 48 Hrs. (1982) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984).
• What a character. In the 1990s, actors who could create larger-than-life characters using exaggerated voice, movement and expression dominated comedy. Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler and Mike Myers became household names and major Hollywood stars playing in movies like The Mask (1994), The Wedding Singer (1998) and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997).
• We don't need no limits! The current trend in comedy films is to stretch the bounds of propriety and taste. Although these so-called "gross-out" movies often cause many to wince, they are still profitable at the box office. Directors like Judd Apatow and the Farrelly bothers seem to have no trouble keeping busy, so the trend may continue for some time.

Examples to support the 'you can see its funny' section.

Charlie Chaplin is perhaps the most famous cinematic face from the 20^th century. He defined the rules of comedy films with his over the top actions; dramatizing every action. This clip supports the line ‘The lack of sound meant that most comedic elements were physical or visual.’

Examples to support the 'A new golden age?' section.

 The 1980's also saw a flood of teen comedies including ‘Porkys’ (1982) which help bring around the acceptability of film plots. Before the 1980’s only a few films, such as ‘the carry on film’ series would show sex as humours. The turn in acceptance led to hundreds on teen comedies, most successful being ‘American Pie’ (1999).

Example to support the 'What a character' section.

In the 1990s, actors who could create larger-than-life characters using exaggerated voice, movement and expression dominated comedy. This clip of comedy genius Jim Carrey performing ‘The Mask’ (1994) supports the quote.  

Example to support the 'we don't need no limits!' section.

The current trend in comedy films is to stretch the bounds of propriety and taste. ‘Howard & Kumar Go to white castle’ (2004) tests all limits of peoples taste. Some will find the following clip hilarious, others will find in dumb and idiotic. Now day’s comedy films are in a divide, the stupid, ridiculous comedy films (such as ‘Howard and Kumar’) appealing to young adults and the more mature ones such as ‘Grown ups’ (2010) appealing to mature adults. These mature films usually have a mixture of comedy and family storylines which reflects a happy life, relaxing the viewer.

From this i have learned that in order to make a good modern comedy we must test the limits of what is appropriate such as Howard & Kumar. We do this by reaching the limits of  how we can stereotypically portray the geeks as getting bullied before offending people.

All videos were collected from Youtube. Information was gathered from Gene Rodriguez, III media blog.