Genre Research

The term "black humour" was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift.with the name "black comedy" following after.

The main aim of a black comedy is to make serious situations and show them in a lighthearted fashion to make the audience laugh. topics typically associated with the genre include:

• Death
• War
• Disabilities
• Terrorism
• Drugs 

An example of a Black comedy film is Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996).
 Trainspotting follows the lives of a group friends who are heroin addicts in a economically depressed Edinburgh. 

 Black Comedy in films such as Trainspotting puts comedic elements into serious situations but not explicitly so that people are less likely to be offended by it. Instead they do it subtly and in a way in which the audience still notice the seriousness of the matter but still make it funny

Research into Age Certification

15 – Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a 15 rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail). The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable. 

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting.

Language

There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification.

Nudity

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. There may be nudity in a sexual context but usually without strong detail.  

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Research into Genre - Storylines

Research into genre – Dark/Black comedy

Dark/black comedy is a comic style that is based on topics that are seen to be serious and mostly controversial. The reason for this comedy is to make the audience experience both laughter and discomfort based on the range of themes that most people will relate to a number of topics include:

·         Death

·         Murder

·         Suicide

·         Violence

·         War

·         Drug abuse etc.

This style of comedy came from theorist Andre Breton in 1935, the Frenchman focused on empathy from the audience towards the wit of the victim. The idea of this style of comedy is based on keeping a funny tone throughout but having a serious theme throughout such as, a police story or hospital story.

Some films that are in this sub-genre include:

Shaun of the Dead

The film is based on a zombie apocalypse, during the film Shaun meets his friends and family, however the apocalypse becomes too much and Shaun slowly loses everyone. The military police save the day however the comedy is classed as dark as it plays on the element of losing family but the film has numerous comedic elements such as the amusing way of killing zombies and other interactions with people throughout. This film inspired the character within our film, someone who does not like their job and a shake-up changes his life.

Snatch

This film is set around a number of stories such as bare knuckle boxing, a robbery and illegal gun trade. The film has comedic elements such as stereotyping and also the misfortune of others. The dark comedy feeds off of other characters having problems that escalate such as bribery during a boxing match.

Overview of genre

Genre overview

Journey Edit

Final Production Logo

Research into similar films

As our film is primarily a black comedy we have been inspired by and feel our audience will be fans of the following films: Hot fuzz, Fight Club, Office space, American Beauty and Fargo. All of the films are united on their theme of trivialising serious topics like mental heaqlth and death.

We intend to mock the serious 9-5 office work life Fight club, Office space and American beauty have.
American beauty: Kevin Spacey quitting his serious 9-5 job for one with 'less responsibility' 1:05-1:45

We are fans of the way in which Fargo, both the television series and the film, makes light of death and disposing of bodies as if it is a trival matter.

Fargo - I think it was a hammering

We are fans of the way Hot fuzz introduces characters in a quirky manner. We are also fans of the clever and quirky way the plot is foreshadowed in Shaun of the dead and hope to imitate this.

Inspector's quirky introduction 1:05

 Shaun of the dead plot revealed 2:47-3:05

A similar short film to ours is ‘Life’s a bitch’ by Francois Jaros. It too is a dark comedy that analyses love and the effect of losing that loss in a comedic manner, but a sense of grit is retained throughout the 5 minutes which leads the audience to feel slightly uncomfortable. However, we won’t use the amount of settings and scenarios that this film has; there is 95 in total and 60 locations. We were impressed by the quirky idea which, despite the scenes being very brief, give a very strong insight into what the character is experiencing. However, we will not do this as it is not practically possible because we neither have the time to think of scenes nor money for props. 

Review of the short film 'Life's a bitch' (review is at the bottom) – One user of this website gave the film a glowing review; ‘I loved the structure of this film. Hilarious and deep, the scenes of disarray and lethargy pleasantly reminded me of 500 days of summer.’ I agree with the comment regarding the film being like 500 days of summer which too, as Life's a bitch deals with the highs and lows of romance.

The film 'Life's a bitch'