Writing the Comedy Movie

272 Pages·2016·2.12 MB·English

by  Marc Blake

Writing the
Comedy Movie

Writing the
Comedy Movie
Marc Blake
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
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New York London
NY 10018 WC1B 3DP
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www.bloomsbury.com
BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2016
© Marc Blake, 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining
from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or
the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blake, Marc.
Writing the comedy movie / Marc Blake.
pages cm
Summary: “A practical guide to creating the comedy movie, referencing its subgenres,
history, and tropes.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62892-595-1 (paperback) -- ISBN 978-1-5013-1634-0 (hardback) 1. Comedy films-
-Authorship. 2. I. Title.
PN1996.B57 2015
808.2’523--dc23
2015018853
ISBN: HB: 9781501316340
PB: 9781628925951
ePub: 9781628925937
ePDF: 9781628925920
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
This book is dedicated to three people who left the party
early. Rod Hall, agent extraordinaire, whose advice has
helped to this day; to Matt Cogger who loved life and
laughter in equal measure; and to Malcolm Hardee,
mentor, madcap and all round charlatan.
We loved you all and remember you still.

Contents
Introduction 1
1 Writing The Comedy Script 5
2 Comedy 15
A brief comic history 17
Funny bones 19
A visual medium 20
3 Premise and Character 23
On titles 23
What are you writing about? 25
Characters in screen comedy 25
4 Plotting and Comic Scenes 37
Fish out of water 39
Plotting your comedy movie 41
Comic scenes 48
5 Performative Comedy 51
The grammar of the shot 52
Gags vs narrative 54
Comedian comedy 56
6 Narrative Comedy 59
Screwball 59
Romantic comedy 62
Incomplete people 67
viii Contents
7 Comedy About Sex 75
Teen comedy 75
Frat boys 78
Stoner comedies 80
Gross-out 81
Sex comedy 86
8 Mocking Society: Parody, Mockumentary
and Satire
91
Parody 91
Mockumentary 98
Satire 100
9 Dark Comedy and Farce 107
Dark comedy 107
Farce 112
10 Sketch Comedy and Television 117
Sitcom 121
Interview: Peter Baynham 122
11 Action and Animated Comedy 127
Action 127
Animated comedy 132
12 Double Acts: Buddy Movies, Bromance and
the Road
137
Bromance 140
Road movies 144
13 Christmas Comedy 147
14 Sports Comedy 151
Soccer movies 153
Contents ix
15 Military Comedy 157
The trickster hero 158
16 Prison Comedies 163
17 Crime, Caper, Mob and Heist Movies 169
The heist or caper movie 173
Mob comedy 175
18 Transgression 179
Camp 183
19 Women In Comedy 189
20 Comedy Subgenres 199
Fantasy comedy 200
God and the devil 203
Comedy horror 204
Independent and auteur comedy 207
Biopic comedy 210
Ensemble comedy 211
21 Worldwide Comedy 215
The English-speaking world 215
Other territories 226
Conclusion 235
Appendix One 237
Appendix Two 239
Filmography 241
Works Cited 249
Index 251