The Craft of Film Comedy
- Course unit code:
- 311CFC
- Course unit title:
- The Craft of Film Comedy
- Mode of delivery:
- zkouška
- Range:
- 2/T
- Type of course unit:
- Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Cinematography – compulsory subject
Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting – compulsory subject
Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Directing – compulsory subject - Level of course unit:
- Year of study
- Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Cinematography – 2nd year
Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting – 2nd year
Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Directing – 2nd year - Semester when the course unit is delivered
- letní
- Number of ECTS credits allocated:
- 2
- Garant předmětu:
- Jitka HEJTMANOVÁ
- Name of lecturer(s):
- Jitka HEJTMANOVÁ
- Study Objectives:
- Mode of delivery:
- Prerequisites and co-requisites:
-
Students planning to take the course should already be considering the excerpt of film or TV comedy they will show from their native country, whether they screen it from the Internet in class or by bringing a DVD from home.
- Recommended optional programme components
-
No.
- Course contents:
-
This course takes the traditions of American movie comedy, one of the most influential genres in world cinema, as the basis for cultivating filmmaking skills in international industries. Through group work (brainstorming, writing, and presentations), each session will be dedicated to mastering a particular craft from the comedy genre, which can help in the development to the end of term films (even if you are not making a comedy).
The course?s emphasis on developing filmmaking skills will be inspired by the most inventive demonstrations of crafts throughout movie history. It begins by studying how to write physical comedy through the practices of silent slapstick that culminated in the great works of Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and others. With these examples from the golden age of comedy, students will learn the rhythm of gag construction, and how to build a chase to its climax.
By analyzing the triumphs of vaudevillians such as the Marx Brothers, Mae West, and W.C. Fields in the early sound era, students will discover how to make novel uses of the soundtrack. Surveying the studio system, participants will be challenged to write vehicles for stars coming from vaudeville and TV to the movies, as well as to develop the twists of a screwball romance, as was done with flair in Hollywood?s heyday. Given famous examples from postwar films, students will create dark social satires and build on generations of parody; elaborate on comic types, including those from their native countries, gauge how to design a film story with either blockbuster or cult appeal, and form new comic hybrids from the possibilities of new media.
Based on the topics listed above, each student will present an example from their home nation to compare with U.S. movies, as the course combines study of how classic comedies were made, with practical exercises that hone the demanding craft of laughter.
- Study materials:
-
No.
- Planned learning activities and teaching methods
- Assessment methods and criteria
-
Class participation: 35% (includes 5-minute display of web site in the last class, tbd)
In-class writing exercises: 35%. Refine your best week´s work to read aloud in the last class (tbd).
Oral Presentation: 30%. This consists of a 20-minute presentation that introduces a film or TV comedy from your home country under the topic of a particular week. Choose your date of presentation by the start of the second session. You will be graded on your liveliness of presentation, and the ability to illustrate your national traditions by comparison with the ones discussed in class. An excerpt from a DVD or the web is essential.
- Language of instruction:
- English
- Work placement(s):
- Pracovní stáž není u tohoto předmětu zavedena.
- Course web page:
- Note:
-
SCHEDULE
I. Chaplin and the Comic Performer
II. The Silent Comedy Studio and Gag Construction
III. Keaton and the Chase
IV. Vaudeville Stars from Stage to Sound Film
V. Standup and TV Comics as Movie Stars
VI. The Screwball Romance
VII. The Comedy Writer and Director in the Studio Era
VIII. Social Satire Beyond the Studio
IX. Generations of Genre Parodies
X. Improv Stars and National Comic Types
XI. Blockbuster Comedies and Targeted Audiences
XII. Comedy in Mixed Media and New Technologies
XIII. Student Presentations and Comedy Exercises
- Schedule for winter semester 2011/2012:
- The schedule has not yet been prepared
- Schedule for summer semester 2011/2012:
-
06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon Tue Fri Thu Fri Datum Den Čas Tutor Místo Notes Č. paralelky Thu 14:00–15:35 HEJTMANOVÁ J. Seminární učebna CDM
Lažanský palácpřednášková par. 1 - The subject is a part of the following study plans:
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- Cinema and Digital Media - Cinematography (qualification subject)
- Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting (qualification subject)
- Cinema and Digital Media - Directing (qualification subject)