Make 'Em Laugh, But Also Think

While watching a good comedy may seem very easy to digest on the surface level, when this convention is combined with a more serious plot, we are able to give it much more depth. I began studying this genre in more detail and slowly began to realize that there are so many more comedic thrillers than I had thought, they truly are everywhere. These movies and television shows that I am about to show were able to successfully create a level of suspense, shock, and maybe even fear while simultaneously including a plethora of comedic scenes, lovable characters that the audience roots for, and a clever play on comedic irony. 

A Simple Favor (2019)

Ocean's 8 (2018)

Knives Out (2019)

These three films, all have such a strong balance between solid thriller genre conventions with great comedic factors, all perfectly working together to keep the audience entertained and on the edge of their seat. There are also a plethora of television shows with the same style as well which have also greatly peaked my interest. 

Gravity Falls (2012)

Stranger Things (2016)

The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window (2022)

I love how often this genre hides in plain sight. It feels as though no one thinks of comedy thrillers as a popular genre yet so many of their favorite films can fall under this category. When studying this genre, I noticed how more popular it is becoming among this generation, one of the reasons being, it is just enough of what an audience would want. I really want to create a film introduction along these lines by introducing a mysterious problem which will keep viewers on the edge of their seat while also allowing the audience to have a good laugh from character interactions every now and then. I want viewers to enjoy what the film intro as if it were a light watch however, I really want there to be more depth, giving it that thriller style.  

I feel like I would be able to strongly make this contrast between thriller and comedy through the content and characterization. Although I don't know exactly what I am doing yet, I know I want the concept of the movie to be more deep, intriguing, and suspenseful. While on the other hand, I would like the characters to be more easier to understand as the intentionally bring comedic relief to this film. I feel that it is so important to make situations lighter with comedy especially while dealing with the intensity of a thriller movie and I feel that this doesn't happen enough. Of course there are necessary joke breaks in classic comedy movies and crazy plot twists in good old thrillers, but can you imagine how much better a film can be when these two conventions are brought together? I want my film concept to be something uncommon but familiar, so it isn't immediately rejected when an audience begins to watch. I would like it to be enough to grab and maintain an attention span but not overwhelm viewers. When it comes to my characters, I know I want the introduction to consist of at least two but most likely no more. I want more than one character to be present so a solid concept will be able to successfully be established. I feel that at times, more complicated genres require more at times in comparison to other genres, just to meet necessary requirements and confide in different conventions. I want the two characters to have contrasting personalities, one being more bubbly such as a Leslie Knope or Jessica Day  while another character would be more sarcastic, saying things like they are such as an Eleanor Shellstrop or April Ludgate. I included a psychometrics analysis on these characters via hyperlink to be able to put their traits into perspective for those who may not be familiar.  Another blog post will come soon discussing in further depth different concepts that I envision in addition to how my films' characters' personalities will develop, thus affecting the plot. 

Dancing on this fine line between humor and solemnity is exactly what I would want to achieve for both the film introduction and the remainder of my hypothetical movie but, how will I accomplish this in two minutes? 

We'll figure it out soon enough!

Liv

(week 2: 2/14-2/20, post 2)