1. Unit 10: Film Production (Fiction)
Section 1: Comedy
Film 1: Step Brothers (2008)
Film 2: Superbad (2007)
Firstly, Comedy is seen as one of the most enjoyable genres of films to watch
and can be made in many different forms if it follows the appropriate criteria for
the codes of the genre, this allows us to have an opportunity to analyze the
codes and convections. Most comedy films tend to follow the same patterns
and can be seen as very predictable as the story is more lighthearted and
almost always end with the main protagonist resolving a problem and having a
happy ending, which is mainly the plot of every Hollywood comedy, that the protagonist
may encounter something against the moral of the plot, and then it will end up in the
protagonists favour, and this can bug those who are waiting for twists and a very
deep plot. Here I am going to compare two comedies that have been released
within four years of each other, Step Brothers and Superbad.
Step Brothers, directed by Adam McKay, follows two lazy, unemployed step
brothers that end moving in together due to their parent’s marriage, however their
insane rivalry starts to pull their parents’ marriage apart, this forces them to
work together and make amends.
Superbad, directed by Greg Mottola, is about two high school friends plotting to
kick start their sex lives and party before they start college, however when a
plan to impress at a party goes wrong, they’re quest for booze becomes
extremely complicated.
Narrative Codes
The whole purpose of comedy is to make the audience laugh and respond in a
certain way and usually follow a certain pattern when it comes to telling the
story, and this is by following Todorov’s theory. This involves 5 steps, 1. The
film starts with the character/s happy and content, or facing minor difficulty 2. A
major problem occurs that disrupts happiness 3. Everyone realizes the problem
4. Characters repair the problem 5. Even better equilibrium. These codes apply
perfectly to the two films and could easily be compared.
Step Brothers
At the start of step brothers, both main characters are alone, leeching off their
single parents and are unemployed, however with their free time, they’re very
happy with themselves despite having nothing going for them and as soon as
their parents find love, they’re forced to live with each other, hating each other,
which cause them to fight and have major disturbances between the peace, whereas in
Superbad, the main characters are already well known to one another and the
problem arrives when after they trust their friend to supply alcohol for them, he
gets caught by the police, which means they have to also go out of their
comfort zone and find another way to require alcohol for the big party. The
‘problem’ or ‘disruption’ happens in almost every comedy movie and is seen as
the only way to make the story connect and to move it along, because if the
characters were always at a happy point and if there was no problem that
2. occurs then the film would be very plain, although it would be original, it still
wouldn’t be a good idea for a film.
Ref 1
For reference 1, the equilibrium’s problem occurs to the actor Will Ferrell’s character as he’s
forced to move into his new step dads house with his new step brother, this problem affects
him dramatically, acting extremely selfish and childish, just like he would’ve when he was a
boy, which is also how he thinks as his mother is still very protective over him despite him
being a grown man and the problem grows when the brothers meet each other and fight for
the attention of the parents just like children. At the start the main characters are heavily
reliant on the parents despite their age, for example relying on parents for money to order
pizza whilst they work and the son stays at home, this is quite humorous to the viewer as
they sit around and do nothing all day whilst the parents get old and work to support them
still although it can be a problem, since the filmis a comedy, it definitely works for the
genre, especially when the Mise en scene includes him playing guitar hero whilst in his
underwear, making him look very unprofessional and distant from people his age. Whereas
in Superbad, the opening scene shows Jonah hill on the phone whilst driving, talking to his
best friend about online pornography, whilst the other friend played by Michael Cera is said
to have not been really interested in that activity, showing that Jonah hill is the most
confident and outgoing of the two as he is very open and proud about something that is
seemed to be private to somebody, whereas Michael Cera isn’t as confident and a lot
skinnier and geeky and awkward than his best friend, this sort of relationship between two
different personalities can be a pleasant and comedic viewing as both characters can both
have a lot to say, having different personalities but they’re still quite similar when it comes
to their comedy and bouncing their words off of each other, because at the end of the day,
every double act has to have two separate units. This also works well in step brothers as
both of the main characters want to be completely different from each other, however they
are both unaware until halfway through the filmthat they are very similar to each other in
every characteristic.
Also, to match the characters descriptions to blend in with the story, both of the characters
are both very similar in appearance to show that they are very similar people, almost
brothers which is quite clever as they are very similar people but just by different parents
and brought together by their love, “finishing” their childhood together and getting jobs and
moving on with their lives. Both males are similar heights with the same brown curly hair
and geeky t-shirts, having a similar fashion sense as well as a taste in comics, pornography
and action films. Whereas in Superbad, the main characters have a difference in height,
clothing style, pitches of voice, body size and personalities, one being the ‘funny guy’ and
the other being the ‘smart one’ as the way he talks and gives ideas makes him seem like a
3. very logical thinker and maybe that conflicts with social interactions. The reason for this in
the narrative is to make the filma lot more complex with differences in themselves, making
them quite unlikely friends whereas in step brothers, the similarities have a meaning,
showing that the two men are in fact very similar to one another.
Stylistic Codes
As the comedy genre is a more light-hearted genre, the cinematography and codes all need
to match the speed of the narrative. In stepbrothers and Superbad, both the films have little
to no action elements and is fully reliant on the dialogue and the Mise en scene to make the
scene work, this means that both films have briefly timed, brightly lit, normal medium shots,
long shots and two shots for the cinematography in order to keep the tempo and timing
right and appropriate to the genre, the reason for this is to keep the filma feel good and
easy to follow so they can focus on the jokes.
Ref 2
In reference 2, most of the shots are focused on the characters, with the shots being eye
level with the characters which keep them neutral within the scene, not being dominating
or belittled, but on par with the audience, the reason for this is to get you involved in the
scene and get you to focus on what is going on between the characters, and they do this by
not showing much interest in the background, this would disorientate the viewer. The exact
same strategies are used in step brothers, however there is a scene where the characters
are attacked by children and are beaten up, during that scene it is fast paced aerial shots
looking down on the main cast to represent weakness as they are getting beaten by school
children, which is weirdly fitting as the adults are portrayed as kids throughout the film, but
most of the scenes from that comedy classic does involve the same cinematography to
Superbad.
The mise en scene within movies are very important, and within the two movies this is very
crucial. In Superbad, the main settings used is high schools, house parties and stores, all
very relatable for teenagers which made this film very popular with audiences from the age
group as it is very familiar with the audience, because teenagers can relate to the characters
and the situations such as trying to get alcohol whilst underage. Whereas in step brothers,
the main settings are their house and a few other buildings such as offices, public areas etc.
These areas are important as they focus on the characters lack of responsibilities such as
4. jobs and focus on their free time of doing almost nothing in their day to day life, the settings
are important though to the genre to set the tone, usually being vey brightly lit to not
distract the viewer and disorientate them as this is supposed to be an enjoyable comedy
film. These settings are very well chosen for the movies narrative and necessary for the
comedy genre for it to make perfect sense.
Section 2: Drama
FILM 3: FIGHT CLUB
FILM 4: AMERICAN PSYCHO
Firstly, the drama genre is seen as the most common of movie genres as the category can
fall under any storyline as long as the cinematography and timing is delivered correctly, so
for that, to make an original filmis a very difficult, and fight club and American psycho are
brilliant examples of that.
Fight club tells the story of a nameless narrator and his newly found business associate and
their tale of their underground secret fight club
American Psycho is set in the 80s, following the hectic routine of Patrick Bateman who aside
from his high-ranking jobs in wall street, is a psychopathic murderer.
Narrative Codes
However, in this film, some theories don’t apply to these films such as American psycho as
the main character is the antagonist or the anti-hero as we are rooting for the villain and in
fight club the main characters end up being the same person and the ending doesn’t end
well on either of the films. This makes the films very original and extremely well done in
terms of narrative. The story of fight club is based on the unnamed narrators’ interactions
with a businessman named Tyler Durden, however after a fighting club has been discovered
by the pair to fight against their anxieties, the narrator turns out to be Tyler Durden and his
vision of his friend was just his imagination, and the filmends with him committing
terrorism within a city. And in American Psycho, the film ends with him wondering if the
crimes he committed throughout the film was actually reality.
Ref 3
Another similarity is that both films use non-diegetic narration and has a restricted narrative
where we only know what the main characters know which can lead to many effective
twists by the end of the film. The narration speaks in the first person to the audience,
almost as if it was breaking the 4th wall and speaking directly to you. This is effective to the
genre as it uses original stories and ways of making the genre work.
5. Stylistic Codes
Ref 4
In both films, they use a lot of cinematography, especially American psycho which I will
focus on. American psycho takes place in the mind of Patrick Bateman and needs to focus on
him and how he deals with his psychotic needs. In one particular scene, Bateman brutally
murders one of his coworkers, he gets him drunk and lures him back to his apartment which
is all covered in plastic protective wrapping. He dresses in a transparent rain coat and equips
an axe, distracting his victim with huey Lewis and the news on the stereo. The mise en scene
takes a huge part in this scene, as his apartment was a safe and quiet place for him to lure him
so he covered his whole apartment with wrapping so no traces of the victim can be found in
Batemans apartment, his axe has a huge significance as this is his weapon of choice to
dismember his victim and kill him to the beat of ‘hip to be square; on the stereo that doesn’t
fit the scene at all but can be heard by Bateman, seeming to take a huge enjoyment out of
killing his victim.
However, in fight club, the mise en scene is mainly underground set inside the fight club, the
lighting is dark and gritty, men are fighting each other and the place doesn’t look very
pleasant, this could be all be how the narrator sees himself as he seems very depressed and
dark throughout the film and the only place he finds enjoyment is through fighting
underground. The lighting is usually very dark and quite yellow, mainly lighting up the
focused characters to signify importance. Overall all the films fit the criteria’s of the genres
very well and are very effective in showing the audience.
