Codes and conventions of Comedy films

The comedy film genre belongs to the groups of films that evoke laughter/humor from the audience. 'Comedy' is the most important category in cinema, present in every national film culture and dominant in many. But much of the time comedy is enjoyed by audiences as an element across many films rather than as a distinct genre.

Comedy films fall into two main sub-groupings: a) the comedian-led film, structured through gags and sketches; and b) the comedy situation film with a more coherent narrative. These two groups can sometimes overlap and indeed the 'pure' comedy film of any kind is a fairly rare animal. Most so-called comedy films are in reality hybrids, 'comedy hyphenates' such as comedy-horror, comedy-thriller, comedy-musical etc.

In contemporary cinema, critics and theorists have been mostly concerned with defining specific hybrids, which draw on the broader repertoire of 'comedy elements' in easily recognizable ways:

'teen comedy' - often set in high school and involving adolescent sexual adventure and conflicts with authority;

'romantic comedy' - a popular hybrid, targeted at women and couples, especially in the 25-35 age group;

'social comedy' - 'situational comedies' drawing on class conflict and social realism, a feature of British cinema;

'gross-out comedy' - a currently successful cycle which may involve any of the above, but pushed more towards outrageous gags.

Theoretical work has focused on particular forms such as 'screwball comedy', the first great cycle of which appeared in the 1930s and 1940s with performers such as Carole Lombard, Barbara Stanwyck and Katherine Hepburn. The subversive nature of this cycle and its structural similarity to horror are just two of its critical attractions.

In a comedy film, audiences respond to two different comedy elements:

The Gag - visual, aural, verbal jokes, carefully timed and delivered for maximum impact;

Comic situation - 'narrative comedy' in which it is the developing relationships between characters and the social environment that causes us to laugh.

These two elements make a volatile combination since the performance of gags is often highly disruptive of the progression of the narrative. In most comedy films there is a tension between the gag and the narrative situation and between the comedian and the comic actor.

The pedagogic problem with comedy seems to be that it is very difficult to pin down. As well as the tension between the gag and the narrative, there is a further set of categorizations which refer to the purposes of comedy and, linked to this, the status of the comedy form. I've called these 'types' of comedy, but I'm sure there is a better term.

Here are four distinct types:

Slapstick is 'visual and vulgar'. It is in one sense primitive and universal, relying on our almost instinctive reaction to characters assailed by danger, pain etc. At the same time it requires great timing and all round performance skills. And in the form of the traditional cinema cartoon it can become a highly sophisticated exploration of human behavior (think Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote).

Observational comedy is gentler and more subtle and presents everyday life as quirky with unusual behavior in a realist context. Parody mocks existing forms, requiring audiences to have specific knowledge of media texts, although in its current incarnation as the 'spoof', this knowledge could be limited to what is available on mainstream television.

Satire is comedy used to make political and social commentary. This requires analysis of the whole social context, implying an educated audience. These different types can be mixed together. (Monty Python's Life of Brian arguably displays elements of all the types.)

Codes and Conventions of Comedy

1. Film Language
The secret of comedy is timing and performance. A person could analyse routines, gags etc. and see how they are used within a narrative feature. It would be interesting to compare a visual gag with a classic suspense sequence. Both involve a careful playoff between what we know as the audience and the awareness displayed by the character. Our pleasure comes from the gleeful anticipation of the humiliation of the comic character or our fear for the hero.

2. Representation

Possibly the most productive approach, analysis of character 'types' and situations should open up comedy films for student analysis. Comedy, like drama, depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters. Much comedy arises from the success of the weak in deflating the powerful. On the other hand, comedy is also a weapon against fear of the unknown or 'the Other', so that the basis for comedy becomes racism, sexism etc.

3. Audience

The advantage of comedy to producers is that it appeals across all audience groups. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy. In the UK these are often class differences and age differences. The distinctions were particularly strong in earlier periods when genre production was still possible in British Cinema - e.g. the 1950s with Norman Wisdom (working class) v. the Doctor series (middle class).

4 Institutions

Comedy films may be quite good for studying institution. Historically, various cycles of films can be traced back to their origins in other forms such as music hall, radio and television and in the last twenty years, from club 'stand-up'.