SYLLABUS: FILM COMEDY

COMM 334 Genres in Mass Media: Film Comedy

Virginia Wesleyan College, Fall 2007

 

Terry Lindvall, PhD, Graybeal 3; 757-455-3277; tlindvall@vwc.edu

Office Hours T/Th 1:00 – 3:00 pm or by request

  COURSE DESCRIPTION:

  “Life is a tragedy to those who feel,” quipped British writer and innovative architect Horace Walpole (who once coined the word serendipity from a fairy tale), “but a comedy to those who think.” Thus, we hope to experience and understand the topsy-turvy realm of film comedy, to study this one peculiar and wonderfully diverse genre of film studies. According to the catalogue, that arbiter of accredited authority, we will examine how the multi-textured genres of film comedy “serve as distorted mirrors of American culture. As values change, so do the popular forms that promote them. Students evaluate how genres reveal modern thinking in mythic and cultural terms.” It also invites us in exploring how cinema reaffirms, subverts, or purifies our values and makes us laugh out loud.

  COURSE OBJECTIVES:

  According to Aristotle’s Poetics, comedy suffered neglect for the reason that it was not “at first, taken seriously.”  The generating purpose of this course is to enable the student to explore and analyze comedy films and media products that use comic techniques to communicate specific values. In his classic essay on “Comedy’s Greatest Era,” critic James Agee wrote that “in the language of the laugh, there is the boffo, the laugh that kills.” We hope to die in this class, but not flunk.

  SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

  After completing this course, the student should be able to

Discuss the nature, history, and scope of comedy films and television programs and explain the functions they perform for diverse audiences/consumers.

Recognize, analyze, and discuss comic narrative plots, set-ups, gags, and other comic devices as they appear and function in film.

Demonstrate an understanding of theoretical perspectives (incongruity, superiority, and relief) and cultural variables (class, gender, and race) as they contribute to our understanding of comic films.

Think critically about the relationship of laughter to cinema, and articulate a theory, posture, and ethical vision about the phenomenon of comedy films.

Explain how your own sense of humor is aided and abetted by film watching experiences; how film shapes, challenges, and disturbs your beliefs about the world and attitudes about others.

Make the Professor laugh. Or switch to a business major.

  REQUIRED TEXTS:

Garner, Joe Made You Laugh: The Funniest Moments in Radio, Television, Stand-Up, and Movie Comedy (Kansas City: Andrews McMeel, 2004)

Voytilla, Stuart Writing the Comedy Film (Michael Wiese Productions, 2003)

Selected Readings in Film Comedy (VWC: Virginia Wesleyan College Library, 2007) and on Blackboard

  RECOMMENDED TEXTS:

Mast, Gerald The Comic Mind (University of Chicago, 1979)

Selective websites:

http://www.imdb.com/

http://www.filmsite.org/comedyfilms.html

http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/laughs.aspx

http://www.premiere.com/best/2989/the-greatest-comedies-of-all-time.html

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Each student is required to read all texts, articles, and assigned materials before the due date.  Each student is also responsible for all lectures and assigned media viewings, which implies, none too subtly, that students should attend all classes and participate actively in class discussions.  Students should view at least one of the comedy films on reserve in the library outside class each week. Key films are noted for each class session.

Each student will work in pairs or trios to present a decade of film comedy through PowerPoint, briefly hitting key films, stars, and trends. Due: Sept 13

Each student must review a scholarly article on comedy and film, write a one-page single spaced abstract, make copies of the abstract for other class members, and present the abstract orally.  Due September 25

Each student will write a two-page paper analyzing one particular film’s historical context, pointing to specific gags, allusions, and cultural references embedded in the text that reflect the period in which the film was produced. Due: October 16

Each student will write a critical and historical research paper on some significant relation of comedy and film. For example, you may examine the film contributions of a particular director, trace the development of animal or carnivalesque humor, or investigate how a particular comedy reflects its cultural context. Your article should be designed for publication in a specified journal (such as the Journal of Popular Film and Television), usually around 6-12 pages, following the rubric of an academic style sheet (e.g. MLA). Due November 22.

A mid term (September 27) and a final examination (TBA) will be administered on readings, class lectures, discussions, and assigned films. Six key films (on Library reserve) must be viewed by the semester’s end for the final examination.

Each student will work with a group to imitate the style and techniques of a particular film comedy. Cameras will be provided for one week intervals. Due: October 23

HONORS REQUIREMENTS

Each honors student will research and write a report on a particular decade of television comedy (e.g. 1950s) and make a presentation (powerpoint, clips, etc) on his or her findings.

Each honors student will also present a brief overview of a particular national cinema, such as the comedy films of Great Britain or France. This assignment may be done in teams.

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:

In accordance with Title 5, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, reasonable accommodation will be provided to any student who has followed the college’s procedures as outlined in VWC’s current Academic Bulletin.  If you have any questions about this process, please contact me immediately.

GRADING:                                   

The weights used in arriving at the final grade for the course are as follows:

Decades of Comedy Presentations                     10 points                               

Literature Review Abstract                                  5 points

Historical Case Study                                         10 points

Mid-term Exam                                                   15 points               

Final Exam                                                          25 points

Research Paper                                                   25 points               

Group Film Production                                       10 points

(Class participation does involve participation in the class.  Because participation constitutes a large percentage of your grade, it can significantly lower/raise your grade.  If you tend to be reserved or if you have questions about how you can more actively participate in the class, please take the time to talk with me.)

  Grading Scale

A    94-100      B     84-87           C      74-77       D    64-67

A-  91-93         B-   81-83           C-     71-73        D-   61-63

B+  88-90        C+   78-80           D+    68-70        F      0-60

I see all grades from 75 above as good grades.  Grades below that level demonstrate a need for more work.  I encourage you to stop by my office if you have questions about your grades or if you are working towards a specific grade and want to make sure that you are preparing most effectively.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

August 28              Introduction to Film Comedy: An Overview

Aug 30      Early Slapstick: The Sennett, Normand, and Arbuckle Years

                 Gag Analysis

READ:  Abstract: Woodward, Katherine S. “College Course File: American Film Comedy” Journal of Film and Video 42: 2 (Summer 1990), 71-84 and Telotte, J. P. “Arbuckle Escapes: the Pattern of Fatty Arbuckle’s Comedy” Journal of Popular Film and Television 15: 4 (1986), 172-179

  September 4  The Phenomenon of Charlie Chaplin, The Kid (Chaplin, 1921)

                Narrative Plot Structures and the Physics of Comedy

                READ: Garner, 125-133; Voytilla ix-32

VIEW: Gold Rush (Chaplin, 1925) http://www.ifilm.com/video/2870014/collection/251/channel/shorts

Sept 6      Chaplin as Social Critic, The Circus (Chaplin, 1928): What is comedy?

READ:  Buchholz, Harold “An Encyclopedic History of American Movie Comedy to 1950” (Regent University, 1990); Voytilla 33-70

  Sept 11 Buster Keaton and Bergsonian Theory: Sherlock Jr. (Keaton, 1924)

READ:  Roth, Lane “Bergsonian Comedy and the Human Machines in Star Wars” Film Criticism IV 2 (1979), 1-8

                VIEW: The General (Keaton, 1927)

  Sept.13 The Shorts of our Gang: Little Rascals

                READ: Voytilla 71-76

DUE: Decades of Film Comedy Presentations

Sept 18  Harold Lloyd and the American Dream: The Freshman (Ted Wilde, 1927)

                READ: Voytilla 77-117

                VIEW: Safety Last (Sam Taylor and Fred Newmeyer, 1923)

Sept 20  Harry Langdon and pathos in comedy: Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (Harry Edwards, 1926)

                READ:

                VIEW: It (Clarence Badger, 1927)

Sept. 25  Vaudeville, Stand-up Comedy, and Radio

                READ: Garner Part 2; “American Laughter” GQ (August 1985), 144-145

DUE: Abstracts

Sept 27 Early shorts of sound: Fields and Benchley

                DUE: Midterm

October 2  Screwball Comedy: Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)

READ: Garner 143-150; Sarris, Andrew “Sex Comedy without Sex” American Film (March 1978), 8-15

                VIEW: It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)

Oct 4       Anarchic Comedy: Marx Bros.

READ: