God or bad idea? Has it been done before? and i dont mean action-comedy i mean something thats really serious but also humorous. But i dont know if the dark humor should be within the seriousness or just in defferent scenes from the seriousness? Can someone tell me some movies to watch like this... and maybe how i can write this?
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Mixed Genres in One Script
- Thread starter MadMan
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They're called dramadies. Pretty cool genre where you don't have to be too funny or too serious either.
The only movie that comes to mind like this is "Jersey Girl" by Kevin Smith. It's by and by a drama, but there is some good comedy in it as well. A solid film despite what some Smith fans would say.
The only movie that comes to mind like this is "Jersey Girl" by Kevin Smith. It's by and by a drama, but there is some good comedy in it as well. A solid film despite what some Smith fans would say.
Everything by Todd Solondz, but especially "Happiness" and "Welcome to the Doll House".
Usually one genre is dominant. You either have an action film with some comedy or a comedy film with some action... or a drama with some comedy or a comedy film with some serious scenes.
And it should be both genres from the start - not begin as a comedy and suddenly turn dark and tragic. It's hard for an audience to shift gears like that. If there is always a thread of seriousness in the story, even though it's mostly comedy, then you introduce the tragedy aspects we will accept it.
The problem can be - if you try to do too many things at once, sometimes none of them get done right. Mixing two genres is usually more than twice as difficult to pull off. Not that you shouldn't try - just that you may not succeed. Most experiments fail - that's why they are called experiments.
- Bill (working on my nudist western)
And it should be both genres from the start - not begin as a comedy and suddenly turn dark and tragic. It's hard for an audience to shift gears like that. If there is always a thread of seriousness in the story, even though it's mostly comedy, then you introduce the tragedy aspects we will accept it.
The problem can be - if you try to do too many things at once, sometimes none of them get done right. Mixing two genres is usually more than twice as difficult to pull off. Not that you shouldn't try - just that you may not succeed. Most experiments fail - that's why they are called experiments.
- Bill (working on my nudist western)
A good example is in Slaughterhouse Five when Billy Pilgrim's wife gets in a car accident because she is frantically trying to get to the hospital to see him. It's hysterical because she is driving backwards on an onramp, etc., but it is still a car accident. Most of that film is black humor actually.
Also, I would like to point out in my previous post that I said Andy Kaufman, but he wrestled women. Charlie Kaufman writes and directs. Sorry.
Also, I would like to point out in my previous post that I said Andy Kaufman, but he wrestled women. Charlie Kaufman writes and directs. Sorry.
In "Happiness" there is an hilarious bit as the father becomes very frustrated and frantic because he's trying to get his son's friend to eat or drink something so he can drug him to molest him.
The Cohen Brothers have been known to throw shots of dark comedy into their films. You could try Fargo, for example.
Check out Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" and "Manhatten." A lot of historians peg "Annie Hall" as the first dramedy. As for how to write like that? It takes a keen observer. Most lives have bits of humor mixed in with bits of seriousness every day. Ever been to a funeral/wake and seen the mood rise and fall as you remember the hilarious bits of the person who just died tragically?
I think it helps to be tuned into the idea that when you really get down to it, the world is mostly quite terrible to put up with. The only things that really get most of us through just being faced with that reality are the little things, to use a corny cliche, that make it all worthwhile. And above all else, to me, to have a good sense of humor to laugh off most of it. Even if that laughter is a little inappropriate. If it helps you process the terrible, then it's done the job it was supposed to do.
I think it's important to keep this in mind with your characters and whatever they have to go through.
In fact, Woody Allen summed it up beautifully in "Anne Hall."
"Life is full of misery, suffering and loneliness, and it's all over much too soon."
It might not be a bad idea to think of this concept and have your characters try to express that through their own words and actions.
I think it's important to keep this in mind with your characters and whatever they have to go through.
In fact, Woody Allen summed it up beautifully in "Anne Hall."
"Life is full of misery, suffering and loneliness, and it's all over much too soon."
It might not be a bad idea to think of this concept and have your characters try to express that through their own words and actions.
Look at Tarantino man. All his movies mix and match genres. It's superb for film makers to express there love of film in their movies by mixing what they love most from different genres. I think it works best when you have a central themed one and mix sub-genres though. Like a crime movie with elements of Heroic-Bloodshed and Blaxploitation. Or Stoner-Comedy mixed with a musical. Haha, let it all hang out man. There are no rules.