Slap Happy (docu-comedy)

stinkpot

stinkpot

Well-known member
Hello fellow DVXusers!

This is a short film we did recently and largely experiment for me since I usually concentrate on drama. Just had the urge to do something fun so went with run-n-gun camera (DVX w/stock lens) and fully improvised performance directed around a core story. I know the sound isn't that great in a few spots but let me know what you think overall...

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1510990052552&ref=mf

Thanks for watching!
 
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This was fun, like an episode of The Office. I really liked the lead actor. Actually, the whole cast was quite good. Weakest might have been the boss but he wasn't bad.

You have the style down and the story was actually pretty interesting. You mentioned sound so no worries there. Overall I thought this was quite good. Good for you for breaking away and doing something different from what you normally do.
 
I agree with Mike. Good job on a lot of things.

To be honest though, I kept skipping over parts. I think the main problem is the length. I mean the incident happened, and then it just kept talking about it, over and over and over and over again. Maybe I didn't find it all too funny (sorry) and so it didn't keep me hooked till the end. That's prob why I kept skipping to see if anything developed. I think the problem is that you were REALLY trying to copy the office down to a tee. The only thing that was different was the characters. It didn't seem to hold up to the humor of the office and maybe that's why I wasn't laughing. The office was all about the 'reactions' to events, the little looks they give to people or the camera, and the way they act normal to completely ridiculous events. This one was one not so hilarious event and people talked about it, over and over again. Plus for the office the humor comes from the over the top characters.

Also, unless I missed it, but stories need to develop. I mean you discovered the beginning and the end at the beginning of the film. We all know how it ends, I guess you just stick around for why, but even that can be figured out. A comedy can't rely only on jokes to keep people watching for 10 minutes.

I feel you need to get another crack at comedy to really nail it. But I'm with you, sometimes doing a lot of drama can be tiring and you just want to do something fun and silly.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
This was fun, like an episode of The Office. I really liked the lead actor. Actually, the whole cast was quite good. Weakest might have been the boss but he wasn't bad.

You have the style down and the story was actually pretty interesting. You mentioned sound so no worries there. Overall I thought this was quite good. Good for you for breaking away and doing something different from what you normally do.
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Thanks Mike. This was definitely experimental for me and the fact that it all came together in the end was rewarding since all performances were improvisation based on the story and events directed. The cast had a blast with this one and we had tons of unused footage that was really good as far as performances go but just don't fit within the main edit.

Jon Starr said:
I agree with Mike. Good job on a lot of things.

To be honest though, I kept skipping over parts. I think the main problem is the length. I mean the incident happened, and then it just kept talking about it, over and over and over and over again. Maybe I didn't find it all too funny (sorry) and so it didn't keep me hooked till the end. That's prob why I kept skipping to see if anything developed. I think the problem is that you were REALLY trying to copy the office down to a tee. The only thing that was different was the characters. It didn't seem to hold up to the humor of the office and maybe that's why I wasn't laughing. The office was all about the 'reactions' to events, the little looks they give to people or the camera, and the way they act normal to completely ridiculous events. This one was one not so hilarious event and people talked about it, over and over again. Plus for the office the humor comes from the over the top characters.

Also, unless I missed it, but stories need to develop. I mean you discovered the beginning and the end at the beginning of the film. We all know how it ends, I guess you just stick around for why, but even that can be figured out. A comedy can't rely only on jokes to keep people watching for 10 minutes.

I feel you need to get another crack at comedy to really nail it. But I'm with you, sometimes doing a lot of drama can be tiring and you just want to do something fun and silly.
Click to expand...

Jon, no worries. I actually appreciate you taking the time to give me your honest input (even though it might be thread killer -haha - kidding). We are getting compared to the Office quite a bit and I knew that would happen going in to this but... I did try to make it dissimilar by weighing heavy on the "documentary" side rather than the "comedy" side of things which apparently killed it for you. I still would like to experiment more with the narrative action/reaction in the future so this input is helpful.

Thanks for check it out guys.
 
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