Types of comedy

As mentioned before, I want my animation to have some comedy within it, and I've come across different types of gag types and types of comedic practice that has helped informed and solidified some of my ideas. The three that I have picked out are as stated in Wells, P (2007) Scriptwriting. Lausanne: AVA Publishing:

Reversal: Reversing the anticipated outcomes of a comic scenario to create an unexpected or surprise conclusion

Repetition: By constantly repeating phrases, actions and motifs beyond their logical usage and place, these elements take on the currency of anticipated points of comic expression.

Accidental/Physical: Often known as 'slapstick', this represents a physical routine or comic 'business', and usually involves things going wrong, the loss of physical control and autonomy and the concomitant loss of dignity or status.

My animation can fall into each of these types of comedy, reversal - things do not go as according to plan and therefore is not expected. Repetition - the dragon continues his quest for the apple and repeats the act of building an object in order for him to cross the ravine. Accidental/physical - in a few of the situations, because the objects have gone wrong, the dragon will suffer the consequences of them e.g falling from the sky as the jet pack has gone out of control.

Road Runner and Wile E Coyote is a prime example of these types of comedy. The repetition of Wile E Coyote always going after Road Runner, accidental/physical outcomes due to each plan going wrong and reversal as all his attempts are unsuccessful. It could be classed as reversal comedy, however because it is an extremely well known animation, as an audience we always expect him to fail at catching Road Runner. Because of this, does this then not make it reversal? I think in comedies it will be important to get the right shots as it can emphasise certain actions and could create more of an impact. In Road Runner, there are close ups of the plans going wrong and sometimes, if Wile E Coyote falls from a cliff, the shot emphasises how big the drop was and does this using perspective. I will be looking into other animated comedies such as Looney Tunes in order to get a better idea of shot composition.