More Shorts

Caught Up

With this short film, they get their humor from subverting expectations. The premise is that this girl is upset about a guy ghosting her and talking to other girls and her friend tells her to get revenge. At first, the film sets itself up as a rom-com, with the story appearing to be the protagonist trying to get her love interest back, but then quickly pivots when her best friend says "we should kill him". This quickly changes the tone of the entire film and turns into pure comedy from here on out, subverting what the audience might have expected from the beginning and keeping them on their toes.

This continues throughout the humor of the film, when the protagonist's mom ask if Nikki's, the best friend, mom is out of the hospital and doing ok. From this the audience assumes that Nikki's mom might be in the hospital for an illness or accident or something health related, but the film quickly disproves this and catches the audience off guard when Nikki says that "her bbl was a huge success". This is so funny and works so well because its the last thing you expect to hear and is so absurd. 

This subversion only ramps up when the two girls ask Tony, the guy that ghosted Claire, to send pics, and they, as well as the audience, is expecting him to send nude pictures of himself as the phrase "send pics" usually insinuates this. But a complete curveball is thrown when he sends a picture of his feet. This is so goddamn hilarious. Especially in my generation since Gen Z tends to believe that feet are gross and should be kept covered. The reveal is elevated with a sting, a zoom into the picture, and the sound of Claire screaming. Again, not only is things like subverting expectations important, but these moments can be elevated with camera work and editing. 

Apart from the subversion of expectations, Caught Up also has a really solid physical gag that made me die when I saw it. When Claire and Nikki are selling Tony fake Adderall, the police show up to stop the sale, and when Nikki runs away the police tackle her so unnecessarily aggressive and fast, you can't help but laugh. 

The main takeaway is just to keep audiences on their toes and don't let them guess what's gonna happen next, keep them engaged and entertained throughout. This goes for both the jokes and the writing. 

The Film AND When in Poughkeepsie

I want to talk about two different techniques from both of these shorts that I can combine to use in mine. 

The Film centers around two best friends that have a falling out over debating whether a donut or a bagel is better. When the two get into their argument, they begin arguing and talking over each other. This overlapping of dialogue creates more tension in the interaction and heightens the intensity of the fight. I can use this when my characters are arguing about where to go and what the best course of action is.

When in Poughkeepsie focuses on a dad and his son on a college tour in the town of Poughkeepsie. In a scene where the two are eating breakfast at a restaurant, the dad makes his son, who is an 18 year old about to graduate high school, order the kid's buffet, which is 12 and under. They get into a debate about whether he is gonna order it or not, and in this interaction the camera whip pans back and forth to increase the pace of the scene while simultaneously elevating the tension of the disagreement. I can pair this technique with the overlapping dialogue from The Film to make the situation as ridiculously tense as can be.  

Overall, I can use the techniques that I observed and dissected from all 4 shorts that I watched in my own short film and try to make it the best it can be. I honestly think that this research into more shorts was super useful and helpful in informing my own decisions moving forward. Next, I'm probably gonna do research on how to create music orrrr redo my genre research...but for comedy this time.