Tuesday, March 27, 2018

TV Script: Group Review; Young Frankenstein: Day 1 & 2

Period 7:

Please gather in your TV script group and read/review your completed work. Those of you who have not completed your TV script, please check in with your group members, but instead of reading/reviewing today, please complete your work and turn your scripts in late.

If you complete your reading/reviewing, (and you were absent last class!) please complete the blog post assignment from that date. Watch the linked videos, etc.

If you're all complete and up to date, you may work on your homework or take a look at what we will be viewing 8th period.

Period 8:

We will be screening the film: Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks today in class. To prepare for this, please check out the film and post 1 thing you found interesting about the film that you may not have known in the COMMENT section of this blog. This site/article may help as well...

The film is a parody of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, but also a parody of the many films, in particular Frankenstein by James Whale (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Check out this scene from the original film.

Mel Brooks was part of the American New Wave--filmmakers that challenged the post-modern and contemporary film of the silver screen that came before it.

Parody is an imitation of a genre or style that a writer (or director or actor, etc.) deliberately pokes fun at, exaggerates, or satirizes for comic effect. Unlike satire, the purpose of parody is just in good fun--as opposed to trying to change or comment on society.

As you watch Young Frankenstein, look for examples of parody (or comedy) as follows:
  • Satire: poking fun at a social norm or tradition, event, or serious issue
  • Rule of 3: repetition is a comic device, the more times we hear something, the funnier it gets. The rule, however, is that to set up a joke, we need to hear it 3 times: the first time to understand it, the second time to recognize the pattern, and the 3rd time is usually the punch line--see incongruity below.
  • Hyperbole: exaggeration.
  • Repetition: Like the rule of 3, in comedy if we repeat an idea or story, it is called the "callback"--and can be very funny if used skillfully.
  • Double entendre: a spoken phrase that can be taken either of two ways--usually one of those ways is sexual. 
  • Pun: a deliberate confusion of a similar word or phrase for humorous effect. Usually the pun is a homonym (a word that sounds similar). Shakespeare's chock full of these little buggers.
  • Juxtaposition: comparing two elements that are placed next to each other. Contrast makes us laugh.
  • Mistaken identity: one character is taken for someone else. 
  • Incongruity: the breaking of a logical statement or something that is out of place.
  • Irony: 3 flavors...Verbal irony is sarcasm; dramatic irony is when the audience knows something the character doesn't; situational irony is when the outcome of an action is the opposite of what is expected.
  • Farce: a ludicrous situation, often with a lot of action (exits/entrances) or physical comedy.
  • Slapstick: physical humor.
HOMEWORK: Please read and answer the ?'s on the Movie chapter handout.

11 comments:

  1. I didn't even know this film existed like what even is this
    One thing I found out was that The Bride of Frankenstein was a separate movie from the original frankenstein i thought they were from the same movie literally
    I don't know why I thought that though because I already know the plot of the original frankenstein

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  2. One thing that I was not aware of while watching the trailer for the film is that the humor does not stand to the test of time. Clearly, something funny from that time is huge for the people watching but as the movie ages the new generation does not necessarily understand any of the jokes. The jokes do not even make me smile.

    Also, I recognized some of the characters and did not know of this film. I know them mainly from memes.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. An interesting thing about the film that I did not know is that the film had a musical adaptation. I did not expect that to be the case. I also didn't know much about the movie's existence because I never thought of the possibility of a parody version of Frankenstein.

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  5. I found it interesting that the little girl didn't seem phased at all that a monster was standing in front of her and she just invited him to play with her. Children don't care who you are as long as you will play with them. This is probably why so many are kidnapped like come on

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  6. Something that I did not know about Young Frankenstein is that studio executives wanted to produce it in color. I personally think it was a wise decision to produce it in black and white so it looks more similar to the original Frankenstein, making it a better parody.

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  7. One thing I was not aware of is that Mary Wollstonecraft wrote the book Frankenstein and had based off of her own life experiences. I didn't even know that she had also wrote the Bride Of Frankenstein.

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  8. Its an interesting movie I could tell, however I think Mel Brookes' version will be much more interesting.

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  9. One thing I found interesting was that children was not afraid of him. I never seen Frankenstein before so I found it crazy how the when he approached the little girl she was not alarmed or scared.

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  10. I've never seen Frankenstein in my life but I find it interesting how no one well at least in the beginning could kill him, technically he was already dead.

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  11. Something that I didn't know in regards to Young Frankenstein was that some of the props used in the movie were props used in the Frankenstein created in 1931, which just adds to the attempt at replicating the movie.

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