Introduction

The Humor Project is one of the final assignments of the year. Freestyle Seniors completed it after reading the novel Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. While reading the novel, we analyzed and discussed how Vonnegut used various humor techniques to communicate ideas to the reader.

For the humor project, seniors got to choose their own humorists or humorous media to analyze, in addition to 3 or more humor techniques that we then integrated into our own humorous creations.

For context, you can click below to view the humor techniques we learned about:

Humor Proposal

The first thing we did for this project was research. To improve the quality of our own humorous creations, we chose 2 humorists to analyze in the hopes of learning to use humor techniques as effectively as they do. I chose comedian and actor John Mulaney, and Youtube storytime animator IceCreamSandwhich.

You can read through my analysis of how the 2 creators effectively use humor techniques and the initial stages of my humor project planning by clicking below.

After researching, we chose what type of of project we wanted to create from several broad categories: Stand up, comedic narrative, commencement speech, and satire. The type of project I chose to do is based on the idea of a comedic narrative.

Comedic Narrative:
“Analyze several scenes or narrative monologues from films, TV, stand-up, literary works, sitcoms, podcasts, sketch comedy shows, and/or cartoons you find to be effective comedic storytelling. Incorporate the techniques into a short comedic story or sketch that you pre-record at home or perform live in the classroom. Live action video or audio (such as a podcast) are the most accessible pre-recorded formats. The story should have original, compelling characters, dialogue, and a clear conflict, climax, and resolution.”

I chose to do my comedic narrative in the form of a rough animatic based on a short anecdote about a humorous experience my family had with our cat, as you will soon see.

Script

After having a rough idea of what I wanted to do for my project, I created multiple drafts of a script for my short narrative. You can view the first and last of my drafts by clicking below.

Script Rough and Final Draft:

After finalizing my script, I created simple designs for each of the characters, which happened to be my 3 immediate family members and my cat Tiki. I actually liked these sketches enough to end up using them on a “Thanks for watching” screen at the end of my project.

Humor Project Outcome

Finally, my planning had been completed, and it was time for production and post production. I recorded myself reading my script and reflection and exported each of my animatic frames from procreate. Then I combined those materials with some sound effects from either online or from our class assets SFX folders in Adobe After Effects. I also added a title screen and a couple of visuals to go with my reflection. Then, I exported the file with Adobe Media Encoder and copied it into my English teacher’s drop box literally the night before presentation day (Cutting it a little close I know). Here is my final product. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it!

The very last thing we needed to do for this project was present it in front of our PM Senior class. I actually had a lot of fun seeing other people’s work. Some of my classmates showed off hidden talents in stand-up or karaoke, and some made creations so funny they had me (and my english teacher) crying. If you have the time, you should check them out on this Freestyle Youtube Channel playlist. You can view a video of my presentation below.

Reflection

Overall, I really valued the way that this project brought my class together with the purpose of laughing the most. I felt it really brought my community at Freestyle Academy together at the end of the year (during the third to last day of Freestyle) in a way that celebrated all the bonds we had formed through inside jokes and inherent understandings of some of the unique experiences people had based their projects on.

Personally, I would like to give a profuse thanks to my family in regards to this project. I love each and every one of them so much (even Tiki when she kills small creatures). Even as I transition into college, I strive to maintain a strong connection with them. My family brings so much to my life every day and I cherish all the memories we have made so far and will make in the future. I am forever grateful to spend time with them, even if what we’re doing is panicking over a dead mouse.