Humor

Humor Project

Introduction

The humor project was a project assigned and given to us so that we could learn different techniques of effective humor. We began by reading works such as Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco, and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and discussing these works. We were given a certain amount of freedom afterwards, and we were supposed to make a proposal of our project including an analysis of two humorists we researched, serving as inspiration and to compare and contrast their techniques. After approval we wrote a script, and later were asked to record and produce our final project, using a video format since we were no longer able to perform it in front of our class.

This project ended up being somewhat stressful for me since quarantine has not been easy for me. My schedule has been difficult to adjust to, and I struggled especially with this project in coming up with a humorous and comedic product. The proposal was easy enough, since I knew I wanted to make a comedic narrative, but when I got to the script I came up with one good joke and that was it. So the whole project was an anecdote of my process, since every time I sat down I was never able to write a whole script I was happy with, though exaggerated. I scrapped the script and just kept the first part, throwing everything together way too late and stressing out about it. In the end I’m actually somewhat satisfied with it, and I think it could connect to my classmates, since it is a relatable subject. In class we learned humor was equivalent to truth and pain, so that was what I went off of and made jokes about in the video. But I do think I learned valuable information about humor and different techniques, and I know now what my sense of humor is like. I just hope it got a chuckle out of some people, and that it isn’t too weird or concerning.

Humor Proposal

Part 1- Humorist Study(Analysis)

Two humorists I am looking at are Kurtis Conner and Daidus, both of which are YouTubers. The two examples I am using to compare are Conner’s “Making Your Insane Green Screen Ideas” and Daidus’ “Which Roommate Are You?(Animation)”. The subject matter in both of these videos is quite different. In Conner’s video, he takes suggestions from his viewers to use for his green screen, and instead of just doing the ideas for the green screen, he creates skits for each one. I think this video in particular is not only pretty funny, but interesting, since he shows his process and I was able to see the behind the scenes for a comedy routine for the first time. Some of the different skits he does in his video includes a centaur, another is a trailer for a hallmark movie, and another is about a guillotine. He makes different scripts, some of which include comedic elements such as jokes, puns and situational irony. In his guillotine sketch, when he has his head chopped off, it is revealed to be that it was intentional, in order to free his head. And of course, there are several obligatory head puns, such as getting ahead and the like. In the end, the man’s head is accidentally tossed aside and lands back on his body in a little twist, as the joke. I think that the sketch was very entertaining and so I would like to use those elements in my own project. In Daidus’ video he addresses living with roommates, and the different types of behaviors of roommates that he has had, since he had lived with up to seven people in the same house. He shares his own experiences, utilizing anecdotes and even including himself as one of the roommate types. A lot of the examples are of traits that drive people a little crazy, and he illustrates the situations with simple but effective animation. These two differ in the methods used to film their sketches, since Conner uses a green screen and film to do his sketches, while Daidus uses animation, but both these techniques are key in expressing the humorous bits that they both do. More similarities between the two are how their comedy is exaggerated, and highlights some certain qualities to make the story more comedic. However, Conner seems to use a lot more of the techniques from the comedy toolbox, but Daidus uses a lot more anecdotes, which makes the story feel a lot more relatable. Hence, both videos have different feels, with Conner’s being a little more absurd and Daidus’ connecting more to the audience.

Part 1- Humorist Study(Reflection)

I think Conner’s video is particularly valuable to me not only because of the way the material is presented in a humorous set of skits, but also in the way I was able to witness his process in coming up with the skits. It could help me find my starting point. As I brainstorm my own ideas and come up with a script, I can use his techniques to come up with something funny and original. His skits are also relatively short, which might help in inspiring me to create something concise but still comedic. Daidus has a subject matter that is more related to my current idea, which is the interaction of different people living together. Additionally, I am potentially interested in tying in some of my own anecdotes, and I feel like that might be effective in making the story feel more relatable. The art aspect of Daidus’ video also might be helpful for me because I plan on using something similar to convey my message, since I do not have a lot of resources to film and I do not have much experience with that. While Daidus’ message is a lot more similar to the message I want to aim for, Conner’s creativity and use of several different elements of comedy is also what I’d like to aim for. Animation is a good medium to experiment with all of those elements, and there are no real restrictions for me. The art style isn’t going to be too complicated, just like how Daidus uses a relatively simple art style, but I am also going to try to emphasize certain parts by exaggerating the style, also a method that Daidus uses.

Part 2- Description of proposed project

I am planning on working on this project myself, and developing a comedic narrative. My subject will most likely be surrounding the quarantine, two wildly different personalities interacting with one another and having to live with each other. I will most likely make it into a short comic/animatic. I chose this subject because it is currently the only idea I have in mind that might be remotely comedic, and that I might be able to apply some of the comedic techniques to, and so far it is pretty flexible in terms of where I want to go with it. I might include banter, caricature, and perhaps a joke, mostly towards the ways these characters interact with each other and drive each other crazy. So far I am still in the brainstorming process, so it may be subject to change. I think this is the right project for me because it seems pretty doable for me, and it is comfortable while also challenging me to work a little harder. I have a general direction where I want to take this so I feel I have some inspiration, which is helpful. I want to avoid losing motivation so I don’t think I’ll make the narrative too long.

My next step after approval would be brainstorming the scenarios the characters get into and getting a rough idea of the script, I think. There’s a lot of potential scenes so I might try to narrow it down. In the end I just want the message of we’re all in this together to be the key takeaway from this project.

Works Cited

Daidus. “Which Roommate Are You?(Animation)”. March 27, 2020. YouTube video,
0:00-8:03. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyZO1M1jM_k
Kurtis Conner. “Making Your Insane Green Screen Ideas”. April 11, 2020. YouTube
video, 0:00-18:32. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW17X0HNgB0.

Humor Project Script

Humor Script

Cast:

LACEY- A girl who does not have much motivation for doing things, laidback, but still attempts to crack jokes and keep the situation light

WAARC- A guy who’s just trying to keep himself busy and survive the quarantine, somewhat of a workaholic

 

And Action.

A door opens. LACEY enters the scene with a small grin.

LACEY

Honey, I’m home!

WAARC

Yes I KNOW. We’ve BEEN home… for THREE WEEKS! I’ve told you a dozen times, WE are in qUARANTINE!

Cut to me, sitting in front of the laptop.

ME

Okay, okay that’s good. That’s great, that’s..

That’s all I got.

Different poses of me sitting at the computer. I sniff.

ME

Has someone done it before? I hope it hasn’t been done before.

Cut to a different shot of me slapping my forehead.

ME

Get! It! Done!

Clapping my hands and standing on the table.

ME

C’MOONNNNN

Me screaming in two different shots.

Cut to me scrolling on my phone a small while.

I sniff.

Then cut back to more screaming.

ME

Truth… and pain. TRUTH and PAIN-

Pensive pause.

ME

You know what, I did enough for today, I’ll come back tomorrow.

2 AM

I am in a crisis. Silently seated.

I type away furiously.

Cut to me on the floor.

Cut to me meekly sitting, rocking back and forth.

ME

Truth and pain. Truth and pain.

I start laughing. 

Cut to me presenting the project.

ME

Riddle me this, folks. What do you get when you put a socially anxious person in a comedy sketch?

This piece of hot garbage.

Bon appetit.

Ending picture

Yes I am fine I promise this is not a call for help.

Take care folks, stay healthy and sane out there.

Humor= Truth + Pain

Production Shots

After writing the script I drew some pictures to sort of animate the story, in a sort of animatic. That was my plan for the project, and so I made the characters simple cartoon figures to make it easier on me. After I finished drawing, I recorded audio by sitting in a closet, and reading the script. Needless to say even my brothers could hear my screaming.

Afterwards I put the pictures and the sound in Adobe After Effects and synced it up, then looking for sound effects and adding those to make the project more interesting, along with music to put in the background. I put some finishing touches and showed it to the family, they approved and so I rendered it and sent it off…

A screenshot of adobe after effects, with pictures and audio
This is a screenshot of the After Effects file, with the images and audio.

Final Product

After all that was finished, I ended up with the final project: