Conventions of the Comedy genre

The Comedy genre aims to entertain and humour the audience, they are light-hearted dramas. The comedy genre is one of the oldest genres as, some of the first silent movies contained comedy, which was known

then as slapstick. During the 30’s silent movies were replaced with dialogue.

Types of Comedy

Slapstick comedy – This type of comedy was first introduced within the 30’s in silent movies. It uses physical movement and gestures as it doesn’t need dialogue to be funny.Slapstick comedy became very popular with non-English speaking people.Black/Dark comedy – Dark comedy is created from misfortunate situations. It deals with subjects such as, death, drugs, terrorism and rape.Anecdotal – Comedy is produced from a true, short story.Stand up - Is a type of comedy that entertains an audience using a section of jokes.

Codes and Conventions

Usually in a bright place, for example and town, city or a place where social events happen. The use of the brightness emphasise happiness which is what a comedy is centred around.

If it is a teen comedy then the setting of the film would usually take place within a high school or a small town. Again, the lighting of the setting would be very bright to connote happiness. Social are usually set in a bar or club where as being in a bar is known to make people feel more confident.

The main sources of a comedy are vocal and physical. A lot of humorous lines are used throughout that are there to make the audience laugh. The physical side of comedy can include, characters falling, hitting each other or injuring themselves.

The film is usually shot in the day time.

The character types of this genre include: accident prone, socially awkward, idiots or just very, very stupid. A character that has any of these traits will always have another character that contrasts, for example, a smart, intelligent character.

During the opening credits the soundtrack would be very upbeat and pacey. This creates a light-hearted feeling which is what a comedy is all about.