chosen genre..

Hey Cambridgeee,

I have finally chosen my genre… comedy!! I honestly didn't know what genre I wanted to do at first because I don't really watch a lot of short films. But after my partner and I watched a few in class, we both liked comedy the best. Comedy films are a genre that focuses on making the audience laugh through humor, exaggerated situations, and entertaining characters. The target audience is usually teenagers and adults. A lot of comedies take everyday problems and turn them into something dramatic. I’m still not exactly sure what I want to do, but I want to create something with very little dialogue, so I think this genre might work best.

The short film that stood out to us the most was Skipped. This short film is about a man who realizes that every time he sneezes, he time travels. He is at work, sneezes, and suddenly all of his papers are magically filled out. I liked how at the beginning there was no music and no dialogue, and it was just him alone in an empty office. Then it slowly transitions into upbeat music when he realizes his ability to sneeze and time travel. After that, the music shifts into more intense, almost horror-like sounds when he starts taking advantage of his ability. I really liked the shift between those three parts of the film. It makes me want to do something similar in my project, especially with using music and tone to show changes in the story.

Hashmic House Films. (2017, August 6). Skipped | Sci-Fi comedy short film [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGS48Kcax5k

Another one that stood out to us was One-Minute Time Machine. It is about a guy who has a time machine that sends him back exactly one minute. the film starts with a guy sitting on a bench trying to impress a woman. Every time he talks to her and messes up or she reacts awkwardly, he presses a button to go back one minute and fix what he said. At first, he thinks he is just resetting time like pressing a time travel button. But by the end, he realizes that each time he goes back, he is actually creating a new timeline. The previous version of him doesn't disappear... In those other universes, he ends up dead. So every time he tries to fix a mistake, he is leaving behind another version of himself who dies. That twist made the film way deeper than it first seemed.

Avery, D. (2023, February 10). One-minute time machine – The short film that (probably) helped Rick & Morty win an Emmy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfNTF-9J_jY

Both of the films I researched have similar concepts, and they definitely gave me inspiration for my own short film. I want to create something with a similar vibe, with the strong music and the way the films are edited. I am not 100% sure about the full storyline yet, but it is definitely going to involve teleportation. I am excited to start planning it out more.