I think humour can work really well with violence and often does. I thought Minder mixed the two very well. A couple of excellent violent gangland films which wouldn't have been half as good without the humour were Villain and Sexy Beast. Add all of Tarantino's films as well (tho I'm not a massive fan).
Quote: Ming the Mirthless @ December 18 2009, 12:40 PM GMTI refer my honourable friend to the many horror films featuring men in clowns' outfits who are anything but comedic and, in particular, to the notorious scene in 'A Clockwork Orange' in which a woman is gang-raped, beaten and murdered by a group of men made-up like clowns, the whole obscenity being played out to the delightful strains of 'Singing in the Rain'.
Comedic?
I think not.
were you traumatised by a clown at some stage?
Big Top is larger than life cartoon comedy, and the audience are assumed to be capable of understanding the violence on those terms. In the same show a sky diver with a broken leg was dosed with morphine to persuade him to jump again, a suicidal man volunteered for a 'one-off' performance as a human cannonball, and the clown was set on fire and savaged by a rottweiller. It is all about as sinister as Tom & Jerry.
You always know when violent humour fails to be funny: There's that unmistakeable deathly quiet known as the "silence of the hams".
What?
Who said that?
Quote: Timbo @ December 18 2009, 1:03 PM GMTBig Top is larger than life cartoon comedy
I'd disagree, I'd say one of Big Top's problems is that it's actually smaller than life. Life is far more grand and complicated.
But this is for another thread, of course...
According to mediums Billy Smart's is bigger than death.
Quote: Stephen Birch @ December 18 2009, 1:13 PM GMTYou always know when violent humour fails to be funny: There's that unmistakeable deathly quiet known as the "silence of the hams".
This really belongs in Critique, Stephen. 
Quote: Stephen Birch @ December 18 2009, 1:13 PM GMTYou always know when violent humour fails to be funny: There's that unmistakeable deathly quiet known as the "silence of the hams".
and if in critique I would warmly welcome more of the same as this did not get the recognition it deserved - Well done!
Quote: Stephen Birch @ December 18 2009, 1:27 PM GMTWho said that?
Is that you?
Quote: Griff @ December 18 2009, 1:40 PM GMTIt's not a bad gag.
I like to add that in the margins of my scripts, just so people know.
Hi Stephen. Are you clear that they were criticising the presence of violence and not how you used it? Violence is, in my view, neither inherantly funny nor necessarily unfunny. You are damning those who gave you critique for not getting it, but are you sure this is the case? I had 3 positive and 1 damning critique of my stuff, my initial reaction to the latter was of the 'f**k you' variety, but on re-reading I think there were some sound points (overplayed, bombastically put and in amongst a lot of bullshit and self-aggrandizement, admittedly, but still there). Try to see what they were getting at, and think whether you can write something which would defuse their criticism without betraying your principles.
This is a bit of an abstract discussion at present. Why not post examples of your stuff in critique and see what people make of the practice rather than the principle? This might help you to work out whether the critics in First Look are on the money or missing the point.
Hi Ponderer. I thank you for pondering and for sharing the outcome. You are correct. I will do as suggested and whang some stuff into the critical arena.
Quote: Stephen Birch @ February 1 2010, 12:27 AM GMTI will whang some stuff into the critical arena.
Are you related to Chipolata?
Only in that I'm a fully paid up member of the human race. But thanks for the compliment - if it was one?
Quote: Stephen Birch @ February 1 2010, 10:06 AM GMTI'm a fully paid up member of the human race.
My mistake. In that case, you aren't related to him at all. 