BREAKING TENSION IN CINEMA

[Gabe]

I was watching a film about the Civil Rights Movement in My US history class, and everyone was so solemn and quiet, My teacher kept reminding us to take it so very seriously, and then came a clip of the police Firehosing a huge crowd of Black protesters, In a single shot a man was trying to run away and got caught with his foot halfway off the curb and was sent FLYING INTO THE AIR looking like the Bag in AMERICAN BEAUTY. All the black people in class started laughing. I'm sure my teacher was thinking " How could they laugh? Don't they know why this man was hosed? DISCRIMINATION THATS WHY! " And I sort of thought the same.

But later I started pondering the fact that that is just a funny image, And for that moment there is was a slight break in tension on the otherwise sad and gloomy state of the picture.

So now I'm thinking about what Breaks of tension are to me. Because sometimes I'm watching a movie and an actor will pull a funny little move that will just crack me up, most of them are showing insecurity, like like when Nic Cage is Avoiding the publicist at the Restaurant in ADAPTATION or when Adam Sandler trips over the kids toy at the Party in PUNCH DRUNK LOVE. ( I'm laughing just thinking about it ) Because I see those moments and I know that I've directly experienced those things.

I'm wondering if you can break tension universally, like if a guy in a porno was getting a BJ and then he just Farts MAD LOUD. Would that be funny to almost anybody or just a hell of a lot of people?

I Dunno, Discuss

[GoneSavage]

I remember The Breakfast Club doing this pretty well.

[metroshane]

comedy=tragedy + time

[socketlevel]

i guess it was a poor choice by the filmmaker that made the video you saw in class.

when was it made?  it might be one of those things how when it was originally shown it had more impact.  but now, with the new form of cinema, the action can be articulated with much more complex rhetoric.  thus it lost it's intensity over the years.

so much comes into play when your teacher questions your classmates.  she should, instead, question the person who made the film.  like for instance, it is a general rule of thumb that the further you keep the camera away from the subject your shooting, the less attached the audience is to the person.  comedy doesn't have many CU for that very reason, it's harder to laugh at something you care about.  so being an older film, with older techniques, that distance may be exactly why the people in your class were able to laugh at it.

if one person had laughed, then maybe he/she is a jackass.  as soon as a bunch of people laugh, it's the fault of the film (if comedy wasn't the intention).

-sl-

[Tryskadekafobia]

Reminds me of the time I was in junior high and we were watching "Schindler's List" and the part where the SS Officer walks up to the Jewish woman and shoots her in the head.  All the guys in the class start laughing.  Not because the situation in itself was funny, but because of the way the woman when she got shot.

Boys will be boys, I guess?

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

It's possible that they were laughing at how spontaneous it was, and it was more of a nervous laugh because of how it surprised them.

But I'll side with the fact that they thought it was funny.

[Gabe]

Socketlevel has many good points. I never considered that the farther away someone is in the frame the more detached the audience becomes, its so obvious.


But in terms of that movie another thing I've noticed is that black people usually laugh a lot when someone slips on ice, falls, gets hit in the head with a kickball, etc. . .Of course it makes people of other races laugh just the same, but just as an observation ( not a criticism ) I've noticed it mostly in black people. And I don't know why. I find it interesting.
     Its part of the reason I made this thread, what creates that little spark? Is it the fact that your just sitting there, expecting a man to walk across the street in a typical story arc, from one side, to the middle, to the other side. But instead, while he's in the middle, he gets hit in the face with a snowball. Is it our expectations being disturbed that makes it funny? Walrus's avatar is another example, that guy picking his nose is completely unnecessary in terms of showing Homer eating a burger, but in its absurdity, its hilarious, and my favorite part of the entire clip. Please post more examples of these 'breaks' I'm interested in how things can become funny depending on the viewer watching them.

[Pubrick]

those crazy blacks.

[Stefen]

Jarubie where do you go to school? What city, state?

[pete]

jarjarnewbie you keep on asking these questions of "universality" in your post as if you were really interested for an answer, but how can you find universality in the mankind when you can't even label people beyond their skin colors?

[Brazoliange]

jarjarnewbie you keep on asking these questions of "universality" in your post as if you were really interested for an answer, but how can you find universality in the mankind when you can't even label people beyond their skin colors?

lololol

[OOPS SORRY YEAH SPOILERS for Donnie Darko and American History X]












a few points of shock, even though it isn't exactly 'breaking tension', I think it's close enough to fit this thread because it can shatter the peace.

American History X, when Danny gets shot
Donnie Darko, when Gretchen gets run over

these supporting characters that have been built up in our minds are quickly killed without anything indicating it beforehand, and I think those 2 hit me hard enough to remember them.

[Stefen]

AHHHH SPOILERS!!!!

[Thrindle]

I'm gonna throw my two cents in now...  Pete, I am totally with you on this thread...

I just want to say that this whole "what black people laugh at" tangent is completely uncalled for.

You know, I admitted on here once that I felt like I was a racist...  and threads like this are what I'm talking about.

For two seconds I wish that us "privileged" white people could imagine what it would be like to be identified by skin color FIRST.  I mean, imagine what it would be like, to not just be you but to be COLORED you, or TERRORIST you, or CHEAP you, or THUG you... see my point?  It's not about you anymore, it's about the label.  

Jaerubi: I doubt you've seen every black person on the planet, and I don't think you know what they laugh at.

blah

[Brazoliange]

AHHHH SPOILERS!!!!

fuck, sorry. didn't even realize it.

[Brazoliange]

I'm gonna throw my two cents in now...  Pete, I am totally with you on this thread...

I just want to say that this whole "what black people laugh at" tangent is completely uncalled for.

You know, I admitted on here once that I felt like I was a racist...  and threads like this are what I'm talking about.

For two seconds I wish that us "privileged" white people could imagine what it would be like to be identified by skin color FIRST.  I mean, imagine what it would be like, to not just be you but to be COLORED you, or TERRORIST you, or CHEAP you, or THUG you... see my point?  It's not about you anymore, it's about the label.  

Jaerubi: I doubt you've seen every black person on the planet, and I don't think you know what they laugh at.

blah

Thrindle, I can see what you're saying and largely agree, but a lot of the time behaviors are general. I go to school and half of the black people that go there listen to hip-hop and try to start shit with other people. I'm not trying to say this in an "all-are-the-same" way, but a lot are similar to the point where it becomes habit to think of certain patterns when we see certain people.

I think what Jarubei initially said wasn't so much racist as much as looking at a group of people in his class. Just like I'd look at most teenage girls and think they probably like romantic comedies. Or most high-school guys and think they like really shitty mainstream comedies and action movies.

Not sure about anyone's follow-ups though.