What Inspired Me?

When asked to find a genre for the film opening, I thought long and hard before deciding upon the genre of comedy. However, when I chose comedy, it was for very specific reasons. Almost every night for as long as I can remember, my dad will find a movie and my parents will spend the night on the couch before going to bed. When I was younger, I used to peer through the stairway banister to get a glimpse of the film, but as I’ve grown older and my bedtime has become later, I have started joining my parents for the daily movie night. While my dad’s preference tends toward action and foreign films, I’ve noticed one genre in particular that brings the whole family together: comedy.

There are many different sub-genres of comedy, one of which is romantic comedy. Romantic comedy films feature a combination of drama and humor by using predictable plot lines with unpredictable twists. For example, films like “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Clueless,” and “The 40 Year Old Virgin” each follow a similar plot line of a quest to find love from unexpected places, but use humor as a way to connect with the audience and lighten the subject. These movies have inspired me through the laughter and joy that they provide, but also through the relatability of the issues faced by the characters of each respective film.

Another section of comedy involves family comedy. Family comedy is not as straightforward with the plot line as romantic comedies are, but provides the same type of enjoyment suitable for all ages. Some notable family comedies include “Cheaper By the Dozen,” “Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” and “Home Alone.” “Cheaper By the Dozen,” which is about a single father who must manage his very large family, gains it’s humor for the exaggerated dysfunction of the family. The audience can then relate to the difficulties faced by having many kids while children in the audience laugh at the ridiculous aspects of the film. “Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” which is about a socially awkward man who wins a trip to France, but faces many difficulties on his journey to Monaco, shares similarities with “Home Alone” by showing a vacation gone wrong. Finally, “Home Alone” is about a young boy who is left behind by his family in their Christmas vacation and ends up adventuring through New York City. Each of these movies shows normal events gone wrong and gain humor from the way the characters react.

While there are many other types of comedy films, these two types show just how broad the audience that a comedy film attracts really is. These films all use normal situations gone wrong and exaggerated reactions to the situation to create a humorous narrative. I was inspired to create a film opening with a comedy genre by the joy comedy brings to its audience. I wanted to enjoy the project while I made it, so I thought “what better way to enjoy something than to make it something funny?”