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<i>-- One, two, three four !</i>

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Hi my name is Tony and this is[br]Every Frame a Painting.

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So today I’m going to talk about[br]a director whose work I love.

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but before that let me be upfront.[br]I think comedy movies today,

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especially American ones,[br]have totally lost their way.

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I don't hate the jokes[br]or the actors or the dialogue

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or the stories though[br]there's plenty of issues there.

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My real qualm is that the filmmaking,

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the use of picture and sound[br]to deliver jokes, is just...

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<i>--What?[br]--This is booooring.</i>

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<i>--Delete.</i>

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Look, everyone’s taste is different.

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What you find funny is what you funny.

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So I’m not saying these movies suck[br]or you suck if you like them.

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What I am saying is that[br]these movies aren’t movies.

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They’re lightly edited improv.

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Everyone stands still and[br]talks at each other in close-up.

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Almost none of these jokes come visually,[br]they’re overwhelming sound

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and not even the full range of sound,[br]just dialogue and this is really sad

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because that’s just a fraction[br]of what’s possible in cinema.

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Apart from animation[br]and some commercials,

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visual comedy is actually[br]moving backwards.

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And that's why if you love this kind [br]of stuff, I cannot recommend

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Edgar Wright enough.

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<i>--You're a doctor, deal with it.[br]--Yeah, motherfucker.</i>

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He's one of the only people[br]working in the genre

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using the full range of what is possible.

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And because of that, he can find[br]humor in places that others don’t look.

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Here’s an example.

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Let's Say you need to move your character[br]from one city to another

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to get the story going.

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How do you shoot it?

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And can you get a joke out of it?[br]...Well, no.

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Not if you send out a 2nd unit to do it,[br]every shot pans from left to right,

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you include obvious landmarks and signs,[br]you mix in generic helicopter footage

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and you put upbeat music under it[br]so the audience doesn’t get bored.

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This is just lazy filmmaking and boring.[br]We’ve seen it a million times.

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What would happen if you were truly[br]inventive with this type of scene?

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There we go! And this isn’t[br]just a series of quick cuts.

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There’s a lot of good[br]visual storytelling here.

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These 2 taxi shots tell you exactly[br]where we came from and where we’re going.

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These 2 shots emphasize[br]the move away from civilization.

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Our main character always faces[br]forward or to the right

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so screen direction is respected.[br]Turning the music down

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and the sound FX up is funny[br]because each cut is jarring.

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And there’s even some nice performances[br]from Simon Pegg and Ryan Gosling.

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Okay that was 1 example without context.[br]You’re right. Totally unfair.

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Well, what if you had a movie where[br]a horrible apocalyptic event happens,

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and you want to foreshadow it earlier,[br]maybe by having the characters

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not notice something important on TV.[br]How would you show it?

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Would you just throw it in the edit[br]for 2 seconds and 2 frames

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and no shot shows the relationship[br]between the characters and the TV?

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<i>--he's having a housewarming party,[br]he just finished building his house.</i>

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Or would you do this?

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<i>--Although no one official is prepared[br]to comment, religious groups are</i>

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<i>calling it judgment day. There's ...</i>[br]<i>-- panic on the streets of London</i>

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<i>--as an increasing number of reports of[br]--serious attacks on</i>

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<i>--people who are literally being[br]--eaten alive</i>

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Okay, still unfair.

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Well, what if you had movie where [br]one character has stopped drinking

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but the others are disappointed in him[br]and you want to get a joke out of it.

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How would you do it?

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Would they just stand around[br]and talk about his drinking?

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<i>--No I appreciate it but I told my wife[br]I wouldn't drink tonight.</i>

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<i>--Besides, I got a big day tomorrow.[br]But you guys have a great time.</i>

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<i>--Big day? Doing what?</i>

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Or would you do this ?[br]

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<i>--What?!</i>

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<i>-- I don't believe this.</i>

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This is what separates a mediocre[br]director from a great one.

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The ability to take the most simple mundane [br]scenes and find new ways to do them.

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Great directors understand that you[br]can get a laugh just through staging.

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Here’s an example from David Bordwell:[br]things popping up into frame are funny.

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<i>--Slow ahead, I can go slow ahead.[br]Come on down and chum some of this shit!</i>

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And it’s not just things entering frame.[br]Consider the opposite.

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<i>--I said tell Ms. Laura "Goodbye"</i>

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<i>--Bye, Ms. Laura</i>

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You can get a laugh from a zoom.

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<i>--You wanna pop the trunk and roll[br]the windows down, please?</i>

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You can get a laugh from a crane up.[br]<i>--Shirley, I'm so sorry.</i>

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<i>--I'm going home, Britta.[br]--I know, Shirley, I know.</i>

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<i>--No I'm going home, can you help me up?[br]--Oh</i>

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You can get a laugh from a pan.

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As Martin Scorsese put it :

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cinema is a matter of what’s in[br]the frame and what’s not in the frame.

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So think about the frame and this isn’t[br]a matter of smart or stupid comedy.

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Really if it works, it works.

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So here are 8 things Edgar Wright[br]does with picture and sound

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that I want to see other[br]comedy filmmakers try out.

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#1 : Things entering the frame[br]in funny ways

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#2 : People leaving the frame[br]in funny ways

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#3 : There and back again

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#4 : Matching scene transitions

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#5 : The perfectly-timed sound effect

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#6 : Action synchronized to the music

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#7 : Super-dramatic lighting cues

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And #8 ...

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And you know what, let's thrown in #9 :

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- Let them have it.

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So if you’re a filmmaker, work on this.[br]The frame is a playground. So play.

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And the next time you go to[br]a theater and pay $15 to see a comedy,

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don’t be satisfied with shit[br]that is less inventive than Vine.