National Lampoon's Vacation, 1983, Ramis
National Lampoon's comedy writing team, previous film production, Saturday Night Live. Recognised cast and crew.
Mainstream film $15 million budget
Made over £65 million at US BO
Warner Brothers
11th biggest film at US Box office in 1983.
Genre: Comedy / Road Movie
Slapstick and visual gags. "Laugh a minute" formula.
Everything is set up to create a joke.
Style of the film enhances this, consider how the music prepares us for the punchline in a very theatrical way. Consider how we see the jokes before they happen.
We are positioned to laugh at the expense of Clark and the Griswalds.
Stereotypes are used as short cut devices to deliver visual and obvious gags. Consider how some of these stereotypes are problematic today.
70s / early 80s attitudes to gender include examples of women being objectified. Ellen's topless scenes, Ferrari girl's role. We can apply ideas from Mulvey to this (Male gaze, male subject, female object).
We can link the film to the National Lampoon's audience (primarily male if we consider Animal House).
Themes / Messages / Values: Family, American Dream / Social Class, death, gender.
Narrative:
3 Acts (Todorov)
Cause and effect - classic narrative
Episodic events
Focus around Clark
Binary Opposites
Cultural codes (1980s, American middle classes, American representations, intertextual references to other films - Psycho, Chariots of Fire)
Little Miss Sunshine, 2006, Dayton and Farris
Debut feature length film, previous work: Music videos, advertisements
Independent film
Smart cinema example.
$8 million budget
Made over $100 million worldwide BO
Distribution rights purchased by Fox Searchlight
Genre: Road Movie / comedy / drama
Comedy is dark, satirical.
Situational comedy, farcical moments in life - as well as troubles, sadness, mundane moments.
Audience laugh with the family or laugh at social commentry, rather than at the family. Identify with scenarios.
Social comment on pageantry - false, sexualised representation of young girls.
Grandpa as a baby boomer, rebellious and free spirited compared to the more uptight, stressed Generation X of his son Richard. The spirit of Grandpa comes through and passes down to Richard (end of film.)
Very much a product of the noughties with implied anti-Bush sentiments - we identify with a dysfunctional family.
Liberal, middles class sentiments.
Themes, messages and values: Family, death, American dream and representations, gender, age.
Narrative:
3 Acts (Todorov)
Cause and effect - classic narrative
Focus around each family member who has their own narrative
Binary Opposites
Cultural codes (2000s, Bush, Sexualisation of children, financial struggles for middle classes, Nietzsche and Proust references to connect to characters, Baby boomer/ Generation X)
Example of a question and plan of what to include:
