Slapstick Influences | shemda-ren-owned

Slapstick Influence

Charlie Chaplin

The Lion's Cage

Buster Keaton

Bad Luck

Laurel & Hardy

There's going to be a fight

My film has a slapstick theme using body expressions to read how the character is feeling emotionally and my animation is in black and white also the same style as my comic strip. I chose to research Chaplin, an english comic actor, film director and composer. In his era he was known for creating silent films, in his time they didn’t have sound for them to hear what they are saying only music playing over the film, so he to use his actions by miming and his movement to create the story. This is similar to my film and one of the songs I used is a Slapstick themed instrumental by ‘Kevin MacLeod: Batty Mcffaddin’.

I also researched Buster Keaton, he was an american comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, His nickname was ‘The Great Stone Face’ because of his deadpan expression he made consistently in his films earning himself that nickname. “Down through the years my face has been called a sour puss, a dead pan, a frozen face, “a tragic mask.”” (page 11) in My Wonderful World of Slapstick. Buster Keaton was recognized as the seventh greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly and in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Keaton the 21st greatest male star of all time I researched online. “Rather than play the small time, other big-time acts preferred not work at all. We were not that stubborn or foolish. We had seen some of them sit and wait for years until something they considered worthy of them came along.” (page 88) in My Wonderful World of Slapstick. I want to develop my career and get into directing for animation and film and I have a slapstick theme in my film so Buster Keaton is very influential to me.

“Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in 1890, in Lancashire. Oliver Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in 1892, in Georgia.” (page 9) in Laurel & Hardy. “After 1945 they made only one film together; this was shot in France and had only a limited release.” (page 9) in Laurel & Hardy. Something else in the book which is a good example of slapstick, “The slow build-up conveys Ollie’s ponderous complacency. At the same time it creates the kind of anticipation, as we foresee the fall but are made to wait for i, which doubles the laugh when it’s eventually ‘released’.” (page 18).