Boom Boom

               Much of the dark comedic value in Larry and Terry Ziegelman’s short Boom Boom comes from the completely inappropriate subject matter. By using a violent and horrific plot device (two jihadists preparing to bomb the same café) to bring about a lighthearted interaction (two old friends with opposite personalities meeting up for the first time in years) an absurd and extremely funny short is born. In order to emphasize this comedy, the Ziegelman’s utilize intelligent camera work to switch tones from dark to light.

            The short opens with the tone of a dark, serious thriller in the same vein as The Hurt Locker. We are shown the shaking hands of the potential suicide bomber through the rippling of his coffee cup. To add to the extreme tension and buildup of the terrorists situation, a substantially out-of-focus shot is used. The subjective camera angle of the cup combined with this unfocused shot create a sense of impending doom, especially when followed with the image of the terrorist breathing heavily and rolling his eyes up. We are basically told from this series of shots that this man is under enormous stress and preparing to do something terrible.

Watch here: Boom Boom

            I love how the comedy stems from the switch in tone between this opening scene and the highly lit, lighthearted jesting between the two jihadists. Boom Boom represents a fantastic example of how subtle use of camerawork can contribute just as much to a comedy as acting and dialogue.