The use of cuts to “jump forward” through time in No Deal intrigued me. Although I’ve seen this technique used many times in feature films and television, during a closer watch of No Deal I can understand how it is utilized to heighten comedic timing.
At one point in the short, the female lead’s eccentric and rather creepy friend brings out the board game Monopoly, lamenting on how he’ll have to play it alone. The male lead, who presumably came home with her to hook up with her and not to play board games, watches as she tells her roommate that you can’t play monopoly by yourself. Instead of having a sequence of shots showing the trio starting up a game of monopoly following the awkward silence in the doorway, the short cuts straight to them mid-game. The result is that the complete absurdity and awkwardness of the situation for our main character hits the viewer with much more contrast – and the joke is much funnier.
The startling jump in time contributes as much to the humor as the overall situation itself, and I will keep my eye out for opportunities to use this technique myself.
Watch here: No Deal
No comments:
Post a Comment