Wednesday, September 9, 2015

*wicked piano intro* Welcome to Scranton~!

      Because humour is so very hard to duplicate, I've found myself rewatching The Office at least 40 times. I wish I was exaggerating but, then again, with my life crumbling around me, what else is there to do than laugh at a group of people with exceedingly horribly yet funny lives. In case you don't know what this classic television show is, it's a sitcom/mockumentary according to its ever-changing wikipedia page but it follows the story of a small branch of a paper company, specifically where the sales are done. Which sounds boring as hell, but somehow it's funny? We just don't know.  

      Something about this show that I adore, besides it's 20 minute style which makes you feel like you are doing a shot of comedy, is its ability for comedic timing with the use of the camera as another member of the office. You honestly feel like you are in the scene with the rest of the employees and it creates a very visceral and specific kind of comedy that people have tried to recreate before and failed. Some manage to actually use it successfully and I fully recommend those shows as well. See Parks and Rec. 

      While the shows both sit in an office and the characters are fleshed out very realistically (yet not??), the shows tend to gather a 'love it or hate it' crowd. I assume it's because it can remind people of their own office life and people either take that as positive or negative. 

Comedic timing is something that was so perfectly created in the original UK version and, personally, I think it was well recreated in the American version. After watching both more times than I wish to reveal, I've found that I almost thinking of them as two different animals even though the first few episodes have the exact same scripts, the same beats, and the same camera work. We just /don't/ know. As the series/seasons go on, the actors obviously become more in tune with how they should react with the cameras and each other and it, again in my opinion, gets better as it goes on. While that might not be true for the writing, I very much appreciate the use of the cameras for comedic effect. It's pretty rad. 

      

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