How Edgar Wright Puts American Directors to Shame with Visual Comedy in Movies

A teacher once told me that filmmakers need to fully utilize the frame within their scenes and move the camera in ways that help drive the story forward; otherwise they're just filming a play. That always stuck with me and it's a point I still take note of in movies. Tony Zhou from Every Frame a Painting does a great job of explaining why the camera frame is so important in comedic cinema along with a slew of other techniques that few people other than Edgar Wright are making use of in today's comedies. This is eight minutes of insight you're not going to want to miss!

"These movies aren't movies. They're lightly edited improv." Those are pretty brash words Tony uses to describe the state of today's funny films, but looking at his examples, you can't deny his point. There are far more ways to get laughs than just having people say or do funny things in front of the camera. He calls this lazy, boring filmmaking, but he thankfully goes on to explain what sets a mediocre director apart from a great one. I highly recommend this video to students of cinema, directors and cinematographers, and I even think photographers can take away some value from what Tony Zhou has to say. Edgar Wright has created some of the best movies I've seen over the last 10 years and I hope that Tony's video educates and inspires you to become the next big Hollywood or indie film director! At the very least, I hope you consider watching or re-watching Wright's films with a new perspective on how great comedy can be. There is a lot to digest here, but follow along with Tony's list of eight things Edgar Wright does with picture and sound that he hopes other comedy filmmakers will incorporate.

1. Things Entering the Frame in Funny Ways
2. People Leaving the Frame in Funny Ways
3. The "There and Back Again"
4. Matching Scene Transitions
5. The Perfectly Timed Sound-Effect
6. Action Synchronized with Music
7. Super Dramatic Lighting Cues

     Number eight and a bonus number nine I'll leave for you to watch and laugh along with on your own.

I hope you get a good kick out of what Tony breaks down in this episode of Every Frame a Painting. It's an excellent channel on YouTube dedicated to the analysis of film form and I suggest that you subscribe to it as well as follow him on Twitter and Facebook to stay in the know.

Disagree or know of another director who is keeping comedy funny on-screen? Drop us a line in the comments!