Formal Proposal

Topic - Laughter

Type of documentary – Mixed

Style of documentary – Informal and informative, fully narrated

Channel and scheduling – Channel 4 – 8:30 Thursday night

Target Audience- young adults/teenagers 15-20

Primary research needed -

· Laughter clinic women

· Psychology Teacher

· Vox Pop, What’s your favourite joke? Filming their reaction to a joke.

· Comedian?

· Locations for filming

· Interview with person who has attended comedy event

· Props for mise-en-scene

Secondary research needed –

· Schadenfreude

· Archive footage : clips of peoples misfortune, comedy events, magazine articles and reviews – Frankie Boyle controversy, music relevant to topic, radio extracts,

· History of jokes

· Jokes within different social groups / cultures e.g racism, Chris rock, yo momma jokes, immature sense of humour vs intellectual comedy

Narrative structure – Single strand, Linear, Open

Outline of content- Different peoples + different social groups sense of humours and how they vary, Origins of jokes, Worst + Best jokes, Laughter therapy, Laughter clinic + interview with person who runs it, Laughing at others misfortune, Taboo subjects – shouldn’t be laughed at, Relieve stress, VOXPOP – favourite jokes + reaction to jokes, How humour differs within different cultures, Interview with psychologist/psychology teacher, Interview with professional comedian, stand up comedy show, Edinburgh comedy festival, Comedy as a mass event, Footage of people lughing, How laughter affects people emotionally, mentally and physically, Fake laughter + nervous laughter, How laughter can affect relationships.

Resource requirements –

· Digital video camera

· Microphone

· Tripod

· PC with adobe premier pro software

· Tape