In his chapter entitled ‘Crazy Machines in the Garden of Forking Paths: Mischief Gags and the Origins of American Film Comedy’ in Classical Hollywood Comedy, Tom Gunning highlights one of the comedic patterns that emerged through early gag films. He states that the gag could be broken down into “two clearly defined phases”. The first phase can most concisely be summed up as the set up: “a preparatory action is undertaken with a very precise aim in view”. The second phase is then seeing the payoff of the set up, or the “result and effect of this preparatory phase”.
Even though Gunning’s analysis is in reference to early gags in cinema, I believe his analysis transcends time and can be used to help break down gags seen in modern films. For example, in The Hangover Part III, there is a scene where Alan is driving down the motorway with a giraffe on a trailer attached to the back of his car. The set up here is clear: as the car hurtles down the motorway, the audience can clearly tell that things aren’t gong to end well for the giraffe. The tension created by this set up is built by Alan driving under bridges, all of which are tall enough for the giraffe to pass under with ease, miraculously remaining unscathed. The cheery music playing adds to this building tension, as it seems to be setting up the upcoming juxtaposition.
The second phase, or the results of the set up, comes when Alan approaches a bridge with a sign that states that it is lower than the rest. Here, the audience “anticipates what the results of the preparatory action will be”, and they are proven correct when Alan drives under this low bridge and the giraffe ends up decapitated. The comedy here is amplified by the disastrous chain reaction caused by this (e.g. a massive pile up of car crashing into each other).
Hi Emily! This is an interesting example! It also reminds me of the “Dog Factory” video we watched and read about. They are similar in their shock value in terms of the viscerally unsettling amusement found in the treatment of animals as both are not quite gory but still kind of brutalizing and emphatic of the fleshiness of the body–though we know it is obviously not real and it is more silly and comic-booky, so to speak, than truly torturous. This also makes me wonder about how, in some ways, comedy and horror may be more closely aligned than they may initially seem. With some adjustments, these scenes could easily veer into frightening rather than silly; I wonder what specifically it is that makes the difference because the emotional experience as an audience can be oddly similar. In watching the clip of the giraffe, I was reminded of the famous decapitation scene in the horror film Hereditary, during which people in the theater I was in–admittedly myself included–could not help but laugh in pure shock. I suppose laughter and fear or the enjoyment of horror can be similar gut reactions, and perhaps with a strange kind of overlap in glee.
This is a great example, and I think the other key part of this scene is the introduction of the family, which brings a false sense of security, and at the same time, almost a guarantee of what’s to come based off the vibes of the movie. Definitely the minute he started passing under the bridges I started to get the clue, super well done.