4X4 Project

The four by four challenge was created by Channel four as a short film competition, the rule being that it can only consist of four shots that all last 4 seconds. This was extremely challenging at first as coming up with a narrative for such a restricted format is never easy. The break came as we realised that these had to be short and entertaining, and what else is short and entertaining? Jokes. And so we decided that 3 shots woulda be build up, leading the viewer in one direction before the four delivered a punchline that surprised the viewer in a humourous way. Once the lay out was settled we sat down for a brief brainstorming session, this would have worked better if we had written down or recorded our process better for future reference, however we were rushing to meet a deadline and therefore did it all verbally and shot the short minutes later, a comedy about a date that is going well up until the 4th shot when a disagreement over condiments ruins everything. In the Crit we received heavy praise for the piece, the main compliments going towards pacing which allowed us to fit in all the necessary information in the first 3 shots while slowly timing the punch in the fourth for maximum comedic pay off. I learned from this that all comedy is based on delivery and time, and that for future comedy Projects, to make it work, many takes of the same line delivered to the best of their time will have to be taken in order to get the best result.