A Compounded Genre: Catching The Comedy-Action Wave
A Compounded Genre: Catching The Comedy-Action Wave
written by mdf. escarcha
Left and right, comedy-action is the new flavor of the month. Nevertheless, prophets of doom still insist that action is dead. Not really if you understand the fundamentals of action as a genre. Spreading the gospel of "action" seems to be difficult in an industry plagued with decaying action stars. But the market tells a different tale. If truly the industry is dying, the market is not.
The market is independent but at the same time dependent with the industry. Sounds confusing? Perhaps, the confusion resides within an industry that is filled with layers and postures. Strip away the sugar-coatings and what is left are hard core data that reflect the needs of the market from which the industry refuses to service.
Countless debates encourage the chicken or the egg mystery. I remember the teachings of USP and the ideal vision of "market rules". But then again, are we really talking about the same animal. Or perhaps, that animal they are talking about is just a pigment of their imagination.
In third world countries, it is always the industry that drives product-consumer equilibrium and not the other way around. This is why outsourcing is the in thing to do right now because third world countries are atmospherically favorable to industry dominance. If in the macro level this is true, then in the micro level the same thing is surely happening.
It is important to immediately dismiss the chicken or the egg discourse. It is not happening here in the Philippines. Local industries of various types determine the product-consumer equilibrium. If we are led to believe this is not the case, probably we are living in the wrong planet.
Check out the things that you buy. Are you buying these things because of competition or are you just buying what others are buying? And when you are buying the things that other people are buying does this mean you are in control?
A film studio once created a product with a glossy look. Somehow, the glossy look was linked with opulence under extreme stress. The poor were fascinated with the problems of the rich and how such problems led them to their demise. There was something about the glossy look that made the not so rich citizens excited in a twisted manner. The funny thing was that the poor empathized with the rich characters. They did not resent Sharon Cuneta for being a rich brat princess in her teenage movies, rather, they felt that they too were rich brat princesses trap inside the bodies of poor daughters of domestic helpers.
When we stare at the end of the barrel of a gun, we see a light that will surely kill us in an instant. This is the way the film industry works in this country. We are constantly forced to stare at the end of the barrel of a gun and wait for the impending end. But do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it. And the redundancy is self-serving.
Simple math, a film studio dominated by strong women will produce materials filled with strong women, strong women and strong women. Even the male characters are models of strong women. There are times the materials are archetypes or "bio-pics" of the strong women who are running the machinery. In the end, nobody gives a shit about the market, not even the strong women, strong women and strong women.
Making these statements will surely get your ass fired in three seconds. Speaking from experience, it is not a pleasant career kodak moment. A colleague once said that if you get fired on the basis of doing the right thing, the best thing to do is to resign. But I guess this not a good advice because resignation entails zero benefits.
At the tail end of the 90s, it was apparent that drama was not the genre to go for. Yet, people were insisting that based on USP, drama was profitable. I guess, the surplus of strong drama queens was reaching unfavorable levels. To make matters worst, they were getting old and the fan base was shrinking or migrating to HongKong and Dubai.
Comedy was the next best thing. When a drama flick flopped, comedy saved the day. But senseless comedy is not a genre but a product of incompetence. The king was getting old and the jesters were slated to be his replacement. But like action stars, superstar comedians were rare commodities. As a result, comedy no longer got the magic "finger".
Romance was a glitter of hope. But love teams were from the Jurassic age. So, in the end, it was a futile exercise. What appears to be a romance was actually a second class "idol centered" drama. In a nutshell, it was another strong woman who was dramatically in love. Again, there is nothing wrong with it. Except for one thing. The strong woman was masturbating using the weak man as the weapon of mass destruction.
It was by chance that majority of the mainstream film studios noticed that Vic Sotto Movies were slamming the box office. Major film studios, whether they admit it or not, were puzzled because their comedies did not sell like hotcakes. It was an extensive creative team soul searching multiplied by several powers.
Genre played an important role in Vic Sotto movies. Apparently, he has a strong creative team who realized that given the present market condition, there was a need to improve or upgrade. Comedy won't work just like that in its pure form. It was imperative to look for another genre that would serve as a new platform for Vic Sotto. And by consequence, comedy-action was the compounded genre that they were looking for.
Comedy-action, as a compounded genre, allocates the structure of comedy and the components of action. The target of the action in the case of Vic Sotto movies is the personality of the superstar comedian. Kung-Fu Hustle, to draw a comparison, travels in the same orbit. In fact, one can draw similarities between the main character of Kung Fu Hustle and Vic Sotto as Enteng Kabisote.
I remember when I was part of a creative team, I was trying to push for compounded genres or even combined genres. But it was not receive in a positive manner. Perhaps the move was a bit radical for them. Or maybe I was just not pushing it to hard. In both cases, I was at fault. Nevertheless, I knew that sooner or later they would learn their lesson the hard way.
I believe that we are in the comedy-action wave and somehow the next big thing will be another compounded genre called horror-drama. I find it exciting to make this fearless forecast. I still feel that pure genres are relevant but the market is conscious with regards to getting the most out of a given amount. Yet, I dare not explore multiple genres in one feature. I think it is too much for a single material though possible if ever.
written by mdf. escarcha
Left and right, comedy-action is the new flavor of the month. Nevertheless, prophets of doom still insist that action is dead. Not really if you understand the fundamentals of action as a genre. Spreading the gospel of "action" seems to be difficult in an industry plagued with decaying action stars. But the market tells a different tale. If truly the industry is dying, the market is not.
The market is independent but at the same time dependent with the industry. Sounds confusing? Perhaps, the confusion resides within an industry that is filled with layers and postures. Strip away the sugar-coatings and what is left are hard core data that reflect the needs of the market from which the industry refuses to service.
Countless debates encourage the chicken or the egg mystery. I remember the teachings of USP and the ideal vision of "market rules". But then again, are we really talking about the same animal. Or perhaps, that animal they are talking about is just a pigment of their imagination.
In third world countries, it is always the industry that drives product-consumer equilibrium and not the other way around. This is why outsourcing is the in thing to do right now because third world countries are atmospherically favorable to industry dominance. If in the macro level this is true, then in the micro level the same thing is surely happening.
It is important to immediately dismiss the chicken or the egg discourse. It is not happening here in the Philippines. Local industries of various types determine the product-consumer equilibrium. If we are led to believe this is not the case, probably we are living in the wrong planet.
Check out the things that you buy. Are you buying these things because of competition or are you just buying what others are buying? And when you are buying the things that other people are buying does this mean you are in control?
A film studio once created a product with a glossy look. Somehow, the glossy look was linked with opulence under extreme stress. The poor were fascinated with the problems of the rich and how such problems led them to their demise. There was something about the glossy look that made the not so rich citizens excited in a twisted manner. The funny thing was that the poor empathized with the rich characters. They did not resent Sharon Cuneta for being a rich brat princess in her teenage movies, rather, they felt that they too were rich brat princesses trap inside the bodies of poor daughters of domestic helpers.
When we stare at the end of the barrel of a gun, we see a light that will surely kill us in an instant. This is the way the film industry works in this country. We are constantly forced to stare at the end of the barrel of a gun and wait for the impending end. But do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it. And the redundancy is self-serving.
Simple math, a film studio dominated by strong women will produce materials filled with strong women, strong women and strong women. Even the male characters are models of strong women. There are times the materials are archetypes or "bio-pics" of the strong women who are running the machinery. In the end, nobody gives a shit about the market, not even the strong women, strong women and strong women.
Making these statements will surely get your ass fired in three seconds. Speaking from experience, it is not a pleasant career kodak moment. A colleague once said that if you get fired on the basis of doing the right thing, the best thing to do is to resign. But I guess this not a good advice because resignation entails zero benefits.
At the tail end of the 90s, it was apparent that drama was not the genre to go for. Yet, people were insisting that based on USP, drama was profitable. I guess, the surplus of strong drama queens was reaching unfavorable levels. To make matters worst, they were getting old and the fan base was shrinking or migrating to HongKong and Dubai.
Comedy was the next best thing. When a drama flick flopped, comedy saved the day. But senseless comedy is not a genre but a product of incompetence. The king was getting old and the jesters were slated to be his replacement. But like action stars, superstar comedians were rare commodities. As a result, comedy no longer got the magic "finger".
Romance was a glitter of hope. But love teams were from the Jurassic age. So, in the end, it was a futile exercise. What appears to be a romance was actually a second class "idol centered" drama. In a nutshell, it was another strong woman who was dramatically in love. Again, there is nothing wrong with it. Except for one thing. The strong woman was masturbating using the weak man as the weapon of mass destruction.
It was by chance that majority of the mainstream film studios noticed that Vic Sotto Movies were slamming the box office. Major film studios, whether they admit it or not, were puzzled because their comedies did not sell like hotcakes. It was an extensive creative team soul searching multiplied by several powers.
Genre played an important role in Vic Sotto movies. Apparently, he has a strong creative team who realized that given the present market condition, there was a need to improve or upgrade. Comedy won't work just like that in its pure form. It was imperative to look for another genre that would serve as a new platform for Vic Sotto. And by consequence, comedy-action was the compounded genre that they were looking for.
Comedy-action, as a compounded genre, allocates the structure of comedy and the components of action. The target of the action in the case of Vic Sotto movies is the personality of the superstar comedian. Kung-Fu Hustle, to draw a comparison, travels in the same orbit. In fact, one can draw similarities between the main character of Kung Fu Hustle and Vic Sotto as Enteng Kabisote.
I remember when I was part of a creative team, I was trying to push for compounded genres or even combined genres. But it was not receive in a positive manner. Perhaps the move was a bit radical for them. Or maybe I was just not pushing it to hard. In both cases, I was at fault. Nevertheless, I knew that sooner or later they would learn their lesson the hard way.
I believe that we are in the comedy-action wave and somehow the next big thing will be another compounded genre called horror-drama. I find it exciting to make this fearless forecast. I still feel that pure genres are relevant but the market is conscious with regards to getting the most out of a given amount. Yet, I dare not explore multiple genres in one feature. I think it is too much for a single material though possible if ever.
posted by akira's nightmare at
1:31 AM
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