Writing Comedy with Noah R. Taylor and Martin Baena
Noah R. Taylor (Writer of ‘The Test’)
Martin Baena (Director of ‘The Test’)
Have you ever wanted to try your hand at screenwriting? A screenplay is a form of writing meant to go beyond the page and onto the screen. But what is the process of writing such a medium? Through our FROM PAGE TO SCREEN Series, you will be introduced to screenwriting concepts, genres, and screenwriters so you can learn how to take the first step in creating something for the big screen.
Writing Comedy with Noah R. Taylor and Martin Baena
Watching films can evoke all sorts of emotional reactions from an audience, but the genre of comedy requires a very particular physical response: laughter. But how do you write humor in a such a way that it will translate from the page to the screen? We met with Noah R. Taylor and Martin Baena, writer and director of the short film, ‘The Test’, to talk about writing comedy in film.
‘The Test’ was screened at one of DRIFF’s Beer & Film events as well as at DRIFF in a Jiff, with both audiences roaring with laughter throughout the film. The short film follows a young man during his driving exam as he is scammed by someone posing as a driving examiner in order to get a ride for his own tasks and errands. Noah and Martin both studied film at Concordia University and shared with us some tips for writing a comedic film.
One of the first steps in writing a comedy is creating a premise. Noah explains that you want to create a premise that will allow funny things to happen throughout the film. Martin told us, “You want something that when you tell someone your idea, they will laugh automatically.” With ‘The Test’ the idea Noah began with was “what if this driving examiner suddenly had you running errands for him?” as he explains that the “power dynamic of that arrangement just seemed like kind of a good place to have some comedy.”
One of the best places to start when creating a comedic premise, or any film premise, is by creating a logline. Martin shared a piece of advice that he received from one of his professors in university, which is to treat the logline like a joke, with a set-up and a punchline. This advice works for all types of film, but lends itself particularly well in creating a premise for a comedic screenplay.
Noah had come up with the idea for ‘The Test’ long before he and Martin decided to make the film. Noah explains, “I kind of dug up this old, kind of half-written idea and there were a bunch of jokes in there that were making me laugh and I was like ‘Yeah, this might be worth pursuing.’” With comedy, however, there are so many other aspects beyond the written page that determines what comes across as funny on screen. Noah told us, “A lot of those jokes that were kind of the reason I came back to it didn’t even make it in the final thing because so much of it comes down to the performance and the editing.”
With comedy, there is potential that the actor’s performance could change what you may have initially written, or they may even do some improv of their own. Noah told us, “Garrett Jamieson is our lead. He’s a comedian and he's hilarious, so he improvised a lot. But also, he obviously did the lines as they were written as well, so we had options.” The improvisation or change in tone from an actor’s performance is an area where a writer may want to provide some flexibility as it could lead to something better than you had originally envisioned. Martin shared his advice for these kind of scenarios as he told us, “If [the actor does] a funny line read and it was supposed to be a serious line, but it works, just go with it.”
Editing a film can also change the original vision of a comedic screenplay. Noah, who also edited the film along with writing it, said, “Editing is almost just as important as the writing, especially with comedy. You’re choosing the jokes, you’re working out the timing, [etc.].”
Of course, while you may end up with some very funny actors and talented editors, you still need to think about humor while writing the screenplay. Noah explains, “I think you should still write the jokes in there and then if you get funny actors who improvise, that’s a bonus. I don’t think it’s a good idea to lean on or depend on that.”
Obviously, an important aspect of writing a comedy is having funny characters. As you create these characters, Martin notes that “one thing to distinguish is your sense of humor in the script vs. the character’s sense of humor [. . .] I don’t want to write a screenplay where it’s just my sense of humor the entire time. It’s more interesting if the characters have their own sense of humor.” He also emphasized that “the joke should really reveal something about the character inside.”
Another concept to keep in mind when developing characters is the idea of high-status and low-status characters and the humor that can arise from that dynamic. Noah explains, “at the beginning of this short film, it’s kind of like Walt is the high-status character and Brendan is the low-status character in that the one’s got the power and the other one doesn’t. And what’s always fun with comedy is to kind of flip it every now and then or have it change.”
Determining your characters’ wants is an important aspect of any genre of film. Martin tells us, “For me, I like to figure that out first, obviously, and then think, well, the old adage is ‘why go through the door when there’s a perfectly good window?’ Just go out the window because it’s not expected [. . .] And then that creates itself an opportunity for comedy because these are people who are going to be acting in ways that’s unexpected and that will invariably lead to some conflict that is comedic just by nature.” Martin explains that “subverting expectations is always key.”
When writing jokes Noah told us, “I always kind of feel like a good punchline should take you by surprise but then also you’re like ‘of course it had to end that way [. . .] like I’m surprised but I shouldn’t have been, because of course that’s where all of this would’ve been all going.’”
Comedy is a genre that allows for different approaches to narrative and storytelling. When asked about the written or unwritten rules of writing comedic screenplays, Noah and Martin had slightly different ideas. Noah told us, “Comedy only has one job and it’s to be funny. It’s not like a mystery or other genres where it has to hit certain beats. The only job is to make the audience laugh. I don’t think there should be a rulebook for that. I think if people are laughing, then you’ve done your job.”
Martin, on the other hand, told us that he believes “the problem with writing comedy is you have to accomplish what every other genre does and on top of that you have to make it funny. That for me is the challenge. Noah’s right, the whole thing about comedy is you have to make them laugh. But you also have to accomplish all these other things on top of that.”
When asked what advice they would give to for screenwriters looking to try their hand at comedy, Noah joked, “be friends with comedians.” Surrounding yourself with funny people will allow you to see humor in everyday life and can help you create humorous concepts, characters, and jokes in film that will land with an audience.
Martin noted that doing a table read prior to filming, where you can hear the script aloud and get feedback from others, is especially helpful for comedy in determining whether the jokes are working or not.
Thank you to both Noah and Martin for sharing their knowledge and experience in writing comedy for film.
If you have not had the chance to watch ‘The Test’ yet, check it out here!
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Jamie Bardocz is a writer, social media specialist, and film enthusiast from Southern Ontario.
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