THE BEST MEDICINE Ron Lechler Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2015 APPROVED: Melinda Levin, Major Professor James Martin, Committee Member Michael Barnett, Committee Member Alan Albarran, Chair of the Department of Media Arts Costas Tsatsoulis, Interim Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Lechler, Ron. The Best Medicine. Master of Fine Arts (Radio, Television, and Film), May 2015, 125 pp. references, 25 titles. The Best Medicine is an animated documentary that explores the true stories behind the live performances of stand-up comedians. The film juxtaposes live stand-up performances with candid interview footage combined with animation and illustration. Three subjects– Michael Burd, Casey Stoddard, and Jacob Kubon– discuss alcoholism, childhood abuse, and sexual anxiety, respectively. Their candid, intimate interviews reveal personal information, creating a new context with which to understand live stand-up comedy performance. This illustrates themes of finding humor in dark or painful circumstances and the cathartic nature writing and performance. Copyright 2015 by Ron Lechler ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1 PROSPECTUS ..........................................................................................................1 Introduction and Description ...............................................................................................1 Treatment .............................................................................................................................4 Feasibility .............................................................................................................................6 Goals of Production .............................................................................................................8 Intended Audience .............................................................................................................10 Style and Approach ............................................................................................................12 Equipment ..........................................................................................................................16 Theory Application ............................................................................................................17 Distribution ........................................................................................................................22 Research (Continuing) .......................................................................................................23 Production Schedule ..........................................................................................................24 Budget ................................................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 2 PREPRODUCTION RESEARCH ..........................................................................28 Subject Matter Research ....................................................................................................28 People, Location Research .................................................................................................30 Distribution Possibilities/Target Audience ........................................................................32 Goals of Production ...........................................................................................................33 CHAPTER 3 RECONCEPTUALIZATION BEFORE PRODUCTION ......................................34 CHAPTER 4 INTEGRATION OF THEORY AND PRODUCTION ..........................................35 Theories and Rationale for Use..........................................................................................35 iii Approaches ........................................................................................................................40 Review of Additional Texts Reviewed for Research .........................................................48 Visual Media ......................................................................................................................49 Ethics ................................................................................................................................57 CHAPTER 5 PRODUCTION........................................................................................................61 Overview ............................................................................................................................61 Schedule .............................................................................................................................70 Crew ................................................................................................................................71 Equipment ..........................................................................................................................73 Releases, Copyright and Release Agreements ...................................................................76 Budget ................................................................................................................................76 CHAPTER 6 POST-PRODUCTION ............................................................................................78 Funding ..............................................................................................................................78 Schedule .............................................................................................................................80 Equipment ..........................................................................................................................80 Overview ............................................................................................................................82 CHAPTER 7 POST-PRODUCTION RECONCEPTUALIZATION ............................................97 CHAPTER 8 EVALUATION OF COMPLETED WORK .........................................................101 Pre-Production .................................................................................................................101 Production ........................................................................................................................104 Post-Production ................................................................................................................106 Success in Integrating Proposed Theories .......................................................................109 APPENDIX A RELEASE FORMS .............................................................................................112 iv APPENDIX B STORYBOARDS AND NOTES ........................................................................115 APPENDIX C LETTER FROM CASEY STODDARD .............................................................121 WORKS CITED ..........................................................................................................................124 v CHAPTER 1 PROSPECTUS Introduction and Description Where does comedy come from? The equation is: Tragedy + Time = Comedy The idea is that something terribly tragic can be joked about eventually. The irony of comedy is that tragedy can make us laugh. A stand-up comedian tells jokes in an effort to bring joy and laughter. Comedians are entertainers; they’re performers. These performances can lend insight into who that person is offstage. However, one is only getting to see a rhetorical performance carefully crafted and honed by that same person; creating a gap between the reality off stage and the façade on stage. The jokes comedians tell on stage aren’t conjured. They are born from their personal experiences. For every joke on stage, there was an actuality that set the writing process in motion. Those events and experiences are used as inspiration, and then written and carefully edited until a joke is left. When that joke is performed, it becomes an insight into the workings of that character’s mind. Comedy is how these performance artists translate and articulate their raw and visceral emotions into something palatable for an audience. As the equation for comedy would insinuate, these personal experiences can be tragic, and often not funny at all. It takes the gift of a comedian to find the humor in that situation and present it to an audience. Some comedians use their own experiences to take an audience somewhere dark and allow us to laugh in that place. This film will explore the actualities that inspire humor and juxtapose those actualities with the final product of on-stage comedic performance. The audience for this film will get to 1 see a side of these performers a live audience never would. They will get to see the reality as well as the performative, the dark side of comedy. Three stand-up comedians will serve as the characters. Each will have their own vignette split into two sections: the performance segment and actuality segment. Going back and forth between these two types of segments will reveal the dichotomy of what comedians do. This is the crux of the film. The performance section will show each respective comedian performing on stage in front of a live audience. The material they tell on stage will relate to the actuality segment that will be obtained through interview. While the performance segment is a thoughtfully written recital, the actuality segment will be much more candid and conversational. The comedians won’t appear on screen in person