Style Ideas for Period Piece/Comedy

[Brandon Canning]

Hey, I’ll be shooting a short film/POC for what we hope is eventually a series. There's a million logistical things with this production, most out of my control but was wondering if the community could help me with some “no wrong answers” white board brainstorming.

Can’t post the script obviously but this is a period piece set in Canada during the war of 1812 AND it’s a comedy. A bit of a comedy of manners, pretty irreverent, bit of slapstick. 

How would you lovely people shoot this. Not too concerned with specifics re gear but in broader terms.

I’m thinking S35, vintage glass, some sort of filtration (maybe something special/unique for close ups), mostly sticks and dolly, back and forth between 1.66:1 and 2:1. Lots of wides. I’m kinda picturing Barry Lyndon, Last of the Mohicans but I’m struggling to find the comedy reference points.

I know it’s a broad ask but I’d appreciate any references, movie recommendations, any ideas about camera movement, look, style choices that would keep us in the world of a prestige period piece but allows the comedy to really hit when it needs to.

[David Mullen ASC]

On 7/5/2025 at 2:40 AM, Brandon Canning said:

Can’t post the script obviously but this is a period piece set in Canada during the war of 1812 AND it’s a comedy. A bit of a comedy of manners, pretty irreverent, bit of slapstick. 

I’m kinda picturing Barry Lyndon, Last of the Mohicans but I’m struggling to find the comedy reference points.

There are plenty of comedies set around the late 18th / early 19th century, from "Love and Death" to "The Madness of King George", or something shot by Geoffrey Unsworth titled "Royal Flash"...

Personally I don't think of "comedy" as a visual style when I design the look for a comedy, the only rule about lighting and framing comedy is whether the humor is on display, can you see the sight gag, can you hear the joke, does the joke "land" visually, etc. -- or whether your approach is distracting from the humor. The other thing to keep in mind is that comedy often plays better in looser, wider frames in order to set-up the situation and interactions with props and people -- close-ups are more for drama and emotion. There are exceptions of course, the joke may land when you cut to a reaction shot for example.  The most expensive shot in the Silent Era was the train falling into a gorge when a burning bridge underneath collapses in Buster Keaton's "The General" (1926), but in some ways that spectacular shot exists to get a laugh when Keaton next cuts to the deadpan reaction of the General who ordered the train to cross, saying the bridge would hold (played by the DP,  Dev Jennings!)

Other than that, it's better to treat a comedy just as you would a drama or romance, etc. Treat it straight, let the humor come out of the action and performances.

[Brian Drysdale]

The BBC's "Blackadder" TV series goes through a number of periods, each series moves forward in time, eventually ending in WW1, where they get killed. This one fits the period you seem to be set.

 

[Brandon Canning]

On 7/6/2025 at 9:11 AM, David Mullen ASC said:

Personally I don't think of "comedy" as a visual style when I design the look for a comedy, the only rule about lighting and framing comedy is whether the humor is on display, can you see the sight gag, can you hear the joke, does the joke "land" visually, etc. -- or whether your approach is distracting from the humor.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply @David Mullen ASC this is really helpful, much appreciated.