Why is fast motion comedic but slow motion dramatic?
Because God made it so?
Slow motion is supposed to be funny in a parody way if the theme from Chariots of Fire or a parody thereof is playing in something that isn’t Chariots of Fire.
And fast motion is even funnier if it has the Benny Hill music playing.
As others have pointed out, I’m not sure that the OP is always correct. But to the extent that it is, I think the answer lies in surprise and mental overload. Surprising things that are coming at you at a speed too fast for you to process (in a non-threating context) are often funny.
But dramatic events that occur to fast for you to realise what is coming and what has happened give you no time to feel what the artist wants you to feel. Time to anticipate a murder or whatever makes it more dramatic, because it’s more time in which to realise how awful it’s going to be.
Fast motion is funny if a guy named Alex is participating in a threesome to the tune of The William Tell Overture.
So much for asking a question as simply as possible to see if it garners responses from every possible angle:
[REPHRASE]
What are the specific psychiatric, biological, neurological, psychological, and (add in any other -ogicals or -atrics you’d care to) reasons behind human beings as a general rule perceiving fast motion as being comedic but slow motion as being dramatic?
[/REPHRASE]
Well fair enough, struct. Grid-reading the previous posts a little, one might rephrase them as “It is not clear that there is a general rule perceiving fast motion as being comedic but slow motion as being dramatic, it may be that we perceive them beause we are used to them being used in such ways in our culture.” Perhaps we associate speeded-up action as funny because Keystone Cops films are always shown at the wrong speed. Maybe it’s just cultural shorthand.
I don’t know, but agree it’s an interesting question. I’ll WAG a little: on a few occasions I’ve been in car crashes and other potentially fatal situations. Time seemed to pass very slowly - it felt like things were happening in slow motion. An effect of adrenaline perhaps?
I thought I did answer your more serious question, struct.
But what you actually seem to be getting at is: why are things funny?
All I can tell you is that I vaguely recall a first year psych lecture in which the theory was proposed (very much as only a theory) that laughter is a modified version of crying, and it is first noticed in infants who are faced with something threatening, but in a non threatening context, creating confusion which manifests as laughter. Eg, Daddy leans over the cot and makes funny faces (funny faces=threatening, daddy=non-threatening, result confusion and not knowing whether to cry or not, result=laughter).
So things that are surprising, or which create mental overload, or which have the potential to be frightening, or which reverse the usual order of things, but which are in a harmless context, are funny.
So now combine this (a sort of prequel post) with my post above, and there’s my answer.
Very intriguing theory. So fast-motion is comedic because it’s a confusing combination of the threatening (sensory overstimulation, multiple unexpected actions from different directions, seeing something moving fast leading to a “get out of the way” reflex) and the non-threatening (Benny Hill)?
Perhaps an equal but opposite confusion could account for slow-motion being dramatic, i.e., that slo-mo is a confusing combination of the non-threatening (clearly discernible actions taking place at such a low rate of speed that they’re easily reacted to) and the threatening (the actions are taking place on the other side of a screen beyond which one is helpless to alter matters in any way)?
I remember an episode of “The Wonder Years” where Kevin was involved in a fight with the school bully (or something like that). As the fight began, Kevin took the first punch. Time was slowed way down and you saw Kevin wind up, a deliver a glancing blow to the bully’s shoulder. Much funnier in slow-mo.
Also, I believe there are scenes in “L.A. Story” that are sped-up (such as sun rising/setting, cars driving around, etc.) that almost seem romantic rather than funny. They wouldn’t have seemed so, or at least would have taken MUCH longer to show, if they ran at regular (or slow) speed.
In Austin Powers, the hero is shown lunging for the shutoff switch in slow motion. He is hollering “NOoooooooooo…” in slow motion too. This is comic because it parodies the slowmo overdramatization of heroic scenes.
Off to Cafe Society.
One theory of comedy (Henri Bergson’s) has it that we laugh at people behaving in a mechanical or automatized manner. If we observe that typically machines operate more quickly than human beings, then perhaps this helps answer the OP. – But of course it depends on the situation. Speeded-up footage of a flower blooming, or the graceful rapidity of a dancer, are not funny; whereas Steve Wright is.
I recall reading at howstuffworks.com (I’ll try to dig up a proper link later, when I find the exact site addy) that it is theorized that laughter is an evolved trait that stems from the brain being surprised. We expect one outcome, but get something different, and the laughter it elicits is possibly a way for humans to share with one another that everything is ok, trouble has passed. It is related to what Princhester posted above. It’s the enjoyable result of a confusion that allows for humans to release stress.
(I really need to find that link, it explained it much better than I just did)
This is why comic relief works in action films: There’s just been a tense, suspenseful scene. Then a punchline. You weren’t expecting the punchline, so you’re surprised. There’s also just been an intense suspenseful scene, so your body wants to release that stress. Combine the two and you get a good laugh.
So as has been put forward already, the fast motion speed puts you off your guard. Watching a film, you’re not expecting things to suddenly go faster, so you’re taken by surprise. The sensory overload confuses, but it’s non-threatening and therefore funny.
Slow-motion on the otherhand, drags the scene out. It gives your mind more time to analyze and anticipate what is happening and then to think ahead about what possibly will happen. It builds suspense and anxiety. It also mimics the adreneline rush, where things seem to slow down IRL. Your body recognizes this which only adds to the tension, therefore feels more serious.
As has been pointed out though, slow-motion can be funny. But when is it funny? When it surprises you. A spoof of a famous or cliched scene, the payoff at the end of the slow-motion sequence (Kevin missing the punch) is not what your mind and been anticipating and expecting. You’re caught off guard and so you laugh.
Think about it. When you don’t laugh, you saw the punchline was coming, didn’t you? You weren’t surprised.
Here’s the link I promised:
Slow motion can also be funny in a parody way if either the music or sound effects from the old TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man” is playing during it.