Despite consensus between actors and filmmakers that comedy is hardest to master, this popular genre of filmmaking tends to be dismissed as a cheap art form by prestigious awards and film festivals.
The unique benefit of comedy is that real-life issues can be explored through a lens of absurdity that is able to momentarily shift our perspective.
“My friend Oliver, for years, his worst nightmare has been going bald,” says Michael Whyntie, who wrote and co-directed Bald Future with Reilly Archer-Whelan.
“That, mixed with being fascinated with office culture, where people put up an act and you have to face infighting, I just thought it would be the perfect place for something as absurd as putting on this dead guy’s hair, so you don’t lose your job.”
Bald Future, selected to premiere at Revelation Perth International Film Festival, follows Peter, an outcast at his own job, who believes that his baldness is the root cause of his colleagues’ disdain towards him. He concocts a follicularly-challenged scheme, a last-ditch effort to regrow his standing in the office.
The film stars Jess Kenneally as Peter and Aunty Donna’s Mark Samual Bonanno as his boss.
“When you come into a film, where the script is already so strong, the best way to do it is to first get what is on the page and then after you’ve got that, there is freedom to play,” says Bonanno, an improv veteran. “That’s the way we vibed on set.
“As an actor, you have to toe that line between being self-indulgent and then the reality that time is money and that both are incredibly limited.”
On-set difficulties and time restrictions of filming are enough to stress even the most experienced filmmakers. However, with comedy, when you need your actors to maintain a sense of looseness and fluidity, that stress could threaten to derail the whole film.
“Shooting a single camera improv definitely has its challenges,” says co-director Reilly Archer-Whelan. “Luckily, we had a really great crew and an incredibly meticulous script supervisor who kept our continuity in check.”
The trajectory for a comedy short film can be limited, especially when it comes to the prestigious film festival circuit, which tend to favour drama and experimental short films.
“Short film festivals are so fucking bleak,” laughs Bonanno. “But it’s the best place to screen a comedy because even if people don’t like it, they’ll laugh because they are just so fucking happy to have a break from the horrific insights into the human spirit.”
Bald Future screens at the Revelation Perth International Film Festival, July 12 – 16, 2023
