16mm Film · RISD Film Practices · 2023
Not Funny!
A 16mm pantomime-comedy about misunderstanding, panic, and the strange emotional velocity of a joke taken seriously.
Role
Director · Editor
Year
2023
Format
16mm · Bolex
Course
RISD Film Practices
Cast
Andrew & Katie Whelan · a third performer
Guidance
Ramón Rivera-Moret · Carter (TA)
The Idea
A joke taken seriously
Not Funny! is a 16mm pantomime-comedy about misunderstanding, panic, and the strange emotional velocity of a joke taken seriously. Two characters are locked in a heightened, almost operatic argument when a third bursts in, screams something, and sends them all into motion.
The argument becomes a chase down a flight of stairs — until the third character finally explains it was only a joke, and the emotional pressure collapses into comedy.
Process · The staircase
Turning movement into meaning
The staircase became the central object of the film — not just a location but a cinematic device. Descending, pursuing, and reacting, the characters carry the entire story with their bodies; the run downstairs becomes a journey from confusion into revelation.
Shot on a Bolex with limited film time, every setup had to matter. Because it plays almost as pantomime, the clarity had to come through gesture, timing, and spatial relationships rather than dialogue — an exercise in blocking, performance, and analog constraint.
3
Performers — two locked in conflict, one absurd interruption
1
Staircase — the film’s central device and visual metaphor
16mm
Bolex and analog editing — no room for hesitation
Three characters, one misunderstanding, and one compelling location can create a complete visual story.
The Film
Watch the film
Artist Statement
Reflection
Not Funny! is a 16mm pantomime-comedy about misunderstanding, panic, and the strange emotional velocity of a joke taken seriously. The film begins with two characters, played by Andrew and Katie Whelan, locked in an argument. Their conflict is interrupted by a third character who screams something at them, and suddenly the argument transforms into a chase down a flight of stairs, as if chasing time itself.
The staircase became the central object of the film — not only a location, but a cinematic device that could turn movement into meaning. The characters are descending, pursuing, reacting, and trying to understand what has just happened. Their bodies carry the story. By the end, the third character explains that it was only a joke, and the emotional pressure collapses into comedy.
This project taught me how much directing depends on managing different energies at once. Each actor brought a different performance style, and I had to shape those differences into a shared rhythm rather than forcing everyone to perform the same way. Because the film works almost like a pantomime, the emotional clarity had to come through gesture, movement, and spatial relationships rather than exposition.
Made in Ramón Rivera-Moret’s Film Practices class at RISD, with technical support from Carter, it was also part of learning the Bolex 16mm camera and analog editing. The limited shooting time forced each setup to matter, and made me think seriously about casting and blocking.
Not Funny! is a simple film, but that simplicity is part of what made it valuable. It taught me that a strong cinematic idea does not always need a complicated plot — that directing is the art of turning space, bodies, and tension into something the audience can feel immediately.