The Flying Scissors

This film’s producers argue that “The Flying scissors” is a funny movie. Their target audience is 18 to 35 year olds with a quirky sense of humor that they perceive as non-mainstream; the kind of people who watch “The Office”. The trailer claims that the audience will enjoy “The Flying Scissors” because it fulfills the audience’s sense of humor.

The film is logically illogical (you can’t misunderstand the weirdness). The trailer also appeals to two emotions: humor and curiosity. It hopes to amuse and gain interest enough that, in theory, it will persuade people to see it. Mockumentary films have some of the same subconscious credibility as documentaries because the actors appear more real.

Unfortunately, I felt like the trailer was insufficient. The first 30 seconds were effective, but it dropped off and didn’t hold me in. In order for a trailer to be “sufficient” today, it must be short and to the point. This trailer lost a lot of potential audience members by trying to pack in too many jokes. In a trailer, one lame joke can ruin 20 good ones.

The untypical nature of this movie and trailer are actually quite typical of the independent, edgy comedy genre. The comedy was exactly what I expected and it made me laugh exactly the way I expected—just not as much as I expected. As a member of the target audience, I thought that the film accurately depicted the people I would expect to be Rock-Paper-Scissors fans. The humor used is relevant because the producers don’t care about people who aren’t in their target. The lines/scenes they chose best fit the typical comedy style that this audience watches.