Graduating IB Film student talks comedy

One of the hits of the evening was seven-minute comedy Interfeud, with direction and editing credited to Juno Goralski and writing to Tim Marcotte — although all roles were group efforts, as this was the final collaborative project for IB Film Studies. The main crew — all boarding students — also included cinematographer Olivier Chan and sound designer Ethan Neller. Nils Leipertz played drums for the score.  

The film was shot on campus, and features UCC staff and boarders. 

An amusing send-up of bro culture, Interfeud tells the story of Liam O’Connell (played by Neller) and Mike (Goralski), who repeatedly compete at job interviews. Their rivalry turns nasty until they learn they share the same idol, Muhammad Ali. They decide to pitch themselves to potential employers as a duo, but things get sticky when Liam gets a solo offer. 

Goralski spoke to UCC News about the team’s process. 

Comedy is challenging. What did you consider in trying to create something people would find humorous?
 

Mr. Crawford, our film teacher, warned us about the dangers of comedy films — that it’s hard to make something a general audience would find funny. We tried to tackle comedy in the first three films we made together in the past two years. They’re good for a smirk or a chuckle, but not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny. So with this final project, we figured we should go for it and make something we’re going to find over-the-top funny. If we enjoy it and have fun making it, it will be meaningful to us. So we gave it our best. There are some helpful cinematic techniques we picked up from research and from Mr. Crawford. 

You’d have to notice the parallels in Interfeud to the Will Ferrell movie Step Brothers (2008). We were inspired not only by its interview scenes, but also by the banter and [physical comedy]. We were also inspired by various skits on YouTube. And the three other members of our production team like to joke around. So a lot of the comedy comes from the personality of our crew. 

We’re super-lucky for the resources we have in IB Film. We shot with Canon EOS R5 cameras and L-series lenses. Mr. Crawford has different lights, tripods, sliders, as well as research books on the shelf and a class about comedy editing. Having him around to answer questions about lighting and bounce ideas off really helped get this project done. It makes me sad to be leaving IB Film, because if I ever want to make something again, I won’t have those resources. 

 

No. I’ll be going to McGill in the fall to study either engineering or business. But I’ll try to stay involved with filmmaking somehow.