Frankie Browne and Amelia Hunt are both active in the Cambridge theatre and comedy scene, but this year they’ve taken their talents to the screen, working on a series of short comedy films. With Frankie behind the camera and Amelia starring, these films have become a place for them to explore their shared passion for unsettling humour. I sat down with them to hear more about this project, and to discuss how film can work in tandem with Cambridge’s student theatre and comedy scene.

What was your experience with theatre and comedy before these films?

“The process of making these films is meant to be easy going, so it’s really important to have people you really trust”

Frankie: I used to love performing when I was younger, but you couldn’t really perform stuff you had written, so I got into making films. Then, when I came to Cambridge, I realised it was actually the other way around – it was much easier to perform stuff you had written than film stuff you had written.

Amelia: I haven’t done as much as I’d like, I’ve mainly just done sketch shows – I’ve been slightly daunted by the idea of doing a smoker. It’s quite different doing a film where you don’t have the audience’s response, and it’s been really nice to step away a bit from live performances to do these.

How did your collaboration on these films come about?

Frankie: A while ago, I wrote a script for a short that was set in a laundry room, but I never got around to filming it, and part of the reason was that I didn’t know who would be the lead. Then, when I saw you [Amelia] in something, I realised that you could be the lead. And then when we met, and we found similar things funny, I realised that this is someone I could do a lot of this stuff with – who has a similar sense of humour and a similar tone. When I went away to write more stuff, I had you in mind and I thought I would be able to get away with a lot more if you were the lead. When I realised I wanted to do these shorts, I knew I wanted to do them with you. The process of making these films is meant to be easy going, so it’s really important to have people you really trust.

Amelia, did you find Frankie’s writing easy to act? Because you seem very comfortable with his unsettling humour.

Amelia: Some of it feels a little bit tailored to, I suppose (laughs). Footlights is great for finding what you, specifically, find funny – everybody in there does have their own style, so it’s interesting to see how that can be placed into film.

How do the scripts you have worked with for comedy on stage differ to these film scripts?

Amelia: When you do a Cambridge comedy night, there’s an expectation that you have to do jokes. The film scripts feel very different to reading a sketch script, it’s not building up to a joke where all of the lines are sort of instrumental to a punch line.

“I think audiences have got into their heads that they need a punch line when they don’t”

Frankie: Punchlines are weird. I think audiences have got into their heads that they need a punch line when they don’t. Even though they groan at them, they still still want it.

Amelia: It’s interesting: with the films, I’ll send them to my friends and they’ll all have very different reactions. They’ll enjoy it, but they won’t necessarily understand that it’s meant to be funny. I get asked “why are you so weird?”.

Frankie: I think there’s a kind of resistance to getting different reactions. Sometimes there are things that are funny because they are strange, and you may not laugh but it does stay with you. A lot of things make you laugh in the moment but leave you straight away. It feels safer to experiment with film, without the immediate reaction – in a lot of ways you’re more in control.

Is this something that you wish you could have had in your first or second year, maybe more opportunities for informal or experimental filmmaking?

Frankie: I would have liked to have done more stuff like this, but I think there’s a kind of fear of being rough with film. Whereas everyone wants to be a bit rougher in theatre, there’s a pressure with film that, because it’s recorded, it has to be good. But I think sometimes it’s okay to make stuff which doesn’t have that expectation and can therefore be a bit more free and a bit more rough. It doesn’t mean it can’t be discovered or enjoyed. I think I spent my first two years working towards one big film, and it was good, but it was only five minutes. It made me realise I didn’t actually learn that much because I spent so long with the same script. I think it’s worth people just recognising that it doesn’t have to be perfect if it’s a film. All of ours are basically one-night shows because we’ve filmed them in one day.

“I now long [to do] live stuff, when I probably never would have done it before. It forces you to think a bit differently”

What’s it like on shoot days as the lead actor? Does the script tend to change throughout the day?

Amelia: I sort of learn the scripts in the morning. Or while we’re filming. There’s always a script behind the camera.

Frankie: Quite often if you forget a line or it doesn’t stay with you it’s not that important.

Amelia: The shorts all feel like they’re within the same universe, it’s not a completely dissimilar character every time. I may not remember all the lines, but I can anticipate the gist of them.

Do you feel like your experience on stage has changed your approach to film, or vice versa?

Amelia: I definitely wouldn’t have done anything like this if Frankie hadn’t asked me to, and I’m really happy that I have because I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to do something so different to performing on stage.

Frankie: It’s a shame that people who think in film terms don’t necessarily have a space to go to. But the positive thing about Cambridge theatre is that I now long [to do] live stuff, when I probably never would have done it before. It forces you to think a bit differently.

Amelia: I think it forces you to perform things because you can end up writing a lot of sketches, but then start thinking they’re not very funny and get in your own head about it and end up not making anything.

Frankie: Yeah, it’s much easier to do that. The great thing about sketch comedy is it stops you overthinking, and I probably wouldn’t have made these films if it wasn’t for doing sketch comedy. I think student theatre and film can go hand in hand, but maybe they should go hand in hand more often.