Why Hallmark Movies and John Wilsons 'The History of Concrete' take the mundane so seriously
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Set us as preferred Hallmark films have mastered the art of escalating low-stakes situations into high-stakes emotional emergency plotlines.They have made a lucrative business out of absurdities.The town’s ice sculpture competition is in danger of being canceled forever.
How can the Christmas celebration in Colorado go forward without a nice spruce? The only way to really save the bakery is to have a life-size gingerbread house competition.It’s a proven formula that leans into the ridiculousness of mundane situations but earns its audience every holiday season.Whether it’s watching the movies for comfort or to turn a viewing party into a drinking game, millions of people tune in to laugh or cry watching them.The Hallmark situations can be predictable, comfortable and wholesome, which can come off as absurd for a film plotline.
Their sincerity and humor come from the cast’s commitment to the mundane, said Ron Oliver, writer and director of many Hallmark films.“Funny is only funny if you don’t think it’s funny,” he said.“We know that’s ridiculous.
But at the same time, if the actor commits to it, it makes it seem real, then the audience gets it.”He likes to think they’re laughing along with the idiosyncratic elements of the movies, and as long as it is creating a communal atmosphere, Oliver is all for it.“If there’s anything we need these days, it’s a sense that people belong somewhere,” he added.The formula isn’t what makes a movie a Hallmark movie.The structure has existed since God wore shorts, said Oliver.
The channel’s achievement has been its ability to turn the structure into a recognizable brand through its stories.When filmmaker John Wilson was in between jobs after finishing his HBO show “How To With John Wilson” during the writers’ strike, he attended a seminar on how to wr...