Line #17 Series/MyLifeInFilm


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/my_life_in_film.jpg]]
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3	->''"So I've started work on a new script..."''
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5	'''''My Life in Film''''' was a short comedy series about the life of a self-styled [[CatchPhrase independent low budget film maker]] whose adventures whilst looking for inspiration for his new screenplay took on certain tropes off films that had previously explored the genre. Or, to put it more simply, it was a skillful parody of six well-known films set in everyday suburbia, with a narrative working over the course of the series. The episodes weren't titled but each episode takes so many stylistic elements from its targets - musical style, lighting, cinematography, clothing, poses - not to mention subversion of the classic lines - that the parodies were obvious to anyone who'd seen the originals.
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7	The protagonist, Art, lives in a large flat with his long-sufferring and slightly naive roommate/best friend Jones, and Jones' girlfriend Beth, whom Art hates (it's mutual). They both keep getting unwittingly drawn into Art's cinematic psychoses. The episodes were as follows:
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9	* Film/RearWindow: After spying on a pretty girl across the yard from his bedroom window and witnessing an argument, Art becomes convinced that her boyfriend has killed, dismembered, buried her and cooked the remains into soup.
10	* Film/TheShining: Art babysits his nephew Danny, but thinks there's a psychopath on the prowl trying to kill them.
11	* Film/TopGun: Frustrated at not being able to pass his driving test, Art joins an elite driving school and gets romantically entangled with his instructor.
12	* Film/ShallowGrave: After they forget to feed the neighbour's fish, Hugo, the trio discover a paltry sum of money in the sofa. Jones is forced to bury the fish and suffers something of a breakdown, the money goes missing, and an atmosphere of mutual distrust soon develops.
13	* Film/EightAndAHalf: Enlisted to film Jones' sister's wedding, Art undergoes a professional crisis at his complete inability to make a film.
14	* Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid: After Art fails to pay the rent, he and Jones are chased by the landlord and is forced to flee to the Isle of Man.
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17	!!'''As well as parodying the tropes in the films listed above, this series provides examples of:'''
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19	* BookEnds: Each episode starts with Art telling some unwitting stranger about his latest idea for a script, which happens to be the plot outline for the film they'll be parodying that week. The episodes then end with Art doing a voiceover of another idea he's had for a script, which is always another film plot that runs on from the events of the episode. For example, in The Shining episode, Art hurts his foot after running around with an axe. Just before the credits roll he's being tended to by their elderly neighbour and thinking about a script that bears a passing resemblance to ''{{Film/Misery}}''.
20	* BritishBrevity: Six episodes only
21	* DoubleEntendre: Plenty, including inverted where Art thinks people are making sly references to sex... but aren't.
22	* FawltyTowersPlot: The Shallow Grave episode
23	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Art and Jones
24	* HypocriticalHumour: "This is no pervert voyeur that can't get a girlfriend"
25	* IdiotBall: Art throws this around a lot, and Jones is frequently caught in the crossfire.
26	* JerkAss: Art, in spades. He's completely reliant on Jones for almost everything, yet treats him and everyone else with contempt.
27	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: No DVD release, even in the UK. You can watch the sublime Top Gun episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmY52Hg7JMU here]] however.
28	* LargeHam: In-universe, Art reacts to everything with supremely exaggerated emotion and broken clichés
29	** After being caught in the ladies toilet by the woman he spectacularly failed to impress at the bar:
30	-->"I came in here to check the sink. Looks good."
31	-->"You don't look like a plumber..."
32	-->"Neither do you"
33	* LastNameBasis: Even Jones' immediate family call him Jones
34	* MeaningfulName: Art the, uh, "artist"
35	* NotWhatItLooksLike: More a not what it sounds like, involving a cricket bat
36	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Art's sex/parking scene.
37	* PenName: Art signs his screenplays with a different "artistic" pseudonym, such as Art von Kapel or Arturo Capelli
38	* PoorCommunicationKills: An inversion with the half-heard telephone conversation that convinces Art that a murder has taken place. The person on the other end of the phone is the woman who Art thinks has been killed.
39	* RuleOfFunny: Heavily present in-universe
40	* RunningGag: Art sneezes whenever Beth walks in the room; he claims he's allergic to her. He's actually allergic to her perfume, which Beth switches with his nasal spray in a fit of drunken revenge.
41	* ShirtlessScene: The ping-pong match
42	* SeriousBusiness: Art and his work
43	--> "I'm a filmmaker! I'm married to the moving image, my wife is celluloid! Charlie... she can only ever be my mistress."
44	* TitleDrop: An interesting variation where the tagline from the original movie is frequently worked into the script
45	* {{Troperiffic}}: The whole point of the show.
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Context Series / MyLifeInFilm