More Movie Clichés

Hello everybody,

I want to continue with the discussion about stereotypes and clichés in cinema, but now I want to focus on specific shots. It would be great, if everbody would think of a movie, which contains shots as the following:

1) The Staircase
Camera pointing up- and downwards in a staircase, Vertigo and M are famous examples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCWRzRCBGKk


2) The Door
A hand is shown, which pushes down a doorhandle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCG3xsStwK4


3) Staring at something
People staring wildly in the sky, mostly for alien-related reasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H_o2w7j1ho


4) Watching TV
A group of people watches TV and they really concentrate on doing so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6MJMdzbsqU


5) Gun
Somebody points a gun at the camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wzan_2pnJs


6) Mirror
Someone is standing behind himyou! – Very predictable …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6xT2idgyi8


7) Witness
Somebody wittnessing a crime. Mostly the violent act isn’t shown, only the visual expression tells us, how horrible it was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugUMIbdsTnE


8) Duct Tape
Somebody is gaged with a piece of duct tape. It gets removed and that hurts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGk-wKeQqQ


9) Window
A reflection of somebody is shown in the window of a limousine. The window is winded down and the dialogue can begin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDDcLVtee8U


10) Stairs
Something scary is waiting upstairs. So better pause before ascending and think twice …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VweYriXdC0
 
Hello everybody,

I want to continue with the discussion about stereotypes and clichés in cinema, but now I want to focus on specific shots. It would be great, if everbody would think of a movie, which contains shots as the following:

1) The Staircase
Camera pointing up- and downwards in a staircase, Vertigo and M are famous examples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCWRzRCBGKk


2) The Door
A hand is shown, which pushes down a doorhandle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCG3xsStwK4


3) Staring at something
People staring wildly in the sky, mostly for alien-related reasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H_o2w7j1ho


4) Watching TV
A group of people watches TV and they really concentrate on doing so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6MJMdzbsqU


5) Gun
Somebody points a gun at the camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wzan_2pnJs


6) Mirror
Someone is standing behind himyou! – Very predictable …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6xT2idgyi8


7) Witness
Somebody wittnessing a crime. Mostly the violent act isn’t shown, only the visual expression tells us, how horrible it was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugUMIbdsTnE


8) Duct Tape
Somebody is gaged with a piece of duct tape. It gets removed and that hurts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGk-wKeQqQ


9) Window
A reflection of somebody is shown in the window of a limousine. The window is winded down and the dialogue can begin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDDcLVtee8U


10) Stairs
Something scary is waiting upstairs. So better pause before ascending and think twice …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VweYriXdC0

There really should be a sticky on how to properly use this website. :)
 
Hm, that is weird …
What did I do wrong?

Thank you for fixing it!

Soooo, any idea about these shots? :)
Thanks drc, I will check it out right away!
 
Hm, that is weird …
What did I do wrong?

Thank you for fixing it!

Soooo, any idea about these shots? :)
Thanks drc, I will check it out right away!

Yeah, my thoughts on these shots are that they tend to work well. Cliche, for a reason. If any filmmaker is genius enough to think of some creative alternative, more power to them, but I don't fault anybody who uses these types of shots (and I don't exclude myself from that list).

As an example, the shot that you listed as #3 -- that's just a horrible shot, and I don't care about the context of the movie it came from. The pacing is bad, the acting is stilted, I can hardly believe people were paid top-dollars for that shit. However, that doesn't mean that the everybody-looks-to-the-sky shot can't be super effective.

Be creative. Try something different. But don't feel bad if you want to use something that is tried-and-true.
 
1. All telephone numbers in America begin with the digits 555.
2. Medieval peasants had perfect teeth.
3. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there, and you can travel to any other part of the building you want without difficulty.
4. Any person waking from a nightmare will sit bolt upright and pant.
5. It is always possible to park directly outside the building you are visiting.
6. A cough is usually the sign of a terminal illness.
7. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
8. No matter how badly a spaceship is attacked, its internal gravity system is never damaged.
9. The more a man and a woman hate each other, the more likely they will fall in love.
10. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they’re going to go off.
11. Cars that crash will almost always burst into flames.
12. A cup of black coffee or a splash of cold water in the face is enough to render the most inebriated person stone cold sober.
13. If you try hard enough, you can outrun an explosion.
14. If you stick your head out of cover during a gun fight, it will never be hit, especially if you look backwards to hold a conversation with someone behind you.
15. Police Departments give their officers personality tests to make sure they are assigned partners who are their total opposite.
16. Honest and hard working policemen are traditionally gunned down three days before their retirement.
17. You’re very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.
18. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.
19. Computers never display a cursor on screen but always say: Enter Password Now.
20. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off — even while scuba diving.
21. All watches and clocks are synchronized to the second.
22. No matter how fuzzy the photograph, it can be enlarged and enhanced to show the finest detail.
23. Nearly everyone speaks English, no matter where they are from. Even aliens from outer space, despite the fact they have never been to Earth, seen an Earthling, or even heard of Earth or Earthlings.
24. No matter how catastrophic the disaster, pets will always survive it.
25. There will always be a doctor in a plane or building with the right medical supplies.
26. No matter how dead you think you’ve killed a bad guy, he can still get up at least three more times.
27. People rarely use the bathroom, and if they do, they’re usually dead within minutes.
28. Most laptop computers are powerful enough to override the communication systems of any invading alien civilization.
29. Cemeteries generate their own weather. Usually rainstorms… and not just gentle sprinkles, but biblical downpours.
30. When paying for a taxi, don’t look at your wallet as you take out a bill — just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.
31. Most people keep a scrapbook of newspaper clippings — especially if any of their family or friends have died in a strange boating accident.
32. Cars that fly off cliffs spontaneously combust in midair for no apparent reason.
33. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your room will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish.
34. All computer disks will work in all computers, regardless of software.
35. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment that it is aired.
36. Close blood relatives usually look nothing like each other, or have only a passing resemblance.
37. Any lock can be picked by a credit card or a paper clip in seconds — unless it’s the door to a burning building with a child trapped inside.
38. When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.
39. An electric fence that’s powerful enough to kill a dinosaur will cause no lasting damage to an eight-year-old child.
40. If your town is threatened by an imminent natural disaster or killer beast, the mayor’s first concern will be the tourist trade or his forthcoming art exhibition.
41. It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts — your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors.
42. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating, but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.
43. If you are trapped in a tunnel, in a sinking ship, or a burning building, a cute little girl, a nun, and a feisty granny will be trapped with you.
44. All writers are wealthy; all publishing companies are glamorous; all artists are self-supporting and have large attractive well-lit loft studios.
45. Action heroes never face charges for manslaughter or criminal damage despite laying entire cities to waste.
46. During all police investigations it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.
47. If an expert makes a prediction and is disbelieved, then it will come to pass exactly as he predicted. If he makes a prediction and is believed, it won’t happen.
48. If there is a large bump in a downhill road, a speeding car will fly over it and hit the ground in shower of sparks. Unsecured passengers will not be injured, and no tire damage, broken axles, or suspension failures will occur. The car will then execute a sharp turn involving a skid.
49. Dogs always know who’s bad and will naturally bark at them.
50. Text appearing on a computer monitor appears letter by letter and making a sound as if it was produced by a typewriter.
 
Air ducts are silent, to expand on Alcove's list, and don't sound like someone beating on a trash can every step.

Also, every scene in Star Wars that actually has a railing also shows someones hand being lopped off by a light sabre. Check it out...city in the clouds, no railing. Luke on his first Father's Day...railing.
 
Alcove, did u type this or do u have a file laying around with the 50 points?

It's from another site.

Here's a few more...

ANIMALS

Animals are never ever silent - dogs whine/bark/yip, cats meow or purr, cows moo, even in cases where most animals wouldn't be making a sound.

Rats, mice, squirels and other vermin always make the tiny little squeeky noises constantly while they are on screen.

Dolphins always make that same "dolphin chatter" sound when spinning, jumping, etc.

Snakes are always rattling

Crickets in winter and peepers in the fall

Dogs always know who's bad, and bark at them.

Insects always sound wet

It's the same Cat scream over & over.

Sound effects editor Peter Steinbach once tried to record his own cat scream by stepping on it's tail. His advice: - You only have one take. Step hard! (and dont wear shorts)

BIRDS

Red-tailed hawk screeching

Whenever we see a hawk or a bald eagle, the sound is always that same red-tailed hawk screeching sound that's been around since the 50's!

Always just before/or after some dramatic part of an adventure flick, you will here the screeching of a red-tailed hawk.

Whenever a cliff or mountain is shown, especially if it's high, the Red-tailed hawk will screech.

The Red-Tailed Hawk scree signifies outdoors and a big, lonely place

Owls sound like Great Horned Owl. (a bird, that for the most part seems invisible)

In a horror film when there is a full moon there is either an owl or a wolf howling in the distance.

The Loon is mostly found in lakes in North America. In the movies it seems to be just about anywhere in the world.

Kookaburras (a type of large Australian kingfisher) are inhabitants of African/South American jungles, not Australian open forest. (laughing bird sound, see most Tarzan films).


BICYCLES

All bicycles have bells (that sounds)

BOMBS & EXPLOSIONS

Bombs always have big, blinking, beeping timer displays.

If something explodes, it takes about a minute for the explosions to stop

Explosions always happen in slow motion. When an explosion occurs, make certain you are running away from the point of detonation so the blast can send you flying, in slow motion, toward the camera.

Bombs "whistle" when falling from a plane

CARS

Car tires "always" screech on dirt roads.

Car breaks must always squeak

Car tires must always squeal when the car turns, pulls away or stops

On big budget films- whenver a car does any maneuver It must accelerate - ideally to the point of peeling out! even if it is going under 20mph

In a route we hear a large truck and a horn with Doppler effect

COMPUTERS

Every button you press on a computer makes some kind of beep

Text being spelled out on screen (whether computer or lower third) MUST make some sort of typing and/or dot-matrix-printer type of sound.

in foreign language versions of u.s. movies computers show their messages in english, but they all can speak!

ENVIRONMENT

Castle Thunder - Until around the late '80s, whenever you heard a thunderclap in a movie, it was probably "Castle Thunder".


Storms start instantaneously: there's a crack of thunder and lightning, then heavy rain starts falling.

Thunder is always in sync with the lightning, and the explosion sounds are always in sync with the stuff blowing up, no matter how far away. Same for fireworks

Whisteling types of wind are always used

Non-stop bubbles underwater

Doors always squeek

Enviromental sound to a shoot with the window open, are always next to a schoolyard or a construction-site.

When in San Francisco, no matter where you are, you always hear a cable car and or a fog horn.

Exterior Ambiences: No matter where you are outside, if it's not in the city, you hear a lonely cricket chirping

Trains: we always hear the same old classic distant trainhorn over and over again.

in U.S. films playing in big cities there's always a police horn in the background - in films from other countries... never!!!!

When a light bulb gets broken, there's always a kind of electric sound

Whenever there is a fight or commotion going on in the upstairs of a house, the person downstairs won't hear a thing because the noise of gunshots, chairs falling over, screams etc will be totally masked by the following sounds; the phone ringing, the washing machine beginning its spin cycle, the dog barking, a drink is being whizzed up in the liquidiser or the maid beginning the vacuum cleaning. .

HELICOPTERS & AIRPLANES

Helicopters always fly from surround to front-speakers.

People standing outside a running helicopter can always talk in normal or just slightly louder than normal voices

Every helicopter shutting down emits the chirp-chirp-chirp sound of the rubber drive belts disengaging, in spite of the fact that only the famous Bell 47G (the Mash chopper) actually makes this sound.

Piston helicopters always start up with screaming turbine engine sounds.

An approaching airplane or helicopter will make no noise until it is directly over the characters, at which point it will suddenly become thunderingly loud.

Characters will never hear an approaching airplane or helicopter, even though in real life you would hear them approaching for at least a minute before they were close enough to see. This also holds true for approaching armies on horseback and tank battallions.

The tires of any jet screech upon landing

Any airplane in a dive will make a whining noise that will get louder and higher-pitched the longer the dive lasts.


KNIFE

When a character pulls out a knife, even from his pants, you hear a sound of metal brushing metal

LANGUAGE & VOICE

The WILHELM Scream
A series of short painful screams performed by an actor were recorded in 1951 for the Warner Brother's film "Distant Drums." They were used for a scene where a man is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator. The recording was archived into the studio's sound effects library -- and it was used in many of their films since. "Star Wars" Sound Designer Ben Burtt tracked down the scream recording - which he named "Wilhelm" from a character who let out the same scream in "Charge at Feather River (1953)." Ben has adopted the scream as sort of a personal sound signature, and has worked it into as many films as he can.


The same women's recorded voice is heard in every spaceship, space-station, government building, etc. announcing something to the effect of the main computer has been shut down, this ship will self destruct in one minute.

Baby crying and bad news

The Godfather: when Don Corleone is shot, Sonny barges in to his house and announces this. Followed by baby crying.

Snow Falling on Cedars: the sheriff announces to a woman that her fisherman husband is dead. Followed by baby crying

Kids can always whisper even if their two inchs away from a villian - he won't hear. If they step on a branch however, the villians will immediatly know its not some animal, and catch them.

Scream
Whenever someone falls off of a cliff or building, no matter how much damage they take beforehand, they scream, even if they were shot through the lungs twenty or thirty times, or were apparently unconscious.

When villains fall to their deaths, you can hear their screams gradually fade out, even if they only fall ten feet or so.

When there's a police car standing, there are always hundreds of voices in it's radio.

People's voices on telephones (and answering machines) always sound just like their normal voice, except a little bit more nasal. Their voices are never distorted by things like holding the mouthpiece too close to their face or breathing through their mouth.

Character Acting: A Cockney accent is always as per Dick van Dyke from Mary Poppins.

MARTIAL ART

Arm and legs of karate-actors always make a funny "swish" sound when they kick,hit or jump, they also tend to scream in a funny way prior to any fighting-action.

MICROPHONES

Anytime a person speaks into a microphone, their first words will cause the mic to feed back.

The first spoken words must be either 'Testing, Testing' or 'One Two,One Two'

MOTORCYCLES

Motorcycle engines in movies can inexplicably change from 4-stroke Otto cycle to 2-stroke cycle operation.

Motorcycles usually change from Harley Davidson choppers when engaged in highway operations to Yamaha Dirt bikes when operated off-road (as in "Then Came Bronson").

Police Harleys will morph into Triumph Bonnevilles when operating in tight quarters (on the ship in "Magnum Force").

MOVING GRAPHIC

Any moving graphic on a sports broadcast (esp. NBC) has to use the same "fireball" sound effect.

MUSIC

When the star travels to...

London, we see a shot of Big Ben and hear Rule,Britainia.

Hong Kong: a Chinese junk and wooden xylophone music (or a deep gong).

New York: a traffic jam on Broadway and frenetic xylophone music.

Paris: the Eiffel Tower and accordion music.

Radio
When listening to music on the radio in the car, the song on the radio never changes during a single scene. The scene rarely outlasts the song...if it does, one of the characters will turn the radio off before the end of the song.

There are never any commercials on the radio.

It's always easy to find romantic makeout music on the radio right when you need it.

PEOPLE

The DJ allways turns the music down when actors talk in disco and club-scenes

Those tiny people far, far away in that long shot on the beach should always sound like they're talking directly into your ear - no matter how far away they are, even though they're whispering . . .

People in a wide open field or dense forest can make their voice echo if they yell loud enough.

When you get punched in the face, it sounds like you broke a salami over the back of a chair

All kisses need to sound sloppy and wet.

Blood will always squish when oozing from a wound.

Dreams are always drenched in a lot of reverb.

People never answer the door until the doorbell or knocking has sounded at least three times

SPACE

It is now the modern era, and thus, sound has been installed in space by the elimination of that nasty vacuum problem.

Explosions in space make noise

There's a deep humming in space, no doubt about it

Sounds in space must have some element of a flanger involved

SPEED OF SOUND

Applies to absolutely every movie: Some noisy event (crash, shot, explosion) occurs at quite a distance from the camera. Nevertheless, the sound is heard at the same instant. The speed of sound - usually 300 meters per second - here always is the same as the speed of light. (But not everyone - Titanic has a long shot as the boat starts sinking where a signal flare is set off. The sound follows a good 2 seconds behind)

SURROUND

lmost any huge surround sound explosion. In fact generally the use of surround in any action or action-drama film. Everything is everywhere, with a crystal-clear glistening 20Hz - 20KHz bandwidth.

WEAPONS & GUNS

A fired gun never recoils.

Guns (handguns, rifles, machineguns etc) have a really deep "BOOOMMM!!" sound not a "CRACK!". Also, the there's old cliche about the number of rounds the average magazine holds, the good guys almost never run out of ammo, and they seem to be able to use a handgun accurately to over a 100 meter range (accuracy of weapons over distance is pretty much a factor of barrel length - handguns are for CLOSE distances).

All sub machine guns sound alike and have the same rate of fire

Machine guns and their rate of fire ... most users of these weapons can manage to sustain over 10 second continuous rate of fire (in actuality, you are supposed to fire the things in short bursts -- after a long burst the barrel will heat up so much the weapon will jam). Also I have never ever seen any protagonist change a MGs *barrel* no matter how long he has used the MG. (the barrels overheat, and also sustain incrediable wear requiring these to be changed -- often in battle, the gunner's mate will carry spare barrels as well as the inexhaustible ammo supply which weighs next-to-nothing). Esp. WW2 era weapons.

Bullets always ricochet, and they must travel pretty slow because the "rico" is 1/2 second later after it moves 50 feet
All bullets make a distinct riccochet sound and when flying past you they make a zip noise when in fact they are moving faster than the speed of sound and in real life would produce a whip lash or bang sound

Handguns: All handguns make a frightening clicking sound when handled as though to suggest that the parts are loose. The more advanced the gun (Men in Black) the louder, and more varried, the clicking. In real life any gun making noises like that would probably explode in your hand with the first discharge. Note: All energy type weapons will power up with a loud hum.

MISC

In the M&E-Mix you always have to hear footsteps (and cloth rubbing) that where never heared on the original sound track. [M&E (Music & Effects) is a special mix which is done to prepare for foreign language (dubbed) versions of a film]

Approaching Sherman tanks at a range of fifty yards, roaring at a level that loosens teeth and sphincters alike, are never so loud as to obscure that "Foleyed" woollen sweater the officer is moving as he raises his binoculars.
 
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