Ok what i don't get is how these kind of cliches that have been shown a million times before still makes the producer or scriptwriter think they can make an emotional statement or whatever. Everytime i watch a film and the protagonist looks at a photograph of his dead son/daughter/father/ etc and theres a little emotional moment it just makes me cringe, i mean yeah the first time that was used it was probably pretty good but after seeing it in over a trillion films and shows its just goddamn boring. Then theres cloud lapse or time lapse where you see people walkng at quadruple speed, yeah the first that was shown that was pretty cool i bet but now its like the director needs to fill time on a low budget so "i know what how about a time lapse shot for old times sake" there are millions of other cliches and I would like this thread to be a place where people can list down their most annoying cliches
NO!!!! NOT THE GODDAMN PHOTO SHOT AGAIN!!
- Thread starter Motorstorm
- Start date
We can't get away from some cliches...they are part of storytelling. Some formulas work.
If you want the character to remember their dead parents...how should they do that? With flashback or pictures...those two ways are seen often because they work. As long as your 'looking at dead parent picture moment' works, and is interesting, I don't see too many other ways to get past this brief moment of storytelling.
I just worked on a movie that uses this (NUN OF THAT)...and the director Richard Griffin used this in one of the scenes. The lead character has a moment alone, and she opens a special box and looks at pictures of her as a kid with her parents. It's less than 30 seconds long, and is quickly broken by another character entering...but how else should we illustrate that she is thinking about her parents, now dead, and the reason she's on this mission of revenge? Flashback or photo right? Would a flashback in sepia be just as cliche? lol.
There are many cliche elements. Thousands that are used all the time. It's how we perceive the world, how we tell a story, and how we connect with other people. I agree that some things are annoyingly cliche (like a shot of the camera in a refrigerator as the door opens), but other things move the story along, which is OK to me.
If you want the character to remember their dead parents...how should they do that? With flashback or pictures...those two ways are seen often because they work. As long as your 'looking at dead parent picture moment' works, and is interesting, I don't see too many other ways to get past this brief moment of storytelling.
I just worked on a movie that uses this (NUN OF THAT)...and the director Richard Griffin used this in one of the scenes. The lead character has a moment alone, and she opens a special box and looks at pictures of her as a kid with her parents. It's less than 30 seconds long, and is quickly broken by another character entering...but how else should we illustrate that she is thinking about her parents, now dead, and the reason she's on this mission of revenge? Flashback or photo right? Would a flashback in sepia be just as cliche? lol.
There are many cliche elements. Thousands that are used all the time. It's how we perceive the world, how we tell a story, and how we connect with other people. I agree that some things are annoyingly cliche (like a shot of the camera in a refrigerator as the door opens), but other things move the story along, which is OK to me.
Personally i would much prefer a flashback but thats just me. Although flashbacks are usually quite cliched but more interesting as a whole
As a sound editor I do work for hire. If I don't give the client the cliche they usually complain.
Here's a list of film sound cliches and I've had to do many of them numerous times.
http://www.filmsound.org/cliche/
Here's a list of film sound cliches and I've had to do many of them numerous times.
http://www.filmsound.org/cliche/
For me it's all about the acting...if your actor is skilled enough to pull the audience in and make the audience feel that memory of the dead loved one, whether or not its a cliche isn't really important. But if it's a matter of "soft focus on photo of child on tree swing, actor looks out of window and sees empty tree swing, cue the fake tears" and there's no feeling, then the cliche should have been dropped in favor of something else.
Why is the Wilheim scream used so much?
Motorstorm I think you answered your own rant.
“Personally i would much prefer a flashback but thats just me.”
The reason these cliches that have been shown a lillion times
before still get used is because producers and screenwriters
personally much prefer the protagonist looking at a photograph,
but that’s just them.
I’m not annoyed by cliches so I can’t really give you a list. When
done well (like a well done flashback) a cliche can be very
effective.
“Personally i would much prefer a flashback but thats just me.”
The reason these cliches that have been shown a lillion times
before still get used is because producers and screenwriters
personally much prefer the protagonist looking at a photograph,
but that’s just them.
I’m not annoyed by cliches so I can’t really give you a list. When
done well (like a well done flashback) a cliche can be very
effective.
It actually became a kind of joke for sound designers to use it somewhere in any film that needed a scream. It's become so cliche that it has become annoying to me as a sound designer.
There has been a trend lately to "hide the Wilhelm" so that folks like myself have to listen very carefully a la "Where's Waldo?"
Sometimes it's a question of budget; taking a photo and sticking it in a frame is a lot less expensive than the day or two or three of shooting to do the flashback scene (crew, cast, permits, insurance, craft services, etc.). It can also be a question of time; the flashback would make the film a couple of minutes longer.