Things your tired of in movies

[23skidoo]

Because I enjoy beating a dead horse, and since the OP opened the door by saying "techniques" I have to include 3-D. I won't rehash earlier arguments, but it adds nothing to a movie other than a bit of bling, is unnecessary in 100% of cases that I have seen, and takes me right out of the movie theatre, never mind the movie itself.

In terms of storytelling techniques, one I'm sick of is the format where the story begins with a hero in grave jeopardy and then we see an intertitle saying something like "43 hours earlier" and the story works back from there. It was an effective storytelling technique once upon a time, but it's been done to death so much I feel great disappointment when a show or film uses the crutch, because it's a cliche now right alongside the infamous Star Trek Voyager Reset Button (named in honor of the TV show that pushed it more often than any other show). The "43 hours earlier" technique I tend to call the "Alias Flashback" after the TV show that turned it into a cliche in my mind.

Alex

 

[Trekker4747]

I think the 3D thing is certainly over-played at this point as well.

Sure if the movie is "worth seeing" in 3D and was actually filmed in the format to any degree of skill I could see the value of it, but more often than not it seems it's just slapped together with a forced-conversion to 3D and then stuck out there with a $10 higher ticket price.

What-ev.

One thing tired of is using some-sort-of musical sting during a "scary moment" in a movie causing one to jump by more the sudden burst of noise than the actual "scare" itself.

Used to be movies were more scary out of atmosphere and tone -and by not showing the scary thing- than making you shit yourself because someone slammed their hands on the piano for a single note.

 

[sojourner]

The only movie I thought was enhanced by the 3d when I watched it was Tron: Legacy. The subject was just made for the medium.

What is "pushing the film/camera"?

 

[XFozzboute]

Not even sure if that's what is called but that is what I've heard it called. It's when a shot is moving along at a normal pace and then for no reason speeds up really fast and goes back to normal. It was done twice in Die Another Day. First as Bond is driving up to the Ice Hotel and once again inside the Hotel.

 

[Aldo]

Speed ramping, is the term.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Pop music montages! Especially in movies with any kind of romantic angle. How is an evolving relationship portrayed in movies? Why, by showing the couple moving their mouths and smiling a lot as they partake of numerous fun activities, with the only sound being some pop song. Hey, beats actually writing about it, huh?

 

[Forbin]

Movie littered with pop-culture references. Slob-comedies for young folk seem to be the main culprits (and TV sitcoms, of course). Okay, sure, they're funny now, but when someone watches the film 50 years from now, who wasn't alive now, will ANY of it be funny?

 

[Vendikarr]

Or when a character calls a character and tells them to turn the News on, then when the character does turn on the tv, it's at the exact point to get all the important information. They never turn it on when the story is over, or even in the middle of it.

Ever been watching the news and they say "after this commercial, an update on the hostage crisis/alien invasion/pie eating contest/whatever" ? So the other character sees that, thinks "my friend needs that info", so he has to look for his phone, then look up his number, misdials, tries again, finally calls him and connects and tells him to turn on the TV right as the news comes back from commercial. Why is that so hard to believe?

And if it's a major event, then the 24 hour news channels will be replaying it constantly, so the odds of a character turning on the news channel and it being the event that's important to the plot of the movie are actually pretty good.

These days you would be better off calling your friend and telling him to head over to the ZNN website (or whatever fake website) because he has to see whatever they are covering.

 

[TheSeeker]

What is "pushing the film/camera"?

Not even sure if that's what is called but that is what I've heard it called. It's when a shot is moving along at a normal pace and then for no reason speeds up really fast and goes back to normal. It was done twice in Die Another Day. First as Bond is driving up to the Ice Hotel and once again inside the Hotel.

Pushing film is actually the process of pushing film past the manufacturers recommeded settings when developing it. Linky

 

[spot_loves_data]

The bad guy who won't die - he's just been shot in the face and thrown off a building, but he's still able to pull out a pistol to get off one last shot.

 

[milo bloom]

Movie littered with pop-culture references. Slob-comedies for young folk seem to be the main culprits (and TV sitcoms, of course). Okay, sure, they're funny now, but when someone watches the film 50 years from now, who wasn't alive now, will ANY of it be funny?

You know, I picked up one of the Looney Tunes 4 disc DVD sets a few weeks ago and watched a couple of the shorts, and one of them was called Lights Fantastic, and it was basically the neon signs of 1942 New York Times Square brought to life. Most of the gags were incomprehensible, but some were still amusing. Either way it was a nice little time capsule of society of that time period.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034977/

 

[Jax]

Every film needing a fucking romatic interest I don't care if female demographics if like that shit they can watch something else.

Also post credits scene, there called end credits for a reason.

 

[RandyS]

Pop music montages! Especially in movies with any kind of romantic angle. How is an evolving relationship portrayed in movies? Why, by showing the couple moving their mouths and smiling a lot as they partake of numerous fun activities, with the only sound being some pop song. Hey, beats actually writing about it, huh?

You beat me to it, but I agree completely.

 

[TheSeeker]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQvNu8LoTo0[/yt]

 

[sojourner]

^That bit has ruined so many movies for me.

I think the use of post end credit scenes can trace it's popularity to Ferris Bueller. It may not have been the first movie to do it, but it definitely made it popular.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I don't mind post-credits scenes if they're just little easter eggs for the die-hard fans. As long as it's not required to watch a post-credits scene to fully "get" a movie, I'm cool with it.

 

[milo bloom]

I don't mind post-credits scenes if they're just little easter eggs for the die-hard fans. As long as it's not required to watch a post-credits scene to fully "get" a movie, I'm cool with it.

Eh, I'm okay with them here and there. Sometimes it's extra footage that helps the movie, but doesn't always fit in with the rest of the footage. The coda in Rise of the Planet of the Apes is like that. The first ending is fine, but the extra bit helps set the stage for the sequel a little better.

 

[scotpens]

What is "pushing the film/camera"?

Not even sure if that's what is called but that is what I've heard it called. It's when a shot is moving along at a normal pace and then for no reason speeds up really fast and goes back to normal. It was done twice in Die Another Day. First as Bond is driving up to the Ice Hotel and once again inside the Hotel.

Speed ramping, is the term.

And it was already done to death by the early 2000s.

"Pushing" means deliberately over-developing film to compensate for underexposure, or to create a stark, contrasty, grainy effect.

EDIT: Or, what TheSeeker said.

Movie littered with pop-culture references. Slob-comedies for young folk seem to be the main culprits (and TV sitcoms, of course). Okay, sure, they're funny now, but when someone watches the film 50 years from now, who wasn't alive now, will ANY of it be funny?

You know, I picked up one of the Looney Tunes 4 disc DVD sets a few weeks ago and watched a couple of the shorts, and one of them was called Lights Fantastic, and it was basically the neon signs of 1942 New York Times Square brought to life. Most of the gags were incomprehensible, but some were still amusing. Either way it was a nice little time capsule of society of that time period.

And what about all those old cartoons with caricatures of contemporary movie stars and other celebrities? And the wartime cartoons filled with jokes about ration books, blackouts and Meatless Tuesdays? Young people might have their curiosity piqued enough to want to learn something about the times in which those cartoons were made.

Anyway, who the hell will be watching Wayne's World 50 years from now?

 

[cultcross]

One that occurred to me whilst watching Iron Man today - characters who wake up in hospitals and immediately pull off any leads, pull out any IVs and NG tubes and generally do similar things that are really stupid.

Another one, same inspiration: the thing that kills you in a car crash or similar situation (like falling) is rapid deceleration, not the fact that you hit something hard with your weak human skin. Both Batman and Iron Man should be goo on the inside of their suits when they hit the floor from a great height, fancy tech or no fancy tech. I don't see crumple zones and air bags in the Iron Man suit.

"Recovering" from paralysis. This one I saw most recently in Downton Abbey of all places. Character is crippled - drama, drama. But you know there'll be a miracle of some sort and they'll walk again because no-one's quite brave enough to have a character be permanently disabled. My father-in-law was paraplegic following a broken back, so this one enrages the mrs.

 

[RoJoHen]

Another one, same inspiration: the thing that kills you in a car crash or similar situation (like falling) is rapid deceleration, not the fact that you hit something hard with your weak human skin. Both Batman and Iron Man should be goo on the inside of their suits when they hit the floor from a great height, fancy tech or no fancy tech. I don't see crumple zones and air bags in the Iron Man suit.

Iron Man clearly has inertial dampeners.