shaun of the dead

Quote of the Week

Throwing records at approaching zombies

Ed: Purple Rain.

Shaun: No.

Ed: Sign o’ the Times.

Shaun: Definitely not.

Ed: The Batman soundtrack?

Shaun: Throw it.

Ed: Dire Straits.

Shaun: Throw it.

Ed: Stone Roses?

Shaun: No.

Ed (Nick Frost)/Shaun (Simon Pegg)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Posted on by Chick 1 in Movie Quotes 144 Comments

Troperiffic Tuesday!: Chekhov’s Gun

Chick 1 says:

Welcome back to Troperiffic Tuesday!  This week we’re looking at one of the basic tenets of storytelling, Chekhov’s Gun.  The trope is based on a principle espoused by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.  Chekhov said it a variety of ways but it comes down to this, “If you have a gun on stage, it better go off before the end of the play.”

Chekhov’s Gun falls under the Law of Conservation of Detail which teaches writers to make every word, every bit of dialogue count.  If it doesn’t drive the story, don’t waste your precious time with it.  In movies you only have 90-120 minutes to tell a story, on TV only 22-43 minutes so every detail has to count.  Don’t introduce any element that distracts from the story. Read more

Posted on by Chick 1 in Tropes 7,447 Comments