the incredibles

Troperiffic Tuesday!: Car Fu

Chick 1 says:

Welcome back to Troperiffic Tuesday!  This week we take a look at one of my favorite action movie tropes.  When in a tight spot, the Hero often has to improvise a way to defend himself or others.  He may not have a weapon; maybe he’s the kind of Hero who Doesn’t Like Guns (a la MacGyver).  If he and his entourage are trying to escape, they may turn to one of the biggest and most easily obtainable weapons around, the car.  Let’s hope our Hero is skilled in the not-so-ancient art of Car Fu. Read more

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 60 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 July 3, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 8,690 Comments