Overused techniques?
- Thread starter RED ROBOT
- Start date
Zombies. I can't understand the obsession with Zombies.
This is how I came up with this thread . Gotta hate it.
A festival programmer mentioned this and now I see it EVERY TIME I sit down to watch a few shorts:
- Beginning your film with a close shot of your actor turning off an alarm clock
- Beginning your film with a close shot of your actor turning off an alarm clock
This. A thousand times, this. As many things as DSLRs have opened up to indie filmmakers, this is the one thing that amateurs decide is the one definition of "cinematic" and use it for EVERYthing.
-Too much improper use of stock footage for VFX; especially Videocopilot's products.
I find that overusing something doesn't matter if it's done well.
I find that overusing something doesn't matter if it's done well.
I hate when people shoot with the lens cap removed. It's like "If I wanted to see what your camera was pointing at, I would've asked! God!"
The camera pan as a car turns down a road.
In fact 99% of car exteriors in general.
I think part of it is the fact that car commercials are becoming more cinematic, therefore almost every time I see these types of shots in a film, I think I'm watching a car commercial.
In fact 99% of car exteriors in general.
I think part of it is the fact that car commercials are becoming more cinematic, therefore almost every time I see these types of shots in a film, I think I'm watching a car commercial.
I'm gonna be honest I love aerial footage of cars, always love to see them, so car commercials of late have perked my interest
stuff that always bothers me isn't really technique.. just unrealistic things like shooting a gun with a silencer and nobody hears it in the next room.. news flash, even with a silencer guns still make a lot of noise
i suppose that's as much of a 'technique' as the alarm clock thing
i suppose that's as much of a 'technique' as the alarm clock thing
I agree. It's just something I never really have been able to get into.
Films about assassins and hitmen are also done to death, IMO. A lot of student films seem fixated on this concept. I blame Pulp Fiction.
I'm not a gun enthusiast by a long shot, but I have a functional understanding of how they work, so... Yeah!
You got characters pulling back pistol hammers for dramatic effect, pulling slides for dramatic effect, pumping shotguns for dramatic effect, people running while bullets kick-up dirt at their feet (WTF are the shooter's aiming at?!), bullets that knock people over, magic bullets that instantly kill people just because it touched them (FYI, shot people are usually still pretty dangerous), bulletproof standard residential stud and drywall construction
, vehicles that explode in bright orange gas blooms when shot by lead projectiles the size of the end of your pinkie - (fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee), shooting from the hip + shooting in the general direction of the target, and all sorts of generally ignorant sh!t the audience allows the writer/director to get away with.It's kinda like having an elementary school kid write/direct about a sex scene. Pfft. Please. Don't. Just... don't.
When it comes to art, technique can be a pretty loose term. The alarm clock thing is a "technique" for beginning your film, and having an unrealistically silent gun is a "technique" for moving your plot along without having to stop an deal with unnecessary characters investigating a loud noise.
Maybe it's lazy filmmaking, maybe not, but if it annoys enough people it's probably not a good technique.
Film Sound Cliches:
Weapons:
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.
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.
Weapons:
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.
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.
While we're on the topic of sound:
- futuristic doors always open/close with compressed air
- dogs always cry or whimper when the camera cuts to them
- close shot of a bunch of insects sounds way louder than it should
- twins always speak in unison
- futuristic doors always open/close with compressed air
- dogs always cry or whimper when the camera cuts to them
- close shot of a bunch of insects sounds way louder than it should
- twins always speak in unison
I hate the cliche horror techniques...
Like does the blonde always have to wonder off alone?
Do we always have to ruin teenage sex by killing them in some horrible way?
(A personal note, Jason in the new movies... He has better accuracy with a bow than Oliver Queen, bullshit.)
The car got damaged or is out of gas. Live too far in the woods, cops can't get out there until the morning.
Argument about why not to go save a friend as their murdered.
The freaking killers never win. They can always kill large groups of kids, but the last girl or newly found freaking soul mates end up killing the killer! Always in some derp ass way too.
It's a party, let's all go separate ways after we find a dead friend. (And not at all towards the cars)
There's a lot... and I think it's all thanks to Jason honestly... but Jason is thanks to Halloween, so fuck Halloween.
Like does the blonde always have to wonder off alone?
Do we always have to ruin teenage sex by killing them in some horrible way?
(A personal note, Jason in the new movies... He has better accuracy with a bow than Oliver Queen, bullshit.)
The car got damaged or is out of gas. Live too far in the woods, cops can't get out there until the morning.
Argument about why not to go save a friend as their murdered.
The freaking killers never win. They can always kill large groups of kids, but the last girl or newly found freaking soul mates end up killing the killer! Always in some derp ass way too.
It's a party, let's all go separate ways after we find a dead friend. (And not at all towards the cars)
There's a lot... and I think it's all thanks to Jason honestly... but Jason is thanks to Halloween, so fuck Halloween.