Troperiffic Tuesday: The Noodle Incident

Chick 1 says:

OK, so it’s really Troperiffic Wednesday; I’m a bit late. But this week’s trope is one of my favorites. It’s called The Noodle Incident and we all have a few in our past. Ready to remember yours?

(If you don’t know what a trope is you can find out here.)

The Noodle Incident refers to an occurance in a character’s past or a shared occurence in multiple characters’ past that remains unknown to the audience. It can be silly, shameful, illegal, outrageous, traumatic, ridiculous, or a combination of any of the above. It’s named after the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon pictured here. (Just what did Calvin do?) Read more

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 3 Comments

Beat Sheet: Pride and Prejudice

Chick 1 says:

I thought for our second beat sheet we’d look at a story as far from Hot Fuzz as possible. So I chose Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 version starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen and directed by Joe Wright. How will a movie that’s based on a 200-year-old novel line up against our list of beats?

I admit it was more difficult to pick out the beats in this than Hot Fuzz and sometimes I’m not completely sure they were there at all. Tell me what you think of the scenes I’ve picked out. Read more

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Chick 1 in Beat Sheets 3 Comments

Troperiffic Tuesday: The Wilhelm Scream

Chick 1 says:

Welcome to Troperiffic Tuesday! This week we delve into the world of audio and look at a scream that has been the last sound uttered by nazis and stormtroopers, cowboys and orcs. This week’s trope is the Wilhelm Scream.

(If you don’t know what a trope is you can check out the first article in this series, Manic Pixie Dream Girl.)

The Wilhelm Scream is a stock sound effect that has become unbelievably popular in movies of the last few decades to the point where it has become a Hollywood in-joke. Read more

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 1 Comment

Quote of the Week

“Punch me in the face! Didn’t you hear me?”

“I always hear ‘punch me in the face’ when you’re talking but it’s usually subtext.”

Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch)/Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman)

Sherlock (2010)

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Chick 1 in Movie Quotes 1 Comment

Review: The Avengers

Chick 1 says:

When the Avengers was announced way back in 2008, I wasn’t really sold on the concept. I just didn’t think that it would be possible to successfully combine the different universes in which each of these heroes live. There was no way that the world that Jon Favreau so lovingly created around Tony Stark contained a Norse God, maybe a hulk, definitely not a 1940s style do-gooder super soldier. No. And as each individual movie (Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man 2) came out with varying success, I became even less convinced.

I am very happy to be very wrong. Read more

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Chick 1 in Reviews, The 2010s Leave a comment

Troperiffic Tuesday: No OSHA Compliance

Chick 1 says:

Because most spaceships have rickety walkways over their nuclear core.

Welcome back to Trope of the Week or as it shall henceforth be called, Troperiffic Tuesday!

Ever seen a movie where the cap is knocked off a pipe joint with very little effort and blinding hot steam comes spraying out? Or someone has to cross a narrow walkway high above some flesh-grinding machinery with no guardrails? Or a character falls into an easily accessible vat of acid? Then you, my friend, are familiar with this week’s trope, No OSHA Compliance. As always, SPOILERS FOLLOW. Read more

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 4 Comments

Quote of the Week

Farewell, my brave hobbits. I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.

Gandalf (Ian McKellan)

The Return of the King (2003)

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Chick 1 in Movie Quotes Leave a comment

Trope of the Week: Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Chick 1 says:

Exciting! Another new series: Trope of the Week.

What is a trope? A trope is a device, motif, recurring theme, or even a cliche used in storytelling. It can be a character type, a specific line or style of dialogue, a plot device, even a type of location or set.

A trope itself is neither good nor bad. In fact, used appropriately it can be an effective tool. In storytelling, whether in literature or film or other media, a lot of information needs to be communicated to the audience without bogging down the pace with lots of backstory or exposition. A trope can be a kind of shorthand that the creator and audience have agreed on and recognize so the audience knows what to expect and can concentrate on more important parts of the plot. Read more

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 2 Comments

Beat Sheets: Hot Fuzz

Chick 1 says:

Welcome to a new series of posts, Beat Sheets. A beat sheet is a story structure tool used by many screenwriters, listing out certain events or moments called beats that usually occur in every story. These beats drive the plot. The particular beat sheet we’ll be using here was developed by Blake Snyder in his screenwriting book, Save The Cat. It is very popular among writers in Hollywood today.

In this series, I’ll follow the plot of different movies and list each point where I think an important beat occurs. Snyder’s theory is that every great or even good movie, every story has all of these beats in some form. For the first few posts I’ll list Snyder’s explanation of each beat. Tell me if you think I’m right. Or if you think a certain beat doesn’t exist in the movie at all.

For this first one, let’s take a look at Hot Fuzz, the second collaboration by Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright following Shaun of the Dead. Like Shaun of the Dead, it’s a funny, sharp story. The writing and editing are tight, tight, tight. No line or prop is thrown away from Aaron A. Aaronson to “Swan!”. Almost everything comes back into the plot. So let’s dive in. Obviously SPOILERS FOLLOW. Read more

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Chick 1 in Beat Sheets 5 Comments