Things that film makers and writers do that piss you off.

[Vault101]

OT: Speaking AS a writer, I'd like to say that some people probably complain too mucm, but also that some concerns are even shared by me. For instance, while this is not a deep complaint, I've made mention that we need to be a little more subtle with our Chekov's Guns and Macguffins. When a movie introduces a thing, but then doesn't have much of a reason for having said it right then and there, it's clear that it WILL be relevant later. Suspense keeping us more in the dark can be a power for good in this case.

A good use of the mechanic? Let's check on Ripley for a second in Aliens. Had to get a new job loading cargo with an exo-suit. It gets mentioned off-hand as part of Ripley's unfortunate circumstances after the Company dropped her, and then it gets USED in an amusing scene where she starts carrying her own weight around the marines, literally. It doesn't become apparent at the time that in a movie involving the terror of fighting acid-blooded aliens with guns and flamethrowers that the main character will fight off the Queen on the ship with a loader-suit.

I remember when I watched I am Ledgend I found the whole thing really odd that there were small moments and scenes that were obviously building up to somthing but went nowhere (because the decided to remove the enite point of the film and change the ending)

anyway, just to clarify...

is checkovs gun a thing that its mentioned/seen earlyer in the work...and then used again at a time of great importance?

and is the macguffan an object that drives the plot? so like in Indinana Jones everyone is after "the ark" or "the grail"

 

[FalloutJack]

The MacGuffin Device.

Chekov's Gun refers to a thing that is seen and does a thing maybe earlier in the movie, book, or whatever...and then it's never seen again until it appears out of the blue like a brick joke. When you see a thing once that they pull the movie into in order to specifically see the thing, you know it comes up later. Ripley's use of an exo-suit is less obvious because it was a skill she had to learn as per needing work and already made it relevant on the ship.

But yes, the MacGuffin is a Plot Device. It does the thing, it has the power, and it Deus's up the Machina.

 

[II Scarecrow II]

I'm not sure how to explain it, but this situation is something that makes Breaking Bad almost unwatchable for me. I'm in the second season and I just cannot bring myself to keep watching because Walt is such a fucking idiot! He has had options to treat his cancer legitimately and safely, but instead he decides to go down the path of selling meth and gradually gets worse and worse. This obviously brings up all the tension and intrigue in the plot, but it just seems so outlandishly contrived that I cannot bring myself to watch it any more.

So I guess contrived writing really gets to me.

 

[e2density]

liffhangers. It was cliffhangers. They bug me so much in almost every instance. (not to be confused with open-ended conclusions)

That was really clever.

 

[Luca72]

That the American writers (since this happen only in US films) felt they really need to have everyone clapping at the end of the film like an applaused to something that isn't necessary, example at the end of Harry Potter 2 when Hagrid return at the end of the film which the entire pupil and staff clap. Why the hell the pupils clap by his return? They hardly know him!!

Holy shit. I never really noticed that until now. In the US we fucking love that for some reason. If it isn't an overt clapping scene, it's still basically a celebration of all the things that just happened in the film. It's like we want to be congratulated for sticking with the story for an hour and a half when we know we should have been working or something. The original Star Wars movies did this - the first one is just an award ceremony (like the audience couldn't figure out that Luke would feel pretty good about blowing up a giant evil space station) and the last one is a party (where everyone's happy because... they blew up the giant evil space station again....). The only interesting ending was Empire Strikes Back, where the good guys have basically lost but are regrouping for a final showdown.

This topic is reminding me why the only movies I seem to recall really enjoying in the last few years were either made by Tarentino or District 9.