Film Tropes

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All about feature films. See also Directors, Film Genres.

Tropes:

• Actionized Sequel: Putting in more action scenes since you don't need all the backstory.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Characters angst more in the movie than they did in the book.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Characters are more attractive than they were in previous adaptations.
  • Adaptational Ugliness: Characters are less attractive than they were in previous adaptations.
• Adaptational Curves: Characters are bustier or more muscular than they were in the source material.
• Adrenaline Makeover: People change their look when setting out for adventure.
• Age Lift: A character's age in the adaptation is different from how old they were in the source material, usually for plot reasons.
• Alan Smithee: A person involved with the production isn't satisfied with how it turned out, so they disavow their involvement and have their contributions credited to a pseudonym.
• All in the Eyes: Emphasizing the eyes by dimming everything else.
• Animated Credits Opening: Animated opening to a live-action film.
• Award-Bait Song: A song that stands out in a movie and is expected to win an award.
• Award Snub: Didn't get an award, but should have.
• The Bad Guy Wins: When the villain wins instead of the hero.
• Big Damn Movie: A film of a TV series with a more epic plot.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Did they die or not?
• Box-Office Bomb: When a movie fails to make back its budget in gross revenue.
• Busby Berkeley Number: An intricate dance number.
• The Centerpiece Spectacular: An exciting set piece designed to keep the audience enthralled with the movie.
• Charge-into-Combat Cut: The film switches to a different scene just as an epic battle is getting started.
• Clifftop Caterwauling: Roaring on the edge of a cliff.
• Color Wash: Saturating the colors on the film.
• Consolation Award: Compensating for lack of awards by giving minor one out of pity.
• *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": The pains of old age.
• Crush Filter: The idealized, dreamy vision a person sees when they look at their crush.
• Dark World: A Mirror Universe with a dark twist.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Black and white, but on purpose.
  • Alternate Monochrome Version: When a black and white version of a colored film is released as a separate cut.
• Deliberate VHS Quality: The film looks like it was filmed on VHS to make it seem more retro.
• Development Hell: It still hasn't come out?
  • Saved from Development Hell: Seemed like it would never come out, now it finally is
• Disney Acid Sequence: A surreal scene in a movie
• Door Roulette: Trying out different doors to find the right one
• Dueling-Stars Movie: A movie starring two actors fans want to see together
• Dump Months: Studios tend to release their worst movies in particular months of the year
• Enforced Method Acting: Getting the best acting by not telling actors about upcoming scenes or lines
• Everything but the Girl: A person with new talents can get everything but the girl he wants
• Exploitation Film: A film with excessive violence or sex for no real reason
• Fake Action Prologue: Seems like an action film, but it isn't
• Fake Film Intro: Starting a work off with a Show Within a Show or the like.
• Fake-Out Opening: That opening scene? Has nothing to do with the actual movie.
• Fake Shemp: An actor becomes unavailable at a crucial moment (often because they walked off the set or died before production finished) and the production crew work around the actor's absence by using archived audio, archived footage and/or obscured body doubles to create the illusion that the actor is still involved.
• Fake Video Camera View: Showing a scene apparently through the lens of a video camera, even to including a "REC" warning or red dot.
• Falling Chandelier of Doom: If a fancy room gets damaged enough, expect a chandelier to crash to the floor.
• Film Adaptation (Live-Action)
• The Film of the Book: A book becomes a movie
• The Film of the Play: A play becomes a movie
• The Film of the Series: A TV series becomes a movie
• The Film of the Song: A song becomes a movie; will sometimes be In Name Only
• Finale Movie: A work that isn't a film series receives a conclusion to its story via a feature-length film.
• Fun-Hating Confiscating Adult: The cranky old geezer who snatches away any toy ending up on his/her property.
• George Lucas Altered Version: When a film is significantly altered after its original release using technology that wasn't available at the time of the original release.
• Gorgeous Period Dress: A colorful dress to show off the fancy new color films
• "The Graduate" Homage Shot: Making sure the bride doesn't run off with the wrong man
• Gratuitous Special Effects: Special Effects in film genres that don't usually have them.
• Hammer and Sickle Removed for Your Protection: A Cold War film that removes references to Soviet Russia to help the film age better.
• Hat-and-Coat Shot: The last shot of a movie clearly indicates this is the ending.
• Hey, It's That Place!: Recognizing a setting from other films and TV shows
• Hey, Let's Put on a Show: Setting up a play to raise money
• Hollywood Costuming: When Hollywood doesn't bother researching historical costumes
• Homage Shot: A shot referencing another film
• Infectious Enthusiasm: Enthusiasm sweeps up everyone, including the one who disdains involvement.
• Instant Waking Skills: Waking up without the grogginess
• Just Keep Driving: Drivers don't notice the huge action scene around them
• Kuleshov Effect: Combining shots and objects makes them more expressive.
• Leave the Camera Running: Leaving the camera idling for a while nothing happens.
• Little Dead Riding Hood: Dressing up people in red is bad
• Marquee Alter Ego: A costumed actor shows off his face for fan recognition
• Medium-Shift Gag: A movie abruptly shifts to a different medium for a quick joke.
• The Mockbuster: Blatant knock-offs of popular films.
• The Movie: A TV episode in movie form
• Movie Multipack: Filming film franchises close together
• Movie Superheroes Wear Black: In order to achieve that Darker and Edgier look
• "No Talking or Phones" Warning: Before the film begins, there is a short film informing the audience not to talk or have their phones on during the movie.
• Novelization: The Book Of The Film
• Numbered Sequels: Attaching a number to the title to indicate it's the next one
  • Sequel Number Snarl: When the numbering of sequels gets... odd.
• Obscured Special Effects: Don't let them see how fake that effect looks.
• Obvious Stunt Double: When a stunt double looks nothing like the actor they are filling in for.
• Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Strangely titled sequels
• Old-Timey Cinema Countdown: A retro monochrome countdown shown on a projector before a film.
• Onscreen Chapter Titles: When a film is divided into chapters, like a novel.
• Painting the Medium: Font, interface changes, or camera or editing tricks convey things about the story.
• Pilot Movie: A feature-length film that is intended to serve as the beginning of a television show.
• Posthumous Credit: The work credits a person involved with production who died before the work was released.
• Prop: Something an actor holds or physically interacts with in a production.
• Pursued Protagonist: Person running from bad guys at the beginning of a film
• Real Footage Re-creation: A very faithful recreation of something that actually happened and was captured in film and/or photos.
• Reality Has No Soundtrack: A film lacks background music for realism.
• Reality Has No Subtitles: The movie doesn't include subtitles for when characters are speaking foreign languages.
• Rebuilt Set: Taken apart, then rebuilt for a sequel
• Re-Cut: A film is given a re-release with the change of certain footage being cut or replaced, scrapped footage being restored and/or newly shot footage being added to the film.
• Release Date Change: The film's release date is changed slightly.
• Runaway Train: No one's at the helm, and it's about to fall off a cliff!
• Scream Discretion Shot: You hear the scream, but you don't see what they're screaming about
• Screamer Trailer: Subtle scary images in film trailers
• Second Chapter Cliffhanger: The second installment of a trilogy ends on a Cliffhanger with several Plot Threads still unresolved.
• Sequel Escalation: It's the same but with more!
• Sequelitis: The opinion that a film series has too many sequels or that sequels shouldn't have been made in the first place, particularly because of the later installments declining in quality or the original being seen as so good that any attempts at continuing the story would be unnecessary.
• Sequel Goes Foreign: Changing location for a sequel
• Sequel Hook: The film ends by hinting towards the possibility of a sequel.
• Sequel Non-Entity: A character can't make it for a sequel for a quick, justified reason
• Silence Is Golden: Movies with little dialogue
• Special Effect Failure: That looks so fake!
• Spiking the Camera: Don't look at the camera!
• Spoofing in the Rain: When it starts raining a reference to Singin' in the Rain will occur.
• Summer Blockbuster: Heavy on action, light on plot
• Tagline: A short sentence explaining the film, TV show, etc.
• The Theme Park Version: A simplified version of a complex idea
• Thematic Series: A series of loosely connected films
• Title Card: Shot of text to give information without sound.
• Trailer Delay: A large gap between the release of a preview and the film itself.
• Token Romance: Needless romantic subplot.
• Video Credits: Showing the people along with their credits
• Wheel of Decisions: A Wheel of Fortune method of deciding a matter.