Can a cliche ever be a helpful little burst of cinematic shorthand that makes your point quickly and supplants a bunch of tedious exposition?
Someone has a recurring nightmare about something that's bothering them. Someone looks at a photograph and it triggers a long-buried memory. Amping up the background music as the psychological tension builds. Even, yes, the dreaded flashback.
Or how about costume choices? Consider Collateral. Jamie Foxx, unassuming cabbie and everyman, in his hooded sweatshirt, crummy pants, and dorky glasses. Tom Cruise, professional killer, in his Ray-bans and his Very Best Assassin Suit (which no one seems to remark in the most casual metropolis on earth). Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean, suffering in her corset and yearning for to be free from social constraints.
What do you say to indulging in these things from time to time? They get the viewer on familiar ground and telegraph the basics. Use them sparingly and judiciously to set a few things up, NOT as a substitute for drama or an easy out from the hard work of revealing character through conflict.
Or not?
Someone has a recurring nightmare about something that's bothering them. Someone looks at a photograph and it triggers a long-buried memory. Amping up the background music as the psychological tension builds. Even, yes, the dreaded flashback.
Or how about costume choices? Consider Collateral. Jamie Foxx, unassuming cabbie and everyman, in his hooded sweatshirt, crummy pants, and dorky glasses. Tom Cruise, professional killer, in his Ray-bans and his Very Best Assassin Suit (which no one seems to remark in the most casual metropolis on earth). Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean, suffering in her corset and yearning for to be free from social constraints.
What do you say to indulging in these things from time to time? They get the viewer on familiar ground and telegraph the basics. Use them sparingly and judiciously to set a few things up, NOT as a substitute for drama or an easy out from the hard work of revealing character through conflict.
Or not?
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