let's talk.
trope
/trōp/
noun
a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.
In cinema, tropes can sometimes be considered cliches of the genre if used lazily.
Common thematic tropes:
• a "meet cute" in a Rom-Com
• the rise and fall of a mobster in a classic gangster film
• the killer "coming back to life" in the climax of a horror film
• walking away from an explosion
• the reluctant hero
• the western "showdown" in the street
gen·re
/ˈZHänrə/
noun
a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.
In films: Action, Romantic Comedy, Thriller, Western, etc.
Each film in a genre sits on top of films that came before it and the viewer has expectations of how the story will play out based on the conventions, or even tropes of the genre.
mo·tif
/mōˈtēf/
noun
a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition, usually shown in repetition. Motifs with deliberate narrative significance help make storytelling concise.
de·noue·ment
/ˌdāno͞oˈmäN/
noun
the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.
mise en scène
/ˌmēz ˌän ˈsen/
noun
the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play.
the setting or surroundings of an event or action.
In order for any "alternative reality" to engage us, we mst believe in it. The drama and form have to take over our emotions to keep us from thinking "this isn't real".
Wikipedia defines it this way:
The term Suspension of disbelief or Willing suspension of disbelief has been defined as a “willingness to suspend one’s critical faculties and believe something surreal; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment” “A literary term of art referring to one of Aristotle’s principles of theater in which the audience accepts fiction as reality so as to experience a catharsis, or a releasing of tensions to purify the soul”
If we don't have this, we can still analytically appreciate a film, but it's much less likely that we'll feel engage emotionally with the film.
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