Annoying conventions on the screen

[treide]

As a moderate film buff and hopeless addict to all things sci-fi/fantasy on TV, I have seen quite a few movies and shows. I was so annoyed recently by a silly convention that is overused that I thought it would be fun to list a few of them. I am sure others here can expand the list.

1. A strained brain = Nosebleed.

Take any sci-fi or fantasy flick where someone pushes their telepathic abilities or spell too far and voila - nosebleed. You see this in medical dramas too - someone has a brain-related problem - good chance there is going to be a nosebleed. The blood vessels in your noise have very little to do with what is happening in the brain, unless you have been REALLY over-zealous in your nosepicking.

2. Tachyons fix everything.

Why must tachyons be invoked in practically every sci-fi dilemma? A recent Journeyman episode got me going on this one. If I had a dollar for everyone time a tachyon beam/pulse/surge/whatever was invoked as a source of or means to solve problems in various Star Trek, Stargate, (insert sci-fi show of your choosing) shows, I would at the very least be able to take the Mrs. out for a nice dinner!

3. Wise old mentor bites the dust.

A soon as a naive young hero-to-be shows up on the scene, the wise old mentor better get his affairs in order. Obi-Wan-Kenobi (and Qui-gon, for that matter), Gandalf the Grey (at least he gets a resurrection deal), Dumbledore, the Preacher guy on Serenity/Firefly, and many others, I am sure. If I was a wise old mentor, I would take out a hit on any would be heroes solely for self-preservation!

Any other?

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by treide
Wise old mentor bites the dust.

A long time ago (....not in a galaxy Far Far Away..) sometime in the early 70\'s, I read an essay in a SF anthology about this convention called \"The Messiah Echo\", which made an analogue between the W.O.Mentor and Jesus.
Good reading, but I wish I could remember the author. (Damon Knight maybe ??????)


Convention, A small band of dediced men/women will allways be able to sneak in and out of enemy territory undetected despite the enemy\'s undefeatable magic.

 

[Einion]

O-kayyyyy. Shall we complain about garlic and vampires now? Silver and werewolves?

Originally posted by treide
1. A strained brain = Nosebleed.
Take any sci-fi or fantasy flick.... You see this in medical dramas too - someone has a brain-related problem...

You\'re exaggerating a little; although it is a convention you don\'t see it ALL the time.

Originally posted by treide
The blood vessels in your noise have very little to do with what is happening in the brain, unless you have been REALLY over-zealous in your nosepicking.

They\'re both in the head; that might be enough.

Sustained higher blood pressure in the head - as one might imagine goes along with concentrated mental effort - could very well pop a blood vessel in the nose. See Scanners for example; little wonder that would cause a nosebleed

Seriously, if the way it\'s acted involves a red face, with visible swollen veins on the forehead/temple, a nosebleed does actually make sense.

Originally posted by treide
2. Tachyons fix everything.

Why must tachyons be invoked in practically every sci-fi dilemma? A recent Journeyman episode got me going on this one.

If you\'re expecting good science fiction in a television series (particularly one that\'s so obviously pseudo-SF) you\'re looking in the wrong place. Novels and shorter fiction written by good writers is where it\'s at - particularly if you stick to hard SF of course.

Star Trek\'s various incarnations, as well as Stargate, are also very well known for the convenient explanation (often at the expense of continuity!)

Originally posted by treide
3. Wise old mentor bites the dust.

A soon as a naive young hero-to-be shows up on the scene, the wise old mentor better get his affairs in order.

Hehe, well, it\'s an established storytelling device. This may go back to oral traditions for all I know, but nods to LOTR, by later writers - conscious or not - are inevitable.

Originally posted by treide
Obi-Wan-Kenobi (and Qui-gon, for that matter), Gandalf the Grey (at least he gets a resurrection deal)...

Obi-Wan didn\'t exactly vanish you know

Originally posted by treide
I am sure others here can expand the list.

Surviving exposure to space
Almost never having the true effects - boiling fluids due to low pressure - explained (much less its consequences *shudder*). Worst case is the corpsicle; although I\'m fine with it as a dramatic device, as in Mission To Mars. You just need to suspend disbelief at the door - like with people being knocked over by bullets in 99.9% of cop/crime dramas and war films.

Momentum/inertia effects in a micro-gravity environment
As also seen in the scene referred to above in Mission To Mars.

See also Red Planet for similar, related knock-on effects to both of the above (related to the puncture in the fuel tank).

Spin-simulated gravity
Again, also see Red Planet for how spin doesn\'t make gravity.

Design of spaceships which have a spun section with no counterweight or counter-spun section.

...

Most writing in movies isn\'t that bright - we can\'t blame the writers for this since for all we know the director, the producer or the executive producer (or their wife/GF/SO) thought something would be a neat idea. But when the story isn\'t internally consistent that\'s probably the thing that annoys me most.

Einion

 

[mud duck]

Originally posted by treide
As a moderate film buff and hopeless addict to all things sci-fi/fantasy on TV, I have seen quite a few movies and shows. I was so annoyed recently by a silly convention that is overused that I thought it would be fun to list a few of them. I am sure others here can expand the list.

1. A strained brain = Nosebleed.

Take any sci-fi or fantasy flick where someone pushes their telepathic abilities or spell too far and voila - nosebleed. You see this in medical dramas too - someone has a brain-related problem - good chance there is going to be a nosebleed. The blood vessels in your noise have very little to do with what is happening in the brain, unless you have been REALLY over-zealous in your nosepicking.
Any other?

What would you use then? Eyes popping out? Not everyone can do that. The nose bleed is easy to do, and everybody knows what it means.

2. Tachyons fix everything.

Why must tachyons be invoked in practically every sci-fi dilemma? A recent Journeyman episode got me going on this one. If I had a dollar for everyone time a tachyon beam/pulse/surge/whatever was invoked as a source of or means to solve problems in various Star Trek, Stargate, (insert sci-fi show of your choosing) shows, I would at the very least be able to take the Mrs. out for a nice dinner!
[/quote] It sounds \"techy\" enough to be plaisable?

3. Wise old mentor bites the dust.

A soon as a naive young hero-to-be shows up on the scene, the wise old mentor better get his affairs in order. Obi-Wan-Kenobi (and Qui-gon, for that matter), Gandalf the Grey (at least he gets a resurrection deal), Dumbledore, the Preacher guy on Serenity/Firefly, and many others, I am sure. If I was a wise old mentor, I would take out a hit on any would be heroes solely for self-preservation!
[/quote]If my schooling serves me right, this is an old litairy thing that has been used for hundreds of years.
The whole idea behind all these, is that using a few \"hints\" the storyteller can explain to the audience what is happening without having to explain whats going on.
Ok, things that get me. Bond/hero always having the right countering device to whatever the bad guy is using in his plans. Does the bad guy call up Q and tell him \"Hey I\'m working on X, so make sure that Bond has something to counter.\" This is why MacGuvyer was cool, paperclips and a tubesock! 2. Long quests to do X, when something short and sweet would have accomplished the same thing in a quarter of the time. Ok, then there wouldn\'t be a story,but...3. The \"Good\" Gods never directly help/act the hero. It\'s always some clever little thing that the hero uses/remebers at the right time. Where\'s the \"Evil\" God always is using a more \"hands on\" managerial style. 4. More on number 3. Why is it that the Hero always uses the small little trinket/thingy-bob that his/her God gave out at the beginning of the quest? How do they remember it? Hell I think that would be the last thing that I would think of as some bad-ass God/death/whatever evil-dark-nasty was about to snuff me out. Plus has a hero ever forgotten to use, or used the said item at the wrong time? \"Damn it! Now why did I use that trinket of turning on those goblins back there? I REALLY could use it now against this Greater Demon!\"

 

[treide]

O-kayyyyy. Shall we complain about garlic and vampires now? Silver and werewolves?

Nah, I am OK with those that are based on old legends/mythology.


Sustained higher blood pressure in the head - as one might imagine goes along with concentrated mental effort - could very well pop a blood vessel in the nose. See Scanners for example; little wonder that would cause a nosebleed

That scene in Scanners is gruesome! However, if intense concentration truly increased the blood pressure in the head enough to rupture nasal blood vessels, why don\'t we have gushers at chess tournaments or when people take exams. Sorry, I don\'t buy it! I think someone said \"Hey, this scene would be more exciting if we throw in a little blood.\", and a convention was born.

Novels and shorter fiction written by good writers is where it\'s at - particularly if you stick to hard SF of course.

No argument there. Written sci-fi/fantasy generally does a better job of backing up the plot devices.

[/quote]Surviving exposure to space
Almost never having the true effects - boiling fluids due to low pressure - explained

There was a space exposure scene in Event Horizon that I thought was pretty impressive. Did they get it right?

Momentum/inertia effects in a micro-gravity environment

How about the spaceflight depicted in the new Battlestar Galactica series? I don\'t know if it is any more accurate, but they certainly portray it differently than most sci-fi shows/films.

 

[airhead]

explosive autos - if at any time, all four wheels leave the ground, the vehicle will explode.

bleeding from the mouth - character is going to die. (Much better for you if you only bleed from the nose.)

tires explode when they go flat - sometimes, they even show you the flash of the explosion. What are these tires filled with - propane?

car doors and windows and empty barrels stop bullets lol and you see the bullets spark off the glass.

If there is any metal at all between a character and a shooter, the bullet will be attracted to the metal and not hit the character.

 

[squidders]

Oh no, it\'s locked and we don\'t have a key...

*shoots lock with gun*

Now we can get through!

________________________

Oh no, The door is unlocked and after I go through it I don\'t want anyone to follow me.

*shoots lock with gun*

Ha!, I\'d like to see anyone get through this now!

 

[Undave]

B5 is still the winner for realistic spaceflight, it\'s truly a shame they didn\'t release that flightsim they were making with the realistic physics in it.

One thing that gets me is all the zapp noises during space combat when you obviously wouldn\'t hear a thing. I know they have to put them in though as it would be a bit boring without them.

 

[mud duck]

A movie like that was made, Undave. It bombed, and my understanding was because of the realist unnoise of the space combat.....


The bad guys can aim like a marine on the rifle range and miss, but the hero can simply point the gun in the general direction and hit the target 90% of the time.

Nobody uses simple weapons control in any gunfight, it is all spray and pray, and they will hit the target or close enough to be in frame. There where gunfights in the old west at ranges of 3 ft and under that nobody got hit and both parties emptied there 6 guns ??????

 

[Wren]

One that gets me is in a lot of medical dramas. House is particularly bad for this, as much as I like the show in other respects. You have someone going about their normal day at work or whatever, maybe a brief moment of dizziness or blurred vision or something, then the next minute they\'re down on the ground unconscious or with a seizure. Granted there are unexpected medical conditions like strokes and aneurysms that do strike like that, but usually these people have some kind of chronic condition or virus or cancer or whatever. A couple of degrees of fever or a bad back spasm sends me to bed, but TV people are apparently made of much hardier stuff.

 

[wiccanpony]

how come Hero\'s never need to use the bathroom

also why are all evil guys such \"bad\" shots.......ten million bullets/death rays/hamsters and not a one comes even close???lol

 

[Undave]

Originally posted by wiccanpony
also why are all evil guys such \"bad\" shots.......ten million bullets/death rays/hamsters and not a one comes even close???lol

Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise lol

 

[Evil Dave]

How you can program computers to \"blow up \" with a couple of keystrokes.
How sparks and explosions will come out of said computer, even the keyboard, when after spilling many cups of coffee or coke on my keyboards in Real Life I haven\'t even gotten a whiff of smoke.

All hackers apparently have their own OS systems which utilizes a crap load of virtualization for everything.

Any idiot with a Macbook can hack into the government\'s databases or satellites. (IE Mickey from the 2005 Doctor Who Christmas Special)

How hacking is apparently just typing really, really fast and basically beating the computer into submission through your gibberish typing.

Fights in which the hero or villain are punched in the face repeatedly, only to come back and kick ass, when in my experience, it usually only takes one good punch to totally end a fight for the normal human.

How torpedoes have a \"Self-Destruct\" button when in reality, I know for a fact, they do not. (Hunt for Red October I\'m looking at you with your many, many flaws.)

@Treide: Gandalf is an exception because he was never a human to begin with. The wizards in Tolkien\'s Middle-Earth were spirits of good (somewhat the equivalent of Angels) that took human form, hence why Sauroman\'s betrayal was all the worse.
So it could be argued that he never died and resurrected but merely was inconvenienced while his earthly body was reformed.

 

[Ogrebane]

1. So how come in this age of Windows etc do you still see computers with green screens and you still have to type into a dos prompt. Surely if the evil villian could afford a fortress of doom he could also afford a Graphics based operating system

2. How come when you cut a power cable is snakes around like a fire hose emitting spark and yet when you unplug a cable from a device whilst the cable is still plugged in it doesnt do the same thing.

3. Why is it if you dont have a first name and wear a red uniform that you are doomed to die on the next planetary expidition.

4. Why is it that the love interest always falls over and sprains her ankle when trying to escape the forstress of doom.

5. Why does the hero always rip his shirt so badly that he has to take it of before the final Boss fight.

6. Why do evil geniusses explain their darstedly plan before dropping the hero into a tank full of sharks with lasers (and then walk off before the hero is dead) wouldnt it be better just to shoot the guy.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

Originally posted by Undave


One thing that gets me is all the zapp noises during space combat when you obviously wouldn\'t hear a thing. I know they have to put them in though as it would be a bit boring without them.

One of the reasons I love the new Battlestar series was the silence of the battles. I know there was some noise but it always seems to be from the combatants perspective.

I have seen few scenes more intense than when the two battle stars took on the cylons mother ship.

 

[airhead]

slow electricity. You get zapped and the sparks run around you for a while.
Or you see the blue sparks moving down the cable.

 

[Evil Dave]

All vampires know some form of martial arts.

No matter what time, what location, in a movie someone always knows martial arts, and apparently it was more common in the past ages than we are led to believe.

 

[Friar]

lol another for the vampires why do they all dress like they just got visited by Queer eye for the undead guy.

the whole good guy always wins thing gets old, wish they made movies without plain as day good and bad and instead focus on characters acting in occordance with their motives making choices right and wrong,done in shades of grey where you could root for either side and not be a wacko and also not know who will come out on top if anyone....

 

[Evil Dave]

Originally posted by Friar
the whole good guy always wins thing gets old, wish they made movies without plain as day good and bad and instead focus on characters acting in occordance with their motives making choices right and wrong,done in shades of grey where you could root for either side and not be a wacko and also not know who will come out on top if anyone....

This is why I love the movie \"Pitch Black\".

 

[Friar]

aye Pitch Black was a sweet movie I loved how the extreme lighting effected the imagery... lol thanks for remindin me of this I\'ma go have a watch of it :beer: