History Quotes / TropesAreTools

->Listen Rex: all we do is put old stuff together in new ways. Creativity is incremental, my boy! Let me tell you a story… Once upon a time, there were two bricklayers, okay? Imagine these two guys… Brothers. Now. The two of them have a pile of bricks each, and they can build whatever they want. The first one starts to lay bricks. The second brother just stands there and watches while this goes on. Finally he says, “That’s how everyone else lays bricks! How about some originality? How about some innovation?” The first brother ignores him and keeps building. He puts up layer after layer of bricks. Eventually, a structure starts to take shape. People gather round. They gawk! Why? Because even though the elements of building are old, the sum of the parts is new, innovative, exciting, fresh. See?

->I don’t expect all genre conventions to be turned on their head. They’re there for a reason, after all, but it takes a very good writer to take those conventions, own them and then write something truly special within their constraints.

-> Alright, let's talk about {{cliche}}s for a moment. You can isolate any element of any story and call it "cliché". Clichés are stigmatized as unoriginal, but they're tools used to craft a story.

-->-- [=YouTuber=] '''bobvids''', critiquing WebVideo/{{Dartigan}}'s "Everything Wrong With The Last of Us" video.

-->-- '''Peter Dragon''', ''Action''

-> Alright, let's talk about cliches for a moment. You can isolate any element of any story and call it cliche. Cliches are stigmatized as unoriginal, but they're tools used to craft a story.

-->-- Creator/JPBeaubien, [[https://youtu.be/tZ3FnbzNwss The Nature Of Clichés - Honest Thoughts]]

->When you just call some thing a "cliche", you are implying it's a bad thing, and that movies shouldn't use them. The problem with this is that if you are appealing to as wide an audience as possible, the usage of cliches is entirely unavoidable. You can't make a piece of fiction without them, lest you risk alienating a particular group of people. Considering this is an "Animated" Disney movie, I'm fairly certain the goal was just that: to make something easy for even children to understand! What I'm saying is, this was a ''stylistic'' choice, opposed to a ''contrived'' one, and you really need to learn the difference!
-->-- '''WebVideo/Th3Birdman''', talking about '''WebVideo/CinemaSins''' constant use of "Cliche" Sins, in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS_bME1KFDg Everything Wrong With CinemaSins: The Emperor's New Groove in 13 Minutes or Less]]".

->I am an unapologetic proponent of the {{Superhero}} movie. The genre has yielded enough genuinely great works during its relatively brief run at the pinnacle of international popular culture so as to forgive a lot of its missteps and I firmly believe it offers tremendous artistic and cultural value to those who would take advantage of it. Superheroes can [[Film/Deadpool2016 make us laugh]], [[Film/KickAss give us catharsis]], [[Series/Supergirl2015 embody our fantasies]], [[Series/JessicaJones2015 challenge our perceptions]] and [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier give mythic weight to political metaphor]]. Sadly, they can also be [[Film/GreenLantern stupid]], [[Film/TheSpirit ugly]], [[Film/ManOfSteel wrong-headed]], [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 intellectually offensive]] and [[Film/FantasticFour2015 boring]]. And sometimes, they can be [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice all that and more]].

->I'll tell you exactly what they want, Senator. They want [[ChaseScene chase scenes]] and [[EveryCarIsAPinto car crashes]]. [[BuxomIsBetter They want firm breasts]] and [[LatinLover tight-assed Latino men]]. They want their [[{{Cowboy}} cowboys]] to be [[TheStoic strong and silent]]. They want their [[CowboyCop cops to bend the rules to get the job done]]. They want the [[BoyMeetsGirl boy to get the girl]]. They want [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the alien to be killed]], [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute unless he's cute]]. They want [[LaserGuidedKarma the good guy to win, they want the bad guy to die]], hopefully in the [[StuffBlowingUp biggest explosion the budget will allow]]. But most importantly, Senator, they want to walk into a theater and for ninety minutes be able to forget about the fucking mess you have left of this nation.

-->-- '''Music/{{Starflyer 59}}''', "No New Kinda Story"

-->-- '''8-bit Music Theory''', [[https://youtu.be/-i3Otdvu9ao talking about]] key changes in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' music, more specifically of "Hartmann Youkai Girl".

-> Changing the key up a half-step has kind of a bad reputation as a trick that songwriters pull to be able to stretch out a song withouth having to write any new musicals but here it's part of the arrangement working together with all of the musical ideas at play and it makes a very tangible contribution to the effect that this part of the piece was going for.
-->-- '''8-bit Music Theory''', [[https://youtu.be/-i3Otdvu9ao talking about]] key changes in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' music and more specifically here in Hartmann Youkai Girl

->That doesn't mean that it's bad, however. It has been said that all the great stories have already been told, and that the difference is in the telling. That's where both Persona 3 and Persona 4 distinguish themselves, combining their gameplay mechanics and aesthetic/thematic inspirations to tell an old story in new, unique ways.

->When you just call some thing a "clche", you are implyng it's a bd thing, and that movies shoulnt use them. The problem with this is that if you are appealng to as wide an audience as possble, the usage of clches is entrely unavoiable. You cnt make a piece of fictio withot them, lst you rsk alienatng a particulr group of peopl. Considering this is an "Animated" Disney movi, I'm fairly certain the goal ws jst tht: to mke smething esy for evn childrn to undrstnd! What I'm saying is, this was a ''stylistic'' choice, opposed to a ''contrved'' one, and you really need to learn the difference!
-->-- '''WebVideo/Th3Birdman''', talking about '''WebVideo/CinemaSins''' constant use of "Cliche" Sins, in "Everything Wrong With CinemaSins: The Emperor's New Groove in 13 Minutes or Less".

-->-- '''8-bit Music Theory''', talking about key changes in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' music and more specifically here in Hartmann Youkai Girl

-->--'''Pretty much every writer''', at one time or another.

-->--'''Creator/JohnLasseter'''

-->--Creator/JohnKricfalusi, in his [[Blog/JohnKStuff blog post]] [[http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2007/03/writing-for-cartoons-1.html "Writing for Cartoons 1"]]

--> -- '''Peter Dragon''', ''Action''

-->--''Film/{{Sidekicks}}''

-->'''WebVideo/{{Dartigan}}''' in his ''Everything Wrong With VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' video

--> -- '''Elaine Cunningham''' at [[http://www.flamesrising.com/elaine-cunningham-interview/ Something New with the Dragon]].

-->--'''Barry''', ''RexLibris''

-->--'''Carlo Santos''' of Website/AnimeNewsNetwork reviewing ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows''

-->--'''Austin Kleon''', author of "Steal Like an Artist"

-->--''UsefulNotes/HongKong idiom.''

-->--'''Oscar Wilde'''

--> -- '''Creator/{{Voltaire}}'''

-->--''Film/{{Sidekick}}''

-->-- [=YouTuber=] '''Shesellssheshells''', critiquing WebVideo/{{Dartigan}}'s "Everything Wrong With The Last of Us" video.

->"''Because without it, we wouldn't have a story''"

->''"Never in the history of cinema has a medium entertained an audience. It's what you do with the medium."''

->''""First, why don't we get some definitions clear. Writing and story are different things. A story is a sequence of related events. Period. A good story is a story that keeps people's attention. Not many stories are so interesting in their raw ingredients, that a mere reading of them adds up to good entertainment. You need a good storyteller to make a story interesting. You can have a bad story told by a good storyteller and it will still keep people's attention. It's much harder to keep people's attention with a good raw story and a weak storyteller. Strangely, everyone today seems to have opinions on writing and story. Vague ones for sure, but most folks are firm in their vague beliefs and the beliefs change from year to year. I know, because I changed a lot of the dogmatic faiths. I think maybe the reason everyone and his dog is an expert on writing is because everyone writes. Not everyone draws. Everyone knows the basic rudiments of writing and practices them every day. This gives great confidence to charlatans and executives. Writing is a medium of communication common to all humans. Art or music is harder to talk about because not everyone practices them. To be an artist you have to have obvious demonstrable ability that most normal people don't have. It's a lot harder to fake being an artist than being a writer. A singer who sings flat will make almost anyone cringe, probably even a cartoon executive. Clumsy writing though passes right under the noses of any executive, so management is easy prey for many used car salesmen types who sell them on their brilliant story ability."''

->''"I'll tell you exactly what they want, Senator. They want [[ChaseScene chase scenes]] and [[EveryCarIsAPinto car crashes]]. [[BuxomIsBetter They want firm breasts]] and [[LatinLover tight-assed Latino men]]. They want their [[{{Cowboy}} cowboys]] to be [[TheStoic strong and silent]]. They want their [[CowboyCop cops to bend the rules to get the job done]]. They want the [[BoyMeetsGirl boy to get the girl]]. They want [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the alien to be killed]], [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute unless he's cute]]. They want [[LaserGuidedKarma the good guy to win, they want the bad guy to die]], hopefully in the [[StuffBlowingUp biggest explosion the budget will allow]]. But most importantly, Senator, they want to walk into a theater and for ninety minutes be able to forget about the fucking mess you have left of this nation."''

->'''Norman:''' ''"I just don't want to be cliché!"''\\
''' Chuck:''' ''"It's not cliché, Norman, it's the formula, and it works!"''

->''"Almost everything is imitation. The idea of ''The Persian Letters'' was taken from ''The Turkish Spy''. Boiardo imitated Pulci, Ariosto imitated Boiardo. The most original writers borrowed from one another."''

->''"A single, highly focused motivation--let's say "revenge," for example--can carry any number of novels; conversely, it can result in a clichéd story that employs eighty-three out of the 100 items on that list of "[[EvilOverlordList Things I Wouldn't Do If I Were An Evil Overlord]]" one finds floating around the Internet. It's why that desire for revenge developed, and how that vengeance is enacted, that makes a story worth telling."''

->''"Listen Rex: all we do is put old stuff together in new ways. Creativity is incremental, my boy! Let me tell you a story… Once upon a time, there were two bricklayers, okay? Imagine these two guys… Brothers. Now. The two of them have a pile of bricks each, and they can build whatever they want. The first one starts to lay bricks. The second brother just stands there and watches while this goes on. Finally he says, “That’s how everyone else lays bricks! How about some originality? How about some innovation?” The first brother ignores him and keeps building. He puts up layer after layer of bricks. Eventually, a structure starts to take shape. People gather round. They gawk! Why? Because even though the elements of building are old, the sum of the parts is new, innovative, exciting, fresh. See?"''

->''By most expectations, anything involving [[TheDitz ditzy demon girls]] and [[{{Otaku}} gaming-obsessed geekboys]] and [[GirlOfTheWeek a rotating lineup of high school beauties]] should have been the stuff of critical derision. Yet the show's sharp sense of humor, honest emotions, and polished production values prove that working with familiar clichés doesn't have to result in a clichéd product. With the right prodding and poking, any {{anime}} series can indeed become greater than the sum of its parts.''

->''The mentor figure always ends up [[MentorOccupationalHazard getting killed]]. I nearly didn't do it simply for that reason. However, I eventually decided that a good story is more important, sometimes, than avoiding the expected. Once in a while, you just have to do what feels right, even if that feeling leads you into areas that others have tread.''

->''At some point, you'll have to move from imitating your heroes to emulating them. Imitation is about copying. Emulation is when imitation goes one step further, breaking into your own thing....In the end, imitating your heroes is not flattering them. Transforming their work into something of your own is how you flatter them. Adding something to the world that only you can add.''

->''...Familiar, eh? This formula's been used over and over, especially in anime and [=JRPG=]s.''
->''That doesn't mean that it's bad, however. It has been said that all the great stories have already been told, and that the difference is in the telling. That's where both Persona 3 and Persona 4 distinguish themselves, combining their gameplay mechanics and aesthetic/thematic inspirations to tell an old story in new, unique ways.''

->''"Don't avoid the cliches - they are cliches because they work!"''

->''"Like a language, a genre is a set of norms that should ease communication, not imprison it. When you expand your outline, you should keep in mind what the audience expects and work with that. Your audience expects particular things, but you may not give it entirely what it expects, for that is part of how you maintain dramatic tension. Storytellers keep things lively by splicing genres and types of discourse together as a way to push or subvert expectations. The conventions, though old, are always in charge and always in negotiation. Like spoken language, they must evolve if they are to remain potent and useful."''

->''"Here's the thing: when it comes to story and character ideas that don't work out as well as hoped, it's not always because the ideas themselves were actually that bad. Rather, the problem lies in the execution - something about the way they were carried out just doesn't work."''

-->-- YouTuber '''Shesellssheshells''', critiquing WebVideo/{{Dartigan}}'s "Everything Wrong With The Last of Us" video.