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openPuddle step of Action shot. Film
A shot of a barefoot stepping on or running into a puddle for a dramatic effect.
openGrinch-Style Trope Film
The trope that consistently puts a lump in my throat whenever it occurs, is best exemplified by the part of 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑠! which is narrated as:
And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say That the old Grinch's heart grew 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 sizes that day. And then the true meaning of Christmas came through, And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!
It's that moment where a character's epiphany changes the whole situation, and they are able to transcend themselves and/or what they have been, conquering the challenge before them, often with sudden ease. What Trope is that?
openClosing credits, real song reprise Film
This is where a song is sung, in whole or part, by the characters in the movie. Then in the closing credits, a "real" version of the song is played — if not the original artist, then a well-known cover. Examples include:
Good Will Hunting - Will sings a few bars of "Afternoon Delight" as kind of a joke. The original version by the Starland Vocal Band is played over the closing credits.
An American Tail - Feivel and his family sing "Somewhere Out There" in hopes of finding each other. The popular version by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram is played at the end.
Scrooged - A choir sings "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" at the end of the movie; the closing credits immediately follow with the Annie Lennox/Al Green version.
Edited by SquirrelGuyopenBlindly following directions, even if absurd in the circumstances Film
Is there a troupe involved a character following directions as if they were a robot, even if those directions make no sense under the circumstances. This would be distinct from "Just following orders," since we're not necessarily talking about morally objectionable actions. Just directions that obviously don't make sense, and that any reasonable person would, at least, question. Often played for laughs.
Some examples:
1. In an episode of Big Bang Theory, Sheldon tries to reduce "making a friend" to computer flowchart, which he follows literally when trying to make friends with Kripkie. Hilariry ensues when he ends up in a perpetual loop.
2. In Superman III, a computer is programed to send a message to every oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean, ordering them all to sail to the middle of the ocean and "await further orders." All but one ship complies without question.
3. In a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs defeats two cowboys by becoming a square dance caller and direction them to do things like bash each other over the head, dance into a lake, etc.
4. In Die Hard 2, after being taken over by a group of terrorists, an Air Traffic Control tower orders all the planes to hold, indefinitely. They all do so, without question, even to the point of coming dangerously close to running out of fuel. In the real world, long before being in danger of running out of fuel, the pilots would have simply gone to another airport.
5. Averted in the opening scene of Wargames, when two airmen working in a missile silo suddenly and unexpectedly receive orders to launch their missiles. The junior threatens the senior with a gun simply because the senior wants to call someone to confirm that they have REALLY been ordered to launch their missiles.
Edited by wsmith76openOne Book Author Film
Does this trope apply if someone has a work in a major field? Denny Zeitlin is a renowned jazz composer, but Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the only film score he did. Does that fit?
openPoor Person Usurps Rich Person's Life Film
I know I asked this a while back, but I still haven't figured out the answer. Is there a trope where someone from a lower-class background worms their way into a wealthy person's life or upper-class society in general? This trope may or may not involve the poor person killing the rich person and/or other characters in order to attain that lifestyle. Examples that come to mind are The Talented Mr. Ripley, Parasite, and most recently, Saltburn.
openBoots, Boots, Heels Film
Surely this is already a film trope but I can't find it. Invariably seen at the beginning of a movie when The Team arrives. The camera only shows the bottom of a vehicle door (often a helicopter). The first couple of pairs of legs that jump down to the ground are in fatigues and boots; the third (invariably) is a slender feminine leg in heels. Example - near the beginning of The Abyss, but there isn't anything like that listed on the page.
openTrope where you see your desire everywhere Film
When a character starts hallucinating their obsession and/or person of desire everywhere they go.
Best examples I got of it is that one plane scene from Despicable Me 2
openMetaseries Film
A media franchise where each installment shares common elements, visual motifs or themes, but do not form one single continuity (Though there often will be occasional crossovers) and arent different versions or adaptations of the same characters For example
- The Gun Dam series
- The Pre Cure series
- The Ultra Series
- Super Sentai
- Kamen Rider
openBig meaningless battle / Hidden "real" battle Film
At the end of an eventful, epic adventure, thousands of good-guy soldiers meet thousands of bad-guy soldiers in a huge, epic battle that will invariably involve lots of rousing speeches, war cries, bravery, and a heroic sacrifice or two. It will feel like it should be the climax of the story, except . . . the outcome of this battle will have little or no effect on the war. Somewhere away from the action there is a smaller, hidden duel happening between the main hero and the main villain, and it is the outcome of THAT smaller fight — the REAL battle — that will determine the course of the story. The big showy battle doesn't really matter. In fact sometimes the good guys ultimately lose the big battle, but nevertheless everything is okay because the hero prevailed in the smaller fight.
Examples of this troupe include: Return of the Jedi, Willow, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
resolved "Destroy the Mothership" Film
What's the name for the trope where plucky underdogs win against insurmountable odds by destroying some kind of technology that inexplicably has a single point of failure that then destroys/renders inactive all of the enemy forces?
Obvious examples -
- Independence Day
- Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
- The Avengers
resolved Strip of light over character's eyes. Name of the technique? Film
Hey everyone, out of curiosity, what's the name of the effect when there is a strip of light over a character's eyes? For example, in the 1991 Addams's Family film and its sequel 'Values', there are many scenes where Morticia Addams eyes are accentuated (to mimic old vampire movies where this technique was used.
It was also used in the Harry Potter movie on Lucius's Malfoy, 007 with Daniel Craig and so on.
openWho’s who rundown of a criminal organization or gang Film
Is there a trope for when we are given a montage explaining who’s who of usually a criminal organization?
It is usually accompanied with snapshots of characters getting into cars (footage and then the click of a camera is heard and is now a still image), exposing their usual habits and frequented locations and after mentioning the boss and the right-hand man, the “real danger to look out for”, like wife or thuggish bodyguard or weasel accountant.
resolved 'Don't shoot me, I'm the real one!' Film
Not sure if this trope is listed already or not, if it is I can't find it.
Basically the scene where there's two versions of the same person (one is an evil clone, or an android, etc...), one of the heroes has a gun and needs to shoot one of the two, but can't figure out which is which.
It usually leads to the two characters having to prove themselves to the one holding the gun, saying something like 'You know it's me, we did that thing together years ago, remember?' Or in comedic scenarios, the duplicate says something overly sappy and sentimental which the hero thinks 'they'd never say that' and shoots them dead for it.
openThe prop actually works Film
(Usually a comedy and/or kids story trope) Characters are making a movie In Universe, and one of the props is a sci fi gadget... that actually does in the story's real life what it's supposed to do in the movie. Usually there's some Hand Wave explanation for why that is, but sometimes it's just because the producers are Too Dumb to Live. If the prop is a superhero armor, it's also a Clothes Make the Superman example.
openSpecific Competition Loophole Trope Film
Hi, all! Long time troper, first time asker.
So, while I get that Loophole Abuse is the catch-all for any time someone bends the rules for themselves, is there something specifically about a competitive use for this?
The first thing that pops to mind is, as a wrestling fan, the 1995 Royal Rumble where Shawn Michaels was not eliminated because the rules stated *both* feet had to hit the floor, and only one of his did.
Second one would be (which is why I landed on film,) the ending to John Wick: Chapter 4, where John defeats the Big Bad by not actually taking his shot until after he's sure the Big Bad is distracted by his own declaration that the duel is over.
So, is there a specific circumstance for using a loophole strictly to win a competition?
Edited by zodiacphenom
Interspecies Adoption is in play. A character is raised by another species at a young age. However, as the years go by, the adoptee starts to develop traits associated with the species that they were raised by, traits the adoptee's species normally doesn't have. For example, Elf is about a human who is raised by Christmas elves. While the human, Buddy, has a lot of the traits that most humans have, like his height and the way that he ages, he's also developed traits that elves mainly have, like how he seems relatively healthy despite only eating junk food for most of his life, and is an exceptionally skilled toy by human standards. Is there a trope for this? Thank you!