10 Worst Cliches in Short Films
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Making movies is hard - even making bad ones. These are the Top 10 Cliches I’ve Found in Short Films - because we’ve all done these.
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Puff-Puff Scene: when one or many characters take beverages / recreational products in order to feel some kind of way ie. "That 70s Show" or "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
*I'm really trying not to say words that UA-cam would punish me for
DRUGS TITS AND CARCASSES! Couldn't get to half your video through all that self-censorship. And you're really monotonous about it, at least don't stop to point at it every time.
When the short starts with alarm clock that wakes up the main character.
classic
It's a cliché to even call this a cliché at this point.
@@NostalgiNorden Coming back around to cool!
I was gonna say that too, sometimes guy is in bed staring at the ceiling, the alarm goes off he gets out of bed in a gloomy mood, cut to shower or brushing teeth looking in the mirror.
Guy in bed staring at the ceiling, the alarm goes off he gets out of bed in a gloomy mood, cut to him in the shower or brushing teeth looking in the mirror. There's usually a cat or a dog in the house, sometimes a girlfriend who cannot be bothered with him.
that's a classic
What the hell happened to UA-cam that you can't say sex or die or any of these other words? What ridiculous level of censorship we've entered.
sexdie
I kn0w r19ht?
@@ernestocaro9802 h4h4, l0l
Yeah, youtube wants to keep advertisers happy so hard
I've been in film school 3 years now and been involved in many different projects.
Here's what I've learned how to avoid "student film" look.
- Invest sound. Immersive SFX increases production quality.
- Cut the shit and go to business. Every shot has a meaning. Don't waste time on something that doesn't affect the story.
- Establishment of nuances and execution makes the audience feel good when they catch neat details.
- show, don't tell. No need to tell the audience what is going on.
- Shooting environment, how and why it carries the story, what aspects glue the attention.
mostly agree. recognized the imperfect translations (but I'm not even that good at my first language).
not sure I agree with focusing on nuances and shooting environment/location since I'm a proponent of characters driving story and actors' performances dictating what stays in the edit.
fully agree on getting to business and not wasting time on things that don't affect the story.
cheers. a lot to process there
@@AMattBlackFilter Thank you for your response! Allow me to correct myself.
I meant by establishing nuances and details within the story, for an example, the main character makes a promise (small or big), which is then on executed. Comedy gag is a bit like a establishment/execution. The first time the audience get the joke and later on it can be shaped by how it's delivered, like with an unexpected twist.
Of course, characters drive the story forward. An interesting story can be told even in a blank space. When it comes to environment and sets, very often a larger budget of required but with ''student budget'' film creators are forced with cheap yet creative decisions (like recycling materials). By paying attention to space of the character, foreground and background props, film's production design increases.
yeah. i'm a big fan of setups and payoffs. the idea of a character making a promise and then that coming back to them later is interesting - i like that
I love how you’re saying this stuff😂😂 i can hear the frustration of seeing these examples hundreds of times lmaooo
only frustration when filmmakers still do these after they're told these are cliches -- which happens a lot
Pretty comprehensive list, and I agree on all points.
Your honorable mention, bad audio, is in my experience what makes most student-, indie or short films unwatchable.
Funny that, planning with audio in mind, you can avoid a lot of the other cliches you mention. Cutting back on dialog makes you less reliant on good sound, frees up camerawork as most tiny productions will only have one camera, with probably a local mic. Even if a boom somehow finds it's way into production, it's probably not gonna be marked.
With dialog cut, you're also less reliant on good acting, hell, even less reliant on a good writer altogether.
The only thing I thought to add is, shooting with an incomplete script, or even worse, making it up along the way. Most newcomers I'd reckon just wanna "get to the fun stuff", rather than spend significant time writing.
Really good points - IDK how I missed 'shooting an unfinished/evolving script' - I've walked off films bc I either discovered they were way off script or that they never finished the script to begin with
I think several of these points could also apply to writing short stories or chapters in a book.
totally agree with you
I’m currently writing my first short right now. I have all the actors, locations and editor set up I’m just waiting on getting a camera, basic lights and a mic. I’m getting those for my birthday in a-few months so in the mean time I’m just watching as much content about films, writing, and all that while I wait. I’m trying not to have my short film look like someone’s first short film. I know it’s gonna like like dog shit either way. Im just tryna avoid the very very standard clichés and this really helped
right on. good luck. don't sweat it if nothing turns out how you imagined it -- that's a big part of the process in the beginning
lmk when you posted it, i’d love to watch it
Best wishes for the success of your first film.
In the mean time, use your android phone to make a trial shoot.
I don't get why short films become a vehicle for self-indulgence. Hands sticking out of a window of a moving car, women staring up into the sky with their eyes closed, inserting mundane grooming scenes when the characters should be pushing the narrative forward.
agreed
totally
UA-cam is gonna punish me if I said this wrong is the worst cliche
this is such an amazing video, simply for the fact that, it feels like you aren’t talking down on these like most other people do. you’re talking to us, addressing it, giving solutions and it made me so happy. simply for the fact that i’ve been kind of doubting myself lately and this video just made me realise, i should just make it and get better. these student cliches that apply to me i will just only grow out of. as a young filmmaker (18, based in the uk) who’s trying to stay as active as possible before i start my film course in september.. this video just felt so great to watch. so thank you, im going to go straight to my script right now and edit it!
right on. glad you liked it. gladder you're making your film
So basically.... Don't be weird or experimental the only time you may have a chance to be
Woah, did this finally start to take off? I remember watching this around when it came out, and being confused that you didn't have more subscribers / this video didn't have more views. Glad to see it getting the attention it deserves, man!
ha. ego checked, sir
I’m happy that I’ve only given into like 2 of these cliches
The bad acting and bad sound are not cliches though. They're just bad filmmaking.
mostly agree. i think of sound as an on/off switch for audience acceptance. acting is a whole nother animal
😂😂😂 Dang it. I have a tooth brushing scene in one of my shorts. But it is a nice little reveal-shot, soooooo.... maybe I did not completely fucked up my career, right? 😅
we've all done it
Well, I kinda disagree with the dialogue cliche. One of the best ways to save on budget is if you have your characters interact & engage with each other in a single location. And there have been many great films, even feature length films where all characters do is talk. Films like Clerks, My Dinner with Andre, The Fifth Seal. Some of the greatest indie films were films that utilized this concept, notably films from Jim Jarmusch like Night on Earth. I think centering your story around this sort of dialogue driven narrative isn't so bad. Unless you mean when films that have a lot of dialogue that don't develop into anything, then yeah, I would say that is a mistake.
Also completely disagree with the 'incomprehensible' cliche. The term "incomprehensible" is incredibly subjective. I'd argue that the very first filmmaking projects you make should be tools to showcase the most radical sides of you as an artist. You say that "TV Shows aren't incomprehensible", well, yeah, that's because TV Shows usually have millions of dollars and teams of producers behind them, they can't really afford to take huge creative liberties because of those reasons. The great advantage of working with low-budget or an independent budget is that you get to do whatever you want! You have full creative control both during shooting and in the editing room of whatever vision you'd like to express. (obviously, as long as your vision is within budget. You can't make Interstellar or anything.) If you're a talented person, somebody who clearly has the potential to influence the art of film down the road, then you should show it in your first projects! These abstract, incomprehensible ideas should be encouraged. I mean, look at the first short films from the greatest directors working today. Scorsese's or Christopher Nolan's first short films could probably be categorized as weird and artsy, but it paved their style in a unique way.
To your point on dialogue: I agree and especially as a major focus when crafting a short film since dialogue is cheap. I meant 'too much dialogue' more in your latter example where the audience gets lost/loses the plot because dialogue is being used instead of telling a story that is inherently visual -- otherwise it'd be better done as a play or a written fiction -- so I think we're more or less in agreement there.
When I addressed 'incomprehensible' I think I may have been too vague. 'Incomprehensible' isn't the same as 'abstract' or even 'weird and artsy' and I'd argue both Scorsese and Nolan are full-on masters of taking artistic movies and making them still easy to comprehend because of their focus on clarity and precision. Recutting "Memento" into chronological order would make for a pretty simple and straightforward story because if Nolan had written a more complex story and then tried to cut it the way he did with "Memento" I'd argue it'd almost certainly become incomprehensible -- and based on his meticulous nature I'm sure he experimented with that before deciding on "Memento" (or probably "Following").
My point was: it's easy to trick yourself (and your team) into thinking a film is edgy or boundary-pushing where it's actually incomprehensible and the easiest way to regain perspective is to show it to a bunch of people who don't have a stake in you or the project in order to get more objective feedback.
*also: abstract films are fun but there much harder to sell producers on because they don't tend to prove your team can tell a story and producers are almost always looking for stories because there's just a far smaller market for abstract ideas vs conventional narratives
Cheers on the conversation
@@AMattBlackFilter Sure and I definitely agree that pragmatically & strategically it's a much better decision to go for a more conventional narrative over something abstract, but I don't think that should apply for new artists, especially very young artists. It's the same principle of - don't let your child in preschool learn anatomy rules for drawing, let them draw however way they want and develop whatever weird and abstract style they like, when they grow up as more refined artists (assuming they're still drawing) they'll learn all the proper drawing principles necessary and ALSO incorporate the style that they've establed at a very young age. This is largely how artists grow to have unique visions. So if you're making a short film I believe it is your prerogative to shoot for those abstract ideas. If it turns out to be incomprehensible, then too bad. You couldn't do it. These abstract short-films are a great way to tell if the writer/director has a vision or not. It either works brilliantly, or it falls apart. There's no in-between, unlike a more conventional traditional narrative, where you can rely on screenwriting rules and advice from your lecturers. If you can't really get your authentic idea to work, then maybe directing isn't for you.
But you are absolutely right that sometimes directors can get pretty stuck-up with their abstract ideas (I think the film Mr Nobody is a good example of this). And you're also right about usually the problem being lack of communication from the writers/directors to the rest of the staff, lack of test screenings etc. But my point is you're not supposed to be the director that could make a mistake like that in the first place. Ultimately it's a much better career choice to be as radical and crazy and ambitious as an artist, ASSUMING you have the talent to back it up. A director that has made a name for himself in festivals & certain film circles with their ambitious & out-of-the-norm short films I think has a much bigger chance to have full creative control from studios later down his career. Alternatively, if he's taken the conventional route, sure, he might have a few gigs directing some projects, but he's much less likely to make a name for himself, and most likely he'd be percieved as somebody replacable for studios.
Thank you for this video regardless, I think the rest of your points are all pretty spot on. I checked out some of your other videos and I really appreciate the straight-forward explainations. It's a breath of fresh air in this UA-cam film industry bubble.
Fair enough. I'm definitely of the mindset that short films are a tool for learning fundamentals and waiting to experiment once the filmmaker has a better understanding of all the tools (because making any film is extremely hard) but I do agree with your perspective that creators have a responsibility to experiment and explore and, to your implication, I do agree that many of the biggest directors' earliest works are more experimental (and often better/more personal) where once they have money and responsibilities there's a lot more restrictions on what they can do creatively (usually).
Thanks for the convo. I hope my earlier note didn't come off as aggressive or defensive and I appreciate that you came here to discuss.
Cheers!
And then you have Japanese novels/manga/anime like the Monogatari series where almost the entire narrative is carried by long conversations. It’s a nice break from “guy solves all his problems by shooting things.”
The worst cliche for me is in police drama when one of the detectives has an “epiphany” and says sometimes the effect of: “We’ve been looking at this the wrong way” number two also in police drama: “You’re getting to close to the case” yawn.
Hand over you (bang bang) and your badge
Me watching this when I have bang bang shoot shoot, narration, flashbacks, and tons of dialogue. But I'm different and edgy, basically a writing god. Yeah, I,ll just write something else 😬
always gotta get those movies out to make mental room
Basically anything Quentin Tarantino does 😂 , got it
honorable mention: feet
Guess for the last one : OMG IT WAS ALL A DREAM FIOU IM ALIVE
Nah too bad for me
Liked all your points except #1, what’s the problem with a young filmmaker wanting to shoot an action scene? Didn’t like how you said it made you “uncomfortable”seeing a set attempting one and saying it’s like playing with toys is rather condescending. Are short films just reserved for every genre except action? When you’re making an action movie whether it be a short or a feature, the action is just as important as the dialogue and the story setup for the action. I could understand if you said don’t attempt action that is out of your ability (whether it be for safety or cost reasons) but to just say that wanting to do an action scene is lazy is an extremely misguided thought in my opinion.
not 'action scenes.' Items/props that require an armorer (words that I can't say because they definitely have those words flagged as inappropriate)
action scenes are great as long as they advance the plot / introduce new escalations to the larger story
i kinda disagree with the bad sfx/vfx? I don't think cheap has to mean bad. I did Killer Carnival for Goatstories which was a low budget student film and I think it's cool how much we leaned on the practical effects :)
fair enough. definitely bad vfx is worse than bad special fx. i feel like YT has really upped the minimum acceptable standard of vfx which is both good and bad for filmmakers
@@AMattBlackFilter yeah, i never thought about how youtube´s editing raises a bar for filmmakers, that´s really interesting!
This is great! The only ones I personally disagree with are the specialty camera shot and the incomprehensible story. I feel if as long as it makes the audience “feel” what you’re saying, you’re getting it right. But I can see how they can be considered tropes. Overall- great video and a lot of knowledge. Also love how real you are!
right on, and yeah I totally agree with the audience "feel"
WTF is the puff puff scene?
Smoking
see pinned comment
Thanks for the video, i wil most definitely be doing all of these
Really enjoyed this video! Great points and your voice is nice, subbed! :)
right on. thanks
Super emotional guttural breakup scenes or confrontations about cheating. Feels like I am watching actors, not a story. It's exactly like what you said about death being the center.
well said
W video, you deserve way more views
cheers
very helpfull. Cheers mate!
glad you liked it
seen so many "dude with gun in the desert" shorts. enough
ha!
The time a "How did I get here" is actually great is when there's a monologue that's meaningful to the development of the character like megamind.
fair. an exception to every rule. story is king
If you want good acting, give your actors a little time to get 'into the moment', as it were. Don't expect them to just turn up and start 'acting'.
totally agree. actors need to be treated differently than others onset for a bunch of reasons but the big one I always go back to is that their job is their emotions whereas a crew-member's emotions don't tend to show up in the footage
You can have all of these clichés if the story is great.
exactly: the exception that proves the rule
if the direction is great...
Good video. I'll add arty de-saturation or any other weird colour grading to cover for lack of a story.
solid. that one hits close to home
@@AMattBlackFilter Hehe... ;)
Some good points but some unusual terms I found in the vid and what I believe is the translation for other boomers were Expire = dying and doin it = sex puff-puff scenes = bong/joint/weed scene but #1 still need to have a think abut
just trying to make sure UA-cam doesn't hide the video for using terms they've deemed inappropriate - otherwise I'd have used actual human words
There are some good thoughts here but are we seriously not allowed to say “Swords and Sandals” anymore???? Am I just an old man? What the hell is a puff puff scene?
see pinned comment
From what I know about UA-cam rules, your channel isn't eligible for monetization yet, so you don't have to worry about saying the "bad" words because it won't affect you at all.
got em
The I forgot I murdered someone due to drugs or mental illness cliche. I worked as a camera op or gaffer on the film like 6 times in college 😂
oh man. brutal - memento film homage?
@@AMattBlackFilter they were never that deep. 😆
This video was good but it would have been a lot better without tip toeing around the actual subject matter for half of the points. I get it, youtube or whatever but like cmon. Just say knives. Or guns. Or sex. It's like people saying "unalive" on tiktok.
I've had to subscribe as I loved this film but I haven't got time to watch till the end as I have to go to work :(.
respect
@@AMattBlackFilter ta chuck. If you ever fancy collaborating just say the word 👍🏽😁
The "getting ready" sequence is, kind of lousy.
unless there's a way to make it the first of something -- but that usually distracts from the story even more than just a cliche version
Good info, thanks.
right on
But I like playing with toys ....
What's the point of Mumblecore? Is it just lazy script writing? I imagine there is always a risk of the dialogue and "plot", such as it is, fizzling out without telling a story.
What’s the Puff Puff scene?
see pinned comment
It's hard to take advice from a bloke dressed like a surgeon...
it's the shirt right? also cheers on the unearned promotion: most med schools don't scout film majors
You don't trust surgeons?
@@CERTIFIEDBABEWRANGLER I am a surgeon.
Almost every movie in the GRADUATE film class has sex scenes. Why. It's awkward and I feel like it's so that the director can look at some beans. I haven't seen one film done well.
oof... is it a sexuality in cinema or something like that? i took a really great slashers course one time that only came up like once every 3 years
What the hell is a puff puff scene
see pinned comment
What is a puff puff scene?
see pinned comment
what's a puff puff scene? haha
Drugs,my guy
see pinned comment
My sf starts with a death 💀
#5
@@AMattBlackFilter well it's an adaptation of 'the Egg' and we show the afterlife and a chat with God so it's okay ig? Death plays only a little role in the theme and story
WTF is a "puff-puff" scene?
He censored smoking 🚬 I think
When I googled "puff-puff" I got some weird anime stuff lol
see pinned comment
You
👍🏾😃🙏🏾😃🙏🏾
wtf is a puff-puff scene
yeah, that might be an american phrase that doesn't make sense elsewhere.
(example: puff, puff, pass)
@@AMattBlackFilter Smokin the devils lettuce, marijuana, weed
😂 should have made a better short film on this
right on. care to expand?
Bro can't say dying, cigarettes, or sex
i meant not just ciggies but yeah them too
What is a Puff-Puff scene?
see pinned comment
With short attention span and some awesome reels being churned out, making shorts, you have your work cut out and please short means short 15-45 minutes most people wouldn't care......try to keep it under 10.....
so basically shoot something boring and don't ever try anything
if that's what you got from it: you do you
@@AMattBlackFilter, it's a shame that guy missed the point. The film elements outlined have become so trite and reveal a lack of imagination.