Chekov’s Gun and other types of foreshadow

This video explains that Chekov’s gun is like a film rule where everything showed to us must have some value in the film or it shouldn’t be on screen. This is common for most films to follow this so that if there is a gun hanging on the wall at some point the gun must be fired.It is to do with setting up a scene waiting to be fired like loading a gun and waiting for the trigger to be pulled, however there are some times in films where this rule isn’t used for example if the gun is fired without being loaded so something appears without being introduced to it first or the other way round where is it loaded but not fired so we are given the information and we can think it is going to mean something a little later however it is never used to show us anything. This can be annoying because it giving the audience suspense for no reason.

This is another video explaining the same kind of thing and the reason it should be used. It is an interesting principle which I didn’t know of before but makes sense now that I know what is it.

There are 3 different categories you can put setups and pay offs into:

1. objects
2. characters
3. 3 environment

These are etched used in their own ways to have a storyline that makes sense for example in Harry Potter there is a flying car, in the real world this would be impossible and would make no sense to anybody however because of the film before where we know their world and what they can d because they’re wizards we accept the flying car as quite a normal thing and don’t question how or why. That is an example of using the environment to use Chekov’s gun.

This is another couple of example to show how it works to make the story make sense, It also explains how it makes story writing more complex because they have to think about every little detail that is happening and how the can put ideas together which fit with each other and bring the story together.

Prophecy foreshadow 

This is a technique where in the storyline the character is told by a fortune teller or something similar what is going to happen to them wether it seems clear or vague and it always comes true in one way or another, for example in Macbeth when he is told what his future will bring by the 3 witches they all come true. We are told what is going to happen but not how or when so it still engages the audience and doesn’t spoil it. It is slightly different to the normal foreshadow method because it is telling you whats going to happen rather than suggesting however it works us as well.

evocative foreshadow (flash-back or flash-forward)

This is when a character has a flashback or there is a clip to lead the audience into thinking they are seeing the future, It can be used to tel the audience something that has happened to them previously which will be the reason for something they do, they give the audience more of a feel for the character so they feel like they know them better and will therefore be more likely to have more sympathy for them and the decision they make. A flash forward could be used for different things for example if there is a decision to be made it could show what each decision could lead to. The flash-forward could be real, imagined, projected, or expected scenes that will happen later. These don’t occur in chronological order and so disrupt the movie slightly when we are shown them This can make us take in the moment more because it makes us think about what is happening and why we are being shown it in the first place.

Abstract/symbolic foreshadow

This is very subtle in movies which is harder to pick up on however we seem to subconsciously pick up on it. It is for example when the wether changes it represents a characters mood changing so if it is sunny but starts to ran whilst we are focusing on a certain character it would mean that the characters is likely to feel sad about something or their mood has changed for some reason. It could also symbolise the characters luck or behaviour in a situation. This is useful because it helps the film maker show emotions easier and bring thins across wit more power but quite easily and subtly without disruption. You can also use objects which might symbolise other things with a deeper meaning to goober things sentimental meaning. Certain colours when a character is around is also a way to symbolise their personality before we have been introduced for example:

• Black is used to represent death or evil.
• White stands for life and purity.
• Red can symbolize blood, passion, danger, or immoral character.
• Purple is a royal color.
• Yellow stands for violence or decay.
• Blue represents peacefulness and calm.

You can also use certain objects, flowers and animals to express different things.

Red-herring

A red-herring is something that diverts the audiences attention away from the original topic onto something else and usually irrelevant it makes the reader presume something important is going to happen however nothing does it just leads on the audience into thinking something is going to happen. It is usually used in detective or suspense novels to make them think of a false conclusion so they think they know something they don’t.