CGTalk - how do you name a cliche?

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eks

02-17-2005, 09:28 PM

greetings,

sometime ago i quited my company to work on my demo reel, aimed in animation, which is what i do and like best. i decided to start working on a short. i decided, since i wanted to focus on animation, that modeling and texturing should be simple, for the characters and the scenery. then came the first cliche: robots (easy modeling and easy skinning) in a theater (very few and simple assets). i didn´t wanted to waste much time in scripting, and while looking for something my girlfriend sugested an act from hamlet. althought is an act that isn´t played much, shakespeare is a cliche. the second one. after some consideration, i decided that using bullet time in a scene where a character falls on the floor would be funny. third cliche.

oh, and the lines of the characters (http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/hamlet/hamlet.5.1.html) are really cliche. maybe they weren´t 500 years ago, but i´ve seen this jokes a lot already. fourth cliche. in a 2 minute short. :blush:

before i realized this many cliches i was naming the project simply "hamlet". after seeing that robots acting a play of shakespeare was "cliche-galore" i opted for the bullet time scene. since we have cliches all around, let´s go deep into it, right? :p

but now, i don´t think "hamlet" is a good name anymore. but cannot think of anything else other than "a hamlet´s cliche", or "a shakespeare cliche", or something with cliche in the name, to be clear i realized that and not go for "man, the guy that made this really need to go out more and have better ideas". (my point wasn´t ideas anyway, was animation).

if you wanna see the text, it´s here (http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/hamlet/hamlet.5.1.html), the same link as above. i didn´t used the whole act and cut many many lines. there´s also a moment, when hamlet pick up yoricks skull, that their rehearsal goes bad and one other thing happens. (but if i tell you, it blows the last joke).

so... anyone have any sugestion?

listing some ideas:

hamlet
hamleto
a hamlet cliche
a shakespeare cliche
hamlet: an animated cliche
graveyard cliche
cliche.hamlet (or hamlet.cliche)

thanks for reading everything. and if you did, please shout any idea of yours, the most absurd the better. :thumbsup:

eks

PS: forgot, there are some pictures posted in this thread (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=200320) about the lighting setup.

AngryScientist

02-18-2005, 05:54 PM

cliche.hamlet

tho I can't say why. I think it just suits it best :)

jeffthomann

02-18-2005, 06:55 PM

green hamlet and eggs

02-22-2005, 03:21 AM

You've probably seen "Hamlet", the recent movie directed by Kenneth Branagh. That's a brilliant realisation and not at all cliche.

It's up to you to make it good or cliche.

Nucleo

02-22-2005, 11:28 AM

Hi

Cliches are not bad as long as your story is original. There are many movies out there that use images from other movies, which are now classics, as a reference. Its not bad at all as long as it add to your story.

P.S. oh and i dont think bullet time can be consider a cliche cus its a Special Effects technique, right? Iam not sure though.

G.L.

eks

02-22-2005, 06:38 PM

You've probably seen "Hamlet", the recent movie directed by Kenneth Branagh. That's a brilliant realisation and not at all cliche.
It's up to you to make it good or cliche.
yes, i have. as i´ve seen some 2 plays on hamlet from 2 different groups. hamlet by itself is not cliche. or shakespeare. even the act i made is not commonly played, which is the only act with comedy in the whole play.

but making animated robots in cg is cliche. :)

i think "artistically-wise" the short is coming up with lots of cliche. and using a shakespeare´s play, specifically hamlet, is something i´ve seen students doing in CG a lot of times already.

Cliches are not bad as long as your story is original. There are many movies out there that use images from other movies, which are now classics, as a reference. Its not bad at all as long as it add to your story.

P.S. oh and i dont think bullet time can be consider a cliche cus its a Special Effects technique, right? Iam not sure though.

i dunno either. but this thread (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43044) makes me believe so.

its like, if tarantino used bullet time ANYWHERE in kill bill, he would be heavily critized for it. but he was able to make fight scenes interesting enough without it. i used bullet time in a gag scene, which is a bit different. but i think its already a common thing now.

on a side note, i do think the story and the short came up really great. i think i was able to "use cliches wisely", as you put it. there are heavy references to 2001 also. i ended up not "creating" anything new, just mixing ingredients. but if the result is good or bad, only the audience will be able to tell...

eks

PS: i liked a lot "green hamlet with eggs"!! but hamlet is red, he´s not on those pictures. but... red hamlet with eggs it´s kinda nice too... and difficult to pronounce (red/ham). :twisted:

02-23-2005, 12:18 AM

but making animated robots in cg is cliche.

Is it cliche to make movies about people??? 'Cause we've seen that before!?!

How about cg animation itself, is it cliche to make a cg feature? 'Cause we've seen that before!!!

Nope, I don't think so. A cliche is something specific that you borrow and use out of context. If I borrow from someone, but I give it functionality within my work, it's my merit for finding new functionality. Well, according to G.B.Shaw, if you actually... steal, then it's Art! Because a craftsman borrows, while an artist steals, he sais. http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Nucleo

02-23-2005, 12:51 AM

its like, if tarantino used bullet time ANYWHERE in kill bill, he would be heavily critized for it. but he was able to make fight scenes interesting enough without it. i used bullet time in a gag scene, which is a bit different. but i think its already a common thing now.

Exactly, Tarantino is a perfect example of how to use cliches. Tarantino really adapted the Japanese style to the Hollywood style. All those references to japanese movies and western movies he mixed the elements and the result was great!!

HenningK

02-23-2005, 10:11 PM

You should think of a lot more cliches to stick in there if you're going to get the point across. -Perhaps include two scenes where both robots whip out their arsenals and it takes like 10 seconds to unfold it all: done in combination with the "Vertigo" camera effect and as a result of very little provocation, it could kill three cliches with one stone.
-the robots' acting should be very actorly... in the style we've come to understand (by way of Warner cartoons and the like) is the cliche of the Elizabethan actor.
-in a cliche twist ending, one of the robots can reveal himself to be Yorick, back from the dead!! Except do it AFTER the rehearsal reveal, so it makes no sense.

Just some suggestions.
-hambot

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