Was literally explaining this concept to my daughter while watching Pet Cemetery (1991) when Gabe Runs into the street the first time and is saved by the neighbor. The clock is set for Gabe in that moment.
Hold on. That sound more like a gun. There's no regular countdown to Gabe's demise. But we do know that when Gabe gets hit that will bring about chaos.
I'd argue Gabe vs. the truck is a gun. Not a clock.
Hmmm okay. Also it autocorrected Gage to Gabe. So then what is the clock? Confused. Maybe the wife dying cause she’s so tormented yet happy over her sisters death?
There's seldom a clock AND a gun. Since they both serve the purpose of bringing the story to chaos. 'The Shining' has a mild clock -- spring will come someday. But the furnace is really the gun that brings chaos.
Theoretically, in using both, potential exists to elevate the story but also to make it more... cumbersome? Is it better to stick to using one, or try to find the balance in using both?
I was thinking the burial ground was the clock because you know Louis has to bury something there that will bring his demise. And the 1991 movie is far better than the remake. Fred Gwynn!
Is the clock "death"? Once the statement "Sometimes dead is better." Is made, you know something alive will be dead and then all hell will break loose.
To be fair, the very existence of the lettuce was also a bit of a gun. Although if Johnson makes a return, guns may be small fry. 5th November approaches, we may be LARPing in Westminster this year...
Ever since learning about the concept of clocks, I've been trying to spot it in films and TV shows. Would you consider it to be a clock when, in the House of the Dragon, the audience knows that the king's eventual death will serve as a powerful turning point for the plot?
The lettuce winning was the most Liz Truss thing ever. I see Britain as a funhouse mirror of the US (the Tory Party is the only party, etc) and I love the fact that they can jettison people who aren't popular enough. Mob rule, but with scones! Narrative tension is always enhanced by a countdown or a race, I find (though most bomb experts take issue with the big LED clock strapped to the standard bomb.)
I'm not able to comment on the new Gloves Off post. The newest one for Pity Tip. Hopefully you get the notification. Did you write the right roman numeral? It says Round XV. Shouldn't it be XXV? Such a great story.
I think I learned this lesson on my own a few years ago after watching Jaws for the umpteenth time.
When the shark crashes into the boat and it starts taking in water, starts sinking, all of a sudden that's a clock where we never thought there'd be one. Then when it's nearly all sunk and Brody is trying to shoot the oxygen tank, he's almost out of time and in the water. It was a pretty natural clock too, very organic to the story. Always nice when there's a clock and it's not literally a clock or a timer, in this case a movie location, their set, that transforms into an unexpected plot device.
Was literally explaining this concept to my daughter while watching Pet Cemetery (1991) when Gabe Runs into the street the first time and is saved by the neighbor. The clock is set for Gabe in that moment.
Hold on. That sound more like a gun. There's no regular countdown to Gabe's demise. But we do know that when Gabe gets hit that will bring about chaos.
I'd argue Gabe vs. the truck is a gun. Not a clock.
I think so too but doesn’t the clock also have to be nearer to the end?
Hmmm okay. Also it autocorrected Gage to Gabe. So then what is the clock? Confused. Maybe the wife dying cause she’s so tormented yet happy over her sisters death?
There's seldom a clock AND a gun. Since they both serve the purpose of bringing the story to chaos. 'The Shining' has a mild clock -- spring will come someday. But the furnace is really the gun that brings chaos.
Theoretically, in using both, potential exists to elevate the story but also to make it more... cumbersome? Is it better to stick to using one, or try to find the balance in using both?
My mother brought me (12) and my sister (8) to see this at a drive in theater. This may have been a mistake.
Also is it possible that it can be both the clock and the gun at the same time?
Is the clock the Micmac burial ground?
As I understand it the clock is and event that we know is going to happen that brings about the near end of the story. Unless I’m mixed up somehow.
I was thinking the burial ground was the clock because you know Louis has to bury something there that will bring his demise. And the 1991 movie is far better than the remake. Fred Gwynn!
Kill me if you want, but I love John Lithgow. We’re it not for me idve been upset with the new movie otherwise it was okay.
Is the clock "death"? Once the statement "Sometimes dead is better." Is made, you know something alive will be dead and then all hell will break loose.
So... the husband losing everyone then?
Glory be to Chuck! Giver of the laws! The unbreakable rules for writing!
Nah I get what you mean I just see these elements now and can’t unsee them.
*elements
To be fair, the very existence of the lettuce was also a bit of a gun. Although if Johnson makes a return, guns may be small fry. 5th November approaches, we may be LARPing in Westminster this year...
I still come back to the Building a Clock course from litreactor. Always good to keep in mind.
This is so brilliant. Thank you
They could have used an avocado instead of lettuce. But as someone pointed out, she lasted 4.1 Scaramuccis.
Ever since learning about the concept of clocks, I've been trying to spot it in films and TV shows. Would you consider it to be a clock when, in the House of the Dragon, the audience knows that the king's eventual death will serve as a powerful turning point for the plot?
Makes ya proud ta be Bri’ish, innit.
in Watchmen, the clock is a clock. Doomsday clock, but still a clock.
if any writer struggles finding a clock, is he a clock sucker? 😅
Lettuce not forget this.
Real lol.
So you're saying the countdown to the lettuce wilting is a clock? I'm just seeing if I understand.
Yes, it determined the length of the exercise. Its steady decay guaranteed the story would not last forever.
Love this. Def gonna add a “clock” to my latest, Acid Christmas. Thanks!
The lettuce winning was the most Liz Truss thing ever. I see Britain as a funhouse mirror of the US (the Tory Party is the only party, etc) and I love the fact that they can jettison people who aren't popular enough. Mob rule, but with scones! Narrative tension is always enhanced by a countdown or a race, I find (though most bomb experts take issue with the big LED clock strapped to the standard bomb.)
I'm not able to comment on the new Gloves Off post. The newest one for Pity Tip. Hopefully you get the notification. Did you write the right roman numeral? It says Round XV. Shouldn't it be XXV? Such a great story.
Take how dumbfounded you all were that the lettuce had won and multiply it by a thousand.
That's how dumbfounded we on this side of the pond would've been if the lettuce had lost.
I think I learned this lesson on my own a few years ago after watching Jaws for the umpteenth time.
When the shark crashes into the boat and it starts taking in water, starts sinking, all of a sudden that's a clock where we never thought there'd be one. Then when it's nearly all sunk and Brody is trying to shoot the oxygen tank, he's almost out of time and in the water. It was a pretty natural clock too, very organic to the story. Always nice when there's a clock and it's not literally a clock or a timer, in this case a movie location, their set, that transforms into an unexpected plot device.