Technology plays a big role in cinema, and many movie tropes today would not exist without it. The way films are made also echoes this. For instance, computer-generated imagery (CGI) has grown from 2D static images to 3D special effects and even virtual cinematography. With the advancement of technology in filmmaking and outside of it, there are new spaces for filmmakers to explore in of storytelling. Age-old tropes range from the high school movie trope of the clumsy girl getting a makeover and then dating the popular guy to classic car chases in action movies.
Technology expands the list even further. Some movie tropes involving technology are genre-specific, like cellphones being out of service in order to isolate characters in horror films, and others are situational, as in the case of security systems malfunctioning and causing a life-or-death entrapment or a comedic obstacle that makes a character late for an event. Either way, technology has introduced many tropes that movie audiences have become so used to that they don't even think twice when they appear on-screen.
10 Internet Searches Always Have The Answers
The internet is a go-to for research for most people. However, in real life, it doesn't always provide the answers needed, no matter how specific the search is. For movie characters, this problem doesn't seem to exist. Typically, when a character needs to find a specific person, learn about very intricate monster lore, or find an address, the internet always seems to have the answers.
For example, in The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker discovers his father's connection to Dr. Curt Connors through a series of internet searches on Bing. He simply searches their names and finds out all he needs to know from the first few results on the page. Even when searching "spider bite symptoms," the first or second result gives him substantial insight into his bite.
9 AI Goes Rogue
AI being sentient is nothing new in film. It's seen in multiple genres from action to horror to drama. Commonly, rogue AI follows a premise where a character's AI unexpectedly becomes sentient or turns evil, therefore making it the villain of the film. There are exceptions, of course, where sentience focuses more on humans and AI as a paradox of emotion versus logic. Its multi-genre appeal allows for grand-scale destruction or smaller-scale threats at the hands of technology.
Some examples include Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. He is an AI created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner who is sentient and deems humanity worth destroying. Also on the frightening side of the spectrum, there's M3GAN, which features a robot originally designed to be a toy but instead is a strong, murderous doll the size of a little girl. A more tame example is Her, which focuses on the relationship between a human and an AI virtual assistant, showcasing tech embodying human-like attributes like emotion.
8 Image Enhancements Are Fool-proof
Movies tend to simplify the image enhancement process, as well as skew the efficiency of this regardless of the source image's quality. This also extends to video footage where characters pause, zoom in, and enhance, all in a couple of clicks. What software they're using is worth questioning, but it usually isn't important as this technique is often used to drive the plot forward.
Some examples include the 1987 thriller No Way Out where a crucial piece of evidence in solving a murder is a low-quality image. Not only does the movie rely on image enhancements, but it also justifies the time it takes to get a clear image by stating that a computer is reconstructing the photo. There's also the 2008 action movie Taken where an ex-CIA operative, Bryan Mills, enhances an image that's on his missing daughter's memory card at a photo kiosk.
7 Social Media Has Characters’ Whole Life Stories
Movies leverage social media as a plot device to progress character relationships, as a sinister tool to create horror, and even as a tell-all about any given character, particularly those who go missing. While this one may not be too implausible given how much people share online these days, characters still exhibit extreme precision and speed when scouring social media for answers.
Some notable mentions where social media documents much of a character's life are Not Okay and Searching. In the former, Danni Sanders curates a fake life online in order to gain popularity and further her writing career. The latter focuses on David Kim, who traces his missing daughter's online steps to try and find her. While these are very different examples, they both illustrate how social media is used to make characters' lives more accessible.
6 Creepy Phone Calls In Horror Movies
Phone calls are commonplace when it comes to horror movies and can either be used to build tension or create interesting exchanges between characters. A classic example is the original Scream where Ghostface engages in a back-and-forth with a teenager, Casey, who is home alone. He asks her trivia about horror films, then starts threatening her. In this tense scene, Ghostface ultimately kills her after she gets a question wrong. A more modern example is The Black Phone where the phone is used to help the protagonist, Finney, escape a serial killer's basement with instructions from his dead victims.
5 Catfishing As A Plot Device
Catfishing has been used as a primary plot device, often as a cautionary tale about the dangers of online dating or chatrooms. This is also used in stories focused on social media or cyberbullying since the anonymity of online communication makes it easier for characters to portray themselves differently than they actually are.
One of the most well-known examples is Catfish, which gave the term its name. The documentary focuses on Nev, a man who begins an online relationship with a woman pretending to be someone else, using fake details and images of a model to maintain ongoing conversations with him. A more light-hearted example is Love Hard where Natalie builds a connection with a man, Josh, through a dating app and heads to his hometown to surprise him at Christmas, only to find he was using another man's photos. Despite this, she agrees to keep up yet another rom-com staple, the fake relationship trope, in order to keep Josh's family happy.
4 All Text, No Talk
Texting has become a common tool in movies to exchange information between characters, create miscommunications that lead to other plot points, or condense exposition. This can include emails, text messages, and social media direct messages. While it's not necessarily a bad trope, it can get boring when over-used.
Some examples where it's used interestingly are The Fault In Our Stars and The Departed. The former film uses sketch-style speech bubbles to show texts between Hazel and Augustus, the protagonists. Given that they're both teenagers, texting is expected and the unique artistic approach suits the creative inclinations of the characters, seen through their love of reading. In The Departed, Costigan, an undercover operative, uses sneaky texting to alert Captain Queenan that a mobster, Costello, is aware that there's a spy in his organization.
3 Live Tracking Characters To Move The Story Forward
Sometimes characters may be on the run, missing, or just under surveillance, and tracking is required to keep the story going. The simple approach is just turning a phone's GPS on, but some movies take it further with complex software or even magic. Examples include The Bourne Ultimatum where Jason Bourne uses a phone's GPS to track an assassin and prevent another kill, and The Dark Knight where Batman uses complex tech to convert cellphones into a massive surveillance system to help track the Joker.
2 When Hacking Saves Characters Time
Hacking is usually very simplified in movies with no stagnant sequences of characters just typing in codes. Instead, high-tech programs of devices with 3D imaging and quick response times are used to gain access to police databases or private information. Sometimes movies have a fairly realistic approach, helping move a mission along. For example, The Matrix Reloaded showcases hacking when Trinity infiltrates a power station computer. Another instance occurs in The Italian Job where a main character, Lyle, hacks traffic control systems in order to make a path for getaway cars to speed off without obstructions.
1 Cryogenic Freezing To Avoid Timeline Problems
Cryogenics is a useful tool to bring characters from decades past to the present or future without having to create an elaborate explanation as to how it's done. It acts as a different take on time-travel stories and is most plausible in sci-fi, comedies, action, or fantasy. Some examples include Avatar when Jake Sully and others enter a cryosleep state when traveling from Earth to Pandora. Similarly, the same idea is used in engers, although here, the main protagonists wake up early aboard their sleeper ship en route to a new planet. Ultimately, movie tropes give filmmakers room to play with time, genre, and space.
