"Scream" was probably the most recent movie I can think
of that explained this concept well. I'm thinking of the scene in
particular where the two guys are sitting around, explaining how
kids in slasher movies meet their doom and how no woman who
takes off her clothes in a slasher movie is safe.
Another good resource for movie terms is Roger Ebert's "Bigger Little
Movie Glossary" wherein it explains some things like the
Fruit Cart! phenomenon: In every chase scene in a foreign location,
there is inevitably a part of the chase scene where the chasee and his
pursuers overturn a fruit cart and the accompanying peddler running out
into the street shaking his fist at the men who wrecked it.
They aren't limited to action movies. The book defines the "Meet Cute"
as the way for the two protagonists to meet in any romantic comedy
movies. It usually involves the man walking down the street, minding
his own business when all of a sudden, a female bowls into him,
spilling all her packages. The two meet while he is helping her pick
them up.
There are terms for individual actors as well. Harrison Ford has two,
one of them being the Harrison Door Principle. The Harrison Door
is a slow moving door that in any other circumstance closes swiftly,
but in times of great peril for Mr. Ford, the door closes slowly and with
much grinding noises so he can encounter danger on the way to the
door and barely manage to slip under said door. Bonus points if he
reaches back inside the room to grab his leather fedora.
What does this have to do with fan-fiction? It's obvious. Fanfic
has its own terms too. One I can think of is the Character Boinkability
Clause. In every mainstream universe, there is one character who is so
beautiful/handsome/interesting that every other character wants to
boink him/her. This includes Mary Sues and self-insertion characters.
Some comic books and anime have more than one. Gambit and
Rogue of the X-Men is a good example. So is Akane of Ranma 1/2 fame.
Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion is a weird case, as she
doesn't exude sex appeal in any way shape or form.
Here is my challenge to you of the fanfic community: Write the
Fanfic Glossary. You can come up with as many terms as you want
to. They can be about any fandom, any character. Heck, they can be
about any writer. Send your terms to me at trisha_lynn@hotmail.com
with [Fanfic Rules] in your subject field. All submissions not complying
with this will be ignored.
They will be compiled and sorted into the genres and put up on my
website at the Author's Spotlight with your name and address by the
term.
This is going to be an ongoing project, so get typing!
Trisha L. Sebastian
tls@thekeep.org
trisha_lynn@hotmail.com
http://www.thekeep.org/~tls/spotlight.htm