Difference between revisions of "Death and sleaze guidelines"

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{{TOCright}}Herein, we describe our particular approach to ratings and indexing.
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Herein, we describe our particular approach to indexing the ephemera of deaths and sleaze.
  
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== How we rate films ==
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<div class="infobox">
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<div class="title">Recent film indexes</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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* [[Bad Seed]]
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* [[The Black Water Vampire]]
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* [[Blood Widow]]
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* [[The Dead Hate the Living!]]
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* [[Jack Frost 2]]
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* [[Road Rage]]
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* [[The Wrecking Crew]]
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</div>
  
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We use a 4-star rating system, where each star is a positive response to these questions:
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<br /><div class="title">Older indexes</div>
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''Earlier forms of the index didn't retain research notes or reference images. These films need to be updated.''
  
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;'''Was there an emotional or memorable moment?''': Did we physically cry, smile, or laugh aloud? Did the soundtrack hit just the right notes, creating a more impressive and emotive scene? Did something happen that we talked about afterward, or became synonymous with the movie in our memory, or were we just jaded for most of the proceedings? Films that earn this star have an “MM” beneath their rating.
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[[A.D. Police Files 1-3]] • [[Absurd]] • [[All Souls Day]] • [[American Ninja 4: The Annihilation]] • [[Bad Influence]] • [[China Strike Force]] • [[Fear No Evil]] • [[The Final]] •  [[Malibu High]] • [[A Night to Dismember]] •  [[Pact with the Devil]] •  [[Prototype X29A]] •  [[Snapdragon]] • [[Suspiria]] • [[Underworld: Evolution]]
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</div>
  
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;'''Were we enthralled for a respectable period of time?''': Labeled as “EN” beneath a star, this doesn’t necessarily have to be intellectual attachment: an action movie that doesn’t let up, well-done suspense, or even visual beauty could keep one’s eyes glued to the screen. Hell, some incredibly bad movies keep us enthralled by sheer ineptitude. Our stars can never be unearned: if we’re enthralled for the first half, but the remainder is a letdown, the film has still done enough to earn this criterion.
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== Guidelines ==
  
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;'''Would we gladly watch this movie again?''': In most cases, our exploration of a film requires us to watch it multiple times. This star, an “AG” below a film’s rating, determines if we would happily and willingly watch it yet again, when measured against limited time and an infinite number of movies still unseen. This question only applies to watching it alone: we don’t consider sitting down with a friend who hasn’t seen it, or catching it on TV because “there’s nothing better on”, adequate justification.
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Every time a movie character dies or does something sleazy (explicitly or otherwise), we categorize it into a “death by” or “sleaze by”. As part of this compulsion, we’ve developed some guidelines which help drive the categorization:
  
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;'''Would we “stake our reputation” on a recommendation?''': Would we suggest this film to anyone, be they a trusted or well-loved film critic, our most cynical acquaintance, or anyone else we’d hate to waste the ever-lessening free time of? Films with this star have “RR” beneath their rating, and it’s one of the toughest for us to give: we consider a movie with this star a “must-see”, regardless of your existing likes or dislikes.
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* '''"Just bodies" are not deaths.''' Imagine a morgue with 30 bodies on slabs. We know they're dead but we have no indication of how they died or who these people really are - they're more set dressing than actual characters. We don't count these as deaths, nor any other scene where it's "just bodies" (random crime scene footage, scary skeletons or corpses in a cave, etc.).
  
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For example, Morbus is a huge fan of monster movies. In a ''personal'' rating system, he’d probably give most non-American Godzilla movies 3 or 4 stars, then Buddy Christ to the Godzilla figure that’s been sitting near his TV since 1987. Based on the above criteria however, most would fall to 1 or 2 stars (memorable moment and/or would watch again), [[Cloverfield]] would make 3, but only [[The Host]] would earn a complete 4 stars.
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* '''Deaths are final, sleaze is not.''' Once someone is dead, that’s it... we shouldn’t see ‘em moving around again. If they’re resurrected, become undead, or turn into an evil beastie and wander around a bit more, the death wasn’t “final” and isn’t counted or categorized (unless, of course, they die again in their new form). Contrarily, sleaze can happen as often as necessary: if someone takes five different showers, that’s five specific sleazes.
  
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== Death and sleaze by indexing ==
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* '''Be specific but not ''too'' specific.''' Very narrow categories like “Death by 5-inch knife”, “Death by hunting knife” or “Death by toothed knife” aren’t entirely useful – those should all be classified as simply “Death by knife”. Exceptions include differently named items (”Death by switchblade” and “Death by machete”), or of unique interest (”Death by butter knife” might be OK, but it’ll probably only ever be used once). “Death by werewolf” is also OK (as are “vampire”, “midget”, “chupacabra”, “scarecrow”, etc.) but “Death by bear” should be accompanied by the more generic “Death by animal”.
  
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Every time a movie character dies or does something sleazy (explicitly or otherwise), we categorize it into a “death by” or “sleaze by”. As part of this obsessiveness, we’ve developed some guidelines which help drive the categorization:
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== Keyword modifiers ==
  
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* '''Deaths are finite, sleaze is not:''' once someone is dead, that’s it... we shouldn’t see ‘em moving around again. If they’re resurrected, become undead, or turn into an evil beastie and wander around a bit more, the death wasn’t “final” and isn’t counted or categorized. Contrarily, sleaze can happen as often as necessary: if someone takes five different showers, that’s five specific sleazes.
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Modifiers can tweak any death or sleaze to indicate specific conditions and are always placed in parenthesis, such as "Death by axe (insurance)". To ease categorization, only one modifier is allowed per usage - instead of "Death by axe (insurance, offscreen)", we use "Death by axe (insurance)" and "Death by axe (offscreen)". Only use the modifiers defined below, and only when necessary.
  
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* '''Be specific but not ''too'' specific (death):''' Very narrow categories like “Death by 5-inch knife”, “Death by hunting knife” or “Death by toothed knife” aren’t entirely useful – those should all be classified as simply “Death by knife”. Exceptions include differently named items (”Death by switchblade” and “Death by machete”), or of unique interest (”Death by butter knife” might be OK, but it’ll probably only ever be used once). “Death by werewolf” is also OK (as are “vampire”, “midget”, “chupacabra”, “scarecrow”, etc.) but “Death by bear” is better stated as “Death by animal”.
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* '''Death by _____ (insurance):''' This didn't cause the death, but happened afterwards as a bit of insurance that the character would stay dead. Decapitating someone with an axe, then throwing their head in a fire, would be "Death by axe", "Death by decapitation" and "Death by fire (insurance)". Insurance should only be used when there is ''no doubt'' the character is already dead or soon will be.
  
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* '''Be specific but not ''too'' specific (sleaze):''' Categories like “Sleaze by babydoll”, “Sleaze by bodystocking”, or “Sleaze by garter belt” are too specific – they should all be simply “Sleaze by lingerie”. Exceptions include items that break from a common theme (”Sleaze by thong” is OK, since it’s lingerie that is generally allowed to be seen in public), of specific intent (”Sleaze by miniskirt” is OK because there’s hope of upskirting), or of unique interest (”Sleaze by French maid costume” as it’s fetishistic).
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* '''Death by _____ (offscreen):''' The death occurred entirely offscreen. We may see a shot of the character screaming about his ''impending'' doom, but if the scene changes and we never see that character again, the implication is they died offscreen. No part of the ''act of death'' has been filmed.
  
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Modifiers can tweak any death or sleaze to indicate specific conditions and are always placed in parenthesis, such as "Death by axe (accidental)". To ease categorization, only one modifier is allowed per usage - instead of "Death by axe (accidental, sleaze)", we use "Death by axe (accidental)" and "Death by axe (sleaze)". Only use the modifiers defined below, and only when necessary.
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* '''Sleaze by _____ (unfulfilled):''' Nudity or sleaze was implied, but never actually occurred. If the intent of a shower scene is to see someone nude (as opposed to, say, getting clean), then ''not'' seeing nudity would mean "Sleaze by shower (unfulfilled)". On the other hand, "Sleaze by mini-skirt" is generally meant to tease with the ''possibility'' of a panty shot, but rarely "pays off". In situations like that, you would ''not'' use unfulfilled.
  
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=== Death by modifiers ===
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[[Category:Films]]
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; '''accidental''' : The character's death was accidental (falling on an axe, slipping off a mountain, etc.).
 
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; '''insurance''' : This didn't cause the death, but happened afterwards as a bit of insurance that the character would stay dead. Decapitating someone with an axe, then throwing their head in a fire, would be "Death by axe", "Death by decapitation" and "Death by fire (insurance)". Compare '''insurance''' (always after death) with '''preamble''' (always before death). Insurance should only be used when there is ''no doubt'' the character is already dead.
 
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;'''offscreen''': The death occurred entirely offscreen. We may see a shot of the character screaming about his ''impending'' doom, but if the scene changes and we never see that character again, the implication is they died offscreen. No part of the ''act of death'' has been filmed.
 
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; '''preamble''' : This injury didn't kill the character outright, but would have given patience. If someone has been stabbed with an knife twenty times, begins to feebly crawl away, then gets shot with a shotgun, it'd be "Death by knife (preamble)" and "Death by shotgun". Compare '''preamble''' (always before death) with '''insurance''' (always after death). Preamble should only be used when there is ''no doubt'' the character will die from their injuries, but still clutches to life. Chopping off someone's hand is probably '''not''' a preamble, as the character could create a tourniquet and have a decent chance of living. Chopping off someone's foot and then leaving them to bleed slowly to death tied to a pipe would be "Death by dismemberment" (no preamble, since there's no other followup).
 
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; '''self-inflicted''': The character died by their own hand (such as hanging themselves, etc.).
 
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; '''sleaze''' : The death occurred when the character was nude (half- or full-frontal) or otherwise demonstrating a sleazy situation (while wearing lingerie, having sex, etc.). When using this modifier, you should also use a matching sleaze by with the '''death''' modifier.
 
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=== Sleaze by modifiers ===
 
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; '''accidental''' : Sleaze occurred, but not because the character wanted it to; see also '''unwilling'''.
 
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; '''death''' : The sleaze occurred shortly before the character died in the same scene. If someone hops into the shower and dies whilst showering, you'd use "Sleaze by shower (death)". When using this modifier, you should also use a matching death by with the '''sleaze''' modifier. Use your better judgment: if full-frontal nudity occurs for a long time before the character dies in the same scene, you should probably use "Sleaze by full-frontal nudity" AND "Sleaze by full-frontal nudity (death)" to indicate that the sleaze wasn't ''just'' to die.
 
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; '''public''' : The sleaze happened in public, increasing its sleaziness. Flashing someone, having sex in the park, walking around with your thong out, wet t-shirts, see-throughs, etc. would generally mean using this modifier. Catfights, on the other hand, are generally only sleazy because they're between two women, not because they occur in public.
 
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; '''unfulfilled''' : Nudity or sleaze was implied, but never actually occurred. If the intent of a shower scene is to see someone nude (as opposed to, say, getting clean), then ''not'' seeing nudity would mean "Sleaze by shower (unfulfilled)". On the other hand, "Sleaze by mini-skirt" is generally meant to tease with the ''possibility'' of a panty shot, but rarely "pays off". In situations like that, you would ''not'' use unfulfilled.
 
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; '''unwilling''' : Sleaze was ''forced'' upon a character. Don't use this with "Sleaze by rape" (it's implied); see also '''accidental'''.
 
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=== Example of display ===
 
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Death and sleaze by listings appear in condensed form, as below:
 
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:'''Death by:''' 1: crossbow; 2, 3, 4: sword; 5: werewolf, bite, throat ripped out; 6: axe; 7: axe, decapitation; 8: werewolf, bite, throat ripped out; 9: sword, decapitation; 10, 11, 12: axe; 13: werewolf, bite, throat ripped out; 14, 15, 16, 17: sword; 18: werewolf, bite, throat ripped out; 19, 20, 21, 22: vampire; 23: vampire, decapitation; 24, 25: knife; 26: werewolf, jaw ripped off; 27: snapped neck; 28, 29: head trauma (sleaze); 30: vampire, bite; 31: vampire, thrown through window (insurance); 32: sword (preamble), explosion; 33: werewolf, claw; 34, 35: machine gun; 36: knife, throat slashing, machine gun (insurance); 37: werewolf, hand through chest; 38: machine gun;  39, 40: helicopter crash; 41: werewolf, decapitation; 42: spear, helicopter blades (insurance). '''Sleaze by:''' 1: latex; 2: sex (unfulfilled); 3: breasts; 4: thongs; 5, 6: lingerie (death), 7: breasts.
 

Latest revision as of 18:13, 2 July 2014

Herein, we describe our particular approach to indexing the ephemera of deaths and sleaze.

Recent film indexes

Older indexes

Earlier forms of the index didn't retain research notes or reference images. These films need to be updated.

A.D. Police Files 1-3 • Absurd • All Souls Day • American Ninja 4: The Annihilation • Bad Influence • China Strike Force • Fear No Evil • The Final •  Malibu High • A Night to Dismember •  Pact with the Devil •  Prototype X29A •  Snapdragon • Suspiria • Underworld: Evolution

Guidelines

Every time a movie character dies or does something sleazy (explicitly or otherwise), we categorize it into a “death by” or “sleaze by”. As part of this compulsion, we’ve developed some guidelines which help drive the categorization:

  • "Just bodies" are not deaths. Imagine a morgue with 30 bodies on slabs. We know they're dead but we have no indication of how they died or who these people really are - they're more set dressing than actual characters. We don't count these as deaths, nor any other scene where it's "just bodies" (random crime scene footage, scary skeletons or corpses in a cave, etc.).
  • Deaths are final, sleaze is not. Once someone is dead, that’s it... we shouldn’t see ‘em moving around again. If they’re resurrected, become undead, or turn into an evil beastie and wander around a bit more, the death wasn’t “final” and isn’t counted or categorized (unless, of course, they die again in their new form). Contrarily, sleaze can happen as often as necessary: if someone takes five different showers, that’s five specific sleazes.
  • Be specific but not too specific. Very narrow categories like “Death by 5-inch knife”, “Death by hunting knife” or “Death by toothed knife” aren’t entirely useful – those should all be classified as simply “Death by knife”. Exceptions include differently named items (”Death by switchblade” and “Death by machete”), or of unique interest (”Death by butter knife” might be OK, but it’ll probably only ever be used once). “Death by werewolf” is also OK (as are “vampire”, “midget”, “chupacabra”, “scarecrow”, etc.) but “Death by bear” should be accompanied by the more generic “Death by animal”.

Keyword modifiers

Modifiers can tweak any death or sleaze to indicate specific conditions and are always placed in parenthesis, such as "Death by axe (insurance)". To ease categorization, only one modifier is allowed per usage - instead of "Death by axe (insurance, offscreen)", we use "Death by axe (insurance)" and "Death by axe (offscreen)". Only use the modifiers defined below, and only when necessary.

  • Death by _____ (insurance): This didn't cause the death, but happened afterwards as a bit of insurance that the character would stay dead. Decapitating someone with an axe, then throwing their head in a fire, would be "Death by axe", "Death by decapitation" and "Death by fire (insurance)". Insurance should only be used when there is no doubt the character is already dead or soon will be.
  • Death by _____ (offscreen): The death occurred entirely offscreen. We may see a shot of the character screaming about his impending doom, but if the scene changes and we never see that character again, the implication is they died offscreen. No part of the act of death has been filmed.
  • Sleaze by _____ (unfulfilled): Nudity or sleaze was implied, but never actually occurred. If the intent of a shower scene is to see someone nude (as opposed to, say, getting clean), then not seeing nudity would mean "Sleaze by shower (unfulfilled)". On the other hand, "Sleaze by mini-skirt" is generally meant to tease with the possibility of a panty shot, but rarely "pays off". In situations like that, you would not use unfulfilled.
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