Trope (cinema)

A "Mexican standoff" is a common film trope.

In cinema, a trope is what The Art Direction Handbook for Film defines as "a universally identified image imbued with several layers of contextual meaning creating a new visual metaphor".[1]

A common thematic trope is the rise and fall of a mobster in a classic gangster film. The film genre also often features the sartorial trope of a rising gangster buying new clothes.[2]

  1. ^ Rizzo, Michael (2014). The Art Direction Handbook for Film (2nd ed.). Focal Press. p. 513. ISBN 978-0-415-84279-2.
  2. ^ McDonald, Tamar Jeffers (2010). Hollywood Catwalk: Exploring Costume and Transformation in American Film. I.B. Tauris. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-84885-040-8.