Act 3 in a traditional three act story structure is sometimes called The Ticking Clock because it's traditional to include a countdown.

Having a literal countdown timer - usually for a bomb - is a standard trope in action thrillers. But any kind of deadline will do.

Now, when I see a bomb in movies, I always measure the countdown. The fact that they extend it kills quite a lot of suspense.

Ever attempted to hold your breath for as long as some characters are shown to be submerged doing this or that in a movie? Similarly disappointing. ;P

Disappointing to death.

Yeah I find this to be a cheap trick and it really takes me out of the experience. Another example is when the characters are running away from a threat which should clearly be able to overtake them.

The version that bothers me most is when the threat clearly is catching up to them, but some kind of unexplained time dilation allows them to escape. In one shot the threat is a few metres away and closing fast, then in the next shot the hero spends much more time escaping than was actually available.

Yeah this is exactly what I am talking about - this is where a movie completely loses me. Like there can be a shot of the people running from a wolf or something toward a door, and from the profile shot you can clearly see that the wolf will close the gap before they reach the door, but somehow they just barely make it. I know they are trying to increase the tension, but it's a cheap trick and would work just as well if they obeyed the laws of physics.

> when the characters are running away from a threat which should clearly be able to overtake them

Many films have the heroes outrun an explosion.

Maybe your suspense is killed by focusing on your stopwatch instead of the characters, story, etc.

Instead of being an ass please try to understand that some personality types do things like this because that's how we are wired.

I count...

  ...seconds the hero is underwater
  ...seconds until the bomb is going to explode
  ...number of bullets fired from a 6-round revolver
  ...etc

I don't like it all the time. Hell at times i wish I didn't, but I also cackle with glee when I discover a mistake in the continuity of a film that depends on these plot devices. So it's 50/50 love/hate thing for me.

I already know I'm kind of atypical with most aspects of my life but your advice is as helpful as telling an introvert to just go out and socialize more. Please be aware that words like yours rub salt in an open wound. I'd be fucking normal if I could help it.

It also makes those movies that really try to adhere to not breaking the suspension of disbelief for those things all the greater.

I too often find myself counting time and bullets. Stuff like that doesn't always arise in a vacuum, for me it was being exposed to movies that toed the line enough in most aspect that completely if iring certain things (like time or bullet counts) took me out of the film because it was so egregious, and then once you start seeing those things, it's hard not to be aware of them.

But, like I said above, those directors that go the extra mile to make everything line up provide that little extra bit of joy, just like little plot loose ends being nearly resolved when lesser directors wouldn't care to address them.

Doubtless continuity goofs are a thing. But have you tried considering that a movie is a narrative? Try imagining that there are actual real events that the storyteller is describing, and then imagine that storyteller is only human and considerably less attentive to minutiae than you are. Perhaps the storyteller forgets to tell about the time the cowboy switched revolvers, or spends more time talking about what the hero is doing than the remaining time on the fuse would seem to permit.

> Instead of being an ass

No matter what personality type you are, please don't talk to people like this on HN. Thanks. To ask someone to be aware of the effect of their words moments after being gratuitously rude to them, to jump on strangers because they don't already somehow know you and your needs, seems unreasonable. The GP's comment seemed perfectly mild and reasonable to me.

You would enjoy <http://www.nitcentral.com/index_legacy.htm>.

It's good to have a certain amount of suspension of disbelief when consuming media, but when it gets to the point where the laws of physics are just clearly being broken, it also takes me out of the experience.

Is this one real time?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XkWI5gJnY

Its always fun when they honor the countdown, though.

What are some good search queries to learn more about these types of standard structures, especially as it pertains to film and TV?

https://tvtropes.org/ has a ton of this kind of thing - not sure if that scratches your itch!

Holy shit, just linking to an meme weapon like that, and not warning people? Not cool!

To the uninitiated, do not follow that link unless you don't have anything else you need to do today. It is famous for destroying days of productivity.

Obligatory xkcd https://xkcd.com/609/

But yeah, tvtropes usually leads me down a wiki walk as well whenever posted.

You can browse for all of them on https://tvtropes.org/

Tvtropes as others have said, but for structure what you want is an intro screenwriting book. “Save the Cat” is a good one, and Syd Field is a classic (although dated).

Thank you this is closer to what I was looking for

Ever wonder about the bombs bursting in air from the US national anthem when it was written before bomber planes? Yep it’s the cartoon bomb[1].

[1] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CartoonBomb

Extra points for “earth-shattering kaboom” :)

Marvin is everyone's favourite martian

It was really the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator that was Marvin's draw.

Red LED countdown is one thing. But don't forget the beeping. Gotta have a little beeper on it or it isn't the real deal.

Sometimes I wonder whether aspects like this were added for accessibility reasons. IE blind people get a beep countdown.

Haven't you seen a modern action movie where there is a block of C4 with a big digital timer counting down to 00:00? Seems to be used to the exact same dramatic effect.

That's exactly what they're saying. Look at the first paragraph.

Or a movie where the villian spends half the movie asking "where are my detonators?" If they are using detonators, rarely are there bright red oversized LEDs counters, or the loosely attached, spiraly wound wires just begging someone to ask "blue or red?"