Editing 1387: Clumsy Foreshadowing

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
A common trope in movies is to establish a significant event which will later become relevant to the main characters by having some kind of {{tvtropes|ChekhovsNews|news}} {{tvtropes|CoincidentalBroadcast|reporting}} shown on screen. This is most commonly a television broadcast, though radio broadcasts and newspaper headlines are also used. Sometimes attention is drawn to such a news story, and in other cases, it's subtle foreshadowing that can easily be missed. In any event, if news reporting shows up in fiction, savvy viewers will immediately expect it to become relevant to the plot in short order.
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Many action/thriller movies, during the first few minutes, have a background {{tvtropes|ChekhovsNews|news}} {{tvtropes|CoincidentalBroadcast|report}} that foreshadows the onset of some kind of danger, such as shark attacks, nuclear warfare etc.
  
Of course, in real life, news stories generally don't directly and obviously impact the lives of most people viewing them. [[Randall]] suggests that life will seem a lot more ominous if we imagine every news story as happening in the background of a movie, which would make us instinctively assume that they foreshadow something that will soon impact us directly.  
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[[Randall]] suggests taking the same approach to random news stories from real life, in order to make them more ominous.
  
In this case we see three random headings from news stories, all of which are fairly mundane in real life, but which would seem highly foreboding in a movie:
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In this case we see three random headings from news stories, which could all be made even more interesting if the setting is correct.
  
-->''[http://www.northkoreannews.net/index.php/sid/223255811/scat/08aysdf7tga9s7f7/ht/Angry-North-Korea-threatens-war-if-US-shows-film-mocking-its-leader North Korea threatens U.S. over upcoming movie]'' comes from {{w|North Korea|North Korea's}} official {{w|Korean Central News Agency}} which, shortly before this comic was released, threatened the US over the {{w|Seth Rogen}} movie {{w|The Interview (2014 film)|The Interview}}, promising "stern" and "merciless" retaliation if the film was released. North Korea is well-known for making blustering and empty threats, and few people feared a serious response, but in a movie, this would foreshadow either all-out war or an attack that would involve the protagonists somehow.  
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The first of the three stories mentioned above the frame ''[http://www.northkoreannews.net/index.php/sid/223255811/scat/08aysdf7tga9s7f7/ht/Angry-North-Korea-threatens-war-if-US-shows-film-mocking-its-leader North Korea threatens U.S. over upcoming movie]'' comes from {{w|North Korea|North Korea's}} official {{w|Korean Central News Agency}} who a few days before this comic was released threatened the US with war over the {{w|Seth Rogen}} movie {{w|The Interview (2014 film)|The Interview}}, promising "stern" and "merciless" retaliation if the film is released. The threat generated some hype for the at-the-time unreleased movie. No one, however, really took North Korea's threat seriously, but if you put this into such a news report at the beginning of a film, this could be a film about a film leading to a new war with North Korea. (Note: In late 2014 North Korea was accused of carrying out a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures, the studio responsible for the film.  These accusations were widely believed initially, though independent analysists have since cast doubt.  This news report would likely have been seen in a film about the real life attack or film that features a similar fictional attack for its plot. This is an example of an xkcd comic coming true.)
  
-->''[http://dailydigestnews.com/2014/06/north-atlantic-ocean-great-white-shark-population-booms/ Shark populations booming off east coast]'' comes from a report released week before this comic, about the preservation of {{w|Great white shark|Great White sharks}}. A growing population of Great White sharks is positive news as the species is important to marine ecosystems and its numbers have declined in recent years. Sharks aren't a significant threat to humans, with fewer than a dozen human killed by sharks in a typical year, worldwide. In a movie, however, such a report would heavily imply that a shark attack, or something similar, was imminent.  
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The second one is about ''[http://dailydigestnews.com/2014/06/north-atlantic-ocean-great-white-shark-population-booms/ Shark populations booming off east coast]''. The news in the link is from a week before this comic was released, and is about the preservation of the {{w|Great white shark|Great white sharks}}. Not that terrifying, especially since sharks are way less dangerous than people tend to fear, in part due to movies like {{w|Jaws (film)|Jaws}}. However, if you put this headline into a news report running in the background, as when [[Cueball]] leaves the house with a bathing towel in the main frame of the comic, as if he was going to the beach, then it suddenly becomes a {{w|Sharknado|very ominous story}}, that will not bode well for Cueball and his friends. Alternatively, this may be a reference to [[1326: Sharks]], where Cueball, a marine biologist, poses as a supervillain to increase dwindling shark populations.
  
-->''[http://www.orbcomm.com/networks/og2-launch SpaceX to attempt new rocket launch today]''. {{w|SpaceX}} is a privately owned space transport services company. On March 13, 2014 they reported a launch date for their first {{w|Orbcomm satellites#Orbcomm-OG2|OG2}} mission containing 6 satellites. While interesting to space enthusiasts, this is a fairly ordinary update about the progress of the company. In a movie, such a report would imply that the launch would become important to the plot in some way, which could involve the protagonists going into space, a crash or explosion affecting them, the rocket encountering some extraterrestrial threat, or SpaceX technology being used as a threat against humanity.  
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The last of the three stories is about ''[http://www.orbcomm.com/networks/og2-launch SpaceX to attempt new rocket launch today]''. {{w|SpaceX}} is a space transport services company and on March 13, 2014 they reported a launch date for their first {{w|Orbcomm satellites#Orbcomm-OG2|OG2}} mission containing 6 satellites on a dedicated {{w|Falcon 9}} rocket. This date was April 30, 2014 as can be read at the bottom of the news link, which is the news list for this OG2 mission. The launch continued to be postponed several times, and the last date given before this comic was released was June the 24th, three days before this comic was released. This launch was canceled on the 23rd and the day before this comic was released it was yet again postponed, this time until July 14 (almost three weeks, after the previous four proposed launch dates had been 20, 21, 22 and 24 June). So at this point in time, any news regarding SpaceX attempting to launch a rocket, will not generate much fuss, as they are most likely postponing again, but if you put the news bite into the start of a movie, then the launch would probably stay on schedule - but would then go horribly wrong, setting the action packed story in progress.
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Just over a year later on June 28, 2015 {{w|SpaceX CRS-7|SpaceX mission CRS-7}} exploded just after launch. The preliminary findings of the investigation however point to a failure of a steel strut, which would be hard to turn into a good story.
  
 
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The title text news ''[http://nypost.com/2014/06/26/sherri-shepherd-jenny-mccarthy-leave-the-view/ hosts were unexpectedly fired from ABC's 'The View' today]'' references {{w|American Broadcasting Company|ABC's}} ''{{w|The View (U.S. TV series)|The View}}'' where two of the co-hosts, {{w|Sherri Shepherd}} and {{w|Jenny McCarthy}}, were simultaneously reporting leaving the program (fired or resigned? - sources vary), the day before this comic appeared. Sherri after seven years, Jenny after less than one year as co-host. According to the news link above there were "no word on who will be replacing the hosts, but the network says they will have a team together when the show launches its new season this fall." Again a not very interesting news story. The title text though continues the news by saying: ''ABC will likely announce new...'' The humorous suggestion is that the news about ''The View'' will go on to foreshadow some looming disaster, a comically unlikely premise for an action/thriller movie. Alternatively, it could be used as a plot device if the character will be hired as a replacement—or the character is listed as a potential replacement and tries to dig up dirt on the competition or otherwise compete for the position.
The title text news ''[http://nypost.com/2014/06/26/sherri-shepherd-jenny-mccarthy-leave-the-view/ hosts were unexpectedly fired from ABC's 'The View' today]'' references {{w|American Broadcasting Company|ABC's}} ''{{w|The View (U.S. TV series)|The View}}'' where two of the co-hosts, {{w|Sherri Shepherd}} and {{w|Jenny McCarthy}}, were simultaneously reporting leaving the program the day before this comic appeared. In real life, this is a very mundane story which has little impact on the lives of most people. In a film, however, it becomes loaded with meaning. In a workplace drama, it could mean that the protagonist might have a chance to replace those fired leads. In a political thriller, it might be revealed that the hosts were fired to keep them from revealing sensitive information. In an action movie, those fired hosts could be involved in a deadly plot that will soon involve the protagonists. By placing real-world headlines into a fictional context, even low-stakes stories can become rich with potential meaning.  
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==

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