Serendipity Writes the Plot: Difference between revisions

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== Film - Live Action ==
== Film - Live Action ==
* Low budget horror movies with no-name stars lead to [[Anyone Can Die]]. ''[[Alien]]'' may be the best known example. A cast filled with great character actors, but none of them are a big enough star to guarantee their character's survival. {{spoiler|Almost everyone dies. The sole survivor is perhaps the [[Sigourney Weaver|least known actress]].}}
* Low budget horror movies with no-name stars lead to [[Anyone Can Die]]. ''[[Alien]]'' may be the best known example. A cast filled with great character actors, but none of them are a big enough star to guarantee their character's survival. {{spoiler|Almost everyone dies. The sole survivor is perhaps the [[Sigourney Weaver|least known actress]].}}
* This trope is touched on in the classic black and white movie, ''[[The Bad and The Beautiful]]''.
* This trope is touched on in the classic black and white movie, ''[[The Bad and The Beautiful]]''.
** A horror movie producer couldn't afford decent special effects for the monster. He teams up with the director to use camera tricks to make the monster into [[The Unseen]].
** A horror movie producer couldn't afford decent special effects for the monster. He teams up with the director to use camera tricks to make the monster into [[The Unseen]].
** From the trivia in the movies Imdb entry, "The scene showing the production of the fictional low budget horror film was based on how [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507932/ Val Lewton] produced ''[[Cat People (film)|Cat People]]'' (1942)."
** From the trivia in the movies Imdb entry, "The scene showing the production of the fictional low budget horror film was based on how [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507932/ Val Lewton] produced ''[[Cat People (film)|Cat People]]'' (1942)."
* [[Steven Spielberg]] couldn't get the mechanical shark in ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' to work very well, so it became mostly [[The Unseen]], with the entire concept of the sailors using barrels to track it as a way to keep filming as though the shark was there. The film is widely credited as working ''far'' better because of the increased tension and the greater impact of scenes where the shark actually ''did'' appear.
* [[Steven Spielberg]] couldn't get the mechanical shark in ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' to work very well, so it became mostly [[The Unseen]], with the entire concept of the sailors using barrels to track it as a way to keep filming as though the shark was there. The film is widely credited as working ''far'' better because of the increased tension and the greater impact of scenes where the shark actually ''did'' appear.
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* In the ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]],'' the scene with the swordsman involved Indy disarming the man with his whip. But [[Harrison Ford]] was sick with [[Oregon Trail|dysentery]] at the time, and asked if he could just shoot the man, which the final cut had him doing.
* In the ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]],'' the scene with the swordsman involved Indy disarming the man with his whip. But [[Harrison Ford]] was sick with [[Oregon Trail|dysentery]] at the time, and asked if he could just shoot the man, which the final cut had him doing.
* The opening of ''[[Spy Kids]] 2'' was originally meant to take place at [[Disney Theme Parks|Disneyland]]. However, [[Robert Rodriguez]] discovered that Disney generally doesn't allow movies to shoot in their parks, not even Disney movies (note: The original ''Spy Kids'' films were distributed by [[Miramax Films]], which is owned by Disney, and released under the [[Dimension Films]] name). This led to the scene instead taking place at a fictional amusement park with humorously impossible CGI rides. Rodriguez thinks this is mostly an improvement, although he still would have preferred it if Carmen and Juni had appeared undercover at the park wearing Mickey Mouse hats, but they had to settle for propeller hats.
* The opening of ''[[Spy Kids]] 2'' was originally meant to take place at [[Disney Theme Parks|Disneyland]]. However, [[Robert Rodriguez]] discovered that Disney generally doesn't allow movies to shoot in their parks, not even Disney movies (note: The original ''Spy Kids'' films were distributed by [[Miramax Films]], which is owned by Disney, and released under the [[Dimension Films]] name). This led to the scene instead taking place at a fictional amusement park with humorously impossible CGI rides. Rodriguez thinks this is mostly an improvement, although he still would have preferred it if Carmen and Juni had appeared undercover at the park wearing Mickey Mouse hats, but they had to settle for propeller hats.
** Funnily enough, though, the finished film still has Carmen saying the line, "No more Mickey Mouse assignments" when she's annoyed at getting stuck with a mission at an amusement park.
** Funnily enough, though, the finished film still has Carmen saying the line, "No more Mickey Mouse assignments" when she's annoyed at getting stuck with a mission at an amusement park.
* The scripted climax of ''[[Back to The Future]]'' called for Marty to take the DeLorean to a Nevada nuclear test site and return to 1985 using the power of a nuclear blast. This was beyond the film's budget, so the now iconic clock tower climax was created.
* The scripted climax of ''[[Back to The Future]]'' called for Marty to take the DeLorean to a Nevada nuclear test site and return to 1985 using the power of a nuclear blast. This was beyond the film's budget, so the now iconic clock tower climax was created.
** [[Crispin Glover]]'s refusal to do the sequels impacted the plot heavily. For example, George McFly being dead in 1985-A was originally conceived as just an excuse to not show him very much.
** [[Crispin Glover]]'s refusal to do the sequels impacted the plot heavily. For example, George McFly being dead in 1985-A was originally conceived as just an excuse to not show him very much.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Some TV shows do "[[Bottle Episode|Bottle Episodes]]" due to budget limitations.
* Some TV shows do "[[Bottle Episode|Bottle Episodes]]" due to budget limitations.
** One episode of ''[[Friends]]'' did one about the NYC blackout because of budget constraints.
** One episode of ''[[Friends]]'' did one about the NYC blackout because of budget constraints.
*** Not quite. Although it's a fairly low-budget episode (mostly pre-existing sets, and only two additional actors), the blackout gimmick was part of an NYC blackout storyline running through one night of NBC programming. The characters in ''[[Mad About You]]'' knocked out the power, and characters in ''Friends'' and one other show (can't recall which one right now) suffered through it since those shows were all set in New York. The ''[[Seinfeld]]'' folks wouldn't play, though. A better example of this in ''Friends'' would be The One Where No-One's Ready, which, with the exception of the credit sequence, takes place entirely in Monica and Rachel's apartment and features only the main cast. Even the final scene is in a very uncomplicated set with only one additional actor.
*** Not quite. Although it's a fairly low-budget episode (mostly pre-existing sets, and only two additional actors), the blackout gimmick was part of an NYC blackout storyline running through one night of NBC programming. The characters in ''[[Mad About You]]'' knocked out the power, and characters in ''Friends'' and one other show (can't recall which one right now) suffered through it since those shows were all set in New York. The ''[[Seinfeld]]'' folks wouldn't play, though. A better example of this in ''Friends'' would be The One Where No-One's Ready, which, with the exception of the credit sequence, takes place entirely in Monica and Rachel's apartment and features only the main cast. Even the final scene is in a very uncomplicated set with only one additional actor.
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** Inverted with the flat forehead Klingons. Because of low budget, Klingons only had a mostly ethnic makeup in the original series. In the movies and later series, which had better budgets and better makeup technology, they obviously had the ridged foreheads. In ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Enterprise]]'', a [[Prequel]] to the Original Series, they actually make a storyline to explain the change.
** Inverted with the flat forehead Klingons. Because of low budget, Klingons only had a mostly ethnic makeup in the original series. In the movies and later series, which had better budgets and better makeup technology, they obviously had the ridged foreheads. In ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Enterprise]]'', a [[Prequel]] to the Original Series, they actually make a storyline to explain the change.
** Played straight with the model used to depict Romulan Warbirds in the original series. A technician apparently dropped the model before filming, and there wasn't time to fix it or come up with a new one, so they used the Klingon Warship's model instead. This led to the conclusion that Klingons and Romulans formed an alliance, with warship sent over to the Romulans and cloaking device sent to the Klingons. Consequences of this action influenced the storyline of the entire franchise forever.
** Played straight with the model used to depict Romulan Warbirds in the original series. A technician apparently dropped the model before filming, and there wasn't time to fix it or come up with a new one, so they used the Klingon Warship's model instead. This led to the conclusion that Klingons and Romulans formed an alliance, with warship sent over to the Romulans and cloaking device sent to the Klingons. Consequences of this action influenced the storyline of the entire franchise forever.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' had this, with the character Dax. Jadzia Dax was a "joined species," an alien who was actually two entities sharing one body. Both entities (Jadzia, the "host," and Dax, the "symbiont") were intended to remain on the show for the entire run, but Jadzia's actress Terry Ferrel left the show. The writers killed off Jadzia, but kept Dax, and gave it a new host, Ezri. The suddenness of Jadzia's death and Ezri's arrival worked greatly into the storyline, with Ezri Dax's main conflict being her having to form new relationships with people who'd already been her (Dax's) friends, and in Worf's case, husband.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' had this, with the character Dax. Jadzia Dax was a "joined species," an alien who was actually two entities sharing one body. Both entities (Jadzia, the "host," and Dax, the "symbiont") were intended to remain on the show for the entire run, but Jadzia's actress Terry Ferrel left the show. The writers killed off Jadzia, but kept Dax, and gave it a new host, Ezri. The suddenness of Jadzia's death and Ezri's arrival worked greatly into the storyline, with Ezri Dax's main conflict being her having to form new relationships with people who'd already been her (Dax's) friends, and in Worf's case, husband.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': The TARDIS was originally going to be a big, magnificent vehicle. Except the show lacked the funding, so they said that it can disguise itself as anything it wants. Then ''that'' turned out to be too expensive, so it stayed as a police call box.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': The TARDIS was originally going to be a big, magnificent vehicle. Except the show lacked the funding, so they said that it can disguise itself as anything it wants. Then ''that'' turned out to be too expensive, so it stayed as a police call box.
** In the original script of "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S13 E5 The Brain of Morbius|The Brain of Morbius]]", Morbius's new body was cobbled together by his devoted robot servant. But it was the cheap story of the season, so they couldn't afford a robot costume as well as Morbius's body. So it was heavily rewritten to make the robot a human mad scientist (brilliantly played by Philip Madoc, resulting in a classic story).
** In the original script of "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S13/E05 The Brain of Morbius|The Brain of Morbius]]", Morbius's new body was cobbled together by his devoted robot servant. But it was the cheap story of the season, so they couldn't afford a robot costume as well as Morbius's body. So it was heavily rewritten to make the robot a human mad scientist (brilliantly played by Philip Madoc, resulting in a classic story).
* While not a technical difficulty, during series 3 of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', Chris Barrie had complained that between his character on that show and the one in [[The Brittas Empire]], he was suffering from 'git overload' and desperately wanted to play someone heroic and likeable for once. The writers took that desire and turned it [[Up to Eleven]] by creating [[The Ace|Ace Rimmer]].
* While not a technical difficulty, during series 3 of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', Chris Barrie had complained that between his character on that show and the one in [[The Brittas Empire]], he was suffering from 'git overload' and desperately wanted to play someone heroic and likeable for once. The writers took that desire and turned it [[Up to Eleven]] by creating [[The Ace|Ace Rimmer]].
* Jane Leeves' second pregnancy on ''[[Frasier]]'' came at the perfect time, plot-wise, for Niles and Daphne to have a baby -- in the final season, just ahead of schedule enough for Daphne to give birth {{spoiler|in the finale.}}
* Jane Leeves' second pregnancy on ''[[Frasier]]'' came at the perfect time, plot-wise, for Niles and Daphne to have a baby -- in the final season, just ahead of schedule enough for Daphne to give birth {{spoiler|in the finale.}}
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* With ''[[Metroid]]'', the iconic Morph Ball came into being because the programmers had trouble making an animation of Samus crawling through small passageways. Thus, they made do with a much simpler animation of a rolling ball.
* With ''[[Metroid]]'', the iconic Morph Ball came into being because the programmers had trouble making an animation of Samus crawling through small passageways. Thus, they made do with a much simpler animation of a rolling ball.
* ''[[Star Fox]]'''s iconic Arwing fighter design was concieved largely because it could be made out of relatively few polygons. In addition, the "fly into the screen" approach was used because of the SNES's strength at drawing 2D backgrounds, further conserving limited processing power. [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/starfox/0/1 Full details are provided in this Iwata Asks interview.]
* ''[[Star Fox]]'''s iconic Arwing fighter design was concieved largely because it could be made out of relatively few polygons. In addition, the "fly into the screen" approach was used because of the SNES's strength at drawing 2D backgrounds, further conserving limited processing power. [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/starfox/0/1 Full details are provided in this Iwata Asks interview.]
* In ''[[Dragon Age Origins]]'', none of the Qunari had horns although their race is supposed to have them. This was because [[BioWare]] didn't have the time to create alternate designs for all the helmets just so your Qunari party member could wear them, so they opted to not give him horns at all and [[Hand Wave]] it by saying that Qunari born without horns are considered to be destined for greatness, while those who choose to leave the Qun cut off their horns as a way of showing their rejection (all the other Qunari in the game).
* In ''[[Dragon Age Origins]]'', none of the Qunari had horns although their race is supposed to have them. This was because [[BioWare]] didn't have the time to create alternate designs for all the helmets just so your Qunari party member could wear them, so they opted to not give him horns at all and [[Hand Wave]] it by saying that Qunari born without horns are considered to be destined for greatness, while those who choose to leave the Qun cut off their horns as a way of showing their rejection (all the other Qunari in the game).
* The miasma in ''[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles]]'' is the driving force of the ''entire game'', but it was originally just designed to keep the whole team on screen at all times. Your party has to carry around a chalice that wards the miasma in its radius, and leaving the ward causes you to take damage, so nobody can wander off, so split-screen isn't necessary, so everyone gets to enjoy [[Scenery Porn]].
* The miasma in ''[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles]]'' is the driving force of the ''entire game'', but it was originally just designed to keep the whole team on screen at all times. Your party has to carry around a chalice that wards the miasma in its radius, and leaving the ward causes you to take damage, so nobody can wander off, so split-screen isn't necessary, so everyone gets to enjoy [[Scenery Porn]].
* ''[[Q*bert]]'' and his enemies were supposed to speak in full English. However, the Votrax speech synthesizer used made things sound almost unintelligible, so this was changed to a sort of alien language that gave Q*Bert his famous [[Symbol Swearing|profanity]]. The only distinguishable sound is "bye-bye" when you get a game over.
* ''[[Q*bert]]'' and his enemies were supposed to speak in full English. However, the Votrax speech synthesizer used made things sound almost unintelligible, so this was changed to a sort of alien language that gave Q*Bert his famous [[Symbol Swearing|profanity]]. The only distinguishable sound is "bye-bye" when you get a game over.
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