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Chang

128 statements
24 feature instances
4 referencing feature instances

Chang	type	TVTItem
Chang	label	Chang
Chang	page	Chang
Chang	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness is a 1927 documentary (sort of, see entry below under Based on a Great Big Lie) made by Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, who later became very famous when they made King Kong. In this film Cooper and Schoedsack journey deep into the wilds of northern Thailand (then called Siam) to document the lives of the Lao people hacking out an existence in the jungle. The film centers around Kru, a Lao who, with his wife and three children, have built a house with their own hands in the wilderness, and are keeping a little farm. Kru and his family keep livestock and till a little rice paddy, while protecting their farm against the depredations of tigers and leopards. But when an elephant wrecks their home, Kru has to warn the village of a giant elephant herd that is putting them all in danger.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Chang was a follow-up to Cooper and Schoedsack's previous hit film Grass. It was nominated for an Academy Award for "Unique and Artistic Production", one of two redundant Best Picture awards given at the first Oscars, the other being "Outstanding Production". The Unique and Artistic Production award, which was given to Sunrise, was never given again after that first ceremony. Chang remains the only (sort of) documentary to be nominated for (sort of) Best Picture.
Chang	fetched	2023-02-04T08:57:55Z
Chang	parsed	2023-02-04T08:57:55Z
Chang	isPartOf	DBTropes
Chang / int_15b2cab3	type	Tempting Fate
Chang / int_15b2cab3	comment	Tempting Fate: Kru says "Our troubles are over" after he captures a baby elephant, which he hopes to tame and use for work. Immediately after this the mama elephant shows up and destroys their hut.
Chang / int_15b2cab3	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_15b2cab3	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_15b2cab3
Chang / int_2b3fa921	type	Down on the Farm
Chang / int_2b3fa921	comment	Down on the Farm: Or the southeast Asian equivalent thereof, as Kru and his family work their little farm in the jungles of Siam.
Chang / int_2b3fa921	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_2b3fa921	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_2b3fa921
Chang / int_2decf5dd	type	Silly Simian
Chang / int_2decf5dd	comment	Silly Simian: "Bimbo", the family's pet monkey, who provides comic relief. In one scene he pulls a blanket off of the baby. In another he runs like hell while being chased by a leopard. In the end, Bimbo has acquired a mate and a baby of his own. There's also a pretty amazing shot in which one monkey scampers up a tree to avoid charging elephants, and proceeds to pull another monkey up on a rope.
Chang / int_2decf5dd	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_2decf5dd	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_2decf5dd
Chang / int_2fd985e3	type	Pit Trap
Chang / int_2fd985e3	comment	Pit Trap: The natives construct one. A baby elephant is trapped in one, and pulled out alive. A leopard is trapped in one, and promptly shot to death. In another scene, natives fleeing from the elephants just barely avoid falling into the Pit Trap.
Chang / int_2fd985e3	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_2fd985e3	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_2fd985e3
Chang / int_4252627f	type	Determined Homesteader
Chang / int_4252627f	comment	Determined Homesteader: They're in Siam too, as Kru and family carve out their home in the jungle. Much of the film is structured like a Western, actually.
Chang / int_4252627f	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_4252627f	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_4252627f
Chang / int_49d59be9	type	Scenery Porn
Chang / int_49d59be9	comment	Scenery Porn: Some amazing shots of northern Thailand. The long shot in which a herd of elephants crosses a river stands out. And some amazing shots of animals as well, like the scene where Schoedsack was perched in a tree platform 13 feet off the ground, and the tiger jumped about 12.5 feet, sticking his face in the lens. Or the ground-level scene of stampeding elephants, captured when Schoedsack got in a specially dug pit, and cranked his camera while the herd of elephants ran right over him.
Chang / int_49d59be9	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_49d59be9	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_49d59be9
Chang / int_4f6bd2da	type	Nature Is Not Nice
Chang / int_4f6bd2da	comment	Nature Is Not Nice: Life in the jungle as a struggle, with the jungle itself and all the animals in it out to kill you.
Chang / int_4f6bd2da	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_4f6bd2da	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_4f6bd2da
Chang / int_5313c266	type	Bookends
Chang / int_5313c266	comment	Book Ends: In the first scene Kru is chopping down a tree that he'll use in building his house. In the last scene, Kru is chopping down a tree to use in building his house, but with assistance from a tamed elephant from the herd that the villagers captured. Additionally, the same shot of the sun over the mountains is used in the first scene and the last.
Chang / int_5313c266	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_5313c266	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_5313c266
Chang / int_5521ed05	type	No Animals Were Harmed
Chang / int_5521ed05	comment	No Animals Were Harmed: Averted, repeatedly, and on purpose. If you've ever wanted to see a tiger or leopard trapped and shot to death, this is the movie for you.
Chang / int_5521ed05	featureApplicability	-1.0
Chang / int_5521ed05	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_5521ed05
Chang / int_5ac34441	type	Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp"
Chang / int_5ac34441	comment	Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": No, "Chang" is not a person's name. All of the fake dialogue in the title cards is in English, except for the word Chang—Kru finds that a Chang has trampled his rice paddy, and the villagers set up a Pit Trap to catch the Chang. The film finally reveals that chang is the Thai word for "elephant".
Chang / int_5ac34441	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_5ac34441	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_5ac34441
Chang / int_6595b784	type	Animal Reaction Shot
Chang / int_6595b784	comment	Animal Reaction Shot: Done with Bimbo the comedy monkey, including some shots where Bimbo's reaction is intercut with the unplanned sequence in which the elephant destroys the house.
Chang / int_6595b784	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_6595b784	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_6595b784
Chang / int_680f950	type	Gilligan Cut
Chang / int_680f950	comment	Gilligan Cut: See Cassandra Truth above.
Chang / int_680f950	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_680f950	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_680f950
Chang / int_73dc8ac	type	Box-and-Stick Trap
Chang / int_73dc8ac	comment	Box-and-Stick Trap: The "deadfall" equivalent thereof, in which the falling trap is actually a heavy weight rather than a box—and in this case also equipped with sharpened wooden stakes. Constructed by the natives, but not used.
Chang / int_73dc8ac	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_73dc8ac	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_73dc8ac
Chang / int_7e733dcd	type	Mobile Shrubbery
Chang / int_7e733dcd	comment	Mobile Shrubbery: The natives camouflage themselves with bushes as they herd the elephants across the river. This was Cooper and Schoedsack's idea and was conceived as a Shout-Out to Shakespeare, namely Macbeth. Apparently the natives working on the film loved the idea and said they'd keep doing that in the future.
Chang / int_7e733dcd	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_7e733dcd	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_7e733dcd
Chang / int_9afa05c7	type	Family-Unfriendly Death
Chang / int_9afa05c7	comment	Family-Unfriendly Death: Some may find the killing of tigers and leopards disturbing.
Chang / int_9afa05c7	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_9afa05c7	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_9afa05c7
Chang / int_b2e94341	type	Based on a Great Big Lie
Chang / int_b2e94341	comment	Based on a Great Big Lie: Everything in this movie was staged, with the locals working along with Cooper and Schoedsack to act out Cooper and Schoedsack's story. Most of the events with the animals were staged as well, by using either tamed animals (the elephant herd, which had to be coaxed to wreck the village) or animals that were trapped and released in order for the filmmakers to get a shot (the tiger that nearly ate Ernest Schoedsack). Kru was cast in the movie because he spoke English, and he doubled as the interpreter for Cooper and Schoedsack. (The woman identified onscreen as Kru's wife wasn't really his wife, although the kids actually were Kru's children.) And while the events in the movie were staged, they were at least a relatively authentic portrayal of life in northern Siam. The natives of the area really did live in raised huts, and they really did sometimes herd elephants into a krall and select some to tame.
Chang / int_b2e94341	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_b2e94341	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_b2e94341
Chang / int_bd29e069	type	PreciousPuppies
Chang / int_bd29e069	comment	Precious Puppies: Kru and family have a dog, which has a litter of puppies. They scoop up the puppies and take them upstairs to their hut at night, to prevent the puppies from becoming tiger snacks.
Chang / int_bd29e069	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_bd29e069	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_bd29e069
Chang / int_cd6a97e	type	Caught in a Snare
Chang / int_cd6a97e	comment	Caught in a Snare: A leopard is caught this way. A tiger is shot and killed after being caught in a variant of the snare trap in which the net falls down on the animal.
Chang / int_cd6a97e	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_cd6a97e	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_cd6a97e
Chang / int_cf92fea8	type	Cassandra Truth
Chang / int_cf92fea8	comment	Cassandra Truth: Kru, whose house has just been smashed by an elephant, comes to warn the village that a "Great Herd" of elephants is bearing down on them. No one believes him, and a village elder is laughing at him when the elephants come barreling out of the trees.
Chang / int_cf92fea8	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_cf92fea8	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_cf92fea8
Chang / int_e13156e1	type	Mama Bear
Chang / int_e13156e1	comment	Mama Bear: Kru takes the baby elephant home and ties it up, thinking that he'll tame it and put it to work. The mama elephant comes charging out of the forest and rescues her child. Cooper and Schoedsack had tied up the baby elephant in order to get this shot of Mama coming to the rescue. What they didn't anticipate is what happened next, as the mama elephant proceeded to tear Kru's hut to pieces.
Chang / int_e13156e1	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_e13156e1	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_e13156e1
Chang / int_e409de66	type	Manipulative Editing
Chang / int_e409de66	comment	Manipulative Editing: Pretty obviously. There's a scene in which a native is supposedly treed by a tiger. The tiger jumps, and there is a jaw-dropping shot in which the tiger very nearly touches the film camera with his nose. Then there's a cut to a long shot, showing the native up in the tree, with no camera in sight that could have taken the close-up. The closeup of the jumping tiger was taken by Schoedsack in a platform, and the tiger came so close because they underestimated how far the tiger could jump.
Chang / int_e409de66	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_e409de66	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_e409de66
Chang / int_f1d3f0c9	type	Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
Chang / int_f1d3f0c9	comment	Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: The ridiculous "dialog" title cards, which even in 1927 were cited as a shortcoming of the film.
Chang / int_f1d3f0c9	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_f1d3f0c9	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_f1d3f0c9
Chang / int_fd1f1a63	type	Ridiculously Cute Critter
Chang / int_fd1f1a63	comment	Ridiculously Cute Critter: Bimbo the monkey sure is cute.
Chang / int_fd1f1a63	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_fd1f1a63	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_fd1f1a63
Chang / int_name	type	ItemName
Chang / int_name	comment
Chang / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
Chang / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
Chang	hasFeature	Chang / int_name
Chang / int_name	itemName	Chang

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Forgotten Frontier	seeAlso	Chang
Chang	hasFeature	Based on a Great Big Lie / int_b9bb181b
Chang	hasFeature	Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp" / int_b9bb181b
Chang	hasFeature	Pit Trap / int_b9bb181b

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