Trombone Shot. – Chapter 2, Strip 102

Despite Prof. van Helsing’s best efforts in last Thursday’s episode, I felt I should still do a bit more to emphasize the momentous moment of truth. A trombone shot appeared as the most adequate method – after all, Stephen Spielberg used one in Jaws, so that means that it’s a good idea to randomly distribute a dozen throughout every movie. (Well, some people seem to think that.) The shot is often referred to simply as a ‘Spielberg shot’, but Spielberg admits freely to not having invented it – you could say he was the first to get the idea to use it for emotional emphasis in situations were there was actually no other legitimation for it. (And I seriously consider that an achievement.)

Unfortunately, you couldn’t really say Erik von Strohut was scrupulous about taking notes while he attended film school. He did jot down that he’s supposed to employ lots and lots of trombone shots, but he forgot to add a definition. But B-movie making is about improvisation, anyway, so by combining his ideas with those of Miles, they ended up with a shot that qualifies as trombone shot by any definition. And if Archimedes celebrated important discoveries by running around naked on public roads, why shouldn’t his modern-day descendant announce his finding to the world by playing trombone? Publication is about being public, isn’t it?

I know that that thing in panel five isn’t a proper trombone, by the way – I originally tried to have him play a normal one, but there was just no fitting that around Professor Dr.’s unique physique.

Normally, I should now be able to uncover the full title of the movie, but there’s still one important little aspect about the situation that our heroes haven’t yet discovered. Not very much longer now, however.

And there’s a new voting incentive for today – a correction, of sorts, to the one before it. =P More on Thursday.

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