Chekhov's Gun : Meaning and Directions

Hello folks, welcome to Thriller Facts , now I am going to talk about one of the most interesting principle for film or novel writing, which is Chekhov's Gun.

As I already told this is a principle which should be followed by directors and writers to make the screenplay more interesting and make the audience hold their seats tight !!

This principle was laid down by Anton Chekhov who is considered as the one of the greatest short-fiction playwriter . His works are held till now with self esteem by critics and public.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

Now coming back to our topic ! 

It was Chekhov who introduced this principle which laid down the foundation to foreshadow the future screenplay in current frame !! Confusing right, well I have a simplified explaination.

  If you are showing a rifle in the current frame then that rifle should turn as a key part in the climax or a few minutes later .

Note: He also mentions that , if the shown rifle is not used in the rest of the film then it's better to not show it at all in the beginning.

This principle paved the way and method to foreshadow key elements in previous frames itself. The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe has been following this method to foreshadow their characters and their importance in the film.

He always wanted that the audience should not be given false hopes and misguide them as it's a non satisfactory from the side of the audience. Here are few statements by Anton Chekhov with which I will conclude the topic:

"Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."

"One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep."

"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."

Thank you !!