Ok. So its something im sorta frustrated with in movie and film plots. Its where the characters seem to intentionally not tell other characters things for apparently no reason. So its like a fair amount of the plot would not exist if the characters would just mention relevant things. This is usually in fantasy types like in particular I am seeing it with the magicians and school spirits. I mean maybe behavior like this is common outside my experience but its weird to me.
Have you seen Pitch Meeting on YouTube? Just pick a recent one and watch it. Lots of examples of bad writing like this trope you mention.
That said, it can be difficult to write a story if everyone knows everything all the time. That’s why many books are set in fantasy worlds, pre-cell phone eras, or space settings without instantaneous communication. In modern situations, cell phones often mysteriously lose signal or run out of power, or people fail to pick up.
It’s a bit like how in kung fu movies the bad guys can’t use their guns (“Stop! This entire room is filled with explosives!”), or they get knocked away, or they miss a shot or two and then run out of bullets, or the movie is set in pre-gun eras. It sort of makes it hard to sustain the central conceit if a bad guy can just pull out a handgun and shoot Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan.
I will look for the pitch meeting thing on youtube. Im not sure if its going to make fun or be a real thing but either way sounds like it will be fun.
It’s a series of sketches, the guy that does them is great! I enjoy a lot of his content.
Ooh watching the Pitch Meeting video instead of the actual shitty movie it’s about is tight!