Errors in Movies and Televisions Programs There are so many inaccuracies in movies and television programs one can’t help but feel someone is not paying attention to the production. If I were to try and quantify where the most inaccuracies appear I would probably say in military productions with uniforms. I remember one television program where someone was being called a colonel by the troops. This wouldn’t be bad if he was a colonel, but this person clearly had the insignia of a Sargent Major, not even an officer. Having been in the military it annoyed me to no end. I wish I could remember the name of the show, but only the event stuck with me. Another thing which seems to happen far more often had to do with the uniforms. When I was in the U.S. Army and wore my dress uniform it was mandatory the epaulettes, also known as shoulder marks had to be under the collar. Many times, they are sticking up on the uniform in the show. Even if we are not talking about strictly military uniforms and rank there are still plenty of other annoying things to see in movies and on television. I was watching a show the other day, a popular super-hero one and one of the characters got wounded in the back just before the shoulder blade and his shirt was covered with blood in that area, but in the next scene the wound was on the arm and that was where the blood was located. I call this a major mistake and have to wonder why no one who was making the show didn’t notice it. Sometimes there are things which go wrong in movies and the scenes are not shot again to save money. One of the most infamous movies to do this was Plan 9 From Outer Space, a movie by Ed Wood. No scenes were shot a second time to save money. Besides ridiculous props so much went wrong the movie became the laughing stock of Hollywood and was picked as the worst movie ever made. If you want a good laugh, watch it. The star died during filming and was replaced by his dentist without so much as a how do you do right in the middle of the movie. I enjoyed Frasier very much. It was a long running television series with a large following, but even shows like this have some mistakes in them. In an episode called “Enemy at the Gate” which was Season 10, Episode 2 Frasier is standing through the sunroof of his car with drivers stuck behind him in a parking garage. One shot was taken of Frasier along with the rear window of his car and that window has a clear reflection of the boom mic. There is another episode called “Everyone’s a Critic” which is Season 7, Episode 4. There is a wine bottle on a table in the front of his couch as he is taking a drink with Poppy but the level of the wine in the bottle keeps going up and down throughout the scene. In Grey’s Anatomy, “Make Me Lose Control” Season 2 Episode 3 Derek and Richard are in an elevator and Richard’s bandages on his head are visible under his hat, but when he takes the hat off, the bandages are gone. One mistake you see more often than one should is a scene with a mic visible at the top of the screen. I have seen this in cheap movies and television shows. It has a way of shattering the mood. Pirates of the Caribbean was a very popular movie and had a lot of funny scenes. One which was left in the movie somehow had to do with a cowboy of all things. There is a very fast glimpse of a cowboy on the pirate ship. It has to do with the scene where Jack Sparrow commands, “On deck, you scabrous dogs.” For a split second you can see a cowboy over his left shoulder facing you or Sparrow’s right shoulder. The cowboy is just looking out over the ocean. One of my favorite movies is Independence Day. There is a scene where Jeff Goldblum is at Area 51 and complaining about the condition of the earth. He is drunk and knocks over a bin. So far so good, except for the fact the bin is labeled Art Department. Someone left the bin on the set by mistake and that is probably why it got knocked over. I don’t think it was supposed to be there. I like old Schwarzenegger movies and Commando which was made in 1985 is no exception. Remember the scene where a Porsche was used to chase down Sully? It was really banged up but somehow in the following scenes was repaired. Braveheart was another great movie but had a lot of mistakes. First of all, there were no kilts yet in Scotland. They didn’t appear until the end of the 16th century. Wallace has a bloody claymore and then it has no blood on it when it is drawn again. There is even a scene where Wallace’s wife’s funeral takes place and if you look carefully you can see a Ford van. When he bends down to kiss her you can see the van over his left shoulder through the trees. It happens quickly. I am not picky, but if one is making a movie which costs a fortune to produce shouldn’t they decide to reshoot a scene when this happens or at least blot out the offending object which only appears for a second anyway? When I first started to look at these mistakes I was astounded at how many there were and how many were in very famous movies. Many of them I never noticed, but once they were pointed out to me I couldn’t help but notice them from that point on. This leads me to believe maybe they were noticed by the producers, but they felt most people wouldn’t notice them.
|
