Continuity
One of my talents is observation. I may not be very good at maths, remembering names and dates but not much gets past my eye. So I tend to notice things that simply do not bother other people.
I can recall people’s lives and things they have said to me in great detail yet forget their birthdays! Thank heavens for cell phone reminders in our modern age!
What I notice with frequency is the lack of continuity on television and the big screen. I always land up asking if they simply cannot afford to pay someone to take notes on characters and events!
From one scene to the next rooms can change, people’s hair grows and shrinks with alarming swiftness, children become adults overnight and go on to sleep with their previously adult peers! There must be some growth hormone and lots of Viagra in soapie water!
Has anyone else noticed that laptops are instantly on upon opening? Gosh, what a fast operating system! I’m sure software manufacturers would kill for that secret – especially considering that magically windows never crashes thus ruining a good scene! Laptops also mysteriously never EVER run out of battery power and all this without unsightly cables! If you thought that was all… WAIT! On screen emails never fail or bounce! FANTASTIC!
Cell phones never have a bad signal if it is a baddie on an important call. Tragically the reception almost always fails on most urgent need in scenes. Perhaps all one needs for constantly great signal strength is to remain up to no good! Sounds like fun…
My pet hate is when they trivialise bigger than life issues such as Aids. It is always a good dramatic insert but once the novelty is over, the character’s condition is often forgotten and he or she resumes normal life. It sends out such a terrible message for the sale of ratings.
Then of course we have music on screen that is not synchronised with the actors. It is the funniest thing to spot a jiggling acrobat out of time with the loud beat emanating from the glorious surround sound. Even more entertaining, I have spotted people dancing to a four step beat when the background music is a waltz!
On a last note, movies and television in South Africa shouldn’t include any night scenes with all of our power cuts! Can you imagine? A romantic, candlelit horror or thriller? Just charming!
Did you see District 9 , Man that could have been a Doccie on Real South African Life. I just think that it was a little far fetched on how neat the streets of Joeburg were in the movie.. The Rest… WAY spot on.