[Closed] Things you notice on TV and in Films that make no sense

Why all telephone numbers in America contain 5-5-5.

That's deliberate. No numbers beginning 555 are allocated, so that they can give them out in TV shows and films and no poor bugger is going to get harrassed by weirdos who call it.

Along similar lines, whenever there's an emergency, someone always looks up towards camera and says theatrically "Call 911!". This is deliberate from when the number was introduced, so that the number and when to call it gets drilled into the population.

Finally why do cars always slightly roll forward in America when the driver gets out of them. I've drove and parked cars in America many times and this has never happened to me.

They are automatics, and they put them in park which sticks a peg into a cog in the gearbox. There's always a bit of play in it though which lets you roll the car back and forwards a few inches. Happens to any automatic - try it. If the car's on a slope you use the brakes to stop, the pedal must be depressed to engage park, then when you let go of the footbrake the car rolls forwards to take up the slack in the drivetrain and peg.

Don't people realise that sitcoms and soaps are made in studios?

Doesn't even need words

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Has anyone else noticed that sound effects from 1990's Rare produced games like Jet Force Gemini, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie are identical to those used a lot in film and TV...?

Why all telephone numbers in America contain 5-5-5.

That one quite famously came from an early film/TV show where a random number was given as a phone number for [insert famous person] and every idiot watching it started calling it and Mrs Smith at 47 Acacia Avenue got very fed up of receiving millions of calls from TV-watching idiots all thinking they were calling the [famous person].

555 is not a geneuine area code so is prefectly safe to use.

No-one in any action film ever needs to eat, sleep, drink or go to the toilet outside of a dramatic scene.

captainsasquatch - Member
That green VW Beetles were incredibly popular in San Fransico around the time Bullitt was being filmed

And Dodge Chargers had about eight hubcaps...

Also another convention - whenever they change to a different interior scene, they *always* have to show a one second shot of the outside of the building first. Which I suppose is understandable, since you wouldn't otherwise know you'd moved locations necessarily.

There are tons of these conventions. They make up a whole visual meta-language that's common to all TV shows. Where you haven't got time to explain everything in detail as you would in a book, it forms an essential extra channel of communication with the viewer to get your point across. Along with character conventions too - that you would otherwise call cliches.

Same with the incidental music. We all know certain music means certain things - that would take ages to explain visually or with dialogue.

Has anyone else noticed that sound effects from 1990's Rare produced games like Jet Force Gemini, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie are identical to those used a lot in film and TV...?

Yes - the bleep from XCOM: Enemy Unknown (the first one) comes up in loads of things. Not sure if the game took it from the standard sound effects library or the other way round.

why do microphones always squawk with feedback when the main character picks them up?

Why all telephone numbers in America contain 5-5-5.

Also, why all cars make a blip blip noise when you remotely lock or unlock them. So 1980's.

Finally why do cars always slightly roll forward in America when the driver gets out of them. I've drove and parked cars in America many times and this has never happened to me.

Because...

555 was an agreed fictional area code, it means that they don't have to worry about accidentally giving away a real persons telephone number, but more importantly not someone's number than doesn't exist at the time of filming - there are a lot of strange people in the US who struggle to separate fact from fiction - real grown up adult people who will try to call a fictional character given the chance.

The 'blip blip' thing is actually not that outdated in the US, my SILs car does it, it's about 3 years old - it's partly due to a inherent distrust in technology (we shouldn't' think that's just a US thing, a lot of what we think are the sounds of mechanical things moving around are fake - cash-points for example could be completely silent, the 'counting money' noise is fake and the noise of central locking working is 'optimised') and partly to help the owner find their car in car parks etc. Okay it might be a US thing, they had 'aerials' on their mobiles long after they were functional.

And finally, the slight roll forward, US driver have always preferred automatics to manuals, and it's not uncommon to just "put it in park" over there, it's not meant to be used as a replacement for handbrake (some US driver still consider these to be manual 'emergency' brakes) they sometimes roll a bit. It wasn't long ago lots of US drivers would stop, put it in park and leave the engine running for quick stops - lots of videos of cars driving unmanned in circles with the dog who knocked the gearstick yapping away.

So there 😉

And Dodge Chargers had about eight hubcaps...

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555 was an agreed fictional area code

Not just the area code, the first three numbers of a 7 digit local number too.

Okay it might be a US thing, they had 'aerials' on their mobiles long after they were functional.

Not only - how many washing machines still have a rotary programme selector long after the original music-box style mechanical controller is obselete?

I went to see the new Bourne film the other day. What stuck me was the sounds coming from speeding vehicles all seemed to be created by 1970's V8s. Fair enough for the scenes in Las Vegas, a bit odd in an Audi Q7 in Berlin and just plain bizarre in the Merc Sprinter when they get to London. Bwarrp!

And Dodge Chargers had about eight hubcaps...

And that they go down hill, turn left, down hill, turn left and they're still going down hill.

If you've ever driven in San Francisco you'll realise that they go through two or three wormholes so that "that" hill ends up next to "that" beach etc etc...

Oh and coffee cups.. yeah.. that's just the tip of that iceberg. Once you start really looking, then tons of stuff is just bollocks. They are betting on you watching the actors who are delivering lines - so start by looking at the people who aren't speaking.. or even the extras.. then look carefully around the rooms..

A film would have to be spectacularly dull to manage that though - the meat puppets are too interesting even when they're rubbish. I go to screenings of things I've worked on and have a professional interest in looking around the edges of the people to check the things I've made and after 15 minutes you just zone out and start watching the film instead.

What's the word for that? Eg a bell style electronic ring tone, or designing guis to look like brushed aluminium etc? My camera has a cheesy mirror slap and film advance sound effect even though it's a digital compact...
Was bugging me the other day.

LimboJimbo
. What stuck me was the sounds coming from speeding vehicles all seemed to be created by 1970's V8s

I was just about to post this. Every car that goes fast in a film must have a petrol V8. Even the shitty Jeep Renegade Bruce Wayne hijacks at the start of Batshit v Sourman.

Anyaway. I would add every Steven Seagal fight scene ever. People shooting folk and things with hand guns over long range.

And one that really rustled my jimmies was in a recent episode of Game of Thrones where The Hound is cutting up a tree with an axe. Or rather, repeatedly smashing the same part of the trunk. Lovejoy walks over and says something like "ayyyy I've never seen a man swing an axe like you before".

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And the little two stroke scrambler in Terminator (2?) has about eighteen gears

[i]Doesn't even need words[/i]

Don't even need binoculars in most films - they have, what me and my brother named, "Zoom lens eyes". Oh who's that in the distance..? ZOOOOOM!

I also love how easy it is to knock someone unconscious with a single punch, but they wake up after a couple of minutes without any apparent ill effects.

Also, why is an eagle call necessary on any sweeping landscape shot?

It's actually a red-tailed hawk sound. And it's such a widespread convention that that sound automatically evokes the people struggling through desert concept wherever you hear it. My daughter bought a stuffed one that made that sound when squeezed, and it really was quite a bizarre mental discontinuity to keep hearing it in normal situations.

Similarly theres a species of frog native to LA that can be heard in any deserted scene anywhere in the world. 🙂

Its stock sounds in factual TV that are quite funny - if you're watching horse racing its impractical to have live sound of the far end of the track and all you'd actually hear is the engines of the tracking vehicles filming. So live coverage has had the same slowed down recording of stampeding buffalo for sound for decades.

If anyone is interested enough I'll try and find the link to a radio doc about the guy who sound-designs the olympics coverage - absolutely mental the lengths they go to in sport. (And noticeably absent in this years olympics.) Things like the sound of paddles in the water in rowing or the swoosh of skis recorded days ahead and played along live with a sampler.

A sound recordist got a bafta for 'The sound of the wimbledon tennis final' a few years back.

I reckon the reason the the TDF is more watchable that the Vuelta is because the TDF sounds better.

jimjam - Member

I was just about to post this. Every car that goes fast in a film must have a petrol V8. Even the shitty Jeep Renegade Bruce Wayne hijacks at the start of Batshit v Sourman.

And the engine must be either accelerating or decelerating; you hardly ever hear a car engine at constant revs.
Oh, and 32 speed gearboxes in car chases......

And indestructible tyres on cars that can be driven across kerbs at high speed without puncturing.

Fishtailing chase cars that manage to stay with high performance sports cars.....oh look, that '82 pick-up is able to keep up with a Porsche 911 round those sharp corners....

And the little two stroke scrambler in Terminator (2?) has about eighteen gears

Yeah,and its a 4 stroke XR 🙂

Mi2
If you are going to do slo-mo of the bikes jumping over things,you must know that people are going to spot the tyre swaps.Unless there was a new MX sports bikes range from Triumph (Daytona and a Speed Triple) 🙂

Yup, I was going to post motorbike engine noises, once movie dubs a bmw boxer twin with a 4-cylinder engine, drives me slightly nuts every time.

He's just keeping the two-stroke in terminator on the pipe 😉

Has anyone else noticed that sound effects from 1990's Rare produced games like Jet Force Gemini, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie are identical to those used a lot in film and TV...?

Anyone realised this same scream has been used on dozens of films

What's the word for that? Eg a bell style electronic ring tone, or designing guis to look like brushed aluminium etc? My camera has a cheesy mirror slap and film advance sound effect even though it's a digital compact...
Was bugging me the other day.

I know the one you mean - Its that word thats really easy to forget - and really hard to find with a google. And I only found took time to re-find it because I should be typing a tender document instead.

skeuomorphic

A film would have to be spectacularly dull to manage that though

Works better on films you've seen a lot.

If anyone is interested enough I'll try and find the link to a radio doc about the guy who sound-designs the olympics coverage

Me, I am! Ta 🙂

I also love how easy it is to knock someone unconscious with a single punch,

Sadly cannot seem to find the clip from Morons from Outer Space on Youtube 🙂

Re car chases - have a good look at how fast they are actually moving...

Tyre squeal sounds when a car is off-road.
Few people lock their car when they leave it.

Alien. Tagline; "In Space, No-one Can Hear You Scream"

Opening scene: the Nostromo rumbles through the vacuum of space...

Opening scene: the Nostromo rumbles through the vacuum of space..

Me, I am! Ta

theres a precise version of it here - from there there was a link to a full length version of the original documentary thats available to download as an MP3- but the link now seems to be dead - I can upload the file somewhere if the short version tickles your tastebuds

[url= http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-sound-of-sports/ ]http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-sound-of-sports/[/url]

EDIT actually - strike that - this is a re-issue of the podcast and now has the full doc in it rather than an edit

skeuomorphic
Thats my new word of the day,thanks for that maccruiskeen 🙂

Oh, and people refer to all IT malware as a 'virus', when it's usually some kind of rootkit exploit.

skeuomorphic
Thats my new word of the day,thanks for that maccruiskeen

bookmark this page because you[i] will[/i] forget it!

I don't know how you can tell it's empty but it moves differently, or something & once you notice you can't 'not notice' it.

Especially when they drink from a full cup by swigging it high enough to get a faceful.

How photographs turn out nice and sharp even though they were with a 400+mm lens minus tripod.

"Enhance!" - "ok!"

Anyone realised this same scream has been used on dozens of films

The Willhelm Scream is a bit of a running gag in the industry I believe.

I'll add: constantly wiggling steering wheels whilst driving in a straight line.

Oh, and,

Whether you're in an office at night, on a sunny beach, or on an alien planet whilst on fire, the ambient lighting is always orange & teal. MAKE IT STOP!!

I went to see the new Bourne film the other day. What stuck me was the sounds coming from speeding vehicles all seemed to be created by 1970's V8s. Fair enough for the scenes in Las Vegas, a bit odd in an Audi Q7 in Berlin and just plain bizarre in the Merc Sprinter when they get to London. Bwarrp!

The Transporter TV series was bad for this (and bad in general), big rumbling V8 noises coming from the car they used, no attempt made to hide the 3.0 TDi badge on the back.

Mi2
If you are going to do slo-mo of the bikes jumping over things,you must know that people are going to spot the tyre swaps.Unless there was a new MX sports bikes range from Triumph (Daytona and a Speed Triple)

Car exhausts which are dribbling water because they have just been started even though in the film/program they have been driving for miles.

An extension to the empty coffee cup problem also - actors making a slurping sound as if they are drinking something even though there is nothing in the cup.

I also agree with the earlier observation about old looking buildings that would have been newish/contemporary when the action is set.

Person falls into an unlit cave/trapped in warehouse etc.

But, there's some ambient light in there - it's not pitch black.

Of course, it would be pretty rubbish if they were in there & you could just hear crashing & banging noises during that scene of the film, but still.....

The CCTV enhance thing really cheeses me off - you've got 16-pixels to enhance a face, but have turned it into a hi-res mug shot!! Bravo...

And the zoom lens spy shots at night, hand held & pin sharp! Wish the stabiliser on my Nikon VR lens was that good!

All thunder storms are directly overhead, i.e the thunder strikes at exactly the same time as the lightning.

Stupid aliens. Who manage to navigate interstellar space, yet can be hacked by one earthling with a Compaq.

Or my favourite: Battleship, where the aliens manage to travel all the way from their home planet but crash their only communications vehicle into a satellite, so have to borrow Earth's communications system. (Which they can, however, hack into and use perfectly).

The CCTV enhance thing really cheeses me off - you've got 16-pixels to enhance a face, but have turned it into a hi-res mug shot!! Bravo...

It makes me giggle when thinking back to when Bladerunner came out and we were incredulous at the whole picture enhancing scene, it seemed so far fetch, even though not long later we'd all be able to pretty much do at home on our PC. But didn't bat an eye at the whole flying car thing and the sentient sexy androids. Now it all seems quaint because he has to use a call box.

bencooper

Or my favourite: Battleship,

There's your problem......

Tyre squeal sounds when a car is off-road.

James Bond could even get his tyres to squeal on sandy beaches 😯

Caves and mines always have nice smooth floors whereas in reality they are strewn with rocks and boulders