Continuity (historical, that is...)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by 120dB, Mar 10, 2004.

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  1. 120dB

    120dB Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    Anybody here grind their teeth when they
    watch TV series or films that are set in the
    1960s and 1970s that are totally off-base
    about clothes, hairstyles, pop music,
    slang, politics and all the details that
    matter. Not just seeing a 1963 car or
    hearing a 1963 hit in a movie set in 1962,
    but a general 'who cares' attitude
    about getting it right. Network TV has
    always been bad at this, but I think
    it's getting worse. When I saw Jennifer
    Love Hewitt doing Ba-da-bing stripper
    moves as 'Nancy Sinatra' on American
    Dreams, I had to change channels
    (despite the fact that I normally
    would enjoy seeing JLH doing such
    moves). That stuff wouldn't/didn't
    fly on TV in 1966...
     
  2. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    I've seen several 60's themed shows where the telephones have an RJ-11 jack.
     
  3. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    In the movies "The Buddy Holly Story" and "La Bamba" plus a zillion others, there are always the wrong guitars, amps, recording equipment for the era.
     
  4. poweragemk

    poweragemk Old Member

    Location:
    CH
    That's what happens when you have P.A.'s my age doing continuity and research for these shows...how the hell would we know the difference? :D
     
  5. 120dB

    120dB Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    Research

    I remember seeing an interview with the main continuity researcher for 'The Wonder Years'.
    She was a very nice 22-year-old Chinese lady who said "I just look at old LIFE magazines..."
     
  6. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Heck, whenever the TV show "Friends" flashes back to the 80s, they can't get the fashion and music to line up with any actual year in the 80s. It's not going to get better going ten or more years before that. :)

    Regards,
     
  7. Drawer L

    Drawer L Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Long Island
    I dunno.I'm 38,and anything out of place jumps at me.I can't be the only one who notices these things (ie-any episode of American Dreams...).Least on Freaks & Geeks,they got it right...
     
  8. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    That 70's Show drives me nuts with it's 1990's lingo and the untrue hair-styles.
     
  9. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    All the science fiction films in which there are sound effects in the vacuum of space, even after the ads for the original ALIEN pointed out, "In space no one can hear you scream."

    Of course, there are always extreme liberties taken in science fiction films, where space travel usually encompasses artificial gravity, faster-than-light speeds, instantaneous communication with bases billions of miles away, not to mention the miraculous universality of the English language, but for some reason the sound-emitting spaceships always bug me.
     
  10. whitenoise

    whitenoise New Member

    Location:
    Sarasota, Florida
    Probably because it's something they never bother to explain, so the assumption has to be either that they're ignorant or they're pandering to ignorance (not being creative enough to use silence as a tool, like the best sci-fi films do). Everything else has some technobabble foundation (in the grand Star Trek tradition: "universal translator", "warp drive", "subspace").
     
  11. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    When "Mr Holland's Opus" was filmed here in Portland, a lot of the records used in the movie were bought at my store. A shopping list was provided by a consultant who was either specially hired or was regular staff. A number of the records were historically wrong for the timeline, in addition to the wrong artists listed, such as the Supremes doing "Soldier Boy". It was like pulling teeth from a statue in getting them to veer from their official list that they had to stick to probably because they had paid so mauch for the work done. I had to pull out books and records to convince them that they were well on their way to looking foolish, and they finally threw out the whole list and listened to someone who knew. I'm not credited, but I sold them the right records, and I guess that's reward enough.
    Incidentally, after weeks of negotiating and finally getting the rare Apple OK to use Sgt Pepper's cover and music, they never used it.
     
  12. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I'm amazed at how Star Trek's vessels, flying faster than the speed of light, and always getting jostled by hostile forces, never have a damn seat belt anywhere on the bridge.
     
  13. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Yes. However, "That Seventies Show" has really nailed the fashions and social mores of the time.
     
  14. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    The hairstyles are pretty much what I remember of the time, but the lingo is way out of time. The worst screwup of a timeline is M*A*S*H. Nobody talked that way in the '50s, especially in the army, and NOBODY had hair like that even in civilian life (except Eden Ahbez). Things may have been looser in a MASH unit, but those guys still would have been court-martialed back then.
     
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