Pro tip: That one critique from a college film professor changed how I watch old shows

I was posting about this forgotten show from 1995 called "The Noon Hour" and a professor replied that my favorite scene had bad continuity. She pointed out a coffee cup that moved between shots. Now I notice stuff like that in every old show I watch. Since she said that 2 years ago, I pay way more attention to set details. Have any of you had someone point out a flaw that ruined a show for you or actually made it better?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_butler12mo ago

Has anyone else found that once you start looking for those little mistakes you can't unsee them? For me it was a boom mic dropping into frame during a dramatic scene, now I scan the top corners of every show.

aaron7082mo ago

Oh man, the boom mic thing is the gateway drug. For me it was a modern show where an actor's phone had the wrong year on the lock screen. Now I'm checking reflections in glasses, continuity of coffee cup levels between shots, all that stuff. It's like my brain decided to turn watching tv into a full time side gig I never asked for.

harper_wright19d ago

Wait, is that actually what got you? Because I thought the phone lock screen thing was a myth or at least really rare. I've seen the reflections in glasses thing though, that's brutal. There's this one show where a character's sunglasses are basically a mirror for the whole camera crew and it's impossible to ignore once you spot it. The coffee cup levels always get me too, especially in those long dinner scene conversations. It's like the prop department thinks nobody will notice the cup going from full to empty to full again in three cuts. You're right that it turns into a side gig, but honestly I think it makes me appreciate the shows that do get it right even more.

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