Mistake in Episode 1


Just watched the first episode - and have to ask, why do they spoil a good drama by being totally careless with the details. I'm not talking technical details here either... In one of the early scenes they show a shot of the outside of the house - the sky is bright blue, the sun is shining, looks like a summer's day, then you hear the voice over on the radio..."It's seven o'clock on Thursday the 22nd of November..." (Think that was the date, but it was November anyway!) In November in England, 7 o'clock in the morning is still dark; sunrise wouldn't be until nearly 8 o'clock. This kind of laziness really does spoil a programme for me, because it's so easy to get it right but they still get it wrong.

"He starts with three arms and ends up with no eyes!" (Robert Rodriguez)

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 I can't even tell if you're trolling because this is such a stupid post on so many levels, I really do hope you are a troll.

."It's seven o'clock on Thursday the 22nd of November..." (Think that was the date, but it was November anyway!) In November in England, 7 o'clock in the morning is still dark; sunrise wouldn't be until nearly 8 o'clock.

*gasp* they got the light level wrong on a shot completely unrelated to the story or anything really. It's ruined now. 

because it's so easy to get it right

It's really not.
Here's the timeline of that unforgivable error.
- A production assistant scouted a specific area for lovely houses. He/she finds one that's suitable for establishing shots. The house is marked; a price is negotiated with the owners; dates are made for shots.
- Months later, a production crew comes to the house, and shoots a few hours of external shots from different angles, all within the same day, let's say in the summer.
- The footage is viewed and logged in and archived as "House of X - exterior shots. Daytime."
- Several months pass and the main production is happening. A set is used for the interior of the house.
- Months later, an assistant editor reads exterior shots of the house are needed in the script to establish where the narrative is and to create false continuity with the interior shots. He/she finds the "House of X - exterior shots. Daytime." footage, selects the best angle, edits it in. He/she has no idea (and doesn't give a *beep* any more than most of us do, you excluded) what time and date it is in the script.
- *MONTHS* later, the director views the final episode with producers. One of the producers say "when does that take place?" so the director decides to add a disembodied voice to establish the timeline.
- Some voice actor reads a script as if on the radio or tv. It's edited in.

Now let's say someone even gives a *beep* and says "OMG! It should be much darker at this time in November in those exterior shots!" and goes "oh NO! How could we get it so wrong? It's all ruined now! All this work for nothing"
And then he goes "I KNOW! Let's delay the mini a year, wait until November, reshoot at 7 am in the dark (we don't really care that nobody will see anything, right?) and then edit it in and we're saved!"
... He definitely would have been laughed out of the room. Probably even the country.

This kind of laziness really does spoil a programme for me

Obviously you don't know anything about production, or editing or anything related to tv or movies so I get how that could be a problem for you. You don't even know what laziness means. You should seek help.



For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

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haha, well I don't know about the sun being up too early but you clearly weren't paying proper attention in that scene anyway Ferrarifan, as they said Tuesday the 22nd of November, not Thursday.

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Well, you obviously didn't read my post properly buchookie - I clearly said that I couldn't remember the exact date, just that it was November.

And lthilfaen - wow, what an expert you are! No, I'm not a troll, and no, I'm not the only one who gets irritated by mistakes like this. Any location crew worth their salt would take a variety of shots of the house - in daylight, in rain, in darkness, as many different variants as possible, so that the correct shot could be used.

Also, as you rightly say, I have limited knowledge of how production etc works. Seeing as you were astute enough to notice that, you really could have worded your answer in much nicer terms. Instead of wanting to help me understand, it's clear you just wanted to be rude, by demonstrating your 'superior' knowledge then telling me I need help. Try to be a bit more pleasant to people please.

"He starts with three arms and ends up with no eyes!" (Robert Rodriguez)

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