Production Flaws.

[Flick James]

I wanted to address a couple of movies and production goofs that I have seen, but I wonder how many others have noticed them. I'll address each individually.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) – I saw this film in the theatre when it first came out. There were two production goofs I noticed on the big screen that may not be as noticeable on a small screen. During the opening montage about Vlad the Impaler, there is a scene where Vlad returns to find that his love has committed suicide, and her corpse is laying on the floor. In the shot, Winona Ryder is laying on the floor in the forefront, as Gary Oldman comes from the background and drops to his knees next to her. When I saw this in the theatre, you could very clearly see Ryder's face twitch in reaction to Oldman crashing to his knees. Later in the film, during the funeral of Mina's friend Lucy, everyone is grieving around the body, and in the theatre I could clearly see the actress playing Lucy breathing. I could see these things very clearly on the big screen, but I was watching the film alone at the time. Later, upon viewing it on a TV screen, I could see these goofs, but then I knew they were there and I could see how someone would miss them on the small screen.

Hannibal (2001) – Now, here I saw the film in the theatre with a friend, and he was able to see what I saw, but sometimes I had to point them out, so maybe I just have a keen eye for production goofs. These I could not believe I was actually seeing them. There were about four scenes I can think of off the top of my head where you could clearly see the boom mic dangling over actors. In one shot of Anthony Hopkins standing and speaking, you could actually see it bobbing up and down over his head. In another shot of Starling sitting at her desk, I could actually not just the mic, but the stand arm and all being moved. There were other instances but those were the most glaring. I had to turn to my buddy and say "did you see that?" In a couple of the cases he said "yeah, is that really happening?" Since then, I've never watched  the entire thing again on the small screen, mainly because it was that bad a film, but I have watched some of the scenes I'm referring to, and I couldn't really see them, but I wasn't really studying the shots either, so it may be that the shots were discovered and fixed prior to releasing the film post-theatre.

Is anyone else here familiar with these shots? I've described the shots to others in conversation on multiple occasions, but have never talked to anyone that remembers seeing the goofs. They were so glaring that I have a hard time believing that I just have that good an eye, and I honestly don't think I do anyway. I figured if anyone else has seem them it would be among my fellow film obsessors.

[Leah]

In Mitchell, the chase when the mustang smashes suddenly is fixed and smashed again

[Skull]

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)... The only flaw I noticed was "the magic hat"... One of the guys accidently sit on the hat and crushed it and the next sene the hat is ok... :)


wow... I looked at the Bram Stoker's Dracula goof list on IMDB, to see what it said about "the magic hat"... I'm surprised to see the list is longer then my arm. hehehe

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/goofs

[Rev. Powell]

As for the first one, yeah, you see breathing/flinching corpses all the time if you look for it.  Just saw a flinching corpse tonight in a low buget flick.  A bit surprised that it would show up in a big budget flick like DRACULA, since they have the time and money to shoot over and over until they get it perfect.  It must have been pretty subtle though, because I didn't notice it and I never heard anyone mention it.

As for the second goof, I think it was probably a badly cropped print that got sent to theatres by mistake, not a production goof.  Apparently this happens sometimes (it recently happened to the SEX & THE CITY movie, the bad prints got recalled).  Some idiot was supposed to frame the film in the proper aspect ratio after shooting was complete but screwed up.  More a quality control issue than anything else.   

[God the Worms]

In "Ace Ventura: When Natures Calls" at the end when Ace is confronting the villain and doing his rewinding schtick, there is a table that is full of chess pieces, when the camera goes back to it, the pieces have disappeared.

[Jim H]

One of my favorites is in the Beyond, where one of the leads starts to try to load a gun by pushing a bullet the WRONG WAY DOWN THE BARREL OF HIS REVOLVER.  The actress with him looks like she is starting to laugh too, making me think he was clowning around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bARwH0nXaEI

Starting at about 2:30.

[Skull]

Jim H you either have one hell of a good eye or you must of seen the Beyond a billion of times :)

[Jack]

I was watching Mimic Sentinel last night and couldn't help but chuckle that one actress' bra was sticking out of the back of her shirt, but in the next shot it wasn't.  And back and forth, in multiple scenes.

[Flick James]

As for the first one, yeah, you see breathing/flinching corpses all the time if you look for it.  Just saw a flinching corpse tonight in a low buget flick.  A bit surprised that it would show up in a big budget flick like DRACULA, since they have the time and money to shoot over and over until they get it perfect.  It must have been pretty subtle though, because I didn't notice it and I never heard anyone mention it.

As for the second goof, I think it was probably a badly cropped print that got sent to theatres by mistake, not a production goof.  Apparently this happens sometimes (it recently happened to the SEX & THE CITY movie, the bad prints got recalled).  Some idiot was supposed to frame the film in the proper aspect ratio after shooting was complete but screwed up.  More a quality control issue than anything else.   

That makes perfect sense regarding Hannibal. I thought I was seeing things. Every time I saw I expecting to hear gasps or mumbling through the audience, but I didn't, so again maybe I have a better eye than average for that kind of thing, but it was just so plain as day.

As for Dracula, I think it was much more obvious on the big screen, but I still see it on the small screen because I know it's there, kind of like one of those pictures where you have to stare at it awhile and a picture comes out, then, once you've seen it, you can't unsee it.

[Jim H]

Jim H you either have one hell of a good eye or you must of seen the Beyond a billion of times :)

I think it may have been pointed out to me before I saw the film.  Not sure, it was quite a while ago.  Either way, I notice weird weapon handling issues a lot in films. 

Another example...  In my review of Aberration on here, I point out how the slide lock on the bad guys gun keeps randomly locking and being unlocked while he shoots at the mutant geckos.  You can see it in the clip I posted as well.  For those not in the know, most pistols, the slide automatically locks back when you fire the last round.

[Skull]

Jim H you either have one hell of a good eye or you must of seen the Beyond a billion of times :)

I think it may have been pointed out to me before I saw the film.  Not sure, it was quite a while ago.  Either way, I notice weird weapon handling issues a lot in films. 

Another example...  In my review of Aberration on here, I point out how the slide lock on the bad guys gun keeps randomly locking and being unlocked while he shoots at the mutant geckos.  You can see it in the clip I posted as well.  For those not in the know, most pistols, the slide automatically locks back when you fire the last round.

saddly I dont own a real gun and I wouldnt notice these things...

but I do enjoy watching movies when characters (mostly police officers) using guns like finger pointing devices and/or scratches himself with the barrel of a loaded gun.

[The Burgomaster]

I remember watching a movie where the length of a guy's necktie kept changing.  Can't remember the movie.  But the tip of the guy's tie was touching his belt, then a few seconds later it was about 4 inches higher than his belt, then it was touching his belt again, and it went back and forth like this a few times.

[ChocolateChipCharlie]

When I saw LOST IN TRANSLATION in the theater I caught the boom mic between Bill and Scarlett in a scene toward the end when they were having dinner somewhere.  It was edited out when it went to DVD.

I hate to bag on that movie though, because it's one of my favorite GOOD good movies.   

[nilbog]

You guys probably know this one, but I like it anyway because it is so obvious. In The Little Shop of Horrors (the Original) when Seymour is out looking for food for the plant, he comes across a lady. Between shots her scarf changes from being slumped over her left shoulder, to being slumped over her right arm and sometimes shoulder. It's quite funny because of how obvious it is - she even flicks it over both shoulders in one shot, then it cuts straight away and its back only over one.

[joejoeherron]

anybody checked out   (moviemistakes.com) ?