For questions related to the process of producing a film and TV show.
19
votes
2answers
2k views
Why are 3D films so dark?
Why are 3D films so dark?
I watched Brave yesterday and the film was so dark (light wise) in places that it was hard to make out what was happening.
Why are 3D films darker than 2D films and does it ...
16
votes
1answer
308 views
Why do TV comedy programs have laugh tracks?
In the early days of TV people used to go to theaters and enjoy vaudeville where there was a live audience. TV programs in the early days were mostly recorded in front of a live audience so the ...
15
votes
2answers
4k views
Why does the Amazing Spider Man not have the natural power to shoot web?
I have been watching Spider Man movies from the start. The recent movie I watched was The Amazing Spider Man.
But the difference I found in this movie and the last one was that, in this movie the ...
14
votes
2answers
317 views
Are fictional trademarks or brand names used in movies and TV legally held?
I saw this article and it got me thinking about fictional brands we see in movies and TV.
Are they actually applicable trademarks?
Meaning are they registered and legally upheld or could anyone ...
12
votes
1answer
735 views
How do they make horses fall down in war movies?
I have seen horses falling down many times in war movies while running. How do they make horses fall down in war movies? Are they highly trained to know fall down at some place or some barriers are ...
12
votes
2answers
324 views
Why was Professor Moriarty killed off?
Professor Moriarty is generally known as the greatest villain Sherlock Holmes has ever faced. I know that Sherlock was planned to end after the third season, concluding with the death of Sherlock, ...
12
votes
1answer
397 views
Why did the ending change in the Fight Club Adaptation?
Recently finishing up the book Fight Club after being a fan of the movie for so long. While the movie retains most of the dialogue and several tones of the book, one giant contrast is now present to ...
10
votes
2answers
378 views
How do they film money in TV or movie?
Money shown in movies or TV shows before 30-40 years was looked fake. Is there a law that prohibits was showing real money (bills and close ups of coins) in a TV commercial, show or film? How do they ...
10
votes
2answers
390 views
What's the significance of the Disney movie intro ident?
At the start of recent Disney movies, there's a short 30 second animation of a river with an old sailing ship, a bridge with a steam train and then the familiar Disney castle and fireworks.
Is ...
10
votes
2answers
242 views
What is the science behind making actors appear different?
Captain America, Lord of The Rings and The Social Network have each used a technique where an actor has either been shrunk down (Captain America & LoTR) or completely replaced by a face (Captain ...
10
votes
1answer
3k views
How much of Melissa McCarthy's role in “Bridesmaids” was improvised?
In the 2011 film "Bridesmaids," Melissa McCarthy plays Megan, the no-nonsense, carpal tunnel afflicted sister of the groom and one of the titular bridesmaids. All of her character's scenes are ...
10
votes
0answers
216 views
What happens to actor salaries around seasons 6-7 of a show?
Many successful (broadcast, United States) TV shows last about 5-7 seasons. Somehow I'd gotten this story in my head in which this was a combination of two factors:
TV shows become more attractive ...
9
votes
1answer
365 views
What's the difference between “writer” and “screenwriter” professions?
I'd like to know the difference between the "writer" and "screenwriter" professions in the context of movies. Please notice that I'm not English mothertongue and I have little knowledge of ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
Was Bane's dialogue spoken during filming or dubbed in during post?
In the film The Dark Knight Rises, Bane wears a mask that covers the bottom half of his face. This obscures his mouth and jaw such that it's pretty hard to tell when the actor is actually speaking. ...
9
votes
1answer
130 views
Why are there different audio levels for different languages?
I was watching the Star Trek Into Darkness trailers on Apple's trailer site. I watched the Announcement in english (US) and then the UK and AU versions and I noticed that background audio was at ...
8
votes
1answer
5k views
How are the Iron Man suit scenes filmed?
In all three movies, you see Downey Jr (as Tony Stark, and occasionally Cheadle as Rhodes/War Machine) in the namesake suit, either completely covered, or with the head open or having the suit put ...
8
votes
2answers
381 views
Why the discrepancy between the sound levels of dialogue and music in older movies?
I'm new to this community so I apologise if this type of question isn't permitted here.
I've been watching a lot of older films lately (older, in this instance reads "circa 80's and 70's" and mainly ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the reason for choosing Mary Jane over the Gwen Stacy in the 2002 Spider-Man movie?
As per the original script of Spider-Man Gwen Stacy is the first serious love of Peter Parker (Betty Brant is the first relationship of him which never worked). Then why did Marvel/Columbia Pictures ...
7
votes
3answers
9k views
Was the opening scene in Dark Knight Rises there in the original script?
I know it was a great scene and established where the Dr. came from but it wasn't really necessary. If you take that scene out, Bane's first reveal is in the sewer. Was the opening plane scene an ...
7
votes
2answers
442 views
How can a studio make a biographic film like The Social Network?
Do the filmmakers take permission of all the real people (that were portrayed in the film) before making the film?
If not, is it okay / legal for anyone to make such a film - considering that it ...
7
votes
1answer
372 views
Why are there typically no more than 24 episodes in a TV Season?
I noted that there is typically a maximum of 24 episodes per a season in a TV show. What is the reason for that?
7
votes
1answer
83 views
Why choose an Aztek?
In Breaking Bad, one of the iconic items is Walt's original car, the Pontiac Aztek. It is featured a lot in the series and can be argued as a slight companion to Walt, accompanying him on his journey ...
7
votes
1answer
110 views
Green Colour of Blood in “Mankatha”
In The South Indian Tamil Movie, 'Mankatha' why is the colour of blood shown to be Green in the main character's imagination?
The movie is miles far from anything related to Science Fiction or ...
7
votes
1answer
182 views
Why are the plot recap and opening title sequence of The West Wing in standard definition when the rest of the episode is high definition?
The West Wing was shot on film and six of the seven seasons were broadcast in high definition. Warner Brothers made all seasons available in high definition through download and streaming, but the ...
6
votes
3answers
830 views
Do they really drink or eat when shooting movies?
Many times in movies and TV shows characters are showed as eating or drinking activities (water, beverages, alcohol). If a shoot takes many retakes, then the actors will not want to eat after going ...
6
votes
1answer
201 views
How much would a third season of SGU cost to produce?
I'm entertaining a dream in which I win €140,000,000 in the EuroMillions draw and use it to fund the return of unfairly-cancelled shows.
Using any available figures, how much would a third season of ...
5
votes
1answer
71 views
What are the 'quadrants' in TV testing?
When talking of the upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series, ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee said:
“We don’t normally talk about testing, but [Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.] tested so well in ...
5
votes
1answer
315 views
Why do panelists on British panel shows have a pen and paper which they seem to use regularly?
I personally find British panel shows to be among the funniest shows you can find on TV. One common occurrence I've noticed is that the panelists are often seen writing scribbling notes while another ...
4
votes
4answers
484 views
How do they make a huge crowd in a movie?
We usually see a huge crowd in a movie:
In scenes in war movies having a huge crowd, where you'll have an army force with costumes
In musical shows set in a movie, games like football, cricket, or ...
4
votes
2answers
98 views
What comes first, the music or the take?
Good music in a movie is not only good music but also music that is in sync with what happens on the screen. I can imagine it's not a trivial job to achieve this. So it made me wonder what generally ...
4
votes
2answers
282 views
Why was “The Social Network” made so quickly after Facebook took off?
The movie was released in 2010 and had to have started being planned for at least 1-2 years before that. It seems this was incredibly fast after Facebook was released to the whole world and took off. ...
4
votes
1answer
259 views
What's taking Sin City 2 so long?
According to wikipeida, Robert Rodriquez announced that he would do Sin City 2. The latest update, according to Wikipedia, is that they're almost done writing the script. Is there any indication as ...
4
votes
2answers
298 views
How do they mix real characters with animated characters?
Some animated movies shows real characters( men / women) in them like movie Avatar. How do they mix real characters with animated characters? Is this cost more than purely animated movie? How is the ...
4
votes
1answer
218 views
How are stunts where vehicles are seriously damaged (such as explosions or crashes) filmed?
In many movies vehicles are apparently seriously damaged. How are these stunts filmed? Are these made animated? Does it costs more to shoot these types of shots? Do these shots have retakes?
Examples ...
4
votes
1answer
150 views
What was the first film or television show that used computer generated credits?
I imagine, but do not know for sure, that in the early days of film and television, credits were filmed on a second reel and added to the production after the fact.
Historically, what was the first ...
3
votes
2answers
6k views
Do they really have sex in movies?
Many times in movies ( specially Hollywood ), actors and actresses are shown doing intercourse ( Not talking about pornographic films ). Do they really do this? Or fake it?
That's really up to the ...
3
votes
2answers
273 views
Disclaimer of a movie: Can it really save the producers?
It is usual in films to use Disclaimer in it to
reduce the possibility of legal action for libel from any person who believes that he or she has been libeled via their portrayal in the work ...
3
votes
1answer
162 views
Is there a symbolic reason for the rotating lab assistants on Bones, or was it a production decision?
After the main lab assistant, Zack Addy, was found to be in cahoots with an evil character a few seasons ago, the role of the lab assistant on Bones has been played by a rotating set of actors and ...
3
votes
1answer
156 views
What process does a production company have to go through in order to obtain a 'high profile' actor/actress?
While the definition of a High Profile actor/actress may be a bit subjective on its own; lets just figure it is determined by the financial (an objective quantifier) success of past movies.
What kind ...
3
votes
1answer
191 views
Production company(s?) for “Face Off” and “Ink Masters”
I've been watching SyFy's series "Face Off" (IMDB) since its first season debut. Recently, I watched an episode of SpikeTV's "Ink Master."
I'm not typically a huge fan of 'reality' TV so I was ...
2
votes
2answers
349 views
What is the green background? (“green screen”)
What do you call the green backgrounds which are used to create CGI backgrounds, weather reports etc.
Why is green color always used?
2
votes
1answer
103 views
What is the point of making some dialogues inaudible and not showing some language translations?
Today I was watching Sherlock Holmes and The Game of Shadows. In that movie, several foreign languages like German,French etc. were used. The film itself had no translation in English despite some ...
2
votes
1answer
134 views
What happened to the production between seasons 5 and 6 of the 2003 TMNT series?
The sixth season of the 2003 TMNT cartoon marked a distinct change from the earlier series; a lighter tone, aimed at a lower aged audience (over use of catch phrases, stating the obvious etc), and ...
2
votes
1answer
132 views
Does the single season of Flash Forward manage to finish up plot points?
Did the production team get a chance to wrap up the Story arcs or were there major plot point left unfinished that they intended to finish in subsequent seasons?
2
votes
2answers
448 views
Why was Not Safe for Work repremiered as Clipaholics?
A long while ago, a new TV show called Not Safe for Work premiered on truTV. It was a total crap show and I didn't enjoy a moment of the two episodes that aired. Apparently a lot of people agreed ...
1
vote
3answers
103 views
Is the story of POP:Sands of time purely based on the Story of the video game of same name?
I heard Prince of Persia: The sands of time movie was based on the Prince of Persia: The sands of time Video game. However in the wiki article it is said
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a ...
1
vote
1answer
40 views
Was the episode “The Co-Pilot” in Season 2 supposed to be the pilot?
In "The Shield" there is an episode in Season 2 that does not fit into the timeline of the other episodes: Episode 2x09 "The Co-Pilot".
It plays during the time of the opening of the Barn, so even ...
0
votes
1answer
969 views
How do the Whale Web Cams on Revenge TV Series work?
On the TV Series Revenge Nolan has has those awesome little cameras in the shape of a whale.
I know the series is fictional, but they way he uses them in terms of spying - you can't do that unless ...
