48
votes
Is NYC taxi cab number 86Z5 reserved for filming?
It quite likely came from a movie vehicle rental specialist.
I don't have a hope of tracking down the actual company, but vehicles used in filming are known as 'action vehicles' [possibly also '...
- 51.7k
41
votes
Accepted
Is it realistic for an actor to act in four movies in six months?
In 1970 Christopher Lee starred in 9 movies, which is actually 1 more than 4 every 6 months.
Eugenie
Scream and Scream Again
The Bloody Judge
Julius Caesar
Count Dracula
Taste the Blood of Dracula
...
- 937
40
votes
Why did Disney go from colour to black-and-white cartoons in the same year (1934)?
I'm going to take a swing at this, as no-one else has yet…
Colour was difficult, and cussed… and expensive - and not as clear or clean as black & white. It needed much more light [which was ...
- 51.7k
38
votes
Accepted
What exactly is a “European style of single-source lighting, which involved the use of incense burners?”
The technique literally uses smoke in scenes to diffuse lighting.
I found this description on the director Alan Parker’s own website:
“The European style of single source, diffused light — dubbed ‘Le ...
- 6,066
30
votes
Is it realistic for an actor to act in four movies in six months?
Movie making in 1969 was a lot different to movie making today. Films were made a lot faster and cheaper. It wasn't at all unusual for an actor to star in several films per year.
As a reference point, ...
- 1,869
24
votes
Why did Disney go from colour to black-and-white cartoons in the same year (1934)?
The two short movies are made as part of different series.
The Wise Little Hen is a silly symphony's cartoon and Orphan's Benefit is a Mickey Mouse cartoon.
Of these two series, the silly symphony ...
- 341
24
votes
Accepted
Is NYC taxi cab number 86Z5 reserved for filming?
NYC yellow cab medallion numbers are always of the form #L## (where # is any digit and L is a letter), or sometimes #L##ʟ (where the second, smaller ʟ indicates re-use of a medallion number). 86Z5 is #...
- 1,698
19
votes
Accepted
Why don’t second unit directors tend to become full-fledged directors?
Director is a much bigger role
A film's director is "chief artist" for the entire project
All the other creative roles we audiences pay attention to are under the command of the director, ...
- 3,584
17
votes
Why don’t second unit directors tend to become full-fledged directors?
I've expanded this, because I don't think the accepted answer actually answers the question at all, or if it does, it's from the wrong perspective; that of the audience, not of the industry.
A movie ...
- 51.7k
9
votes
Accepted
What would be the last decade in the US that wide release movies would be shot, edited and released on film?
I'm sure others with better knowledge will be more specific but:
In short:
What would be the last decade in the US that wide release movies would be shot, edited and released on film?
1990s.
A ...
- 5,249
8
votes
Is it realistic for an actor to act in four movies in six months?
It may not be clear, but "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is actually based on several real people and real events (though with a very different final outcome).
The two lead characters in the ...
- 181
7
votes
How common is product placement in movies?
This is an attempt at gathering numbers to better estimate the impact of product placement in movie budget. Feel free to edit/improve it, it's a community post.
At this stage of the answer, ...
7
votes
Accepted
Which scenes of Top Gun: Maverick included actual aerial footage and which are VFX?
Yes.
Plenty of behind the scenes videos explain the flying scenes were all practical. Perhaps what's messing with your viewing experience is that some of the manouevers are not realistic in combat. As ...
- 7,692
6
votes
Accepted
Why did they choose green lighting for the lounge shootout in John Wick 3?
As per Cinematography, Dan Laustsen it was done for the exclusive look:
“It was really expensive in terms of human resource to install a hundred metres of LED, but I didn’t want to do a shootout ...
- 118k
6
votes
Accepted
Was there an Australian version of the movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"?
The wiki of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry does not mention anything
If by "wiki", you mean the film's Wikipedia page, then it actually does mention what you're referring to (emphasis ...
- 21k
4
votes
How was the strangulation scene filmed?
These types of stunts are probably the safest type to perform, because the actor has full control of the stunt. Pull the chord as tight as you can without hurting yourself, act like you're hurting ...
- 59.1k
3
votes
Why is an Apple product used by the villain in London Has Fallen?
There is no legally enforceable reason unless there is a product placement deal
There are, as the previous answer shows, many examples where even Apple products are used by "the bad guy" in ...
- 22.3k
3
votes
Why is an Apple product used by the villain in London Has Fallen?
[…] the director of Knives Out, Rian Johnson, said that:
Apple... they let you use iPhones in movies but — and this is very pivotal if you’re ever watching a mystery movie — bad guys cannot have ...
- 10.1k
2
votes
Producer Vs Executive Producer
Out of curiosity, I've read many articles and sources since this question arose, and I think that the term "executive" is misleading. So this answer may be misleading too, as it's my ...
- 3,281
2
votes
About the chosen songs and music of Movies
The job you are talking about is often called a “music supervisor”. Berklee College of Music has a page about becoming one:
https://www.berklee.edu/careers/roles/music-supervisor-filmtv
A few quotes ...
- 10.7k
2
votes
Cases where voice actor reprises role in live-action adaptation
The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy started as a radio series then later as a TV series. Several actors played the same role in both versions, including Simon Jones (Arthur), Peter Jones (The Book),...
- 1,869
2
votes
Difference between guest star and special guest star
The definitive answer is going to be rather disappointing, I'm afraid.
It depends on what your agent can negotiate.
Nothing more, nothing less.
- 51.7k
2
votes
Why did they choose green lighting for the lounge shootout in John Wick 3?
During an interview, Reeves himself said the following:
“I mean we literally do a line from ‘The Matrix’ in ‘John Wick: Chapter 3′, and it’s in the nomenclature…’The Matrix’ has the oracle, ‘John ...
2
votes
Why is the recap sequence of a TV series sometimes slightly different from the original material?
I've noticed this many times, it's common, for at least 2 reasons: to affect how the viewer will feel following the clips, when going into the episode (e.g. more scared than the previous episode may ...
- 277
1
vote
Rationale for using working title on clappers during production
This is a nice easy one - the reason working titles exist is to help the on-set production team deal with the public on public sets - if they think a big star is going to be about they often loiter ...
- 2,728
1
vote
Who decides precisely when a film will be released?
While there is an accepted answer to this question, I will post an additional one here, as I can answer specific parts of the original question that have not been answered yet.
Usually the director/s, ...
- 100
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible