Recently, I read an interview with the director of the new comedy “Hot Tub Time Machine.” The interviewer had done his homework and pointed out that the film had a whole bunch of blatant and not-so-blatant anachronisms. The director was half-surprised by some of the examples and tried to explain away others.
Half-surprised? Explaining away? Granted, this is a light, goofy comedy with a light, goofy premise, but it is also a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PRODUCTION. There is an entire team of writers and fact-checkers on the payroll, not to mention a team of people called “Continuity Directors.” On set, these are the people who make sure that things in the movie, like clothing and props, stay the same between breaks in shooting.
On the set of “24,” for example, this person would make sure that all the rips and bloodstains on Jack Bauer’s wardrobe stay in the same places for the 24-hour timeframe of the show, even over weeks or months of shooting in real-time.
Behind the scenes, however, the continuity team is also responsible for making sure that things “make sense” in the film, continuity-wise. This involves things like making sure that all the street signs in the scenes that are supposed to be taking place in Russia (but are actually being shot in Vancouver) are in Russian and so on.
In a period piece or TIME TRAVEL MOVIE, their job is to make sure that each scene is “period-appropriate.” One of the more famous mistakes in period continuity occurs in “Ben Hur,” when a few of the extras in crowd scenes are seen wearing wristwatches. A more recent example occurs in Cameron’s “TITANIC” when Leo DeCaprio’s character mentions a lake that hadn’t been created yet.
In “Hot Tub Time Machine” there are numerous errors. Songs playing that hadn’t been released for months, or years in the future. TV sets showing programs from the future. Movie posters and props that didn’t exist in 1986.
But I know the life of someone working on a big-budget movie must be rather hectic. With a rushed production schedule and looming deadlines, finding time for research might be tough.
If only there were a quick, easy way to fact-check stuff… Perhaps with just a few keystrokes on your ever-present laptops or the ubiquitous iPhone.
Oh wait, there is.
Continuity team: you’re all fired, damn it. So you’d best all hop in that hot tub and go back to 1986 because finding a new job in 2010 is really hard. You might even have to do some research.
AngryManDinners 
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