Filmmaking errors occur due to tight budgets, time constraints, shooting out of sequence, lighting and set arrangements, errors of fact, and accidental intrusions. Some errors are left in the final cut, while others are fixed in post-production. Some errors are deliberate for artistic effect. Film buffs often spot and document errors.
Director Steven Spielberg accidentally got into the frame of one of his first films – a television production called Duel. When the film was released on DVD, Spielberg left the error to remind him of the imprecise nature of filmmaking. Other famous cinematic blunders include the miraculously self-healing hubcaps in Bullitt, the light shadow of a modern film camera in Stagecoach, and the door-challenged Storm Trooper in the original Star Wars.
Why do these errors occur in movies? Quite often the answer lies in the high-pressure world of commercial cinema. Filmmakers typically work within tight budgets and time constraints, and reshooting scenes can be a logistical nightmare. If an occasional film blunder does sneak its way into the final cut of a film, it might be better to leave it than arrange for an expensive reshoot or other post-production fix.
Some film errors are caused by the standard practice of shooting out of sequence. Very few films are shot in a linear progression according to the script. Producers may only have access to a particular location for a short period of time, so the director and actors must shoot all scenes in that location simultaneously, no matter where the scenes fit into the overall narrative. This leads to continuity errors, such as a dirty costume suddenly reappearing clean. Out-of-sequence shooting can also lead to inconsistencies in an actor’s appearance or the use of certain props.
Continuity issues in film can also be triggered by the lengthy process of lighting, arranging, and shooting a set. During a dinner scene, for example, the actors may first take the “main shot,” a wide shot of the entire dinner table with all the actors eating and talking. For close-ups of individual actors or smaller groups, the entire set can be completely rearranged and re-lit. It’s nearly impossible to track every single movement of every single actor over several days of shooting, so the resulting scene in the film could have any number of errors, as silverware shifts places or food randomly disappears and reappears.
Other cinematic errors are the result of errors of fact or anachronisms. If a film is set in a particular time period, such as the 1920s, it falls to the production designers and others to ensure that all props and backgrounds are historically accurate. In the film Brother Where Art Thou?, for example, one scene includes an audience singing along with a performance of the song “You Are My Sunshine.” In fact, the song wasn’t even released until several years after the film’s supposed date. The song’s lyrics worked well artistically, but would be considered a cinematic blunder by film buffs.
Sometimes cast or crew members create errors in the film by entering the shot or allowing a piece of equipment to appear. Boom mics are particularly difficult to handle without immersing them in the frame, so many modern cameras have built-in security zones that prevent such accidental intrusions from mics or crew members. This is the basic mistake Steven Spielberg made while filming Duel, stepping beyond the established safety zone while filming a pivotal scene between actor Dennis Weaver and an unseen truck driver.
Considering how collaborative the filmmaking process can be, it’s truly surprising that there aren’t even more major mistakes than the film. Databases such as the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) include cinematic nonsense and continuity issues, largely contributed by observant movie enthusiasts. Some cinematic mistakes aren’t actually mistakes, however, but inside jokes or deliberate inconsistencies created for effect by directors or producers. Some hardcore movie buffs will scan every frame of a favorite film for technical or artistic errors, many of which would be considered too arcane or obscure for the average moviegoer.
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