Do you notice all those clever details in a film ?

[Rotwang]

I just heard that the bridge in The Avengers is laid out like the Shield Logo. Earlier as I watched Lawrence of Arabia, they mentioned the fact that all travelling is done from left to right on screen to give the impression of a journey and Lawrence's clothing became increasingly thinner to show his mental state.

They did a similar thing with Pfeiffer Catwoman's costume falling apart to show her declining mental faculties.

And then there is all this colour grading in films to make various colours stand out etc ...

To be honest I rarely notice such things, do you catch all this or not ?

 

[EyeofSauron]

notice a lot of the stuff with color grading and such, didnt know the thing with the shield thing
but i use it myself sometimes, thats why i notice. before i did anything with video editing and similar, i didnt notice either.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

It depends on my involvement with the subject matter. I'll notice the smallest thing in a Bond film but nothing at all in the Avengers.

 

[Keiko]

I don't think that you're supposed to notice these things consiously. They're meant to create a subconsious impression and enhance the mood the filmmakers are trying to create.

I'm always glad when I find out about them later; I like to consider the effort that went into the film on my behalf.

 

[jlee562]

The moving from l-r was also a "classical Hollywood" continuity thing.

 

[TK9120]

The SHIELD bridge wouldn't even be noticeable unless they showed it from above. Some of these don't even make sense.

In LOTR, ROTK I believe it was they talked about how the King's armor had some inscription on the inside. They never showed the inside so what's the point of adding it? You wouldn't even notice it when the costume is on display.

 

[firesprite]

The SHIELD bridge wouldn't even be noticeable unless they showed it from above. Some of these don't even make sense.

In LOTR, ROTK I believe it was they talked about how the King's armor had some inscription on the inside. They never showed the inside so what's the point of adding it? You wouldn't even notice it when the costume is on display.

As Keiko said, sometimes they're meant to influence your subconscious more than register on your awareness. I could see that being the case for Avengers.

As for the LotR series, well, they were major sticklers for detail and it was very important to them to do everything 'properly'. Did they HAVE to make ringmail coats for every orc and warrior that's meant to wear one, spending thousands of hours linking tiny steel rings together? Nope. But they did and it helped the actors and filmmakers feel grounded in the world and that comes through in their performances.

 

[Stevi]

Sometimes. In the Avengers, Fury made a bet with Capt. in the gym about surprising him. After take off, Capt handed Fury $10 without even looking at him. It was awkward because I was the only one laughing at it in the theater.

 

[Vermithrax 4]

In "Jaws" Spielberg specifically instructed the production designer to avoid using the color red anywhere in the film...except for the blood. Now, they didn't manage to weed out all the red in the film, you still see some here and there...but for the most part the film is devoid of red until you see the shark attack and the blood flows. I love when that sort of thought goes into the design of a motion picture, it really impacts the film as a whole even though we're not conscious of it.

 

[iMan]

Sometimes. In the Avengers, Fury made a bet with Capt. in the gym about surprising him. After take off, Capt handed Fury $10 without even looking at him. It was awkward because I was the only one laughing at it in the theater.

Not being rude at all but how is this a clever detail? It's obviously a joke written into the script.

If you watch commentaries of films or watch the special features, you will find out a lot of the hidden secrets and details the film makers put into it.

 

[Celtic007]

I liked how in The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce has his scar from when the dog bit him and Alfred helped stitch him up.

Also in TDKR, Ra's had the same suit he had on when he first talked to Bruce in the prison in Begins.
TDKR

Begins

 

[Jathoris]

Inception had the most for me. Music cues, names, colors.. If anything it just added more to the experience and made you question more, which was fun.

 

[iMan]

I liked how in The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce has his scar from when the dog bit him and Alfred helped stitch him up.

First, it looks like Liam Neeson hasn't aged a day and it has been 7 years (real time) since Begins.

Second, this website has awesome articles about details you never noticed while watching films. Here's one article. 7 Movies That Put Insane Work Into Details You Didn't Notice | Cracked.com

Lastly, Nolan is a genius when it comes to details. Check out this vid on his Batman trilogy. The Dark Knight Rises: 70 Visual Throwbacks - YouTube

 

[Michael Bergeron]

Lastly, Nolan is a genius when it comes to details. Check out this vid on his Batman trilogy. The Dark Knight Rises: 70 Visual Throwbacks - YouTube

Some of those are legit, but a lot of them are just continuity of props/sets and standard blocking.

Still neat.

 

[iMan]

Some of those are legit, but a lot of them are just continuity of props/sets and standard blocking.

Still neat.

True but obviously it took a lot of time and thought to mirror the same shots from previous films and it gave the audience a sense of connection between the films. Respect to that.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

True but obviously it took a lot of time and thought to mirror the same shots from previous films and it gave the audience a sense of connection between the films. Respect to that.

Certainly. :thumbsup

Say what you want about the Nolan trilogy there was a lot of effort there to pay attention to the small details.

 

[Treadwell]

Some of this is simply competent filmmaking.. It's like making a website about how the carpenter who built your deck installed the boards in straight lines. It's stuff you're SUPPOSED to do.

But it's nice that there are folks who appreciate it.

 

[Keiko]

The moving from l-r was also a "classical Hollywood" continuity thing.

Absolutely true - westerners read from left to right and subconsiously associate travel in that direction with "progress". Some smart Hollywood guy figured that one out and good on him for doing so.

Some others I like:

Check out Chang's eyepatch in Star Trek VI . If you look closely, each has a Klingon logo on it, and you'll see one isn't torqued so as to have the logo pointing up to 12 o'clock. This is to suggest he has a screw loose.

Same movie, David Warner's beard as Gorkon is meant to be reminiscent of both Abraham Lincoln as well as Gregory Peck's Captain Ahab (check out the grey streak). The filmmakers wanted to make the audience conflicted about whether to trust him or not.

Star Wars directly quotes "Dambusters" in a few spots - not a clever detail, but a respectful nod for the source material of the final battle scenario.

 

[Crank729]

Certainly. :thumbsup

Say what you want about the Nolan trilogy there was a lot of effort there to pay attention to the small details.

One of my favourites is the final train scene in Begins where he breaks that window with his batarang so his cape will flutter off into the wind. Small, but noticeable.

 

[Littlemuseum]

Yup. I do notice such details.