Hollywood distances?

[Hand of Evil]

It has been going on for a while but I kind of blame JMS, from Babylon 5, when asked how fast was ship travel? His reply was something like 'as fast as plot allowed.' He went on to say it was important to plot to show travel, hint at time and then appear when best for the story.

 

[nerfherder]

I don't remember Hadrian's Wall? I remember a wall, but I don't recall them naming it. Is it just because they filmed there?

Yeah, they filmed at Sycamore Gap, which is probably the most well known part of the wall.


Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall by lpmcc, on Flickr

 

[Plane Sailing]

It has been going on for a while but I kind of blame JMS, from Babylon 5, when asked how fast was ship travel? His reply was something like 'as fast as plot allowed.' He went on to say it was important to plot to show travel, hint at time and then appear when best for the story.

I would have thought this was a matter for credit rather than blame, as he essentially gets it right by avoiding faux facts.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

Then, I was watching "The Eagle" (haven't finished it yet), but they said how they took the injured guy (Marcus Aquila?) back from his fort for 200 leagues (700 miles), but were still in Britain. WTF? I searched online and the distance from Wick, Scotland (NE Scotland) to Plymouth, England (SW England) was 558 miles. How does one travel for 200 leagues and still stay in England?

They took the circular route? They got lost?

From Wikipedia: "The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour."

Assuming level ground and no obstacles, we're talking 2 to 2 1/2 miles per hour for the average person. Given the terrain they were traversing, a distance of 30 leagues would be more reasonable for six days.

No you've got it wrong, Hollywood is right:

1 league = 1 hour travel
24 hours/day * 14 days = 336 hours
336 hours travel = 336 leagues



Basically, time and speed move at the rate of the Plot. It would be nice if they fact checked scripts to better reflect reality; but, unfortunatley, the vast majority of movie audiences don't know and/or don't care.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, they filmed at Sycamore Gap, which is probably the most well known part of the wall.


Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall by lpmcc, on Flickr

I know they filmed it there. Every scene in every film since the start of cinema was filmed somewhere. Wayne Manor in the upcoming Batman movie is filmed here in a country house in England. Star Wars had scenery filmed in Tunisia. Is anyone suggesting the characters are actually in those filming locations?

 

[El Mahdi]

Yeah, they filmed at Sycamore Gap, which is probably the most well known part of the wall.

Yup. And Nottingham was actually Carcassone.

 

[El Mahdi]

I know they filmed it there. Every scene in every film since the start of cinema was filmed somewhere. Wayne Manor in the upcoming Batman movie is filmed here in a country house in England. Star Wars had scenery filmed in Tunisia. Is anyone suggesting the characters are actually in those filming locations?

I understand, and of course you're right. But when they use obvious landmarks that most people recognize, and are aware of where they are... Nah, that's just lazy or using something just because it looks good, even though they know people are going to raise the BS flag when they see it. Granted, not everyone could identify Hadrians wall or Carcassone. But coming ashore at Dover (which most people do recognize), then saying they'll be home by nightfall, when Nottingham and Sherwood are over 200 miles away from Dover...? Even if Dover was just standing in for the coast in general, Nottingham is still like 75 miles from the nearest coastal area. That's 24 hours of constant walking, so more like two to two and a half days of walking. Maybe an American wouldn't have noticed it, but I'm betting most Brits who saw it went "What?!?!" I noticed it because I was living in Littleport at the time.

You're from Britain, didn't that bother you at all?

 

[Kzach]

You're from Britain, didn't that bother you at all?

I've lived and worked all up and down the east coast of Australia, mostly at the biggest tourist destinations as a deckhand on tourist boats, but also as hospitality in resorts at the most frequented destinations. And yet when someone told me that "Tomorrow, when the war began" was filmed in a lot of those locations, I was like, "Huh, I never would've guessed."

 

[Hand of Evil]

I would have thought this was a matter for credit rather than blame, as he essentially gets it right by avoiding faux facts.

But once he stated it; it was all downhill after that. While it is simple to explain, with a couple lines of dialog, like he did with anti-grav in B5, others do not, Transformers 2 was real bad at it, crossing time zones to be at the same time.

 

[Morrus]

You're from Britain, didn't that bother you at all?

Not at all. If anything strikes me as a bit jarring (and I wouldn't go so far as to say it bothers me; it's just very noticeable) it's the "This scene is in England, here's a red bus to prove it!" convention. Or, if we're talking about PoT in particular, the magical changing accent.

Actually, no, I take that back. The thing that bugs me most recently is the tendency for studios to keep "reimagining" cool stories (such as Robin Hood, Arthur, and so on), with either "gritty", "realistic", or "the truth behind the legend" versions, when the legend/myth is usually far better.