Obvious Mistakes in Editing for TV or Films

Since 2006, my sons have introduced me to the world of weekly sitcoms on compact disc, a unique method of enjoying our favorite shows without missing a beat, watching two or three episodes in one sitting. Whether your favorites are "Sex in the City" or "Smallville," the advantage of watching episodes back to back is how the directors make crazily obvious mistakes in editing film.

Lately, my oldest son has been urging me to finish the first season of "Lois and Clark," which we first taped on our VCR about a decade ago. At that time, my son was fifteen and had never used the VCR except to plug in a movie and allow the machine to do its thing---play. Recording a show turned out to be an entirely different matter. As the episode drew out to its final conclusion, minutes before ending, sitting on the edge of the couch, biting my nails---my son suddenly pushed the "Stop" button, sheepishly admitting he was afraid he would forget to stop it exactly on time. To my chagrin, we missed the ending in the middle of a sentence!

As the family eagerly gathered around the television set after a long day of work and school, chores and homework, the tape was inserted, and Voila! "Lois and Clark" began their flirtatious byplay as the actors flowed through the set like a stream gurgling as it passed boulders and streamed around bends. During the first scenes as the show got underway, there appeared Superman gliding through the air with an arm around the waist of Lois as her feet waggled in the air, purposelessly moving back and forth, as if of their own accord.

Helplessly giggling over the image, while never before noticing the incongruity of Lois moving as if dangling her legs in a pool of water even when there seemed to be no reason for her to do so, we began to notice other oddities. In one episode, Superman had been sprayed in the eyes with a Kryptonite gas, which had temporarily blinded him. As he struggled to exit the building where Clark had his apartment, he stumbled over the curb, losing his balance. To keep from falling flat on his face in public, he struck out with his hands with the hope of finding something solid to hang onto to keep him upright. As his right hand struck out, the fingers of his hand brushed a car, the force making the vehicle seem to take off like a rocket. Meanwhile, the passersby strolling along the sidewalk continued to stare straight ahead, unmindful of the yellow car careening down a street without a driver behind the steering wheel.

Over the years, we have all had a huge laugh over what was in the background of "Little House on the Prairie," as the girls walked home from their country school house in their long dresses and checked bonnets. In the distance was a jet, leaving a fine misted vapor trail in what was supposed to have been the 1800's. Particularly astonishing are the movies set decades or centuries ago and seeing a 1970's Ford Fairlane drive past during a scene where the action is centered on the conversation rather than the background. During old movies in which the setting occurs during the 16^th century, it is particularly amusing to see a cruise ship in the background of a sea of sampans in old Hong Kong.

Recently, I saw the newest version of "Pride and Prejudice," watching awestruck as young girls paraded through the set with long curls trailing down their backs and the tops of their dresses showing part of their corset, skirts without petticoats, at a time when only children wore their hair down, and only prostitutes dared to show their corsets in public. The actresses lounged around, casually plopping onto sofas as if dressed in jeans and tee shirts rather than frilly, formal attire, carelessly revealing parts of their anatomy that no woman of that period would consider ladylike. For me, it detracted from the story so much that what I first saw was all that remained in my memory---shocked outrage.

Then, I watched the later version of "Little Women," becoming thoroughly absorbed in the drama of a family of mother and daughters daily struggle to live decently during the Civil War and its aftermath of disease, the lack of antibiotics, family decisions to send children away to the home of a relative while the sick recover and felt as though I was in their midst. Perhaps, I was invited to their home for tea or a neighbor who lived nearby. Indeed, the set and its direction seemed impeccable. Perhaps, when I watch it again, I may notice other details not seen the first time?