timing... in scripts...

[joko]

i have just noticed an ad for knorr stock pots with marco pierre white...

in it he says..."... tastes just like fish stock. Made from Scratch. "

now, what he means is that it tastes like real homemade fish stock that has been made from scratch... but with his timing and break in the sentence, it sounds like its something that isn't actually fish stock but tastes very like it, as though its a fish substitute ... but one that has been made from scratch.

i often notice this in films etc ...when the actor has placed the emphasis on the wrong bit and it can lose some of its meaning - essentially it is the directors job to notice this and correct it...but its also the clients job to spot it, and the actor and script supervisor should probably have noticed too... and i am amazed that they didn't pick up on it at the shoot.

i would imagine knorr have approved this...but if they didn't notice this at the time, they will now not be happy.

do you notice these things on tv? does it change the way you think of a product? i find it a bit jarring in some films.

cheers

[Quizmonkey]

It's also very subjective.

[joko]

true... but i write scripts and short stories and have worked as a script supervisor in the past and now work in film art dept, so do have knowledge of this issue and have witnessed it many times, and corrected it too.

[smart1]

Can't say I noticed, but as a scriptwriter you would. It's continuity that really bugs me - I'm always noticing stuff that other folk haven't noticed. It annoys me so much! They have continuity advisors on set don't they? Obviously some are not up to the job!

[joko]

yes smart, each dept is responsible for their own continuity, art, costume, makeup, sfx etc, though the script supervisor often acts as continuity too, but mainly focuses on actors continuity, like which arm they picked the drink up with etc

mostly, with the sentence pause/emphasis thing it just sounds a bit 'odd' and is often minor, but with this it changes it in a negative way, so really should have been noticed.

[janzman]

For the sake of a comma.....
'What is this thing called love'
'What is this thing called,love'...:-)

[sandyRoe]

Could it have been on 2 different pieces of film and spliced together?

[bednobs]

my husband constantly notices things on tv - it annoys the hell out of me!

[ludwig]

Yes I do notice things like that joko, and it does annoy me.

Like if someone is supposed to say 'What are we going to do now?' with the emphasis on the 'now', and they emphasise the 'we' instead, and you think, why did you you say it like that you numbskull?

[joko]

sandy - i suppose yes it could have been an editing error... where the editor has misunderstood the line and used it as a break - i can remember if there is a gap there or its a single sequence.

lol bednobs, yes it annoys me that i cannot watch tv any more without noticing stuff like that... id kind of like to just watch like a viewer, but it is kind of my job to notice so its hard to switch off...