AmaiStina
09-14-2003, 08:14 PM
on Matchstick Men
Nic Cage's character has Tourette's Syndrome* & OCD. By the time the film gets to the 45-minute mark, Im starting to think that
I have OCD. I usually pay absurd attention to continuity errors (it just happens). In Matchstick Men, theres a scene where Nic Cage is sitting in a car & smoking. Theres one particular montage sequence where the size of the ciggys keep changing.
shot 1 small;
shot 2 a bit bigger;
shot 3 even smaller;
shot 4 really big.
the camera had already revealed that Nic's smoked like 10 or so cigarettes, so there isnt any need to emphasize agan how many hes had. even if it were for reiteration, the sequence isnt cut rapidly enough.
Then, when his estranged daughter is eating what could be a whopper, theres a shot-reverse-shot sequence that also contains a continuity error. the first shot is a closeup of her face. shes slightly on screen left. she takes a bite out of the burger & mayo drips onto the left corner of her mouth. the camera cuts to a shot of Nic watching in horror at all the mess. the camera cuts back to the daughter & oh look, the stain is gone! since she was still visible (lower screen left & chomping on the whopper)when the camera was focused on nic, she couldnt have possibly wiped her mouth.
yes, i realize that even ridley scott must let these things slide b/c they are miniscule errors in the long run, but still. im just glad that the daughters hair wasnt any longer or else in the same whopper scene, her hair would alternate btwn behind the ear, in front of the ear each time the camera cuts back to her.
not to say the movie was "bad" or anything....but i frequently asked myself "whens it gonna end?"
* more info on Tourettes Syndrome:
Tourette’s is no simple disorder. The characteristic tics fall within a spectrum from mild to severe. Motor tics can include eye blinking, clapping, nose twitching, lip-smacking, pinching, and scratching. Vocal tics include belching, coughing, grunting, yelping, humming, stuttering, and yelling.
Tourette’s patients also commonly display more complicated motor and vocal tics like “copropraxia (obscene gestures), echopraxia (copying others’ movements)…echolalia (copying others’ speech), and coprolalia (obscene words)” (Clarke, Bray, Kehle, Truscott, 2001, p. 52). There is also a high rate of comorbid conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression.
--excerpted from a research paper on Tourettes that i wrote spring 2003 for a sociology class.
Niagra, Niagra (Bob Gosse, 1997) and Gary Winick's film The Tic Code (1998) also feature characters who have Tourettes.
Nic Cage's character has Tourette's Syndrome* & OCD. By the time the film gets to the 45-minute mark, Im starting to think that
I have OCD. I usually pay absurd attention to continuity errors (it just happens). In Matchstick Men, theres a scene where Nic Cage is sitting in a car & smoking. Theres one particular montage sequence where the size of the ciggys keep changing.
shot 1 small;
shot 2 a bit bigger;
shot 3 even smaller;
shot 4 really big.
the camera had already revealed that Nic's smoked like 10 or so cigarettes, so there isnt any need to emphasize agan how many hes had. even if it were for reiteration, the sequence isnt cut rapidly enough.
Then, when his estranged daughter is eating what could be a whopper, theres a shot-reverse-shot sequence that also contains a continuity error. the first shot is a closeup of her face. shes slightly on screen left. she takes a bite out of the burger & mayo drips onto the left corner of her mouth. the camera cuts to a shot of Nic watching in horror at all the mess. the camera cuts back to the daughter & oh look, the stain is gone! since she was still visible (lower screen left & chomping on the whopper)when the camera was focused on nic, she couldnt have possibly wiped her mouth.
yes, i realize that even ridley scott must let these things slide b/c they are miniscule errors in the long run, but still. im just glad that the daughters hair wasnt any longer or else in the same whopper scene, her hair would alternate btwn behind the ear, in front of the ear each time the camera cuts back to her.
not to say the movie was "bad" or anything....but i frequently asked myself "whens it gonna end?"
* more info on Tourettes Syndrome:
Tourette’s is no simple disorder. The characteristic tics fall within a spectrum from mild to severe. Motor tics can include eye blinking, clapping, nose twitching, lip-smacking, pinching, and scratching. Vocal tics include belching, coughing, grunting, yelping, humming, stuttering, and yelling.
Tourette’s patients also commonly display more complicated motor and vocal tics like “copropraxia (obscene gestures), echopraxia (copying others’ movements)…echolalia (copying others’ speech), and coprolalia (obscene words)” (Clarke, Bray, Kehle, Truscott, 2001, p. 52). There is also a high rate of comorbid conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression.
--excerpted from a research paper on Tourettes that i wrote spring 2003 for a sociology class.
Niagra, Niagra (Bob Gosse, 1997) and Gary Winick's film The Tic Code (1998) also feature characters who have Tourettes.