4 ms·

Now, when I see a bomb in movies, I always measure the countdown. The fact that they extend it kills quite a lot of suspense.

wolverine876 5y ago
Maybe your suspense is killed by focusing on your stopwatch instead of the characters, story, etc.
- UI_at_80x24 5y ago
  Instead of being an ass please try to understand that some personality types do things like this because that's how we are wired. I count... ...seconds the hero is underwater ...seconds until the bomb is going to explode ...number of bullets fired from a 6-round revolver ...etc I don't like it all the time. Hell at times i wish I didn't, but I also cackle with glee when I discover a mistake in the continuity of a film that depends on these plot devices. So it's 50/50 love/hate thing for me. I already know I'm kind of atypical with most aspects of my life but your advice is as helpful as telling an introvert to just go out and socialize more. Please be aware that words like yours rub salt in an open wound. I'd be fucking normal if I could help it.
  - kbenson 5y ago
    It also makes those movies that really try to adhere to not breaking the suspension of disbelief for those things all the greater. I too often find myself counting time and bullets. Stuff like that doesn't always arise in a vacuum, for me it was being exposed to movies that toed the line enough in most aspect that completely if iring certain things (like time or bullet counts) took me out of the film because it was so egregious, and then once you start seeing those things, it's hard not to be aware of them. But, like I said above, those directors that go the extra mile to make everything line up provide that little extra bit of joy, just like little plot loose ends being nearly resolved when lesser directors wouldn't care to address them.
  - User23 5y ago
    Doubtless continuity goofs are a thing. But have you tried considering that a movie is a narrative? Try imagining that there are actual real events that the storyteller is describing, and then imagine that storyteller is only human and considerably less attentive to minutiae than you are. Perhaps the storyteller forgets to tell about the time the cowboy switched revolvers, or spends more time talking about what the hero is doing than the remaining time on the fuse would seem to permit.
  - yesenadam 5y ago
    > Instead of being an ass No matter what personality type you are, please don't talk to people like this on HN. Thanks. To ask someone to be aware of the effect of their words moments after being gratuitously rude to them, to jump on strangers because they don't already somehow know you and your needs, seems unreasonable. The GP's comment seemed perfectly mild and reasonable to me.
  - bmn__ 5y ago
    You would enjoy <http://www.nitcentral.com/index_legacy.htm http://www.nitcentral.com/index_legacy.htm>.
- skohan 5y ago
  It's good to have a certain amount of suspension of disbelief when consuming media, but when it gets to the point where the laws of physics are just clearly being broken, it also takes me out of the experience.
skohan 5y ago
Yeah I find this to be a cheap trick and it really takes me out of the experience. Another example is when the characters are running away from a threat which should clearly be able to overtake them.
- retsibsi 5y ago
  The version that bothers me most is when the threat clearly is catching up to them, but some kind of unexplained time dilation allows them to escape. In one shot the threat is a few metres away and closing fast, then in the next shot the hero spends much more time escaping than was actually available.
  - skohan 5y ago
    Yeah this is exactly what I am talking about - this is where a movie completely loses me. Like there can be a shot of the people running from a wolf or something toward a door, and from the profile shot you can clearly see that the wolf will close the gap before they reach the door, but somehow they just barely make it. I know they are trying to increase the tension, but it's a cheap trick and would work just as well if they obeyed the laws of physics.
- MaxBarraclough 5y ago
  > when the characters are running away from a threat which should clearly be able to overtake them Many films have the heroes outrun an explosion.
andrew-dc 5y ago
Ever attempted to hold your breath for as long as some characters are shown to be submerged doing this or that in a movie? Similarly disappointing. ;P
- jraph 5y ago
  Disappointing to death.
Arrath 5y ago
Its always fun when they honor the countdown, though.
int_19h 5y ago
Is this one real time? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XkWI5gJnY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XkWI5gJnY

wolverine876 5y ago

Maybe your suspense is killed by focusing on your stopwatch instead of the characters, story, etc.

UI_at_80x24 5y ago
Instead of being an ass please try to understand that some personality types do things like this because that's how we are wired. I count... ...seconds the hero is underwater ...seconds until the bomb is going to explode ...number of bullets fired from a 6-round revolver ...etc I don't like it all the time. Hell at times i wish I didn't, but I also cackle with glee when I discover a mistake in the continuity of a film that depends on these plot devices. So it's 50/50 love/hate thing for me. I already know I'm kind of atypical with most aspects of my life but your advice is as helpful as telling an introvert to just go out and socialize more. Please be aware that words like yours rub salt in an open wound. I'd be fucking normal if I could help it.
- kbenson 5y ago
  It also makes those movies that really try to adhere to not breaking the suspension of disbelief for those things all the greater. I too often find myself counting time and bullets. Stuff like that doesn't always arise in a vacuum, for me it was being exposed to movies that toed the line enough in most aspect that completely if iring certain things (like time or bullet counts) took me out of the film because it was so egregious, and then once you start seeing those things, it's hard not to be aware of them. But, like I said above, those directors that go the extra mile to make everything line up provide that little extra bit of joy, just like little plot loose ends being nearly resolved when lesser directors wouldn't care to address them.
- User23 5y ago
  Doubtless continuity goofs are a thing. But have you tried considering that a movie is a narrative? Try imagining that there are actual real events that the storyteller is describing, and then imagine that storyteller is only human and considerably less attentive to minutiae than you are. Perhaps the storyteller forgets to tell about the time the cowboy switched revolvers, or spends more time talking about what the hero is doing than the remaining time on the fuse would seem to permit.
- yesenadam 5y ago
  > Instead of being an ass No matter what personality type you are, please don't talk to people like this on HN. Thanks. To ask someone to be aware of the effect of their words moments after being gratuitously rude to them, to jump on strangers because they don't already somehow know you and your needs, seems unreasonable. The GP's comment seemed perfectly mild and reasonable to me.
- bmn__ 5y ago
  You would enjoy <http://www.nitcentral.com/index_legacy.htm http://www.nitcentral.com/index_legacy.htm>.
skohan 5y ago
It's good to have a certain amount of suspension of disbelief when consuming media, but when it gets to the point where the laws of physics are just clearly being broken, it also takes me out of the experience.

skohan 5y ago

Yeah I find this to be a cheap trick and it really takes me out of the experience. Another example is when the characters are running away from a threat which should clearly be able to overtake them.

retsibsi 5y ago
The version that bothers me most is when the threat clearly is catching up to them, but some kind of unexplained time dilation allows them to escape. In one shot the threat is a few metres away and closing fast, then in the next shot the hero spends much more time escaping than was actually available.
- skohan 5y ago
  Yeah this is exactly what I am talking about - this is where a movie completely loses me. Like there can be a shot of the people running from a wolf or something toward a door, and from the profile shot you can clearly see that the wolf will close the gap before they reach the door, but somehow they just barely make it. I know they are trying to increase the tension, but it's a cheap trick and would work just as well if they obeyed the laws of physics.
MaxBarraclough 5y ago
> when the characters are running away from a threat which should clearly be able to overtake them Many films have the heroes outrun an explosion.

andrew-dc 5y ago

Ever attempted to hold your breath for as long as some characters are shown to be submerged doing this or that in a movie? Similarly disappointing. ;P

jraph 5y ago
Disappointing to death.

Arrath 5y ago

Its always fun when they honor the countdown, though.

int_19h 5y ago

Is this one real time? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XkWI5gJnY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XkWI5gJnY