I was recently watching the season finale of Project Bluebook, which took place on a USN battleship during the 1950s. I enjoy the show, but this episode contained a glaring error (well, actually more than one) that I too often see when movies or TV shows portray sailors at sea: Everyone is wearing their dress uniforms. No one wears a dress uniform while underway. It's a good way to trash your very expensive best uniform with grease, sea water, and all sort of cruddy stuff you encounter underway. In the 50s, the standard underway uniform for officers and chief petty officers was khakis, while junior enlisted wore dungarees. Today, khakis can still be seen aboard ship, but more often you see officers and enlisted wearing the Navy's digital black-and-blue camouflage uniform (makes everyone look like a big bruise), or blue coveralls (or flight suits for aviation personnel). I know it's a pet peeve (I'm a veteran of 27 years in three branches of the reserves), but showing people in dress uniforms really does lack verisimilitude.
Anything Goes : A Tip When You Film about the Navy by Martin Roy Hill
Other topics in Anything Goes:
Check out Trending Discussions
Register / Log In
1 person likes this
I hear what you say. It's obvious that today's young writers have never been in combat.
Thanks! excellent advice.
1 person likes this
I can't put the blame on scriptwriters alone. The problem could be with the costume designers or the director. Who knows?
most productions have Expert Consultants on set. Could be lots of reasons but it's mainly money and Time. Perhaps for this episode, this one shot, the production couldn't justify the cost of dressing everyone in correct uniforms.
Perhaps, but it would seem to be more expensive to dress everyone up in expensive dress attire. BTW, I need to correct my earlier post. The Navy retired the bruise camis last year. Now they wear coveralls or green digital camis.
I am a bit of a gun guru so I get annoyed in movies when I see glaring errors in weapon manipulation or function. Happens all the time. Lol it’s so bad
Too true, Robert. I was supposed to speak on a panel of law enforcement officers turned author at Left Coast Crime last month before it was cancelled due to Covid-19. (I have a background in military L/E.) One of topics was what do they do in police movies/TV shows that irritated you most. The moderator's chief complaint was people racking a round every time they pull their weapons. (Semi-autos today are carried with a round up the spout.) Mine was when people refer to semi-auto handguns as "revolvers." I see that all the time in books.
The worst offense is when they shoot a 1911 or some double action pistol multiple times. Then they give a speech and cock the hammer again to deliver the final shot. But the hammer would have already been cocked and in single action mode from all the previous shooting. It always ruins the scene for me
Or they fire off a few rounds, empty the magazine, and the slide is locked open showing the pistol is empty. But whoever they're pointing the weapons still puts up their hands.
So true. Everyone tells me I do TOO MUCH research on my scripts but this is the reason I do.
It might also be noted that last night's syndicated episode of "Seinfeld" showed Jerry taking the sole first class seat and Elaine having to take the coach seat. The plane they showed was a Southwest jet. Southwest doesn't offer first class seating on any of their flights.
Yeah, I notice too much.
I once had a script coverage where the reader commented that a scene involving the introduction of “gun frames” and their weapons sounded like it was out of a technical manual. Nothing sounds as good as “.50 automag saboted light armor piercing” Sci fi fans eat up those kinds of details.