Tuesday 29 January 2013

Eight hours earlier ...

I have a minor grumble ...

I get more than irritated when I'm watching the start of a TV programme ... perhaps there's someone mopping up a lot of spilt red wine ... it could be blood ... and onscreen you see the words "Eight hours earlier ..." and you're whisked back eight hours and you know that some time later you're going to be seeing that red wine or blood being mopped up.

It might be "three days earlier" of course ... or "twenty four hours earlier" ... you get the idea.

Once this device was a novelty but of late it seems to have become overused and in the current season of Southland every episode starts with "X hours earlier ..."

As the Americans would say [apparently] enough already. 

 

13 comments:

  1. I've even noticed this with books, Charlie. Seeing it done once or twice would be fine ... but it would be annoying all the time.

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    1. I am the sort of reader who can miss this sort of 'trick' I must admit. I can be dense at times.

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  2. It is a very over-used device these days. I only find it acceptable in time-travel stories now. Dr Who, anyone?

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    1. I'm not a big fam of Dr. Who I;m afraid. We [Jamie, my Beloved and I] watched 'Looper' recently which involved time travel and that took a bit of fathoming. I'm not quite sure whether we've got it all now.

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  3. Mind you, I read a book lately which had three story lines running along at the same time. One was the character's early life, the second was their twenties and the third was present day. Took some concentrating to keep the three separate in your mind, yet remember the salient points so as to be able to follow as the author brought them all together (which she did very cleverly) at the end.

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    1. My problem Jenny is that I dip into books and then I'm off doing something else. I am likely to miss the most obvious of things sometimes. This happened with the French Lieutenant's Woman ...

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  4. Yes, I think it's overused and not a novelty any more. Here's the walk we took you on 4 days earlier - NOT SO DEEP, NOT SO CRISP, AND UNEVEN.

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    1. Thank you Neil. I'll try and have a look at your walk in a few minutes.

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  5. Old Man Watching has a real problem, and has for the 50 years I have known him, with flashbacks. It is good to hear that he is not a nerd, that others feel the same way.

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    1. Some flashbacks are so contrived though ...

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  6. Pssssst He doesn't like flashbacks in books OR in films. But sometimes they are necessary. Maybe they aren't really necessary, but it is a legitimate literary strategy.

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    1. I don't mind flashbacks ... but in moderation.

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  7. Last night's 'Southland' [the last in the current season being shown on More4] had a '12 hours earlier' start ...

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