1237 replies to this topic

[bobhen]

I remember few scenes of the 1968 TV show „The Ghost &Mrs Muir“ when Edward Mulhare as Cpt Gregg looks through a classic refractor watching out the window of the attic. 
 

There's a telescope in the movie as well. But it's really for nautical use, as when he was alive, the ghost was a sea captain.

 

Bob 

[Terra Nova]

There's a telescope in the movie as well. But it's really for nautical use, as when he was alive, the ghost was a sea captain.

 

Bob 

Here’s some pics I posted from the movie earlier in this thread:

 

https://www.cloudyni...ies/?p=12693726

[John Huntley]

This is a very long thread so I don't know if this one has been posted before 

 

Dudley Moore plus 2.4 inch refractor from the movie "10":

 

 

[Kasmos]

This is a very long thread so I don't know if this one has been posted before 

 

Dudley Moore plus 2.4 inch refractor from the movie "10":

 

10_1979_shesalwaysbusy_fc_470x264_060720190944.jpg

Yeah, At this point It's hard to come up with one that hasn't been posted.

I posted it back in May 2023 along with several photos and there's actually two telescopes in the movie

 

Post #949

https://www.cloudyni...ies/?p=12685008

Edited by Kasmos, 19 February 2025 - 10:09 PM.

[Paul Hyndman]

From a (meh) 2024 movie called "Elevation":

 

A single father and two women venture from the safety of their homes to face monstrous creatures to save the life of a young boy.

 

 

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[SporadicGazer]

From a (meh) 2024 movie called "Elevation": ...

I know they're acting and not actually looking for something, but didn't anyone notice they were seeing the ground in that second one? 

[Kasmos]

I know they're acting and not actually looking for something, but didn't anyone notice they were seeing the ground in that second one? 

This thread has several other entries of films making the same mistake. 

They either don't know how a Newt works or maybe the film makers think the general public would be confused if it was oriented correctly.

 

The use of the faux antique refractor is kind of a joke itself.

Edited by Kasmos, 23 February 2025 - 03:11 AM.

[ccwemyss]

I think I mentioned a while back that a friend was a Hollywood production designer, and he said at one point that there are productions where people feel the possibility of something great, so they pay a lot of attention to details, and then there are shows where everyone knows it's a loser, and they just put in the hours to get the paycheck. Sometimes it's a bad script. Sometimes it's clear the producer is trying to cash in on a fad or copy something successful, while keeping costs low. Sometimes it's a clueless director or mediocre actors. Or a combination. 

 

I imagine a props master saying, "We need a couple of telescopes. Get product placement pieces or whatever is cheaper than having the shop build something." Then, on set, the director saying, "What are they doing? They should be looking in the back of a telescope, turn it around!" and the production designer, sighing, "Whatever..."

 

Chip W. 

[deSitter]

I think I mentioned a while back that a friend was a Hollywood production designer, and he said at one point that there are productions where people feel the possibility of something great, so they pay a lot of attention to details, and then there are shows where everyone knows it's a loser, and they just put in the hours to get the paycheck. Sometimes it's a bad script. Sometimes it's clear the producer is trying to cash in on a fad or copy something successful, while keeping costs low. Sometimes it's a clueless director or mediocre actors. Or a combination. 

 

I imagine a props master saying, "We need a couple of telescopes. Get product placement pieces or whatever is cheaper than having the shop build something." Then, on set, the director saying, "What are they doing? They should be looking in the back of a telescope, turn it around!" and the production designer, sighing, "Whatever..."

 

Chip W. 

I was reading Ebert's reviews of his most hated movies last night (man I miss that guy, what a great writer). He mentioned that he could never understand why good actors and directors get involved with bad projects. His most hated movie ever might be "North", by Rob Reiner, a great comedic director with lots of top-tier credits. "What was he thinking?" We forget that it's a job. He also mentioned the exploitation factor of a previously successful formula.

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 23 February 2025 - 11:26 AM.

[ris242]

If you have 6 minutes - you can't go wrong with the pink panther

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=M9P-eDS3oMc

 

 

 

[Dralf]

One of my PP favorites! 

[Dave Cook]

That's an entry level Sears with just a sight tube (flat piece of glass at front). I believe they made a 50mm and a 60mm with a skinny sight tube.

 

60mm

https://www.facebook...01930676698464/

 

50mm

https://www.cloudyni...omat/?p=7437214

Wow I've got one of those Sears scopes (60mm, 15-30-45-60 clickstop zoom, lens cap says "Scope"), given by my parents in the 1960s.  It was the first thing I had that approximated a telescope unless you count playing with a couple of magnifying glasses in tandem.  That sight tube was completely useless unless you just regarded it as an iron sight.  But it wouldn't really even stay in place on the little bent metal brackets.  I have to imagine the director saying "go to sears and get us a cheap telescope" and that was the result.  Had no idea my OG scope was ever used in Hollywood.

[deSitter]

Wow I've got one of those Sears scopes (60mm, 15-30-45-60 clickstop zoom, lens cap says "Scope"), given by my parents in the 1960s.  It was the first thing I had that approximated a telescope unless you count playing with a couple of magnifying glasses in tandem.  That sight tube was completely useless unless you just regarded it as an iron sight.  But it wouldn't really even stay in place on the little bent metal brackets.  I have to imagine the director saying "go to sears and get us a cheap telescope" and that was the result.  Had no idea my OG scope was ever used in Hollywood.

Hi Dave! How's that Cave coming along? I loved following your progress!

 

-drl

[munirocks]

If you have 6 minutes - you can't go wrong with the pink panther

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=M9P-eDS3oMc

 

 

 

pink.jpg

Here's a rather tenuous link from that: I watched helplessly as the Questar owned by the "other" Pink Panther (Peter Sellers) was sold on Ebay many years ago. I seem to recall that the final price was around £450 including provenance papers. What a shame I was a skint Dad at the time. Oh well; I'm sure it went to a good home with someone who appreciated it.

[deSitter]

Here's a rather tenuous link from that: I watched helplessly as the Questar owned by the "other" Pink Panther (Peter Sellers) was sold on Ebay many years ago. I seem to recall that the final price was around £450 including provenance papers. What a shame I was a skint Dad at the time. Oh well; I'm sure it went to a good home with someone who appreciated it.

"Skint" I love it We have "broke", "busted", and "tapped out" for impecunity this side of the pond.

 

-drl

[RichA]

I know they're acting and not actually looking for something, but didn't anyone notice they were seeing the ground in that second one? 

It's a running theme with Hollywood mouth-breathers and Newtonians.

[bobhen]

I know they're acting and not actually looking for something, but didn't anyone notice they were seeing the ground in that second one? 

Writers and filmmakers are not experts in everything. If the scope was an important part of the film, then they would probably call in an expert. But if the scope is used for just a few seconds of screen time to look at something far away, then they might just fake it. 

 

We on CN are experts on how to use telescopes. But we are also not experts on everything. I'm positive Hollywood has fooled us many times by doing something that was incorrect. But because we might not be an expert in that particular field or with that piece of equipment, we don't catch it. 

 

Bob

[Dave Mitsky]

I know they're acting and not actually looking for something, but didn't anyone notice they were seeing the ground in that second one? 

What those two characters were looking at the end of Elevation was actually at a higher elevation than what could be seen through that reflector had it actually been pointed the right way.

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[Terra Nova]

I watched a really horrible horror movie on Netflix night before last: Hereditary (2018) with Toni Collette. It got lots of buzz and a score of 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer. I’ve been watching lots and lots of horror movies since late January as it takes my mind of of other things. Well, I finally got around to this one and I thought it really sucked! Anyway, it has nothing to do with astronomy but it does have an (unused) 4.5”(?) short-tube Newt on a GEM on what looks like a Berlebach tripod up near the teenaged son’s bedroom window as a prop.

[tturtle]

Very old fashioned documentary on the Azore Islands and their custom of hunting whales.  One guy had the job of looking through this big old refractor to spot the flukes.  If he spotted one he would set off a bottle rocket so the villagers would see it, run down to the water, push their boats in and row out for the hunt. 
 

https://youtu.be/K5yF13lPhUU

 

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Edited by tturtle, 10 March 2025 - 01:37 PM.

[Mcloud]

I don't know if it's been covered but on the classic soap opera Dallas the South fork ranch was home to a classic Celestron C8 as was the ski resort mansion in Dumb and Dumber!

[deSitter]

Stanley Kubrick had a Questar 3.5". Seen in the early part of this great film.

 

https://youtu.be/ApEh9Sm4BR0

 

-drl

 

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[deSitter]

And that said, now have a gander at Arthur C. Clarke's - C11? The paint is almost completely peeled off the rear cell. Early in this excellent film. Edit - no I think it is a C14 orange tube. Painted blue, which made me think it was a Meade once.

 

https://youtu.be/F7HGwVqI_FM

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 13 March 2025 - 04:02 PM.

[ccwemyss]

New Netflix late night show features a telescope in the background. Maybe a classic Vixen or variant?

 

https://youtu.be/Pu-QOvo0epo

 

Chip W.

[Kasmos]

Sure looks like a Vixen 80M Alt-Az

It even has those often seen white feet