As much research that gets pumped into movies, sometimes they just don't get the details right. Doesn't matter what niche it is in—computers, musical instruments or just about everything depicted in Independence Day—the details don't always match reality.
Here are a few I've come across related to photography.
The Omen (1976)
Complete Collection
In The Omen photographer Keith Jennings has some pretty nice gear. A Nikon F, and a Leica M3. What he also seems to have is some sort of paper developer which only requires one bath. In one scene he notices something strange about a print as it starts to appear during development.
What is that on my print? I think I'll take a closer look.
This white light will help me see it better.
Without any use of stop bath or fixer, he pulls the print out of the developer and inspects it under a white light. Surprisingly, the print doesn't turn pure black before his eyes. Now I'd be kicking myself for ruining the print, but Keith Jennings keeps his cool. For him, it is nothing he would lose his head over.
An American Haunting (2005)
DVD
Early on in An American Haunting we see a photograph of a young couple hanging on the wall.
A quick flashback to Red River Tennessee in 1817...
...and we see the same young couple from the photograph alive and well.
So what is so blatantly wrong with this scene? The problem is that the very first photograph wasn't created until nine years later by Joseph Niépce in 1926. The process was so slow then that it took eight hours to expose under bright sunlight. The first human portrait wasn't even until 1839. [src]
Either they got themselves a time machine, or people back then didn't show any signs of aging.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
DVD
During one scene in Vicky Cristina Barcelona the characters played by Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz go for a photo walk. Cruz is slinging a Leica M7
All is fine and dandy so far. Fast Forward a bit through the movie and we eventually see this:
WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING PULLING THE PRINTS FROM HER DIGITAL LUMIX OUT OF A WET DARKROOM CHEMICAL TRAY? Don't give me any of this "Maybe they swapped cameras" BS either. There are prints hanging up in the background which very distinctly show Cruz with the M7 slung over her shoulder.
Oldboy (2003)
DVD
Towards the end of the amazing film Oldboy we see a flashback to 1975 where the character Woo-jin is seen with a late 1950s style rangefinder hung around his neck.
Now, I'm not 100% sure what model that is around his neck. It appears to be some sort of Agfa camera, but I'm not positive. However, it is obvious that has a direct viewfinder. To no surprise, when the movie switch to a through the viewfinder scene, it looks very much like the viewfinder of a single lens reflex camera, including being able to see the change in focus*.
*For the non-camera nerds reading this. Everything always appears in focus on cameras which have a direct viewfinder.
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"Nothing he wouldn't lose his head over"
ha!
As for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, I thought the point wasn't the photography, but to get Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson alone in the dark room. I'll take an inconsistency for that...
These guys are all apparently made of money, too. I don't usually start my day in the darkroom with 11x14s or 16x20s.
Jason
I just watched the movie "When We Were Soldiers" yesterday. The battlefield photographer used a Nikon F and a Leica M2(?) with the accessory light meter attached. Pretty nice.
@jason: Not only is she cranking out massive sized prints, but it is also her first time and they are very nicely printed. Either something is up, or ScarJo is Ansel Adams reincarnate.
@Sean: Well. That may have been the point, but the mind of photographers can be quite, well, sidetracked.
There is a way to "print" a digital image onto a negative...there are machines that do this...it's still stupid really but apparently they have some use for some companies as they're actively made nowadays...this is regarding the ScaJo scene you mentioned.
Still...Hollywood always gets a lot of things wrong...computers don't make a beep everytime it does something.
There actually is monobath developers, for film & papers. So omen is all real!
Good catch Aleksi. I've always heard the term monobath, but never spent any effort researching what it actually was.
How many trays are required when doing a monobath process? He has a three tray setup in the darkroom scenes.
That camera in Oldboy looks exactly like an Ansco Super Memar, which is exactly the same as an Agfa Super Silette. I have one and it's a fun little camera to shoot with.
Thanks for the ID Jesse. The movie also shows match needle metering through the viewfinder. I'm assuming that also isn't actually there?
Yeah, match needle metering is nonexistent on that camera.
in "a Perfect Murder" i believe there is a scene where viggo mortensen is shooting on an older hasselblad camera.....
he takes multiple photos. The only problem is that there is no film back on the camera - therefore he'd be opening the shutter to.....well nothing, the camera doesn't have film without a back.
oh and on CSI they strobe the entire screen when it's obvious the camera doesn't even have a flash mounted on it!!!!!!!
Serious snub here - City Of God (2003)