30 Movie Mistakes You Missed That May Change The Way You Watch These Classics

To understand how mistakes like these slip past countless pairs of eyes and make it into the final cut, Bored Panda reached out to Aimie Smith, a 21-year-old film student based in Manchester.

According to Smith, it’s because film sets can be quite hectic. “So unless there’s someone specifically looking out for continuity errors, they can often go unnoticed,” she explained.

Shots are typically filmed in the order that makes the most sense based on factors like lighting, set availability, and actor schedules—not as they appear in the timeline of the story. “This means the crew has to go back and forth between scenes and may forget smaller details that are easy to spot when viewers watch the finished product.”

Knowing this, filmmakers put safeguards in place in the form of script supervisors. “It’s their job to notice every last detail, right down to how much liquid is left in a cup,” said Smith, who took on this role in her most recent film, Three’s a Crowd (not yet available to the public).

A script supervisor closely observes each scene, watching out for anything that may affect continuity, including costumes and prop placement. “They make notes on any continuity errors and alert the director,” Smith explained. “At the end of each shooting day, they also prepare a daily report to track the progress so far.”

Smith admits that being a script supervisor can be quite tedious, as even the smallest details must be carefully examined.

“Whilst working on my recent film, my biggest issue with continuity was the direction of the mugs between shots,” she shared. “I only realized after filming a few scenes that the mug handles had changed direction, which would make the mugs appear to jump around in the final cut. To fix this, we added an extra shot of the actors turning the mugs around.”

“A lot of my time on set was spent with my head down, vigorously writing notes for future shots as well as for the editor,” she added. “It’s a very difficult job, but it’s also incredibly rewarding when the finished product is on point.”