# Do You Ever Pause a Movie To Read The Screen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417 "2019-02-12T19:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/21 "2019-02-16T04:20:56Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > One of the things that **bugs** me are inconsistent clocks. Like, two people are having a conversation in an OTS shot, and one of them is showing a clock behind. With each cut to him/her, the clock is different, depending on which take they used. For Og’s sake, if you can’t be assed to remove the clock from the shot, unplug the damn thing… Homer Simpson feels your pain: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqDP8SnPVA0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqDP8SnPVA0) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/22 "2019-02-18T00:07:01Z")
If you watch _The Good Place_, there’s usually lots of funny details in Michael’s holographic displays that you’ll miss if you don’t hit pause. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/23 "2019-02-18T03:07:30Z")
If a real-life newspaper or magazine appears in a movie, I like to do an internet search to see if I can identify the exact issue… like the [porno mag scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C933TFrYxM0) in _Bananas._ That issue of _Time_ is the [July 6, 1970 issue](http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1970/1101700706_400.jpg) right there. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/24 "2019-02-18T03:31:18Z")
> [@journeyman\_southpaw](#): > > If a real-life newspaper or magazine appears in a movie, I like to do an internet search to see if I can identify the exact issue… like the [porno mag scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C933TFrYxM0) in _Bananas._ That issue of _Time_ is the [July 6, 1970 issue](http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1970/1101700706_400.jpg) right there. I did that once with a screen-cap of the “actual size” page in the Buffy episode [_Fear Itself_](http://jennytrout.com/?p=12156). I teased out a few words (resolution was a lot less than the shot on that web page) and [tracked down the book that they used](https://books.google.com/books?id=fzVYG-bWNssC&pg=SL20-PA60&lpg=SL20-PA60&dq=%22a+very+curious+english+etching%22&source=bl&ots=mlf40Rs2Hm&sig=ACfU3U3xR1EJtUfIEM4fbEFFPwgLg1irhQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiuhdPqqcTgAhVij1QKHc2oB94Q6AEwAHoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22a%20very%20curious%20english%20etching%22&f=false) (with a different illustration added.) (A different episode included a large green hardback on the shelves of magic books that I recognized as [an old Russian-English dictionary](https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Russian-Dictionary-English-Speakers/dp/0080205542) that I owned a copy of.) ---
**Author:** ![Pithily\_Effusive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pithily_effusive/32/252_2.png) [@Pithily\_Effusive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithily_Effusive)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/25 "2019-02-18T05:58:15Z")
I always read the credits. :smack: PS Okay. You got me. I like to read the warrants and kidnap notes and other such stuff in documentaries. If it’s in a movie and they don’t give me time to read it, I dock the editor ten points. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/26 "2019-02-18T09:40:00Z")
Funny you should ask: I was just binge watching some DVR’d "Leave it to Beaver’ episodes and found myself pausing to read quick shots of bulletin board lists, typewriting, and newspapers. I thought it interesting how much detail they put into it, considering that it was made at a time the intended audience would never have an opportunity to pause/rewind. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/27 "2019-02-18T12:45:01Z")
Apropos of this topic and too cool not to share… NCIS fans (you know who you are), in a recent episode there were some quick shots of journal pages written in Hebrew. (Sorry if this is a spoiler). Someone on Reddit [translated some snippets](https://www.reddit.com/r/NCIS/comments/ar9odm/16x13_zivas_journal_in_hebrew_spoilers_maybe_not/) of what was on those pages. That’s what I call making great use of the \*pause \*button! ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/28 "2019-02-18T12:58:04Z")
I work for a fire and safety equipment company as the lead fire alarm tech. I always notice the fire alarms in movies and TV. For example: We are dealers of the same brand of fire alarm equipment on the set of The Big Bang Theory. I also wondered why the fire extinguisher on the bridge of the Russian sub in The Hunt for Red October was an Amerex 2.5# ABC ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/29 "2019-02-18T13:13:49Z")
Wes Anderson movies always repay pausing to read. There are always documents, newspapers, etc. that are flashed on the screen for second or two, but if you pause, you can read them in detail. _The Grand Budapest Hotel_ in particular has many of these. Long, detailed, hilarious newspaper articles - all written by Wes Anderson personally - briefly flashed on the screen, but perfectly readable if you pause to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/30 "2019-02-18T17:03:59Z")
[The _Back to the Future_ films paid attention to their newspaper props](https://www.google.com/search?q=back+to+the+future+newspaper&client=firefox-b-1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjD7Nbl4MXgAhUKooMKHZrCD2EQ_AUIDygC&biw=1408&bih=703). ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/31 "2019-02-19T02:23:39Z")
Yes, any western movie that happens to have Japanese writing in a scene. A recent case, the film “First Man” has scenes inside a quarantine area for the Apollo 11 astronauts after the moon trip. The room had a shelf of newspapers and magazines from around the world in various language. Obviously my eyes were drawn to the Japanese newspaper there. Beside the large type headline, I tried to read some of the smaller headlines of the other articles. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/32 "2019-02-19T04:33:19Z")
Yes, I think it’s next to impossible to read what Bart is writing on the chalkboard with out hitting the pause button. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/33 "2019-02-19T16:40:25Z")
I like to read the end screen on Big Bang Theory. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/34 "2019-02-19T17:45:21Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Yes, I think it’s next to impossible to read what Bart is writing on the chalkboard with out hitting the pause button. :dubious: There are plenty of jokes you would have to pause to read in The Simpsons, the chalkboard gag is not one of them. It’s onscreen long enough that I can’t remember ever not being able to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/35 "2019-02-19T18:15:13Z")
This thread reminds me of years ago there was a late night all night show that showed Stooges, old movies, and had comedy bits during commercials. They had a joke call in contest once a week, and the rules scrolled by so fast that you couldn’t read them. So my roommate taped the bit, and we paused it so we could read them. One of the rules said something to the effect of “If you can read this, you have obviously broken copyright law by making an unauthorized recording.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/36 "2019-02-19T20:27:45Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > This thread reminds me of years ago there was a late night all night show that showed Stooges, old movies, and had comedy bits during commercials. They had a joke call in contest once a week, and the rules scrolled by so fast that you couldn’t read them. So my roommate taped the bit, and we paused it so we could read them. One of the rules said something to the effect of “If you can read this, you have obviously broken copyright law by making an unauthorized recording.” Buzzkill. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/37 "2019-02-20T01:24:47Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > I like to read the end screen on Big Bang Theory. Obligatory link to [Chuck Lorre’s vanity cards](http://www.chucklorre.com/index-bbt.php). My pet peeve with these is they come right at the end, and if I record it with my DVR, it cuts out just as they get flashed up but not long enough to pause. I never remember to extend the recording time by a minute. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417.md?page=1)