# The moon in the sky, as seen in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411 "2017-06-08T02:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/21 "2017-06-09T02:23:40Z")
I’ve been reading Nancy comics from the 50s on Gocomics. Bushmiller loved to put crescent moons on the eastern horizon (according to the way the horns faced), meaning that Nancy and Sluggo liked to roam around at four in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/22 "2017-06-09T02:40:53Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I get more annoyed when they use a crescent moon in a movie (ostensibly set in the northern hemisphere) and they have the horns point the wrong way. Hint to Hollywood: if it’s evening/dusk, the horns point to the left. If it’s early morning/dawn, they point to the right. It isn’t even just random, they _ **always** _ point the horns the wrong way (i.e. show the crescent moon as a “C”). There’s got to be a reason behind this but I don’t know what. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/23 "2017-06-09T02:50:59Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It isn’t even just random, they _ **always** _ point the horns the wrong way (i.e. show the crescent moon as a “C”). There’s got to be a reason behind this but I don’t know what. It’s weird, but my instinct is always to draw a crescent moon in that way (as a “C” with the horns to the right.) Ever since being a little kid and drawing moons in nighttime scenes, it was always that way. Wonder why. Maybe because I’m right handed? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/24 "2017-06-09T11:38:24Z")
Note it looks like that in the _Southern_ Hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/25 "2017-06-09T11:38:42Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > I’ve been reading Nancy comics from the 50s on Gocomics. Bushmiller loved to put crescent moons on the eastern horizon (according to the way the horns faced), meaning that Nancy and Sluggo liked to roam around at four in the morning. One of the things that always fascinated me about George Herriman’s _Krazy Kat_ was that he not only preferred crescent moons, but he also drew them in weird perspective, so that they looked like a sphere with a three-dimensional bte taken out of it\*: [![](https://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/201108101214-1.jpg) ](https://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/201108101214-1.jpg) \*sorta like the way the moon looked in the _Tick_ cartoon series after Omnipotus took a bite out of it. [https://www.google.com/search?q=Tick+omnipotus+moon&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYuKii1rDUAhXTCD4KHSemB3EQ\_AUIBigB&biw=1440&bih=708#imgrc=q-A9OsCw-x6sdM:&spf=1497008241970](https://www.google.com/search?q=Tick+omnipotus+moon&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYuKii1rDUAhXTCD4KHSemB3EQ_AUIBigB&biw=1440&bih=708#imgrc=q-A9OsCw-x6sdM:&spf=1497008241970) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/26 "2017-06-09T11:59:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s partly because they only show the Moon at night. If you’re seeing the Moon at night, it’s more likely to be full than any other phase. A crescent moon is mostly up during the day, with just a little bit at night either shortly after sunset or shortly before sunrise. > > And while one can debate whether the full or crescent moon is more aesthetic, nobody wants a gibbous moon. Gibbons might. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/27 "2017-06-09T12:35:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And while one can debate whether the full or crescent moon is more aesthetic, nobody wants a gibbous moon. They’re hideous–or at least HP Lovecraft always seemed to think so. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/28 "2017-06-09T12:48:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Lumpy** : > > It isn’t even just random, they always point the horns the wrong way (i.e. show the crescent moon as a “C”). There’s got to be a reason behind this but I don’t know what. Not always. The Dreamworks logo (which is probably a fair percentage of the crescent moons seen in movies) gets it right (including the horns pointing slightly upwards). Of course, they also have a kid sitting on the lower horn fishing, but I think we can agree that that’s just artistic license. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/29 "2017-06-09T14:34:55Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Not only is it full, but it’s way bigger then anything you would see in real life. Yes! Go out at night and hold a common pen at arm’s length. Close one eye. You can basically cover the full moon with the body of the pen. You can easily cover it completely with a US dime. The moon is just not that big in the sky. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/30 "2017-06-09T15:23:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not always. The Dreamworks logo (which is probably a fair percentage of the crescent moons seen in movies) gets it right (including the horns pointing slightly upwards). Possibly because that way it looks like a “D” as in Dreamworks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/31 "2017-06-09T17:27:30Z")
Probably, but the net effect still ends up being correct. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/32 "2017-06-09T18:23:34Z")
[TV Tropes calls it “Weird Moon”](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WeirdMoon) ---
**Author:** ![aa6vh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@aa6vh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aa6vh)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/33 "2017-06-12T20:44:34Z")
So one thing I have always wondered about full moons and Werewolves: In most stories they become “hairy” on the one night of the full moon. But what happens when the moment of full moon happens at high noon? Do we get hairy the night before, or the night after? Or just skip it this month? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/34 "2017-06-12T22:32:18Z")
> [@aa6vh](#): > > So one thing I have always wondered about full moons and Werewolves: In most stories they become “hairy” on the one night of the full moon. > > But what happens when the moment of full moon happens at high noon? Do we get hairy the night before, or the night after? Or just skip it this month? You mean, our lycanthrope happens to be on the day side of the Earth when the moment of perfect moon fullness hits? 😃 Interesting question. For that matter, what happens to werewolves during an eclipse of the moon, which by definition always takes place during full moon? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/35 "2017-06-12T22:37:59Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Yes! Go out at night and hold a common pen at arm’s length. Close one eye. You can basically cover the full moon with the body of the pen. You can easily cover it completely with a US dime. The moon is just not that big in the sky. You can make the moon look as large as you want via telephoto lens. Stand a mile back from someone standing in front of the moon, and the person will be tiny but the moon the same size. Zoom in and the moon is huge compared to the person. This is an airplane and not the moon, but you see the basic effect [in this shot](https://vimeo.com/152514220). It looks like the plane is about to run them over but in reality it’s quite far away. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/36 "2017-06-12T23:51:23Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > You can make the moon look as large as you want via telephoto lens. Stand a mile back from someone standing in front of the moon, and the person will be tiny but the moon the same size. Zoom in and the moon is huge compared to the person. > > This is an airplane and not the moon, but you see the basic effect [in this shot](https://vimeo.com/152514220). It looks like the plane is about to run them over but in reality it’s quite far away. [Another example](https://youtu.be/ehulHtKfpuM) and my personal favorite of this perspective. The cameraman is over two km away from the people and filming with an effective focal length of 1300m. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/37 "2017-06-13T00:06:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In November 1668, Cotton Mather reported seeing a star-like point of light within the dark part of the crescent moon. Mather was a pretty good observer, so people give this some credence. > > In 1795 the Royal Astronomer, Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, also reported seeing lights in the dark portion of the moon. A Mr. Wilkins also reported a light inside the dark part of the moon, but I don’t know if it was at the same time. > Similar reports were made in 1847 and 1867 > > In 1869 the Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain investigated reports of lights on the moon. > > In 1877 there were several reports of lights on the lunar surface. Decepticons of course, searching for the Ark ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/38 "2017-06-19T21:42:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If you’re seeing the Moon at night, it’s more likely to be full than any other phase. If by “any other phase” you mean the other three principal phases (New Moon, First Quarter, Last Quarter), each of which occurs on a specific date, then okay. But, if you are including the intermediate phases, how did you arrive at the conclusion that a full moon is “more likely”? ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/39 "2017-06-19T22:22:29Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > You can make the moon look as large as you want via telephoto lens. Stand a mile back from someone standing in front of the moon, and the person will be tiny but the moon the same size. Zoom in and the moon is huge compared to the person. > > This is an airplane and not the moon, but you see the basic effect [in this shot](https://vimeo.com/152514220). It looks like the plane is about to run them over but in reality it’s quite far away. Uh…yeah. That’s why it’s a telephoto lens. But shooting a scene where the full moon over a nearby house appears to be half the size of the house is a bit unnatural, even if the effect is intended. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411/40 "2017-06-19T22:35:36Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Uh…yeah. That’s why it’s a telephoto lens. There are two main reasons to use a telephoto lens: - To zoom in on a subject that you can’t get physically closer to (as with nature photography) - To flatten the perspective The second effect isn’t as obvious as the first and most people are probably unaware of it. Photographers use it for a variety of effects, however, such as better-looking portraits and “vertigo” (via dolly zoom). Humans have a wide field of view but also have a selective attention. If the object of our focus is a house on a distant hill, with the moon behind it, the moon will indeed look huge compared to the house. The moon has an angular size of about a half a degree, but whether this counts as big or not depends on what we’re comparing to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moon-in-the-sky-as-seen-in-movies/788411.md?page=3)