Guy Fawkes Discovers Queen Schoonmacher’s Flaw: Continuity Departed

(Special to the Dollar Video Curator! Guy Fawkes returns with more editing mayhem….)

I thought I would turn my anal retentiveness to this year’s winner for editing, “The Departed.” I suppose that a film editor has a lot to do other than watching to make sure the film is correctly edited, but you would think some of these screw-ups would have been noticed by SOMEBODY in the studio.

We can’t get four minutes in to film before we see Costello (Jack Nicholson) stuff a comic book down into young Colin’s grocery bag and then see the comic book sticking up way out of the bag. (3:05 to 3:31).

As Colin Sullivan graduates from the police academy, his necktie is held in place by a tie clip that is merely a bar. In just nine seconds the tie clip now has a shield on it which we can assume resembles a state trooper’s badge. (7:11 to 7:20).

Lessons in penmanship. We see Billy at the cemetery looking at the floral arrangement sent by Costello. At 17:15, the “F” on the card sent with the arrangement has a loop on its right side but at 17:26 the loop has magically moved to the left side of the “F”. Do you suppose that the property master lost the first card? Wouldn’t you like to know who wrote the first card and who wrote the second one? How much time got wasted in trying to find the first card and in arguing about whose fault it was? It’s questions like these that keep me from making any real progress in life.

Speaking of magic, we have the following:

-No coffee cup on the book next to Queenen’s phone (17:37) but one appears out of nowhere (17:42).

-A shot glass appears, disappears, reappears, etc. (1:18:38, 1:18:18. 1:18:40, etc.)

-At the driving range a guy walking behind Colin simply disappears (1:23:10 and 1:23:11).

-Left rear window of van shot out and then shot out again (1:48:24 and 1:48:26).

-Colin sets out Queenen’s stuff including Queenen’s badge which has blood on it but two seconds later the badge has vanished. (1:55:56 and 1:55:57)

More you say? You want more?

-The sergeant has the report rolled in a way we can’t see the pages but later we can (24:19 – 24:51).

-Ellerby’s (Baldwin) flag pin is straight, then rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise then the pin appears straight again (24:45; 24:55, 25:45)

-Billy’s medallion is inside his shirt, then outside the shirt, then inside again (45:53, 45:54, 45:58)

-Watch carefully as the paperclip holder and Post-It notes dance around the desk (51:19, 54:48, 57:28, 57:33)

-The case with the microprocessors is laid down several inches from the satchel with the money (1:06:38) but then the case is touching the satchel (1:06:39) and then separated again (1:06:44).

-The items on the kitchen counter are all shifted around and a large bag appears from nowhere (1:10:20, 1:10:53).

-Faster than a speeding bullet: Colin leaves his seat in the seventh row at the theater and is out the door traveling at least 50 feet in less than a second (1:27:18 and 1:27:19).

-Speaking of leaving the theater, when Colin exits no envelope can be seen and his hands are in his pockets but another scene shows the envelope in his hand and then later his hands are in his pockets again. (1:27:32, 1:27:51, 1:28:30).

And finally, you think you’ve got problems with your phone?

-Colin smears blood across the “talk” button on Queenen’s phone (1:54:20) but three seconds later we see the blood smeared across the #1 button with no blood on the “talk” button.

-Billy notices the phone ringing and the silver phone is right next to the red phone but two seconds later the phones are separated by several inches (1:54:34, 1:54:36).

-Billy throws the phone down and it bounces away but a second later it is only a few inches from him (1:55:16, 1:55:17)

How much do these editors get paid? Is there an Oscar for finding the most editing mistakes? Is there a good job for an anarchist out there, anywhere?