The 'Family Affair' Linger Effect, as Seen on 'Smallville'
 

You know what I'm talking about: all dialogue has been spoken, the scene is over, yet the camera just lingers on one of the characters for an extra 2 seconds while the actor tries (and fails) to maintain a grin that doesn't look uncomfortable. Then, if we're lucky, the camera will flip to another character watching the first character, and we get another 3-4 glorious seconds of staring. <i>A Family Affair</i> was certainly not the first to abuse this annoying technique, but it's certainly one of the more memorable, and the "Worst Show" thread made me think about it and how <i>Smallville</i> does the same thing, especially if Clark or Lana is anywhere near the scene.

Why? And can anyone thing of some other shows that do this?

das

I'm guessing they have a 38 minute script and have to fill in those extra 2 minutes somehow. ;)

Wow, das, I didnt' think I'd have to explain why Clark and Lana stare at each other... :D

Re: The 'Family Affair' Linger Effect, as Seen on 'Smallville'
 

Is this a variation on the good 'ol '5-6 second soap opera stare/reaction shot that leads into a commercial'?

Re: Re: The 'Family Affair' Linger Effect, as Seen on 'Smallville'
 

In a way. With a soap, there's always that tense "She knows that you know that I know" music. Here, there's often no music at all. The scene is clearly over; the camera just "lingers" for an extra second or two. With <i>A Family Affair</i>, it was an editing nightmare, because they would do it after each character's dialogue, even in the middle of a conversation. So a conversation between Uncle Bill and Mr. French could have 5 or 6 of these little moments.

With <i>Smallville</i>, it's usually at the end of a scene, but sometimes they'll linger on Clark's stupid grin for 2 seconds while waiting for Pete to come running in and tell him that Lana's trapped in a well. At first I thought it was just the style of one of the directors, but now that I don't bother paying attention to the plot, I notice that every episode is this way, and it seems a clear "creative" choice. What I don't understand is why. Leading into a commercial wouldn't be so bad, but after each scene, it just chops up the flow of the episode.

I'd ask Gough and Millar about it, but I fear they'd write an episode where a new outcast kid moves to Smallville and because he was taking a nap during the meteor shower, he now has the power to force the people in the town to pause for 2 seconds after speaking. Oh, and he wants to kill Lana.

das

On 24, they always do a lingering close-up shot of a character to make them look suspicious.

Ah, the "he looks like the mole, because we zoomed in on him, but the audience knows full well we're trying to trick them with the zoom, but we're going to do it anyway" shot. Always effective. :up:

das

I seem to remember Dawson's Creek doing this quite a bit.

Not that I ever watched it, or anything...

stares at Das...

das,

You forgot the variant -- a character starts to leave the room, then, as he is about to walk out the door, he turns because the other character in the room has something to say.

I call it "JMS' Babylon 5 Door Delay."

:) I actually thought of the <i>Columbo</i>-inspired <i>B5</i> "Door Delay" when starting this thread, but I figure we've given poor JMS enough of a hard time about that one already. ;)

das

dammit, Das.. you've ruined this show for me!! :)

Hmm, is this in any way related to Star Trek when a character would walk right up to the door, but then he'd turn around or pause to either speak or listen to another character in the room, then, the door would finally swoosh open with no more movement needed, to let him leave?

I especially remember this happening to Riker all the time. I just assumed he'd had all the doors reprogrammed to give him that dramatic moment.

Well, not a surprise. There was at least once an episode when Riker would step forward and strike a dramatic pose. It has to be in the drinking game.

Love?

It's not <i>always</i> Clark and Lana. You mean to tell me Pete and Clark are sharing <i>another</i> secret?

das