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  • Re: Almost 4 minutes of actual BG play in 1951 movie

    From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jan 4 09:21:48 2024
    On 1/3/2024 11:45 PM, MK wrote:
    On January 3, 2024 at 6:00:01 PM UTC-7, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
    Assuming the producers and writers didn't know much about
    backgammon, they seem to have researched it really well.

    Why would you assume that? It's hard to see the board clearly
    and I'm not sure if the moves are legal and/or match the rolls
    but the comments sound to aim at making it all look realistic
    even for viewers who may not know anything about the game.

    In fact, the first roll was apparently a 45, but the player
    clearly moves only one checker, and that checker is moved
    less than 9 pips. But that has less to do with the screenwriter
    and more to do with the director.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Thu Jan 4 19:43:28 2024
    On 1/4/2024 2:37 PM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
    I thought the younger woman put two fingers on two nearby checkers and moved them both
    with one hand motion.

    Hmmm...okay, looking at it again, I think you're right! I retract
    my previous remark.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Fri Jan 5 22:20:23 2024
    On 1/5/2024 3:19 PM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
    I think it's far more likely that everything or almost everything they learned about backgammon was while preparing for their roles.
    That's exactly what actors do.
    The percentage of people who can move the pieces competently like
    experienced players is very close to zero.

    They didn't move the pieces by tapping on each point because they were _acting_ as experienced players, but they were acting.

    I agree with Paul. But it does suggest that the director cared enough
    about authenticity to ensure that the actors behaved convincingly.
    I find that somewhat remarkable. Maybe WIRED needs to create a video, "Backgammon champ breaks down backgammon scenes from film & TV." Like
    this one for chess:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWo68KgwQzE

    ---
    Tim Chow

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