Tuesday 6/8

Blogger was down much of the day, yesterday, so I was never able to get around to posting.  (Their server must have hit the 'snooze' button one too many times.)  But here's today's:

Wet Roads

I was watching one of my favorite movies recently and something caught my eye.  The good guys were chasing the bad guy down an alley (classic, huh?), and I noticed the pavement was all wet.  It hadn’t been raining, though.  I turned to my girlfriend and made a comment about it.  Her response was something along the lines of:

“Well, duh.  Streets are always wet in movies.  Everybody knows that.”

Well, everybody but me.  And you know what?  She’s right.

(It took a long time to find this picture, by the way.  It’s not a very search-friendly set of keywords.)  Now I can’t sit through a movie without looking for the doused driveways and soaked streets.  Wet roads are just a bit of movie know-how that has never reached me until now. 

The more I notice it, the more I realize just how much better certain scenes are with a sheet of water on the road.  Foot chases are better when feet go splashing through puddles.  Car chases are enhanced with some slipping and sliding (maybe some extra crashing, too).  And the bright-lit streets of New York just look good soaked.  (I think New York is the wettest city in showbiz.) 

So keep an eye out.  If you’re like me, you won’t be able to help but to see it (and expect it) every time you watch a movie. 

By: S. Cole Garrett