ELI5: Films / Tv Shows & Cast hardly ever wearing seat belts

r/

If continuity is such a thing and/ or reflective of real life. How do directors see the cast not wearing seat belts and ask them to put them on???

Comments

  1. thecalcographer Avatar

    It depends on the movie or TV show. For most children’s media, the movie or show will actually draw attention to the characters putting their seat belts on so that kids know it’s important and will remember the next time they’re in a car. For movies or TV shows made before the 1980s, seatbelts weren’t widespread in cars, and so there wasn’t a need to depict them, and wearing a seatbelt wasn’t mandatory in the US until 1995. These days, when a seatbelt isn’t being used it’s mostly for the convenience of the show – wearing a seatbelt can mess up an actor’s costume or hair, it can limit their movements, or the actual act of putting on the seatbelt would create a problem for the shot. As far as the director goes, the cars aren’t usually moving, so it doesn’t matter one way or another if the actor is wearing a seatbelt when it comes to safety.