Also, cell phones have a dial tone, and in most instances, people do NOT have to say Hello, or Goodbye on the phone.

I’ve never heard a dial tone after the other person hung up, regardless of the kind of phone I’m using.  Is this just an invention of the media?

No, there is no dial tone when the other person hangs up. As you suspected, this is just Hollywood taking artistic license. In real life when you take the handset off-hook, you get connected to the CO (Central Office) and it gives you a dial tone (actually it’s two tones mixed together) to let you know you have an open line and can start dialing. Once you start dialing the dial tone disappears. In a movie or TV show, they need some audible indication to let the audience know the other person has hung up so they came up with using the dial tone.

They use the same principle in action movies. When the bad guy is about to shoot the unarmed good guy he has just captured, he cocks the trigger while bidding him farewell. You would think the gun should still fire even if he didn’t do this. After all, he doesn’t have to cock it each time if he fires more than one shot. It’s just done the first time for dramatic effect.

More good ones, of course:

If you are blonde and pretty, it is possible to become a world expert on nuclear fission at the age of 22.

Large, loft-style apartments in New York City are well within the price range of most people—whether they are employed or not.

At least one of a pair of identical twins is born evil

Honest and hard working policemen are traditionally gunned down three days before their retirement.

If a large pane of glass is visible, someone will be thrown through it before long.

An electric fence, powerful enough to kill a dinosaur will cause no lasting damage to an eight-year-old child.

Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at that precise moment.

Captain Al - 26 July 2009 02:59 PM

Also, cell phones have a dial tone, and in most instances, people do NOT have to say Hello, or Goodbye on the phone.

I’ve never heard a dial tone after the other person hung up, regardless of the kind of phone I’m using.  Is this just an invention of the media?

No, there is no dial tone when the other person hangs up. As you suspected, this is just Hollywood taking artistic license. In real life when you take the handset off-hook, you get connected to the CO (Central Office) and it gives you a dial tone (actually it’s two tones mixed together) to let you know you have an open line and can start dialing. Once you start dialing the dial tone disappears. In a movie or TV show, they need some audible indication to let the audience know the other person has hung up so they came up with using the dial tone.

Actually, all of the phones I have ever had have, about a minute or so after the call has ended, clicked to a default alternating tone ‘warning signal’ to let you know that the phone has been left off the hook.  This lasts for around 5 minutes, then the line just goes ‘dead’ until you hang it up again.  I have yet to have one reconnect you to a dial tone.

They use the same principle in action movies. When the bad guy is about to shoot the unarmed good guy he has just captured, he cocks the trigger while bidding him farewell. You would think the gun should still fire even if he didn’t do this. After all, he doesn’t have to cock it each time if he fires more than one shot. It’s just done the first time for dramatic effect.

Depends on the type of gun one is using.  On a fully automatic, with a bullet in the chamber, it might be able to be fired from the default position with the hammer down, and it might not.  On a revolver, again it depends on the model.  Some have a safety interlock that makes it so you have to cock back the hammer for the first (and some for EVERY) shot.

At least in my humble experience.

Depends on the type of gun one is using.  On a fully automatic, with a bullet in the chamber, it might be able to be fired from the default position with the hammer down, and it might not.  On a revolver, again it depends on the model.  Some have a safety interlock that makes it so you have to cock back the hammer for the first (and some for EVERY) shot.

At least in my humble experience.

I worked in a props department for a short time, and guns are one thing that MUST be accurate.  If you’re doing a certain period film/show/ etc., people are going to know the type of gun that was used. They know how the gun is fired/loaded/ etc. There’s no sneaking in a substitute, or faking anything! An inaccurate use of weaponry is usually the first letter the props department receives from a viewer and/or patron.

DavePrime - 23 August 2009 02:23 AM

They use the same principle in action movies. When the bad guy is about to shoot the unarmed good guy he has just captured, he cocks the trigger while bidding him farewell. You would think the gun should still fire even if he didn’t do this. After all, he doesn’t have to cock it each time if he fires more than one shot. It’s just done the first time for dramatic effect.

Depends on the type of gun one is using.  On a fully automatic, with a bullet in the chamber, it might be able to be fired from the default position with the hammer down, and it might not.  On a revolver, again it depends on the model.  Some have a safety interlock that makes it so you have to cock back the hammer for the first (and some for EVERY) shot.

At least in my humble experience.

Of course, they also often go to other strange extremes:  chambering a round, running around for a few seconds, chambering a round, running around a bit more, chambering a round, and so on.  I remember that was something that bugged me about the original Stargate movie.  They kept reloading their guns even when they hadn’t fired a shot.  It’s as though their bullets expired once chambered if they weren’t fired within ten seconds.

Darn it, now I’m going to be watching for stuff like that!  It’s bad enough I already watch for other continuity mistakes (for example, someone’s drink being magically filled or emptied to different levels between shots…)

I have a T-shirt that lists a lot of these…....