Movieacados! I got more great news this week as according to my doctor I am still cancer free! I passed the test by getting a zero (or to use proper laboratory nomenclature: non-detect). And as one does when one gets good news, I spread it around! I have told friends, family, co-workers, people with similar hobbies, random internet types I associate with in discussions such as this one, and pretty much anyone who will listen to me. And spreading news got me thinking of the news, less so of Huey Lewis, and it’s role in movies.
The News is on of the easiest ways to drop exposition, move the plot along or reveal something to the characters that will drive their next actions. But the news can be so much more than that! Humour, it can be fun to poke a bit of fun at what is often viewed as overly serious. The news can be really funny, like I remember when Anchorman came out a lot of media was running histories of the comedy poking fun at news peoples. Visual, like the spinning paper that ends up in front of the camera headline front and centre. One of my favourite memories of a voice actor’s discussion panel once was watching Bill Farmer read the papers from Ghostbusters and switching between his (impressive) list of characters he voiced over the years for each one. And again, story: Exposition dumps are so easy to do using the news, you can set up an entire movie with a newscast at the start if you so desire.
At the end of the day the news to movies and movies to news is a symbiotic relationship and today we celebrate that relationship with the following prompt: What is your favourite instance of the news in movies? Print, TV, On-Line? People, visuals, workplaces, based on true stories or plenty of other examples I have not even thought of yet, there is a lot to choose from here.