PDA

View Full Version : improbable hair in movies



spidermom
February 20th, 2014, 06:45 AM
This goes for television also.

Did you ever notice that long-haired characters will be doing all kinds of things - battle scenes, sleeping on the ground, and so forth, and their hair never looks like a tangled mess but always falls perfectly into place? I think this is the reason that my own hair feels like such a disappointment long. It becomes a hopelessly tangled mess just from puttering around the house. I didn't expect that.

If only I had minions to follow me around and fix me up like actors/actresses do!

flemeister
February 20th, 2014, 07:01 AM
One day, someone will figure out how to put a little micro-controller chip on our scalps, and a way of tracking each strand of hair and keeping them all a few nanometers from the others -- minimum tangles, minimal increase in volume you see, lolgenius! Thusly, wearing long hair loose into battle will be so effortless and dignified from then on. But then, someone will ruin it by programming a single strand of their hair to find its way up your nostril, and send you running away in panic.

Until then... :gobblecheese:

Hootenanny
February 20th, 2014, 07:04 AM
But then, someone will ruin it by programming a single strand of their hair to find its way up your nostril, and send you running away in panic.


I like the way you think. :rolling:

Gabriel
February 20th, 2014, 07:37 AM
This goes for television also.

Did you ever notice that long-haired characters will be doing all kinds of things - battle scenes, sleeping on the ground, and so forth, and their hair never looks like a tangled mess but always falls perfectly into place? I think this is the reason that my own hair feels like such a disappointment long. It becomes a hopelessly tangled mess just from puttering around the house. I didn't expect that.

If only I had minions to follow me around and fix me up like actors/actresses do!

I notice hair in anything I watch. It actually suspends my belief in whatever I was watching if a longish haired character doesn't do something about their hair and they've been flailing about all over the planet and it still looks immaculate. Unless they are magical creatures. They can have whatever hair they want and do whatever they want because it's magic!

It doesn't disappoint me in my own long hair though. Super agent Jane Doe can manage multiple scenes of death and destruction while having her loose and unbound hair, barely a stray hair out of place without a single pre-planned ponytail band on her wrist and it just makes me laugh because I know it's just not reality.

I do remember vividly, movies/tv shows where characters wear their hair up creatively for battle scenes though. I appreciate that someone in movie-land took that time to pay attention to details.

Can I just add to this though? I get super annoyed by movies and tv shows that portray military women (and men!) who are in uniform with hair out of regulation! Especially big budget films that have consultants. I mean, they'll do all this research into the weapons and vehicles and forget the hair, especially for the women. ARG!

Anje
February 20th, 2014, 07:59 AM
I know it doesn't quite fit, but I have to name the video game (which I haven't played) Heavenly Sword for completely unrealistic long hair to the point of absurdity.

Hypnotica
February 20th, 2014, 08:05 AM
My favourite hair moments on screen are still Star Trek Voyager. In the first season, Capt. Janeway is sporting this fabulous Edwardian bun. You could always tell when the ship was in real danger because her hair would get a bit messy :D

PrincessIdril
February 20th, 2014, 08:11 AM
Honestly I don't pay much attention to hair in movies, unless it is a period piece then I notice (archaeologist ;) ). I had to stop watching The Tudors because the obviously blow dried hair was getting on my nerves (well that is one reason I stopped watching). I can't bring myself to watch more than the trailer for Pompeii because I know that movie will make me cry.

torrilin
February 20th, 2014, 09:03 AM
Someone on the Guild Wars II dev team definitely knows long hair and does good research. Lots of different and sensible up dos on pretty much any race where long hair is an option. No Gibson tuck this time, but lots of double bun options. Even the "loose" hairstyles tend to be done in a way that has a prayer of staying tidy. And the longest "loose" style I've seen is tailbone and 1a. Doable, tho not real practical for a heavy armor class.

That said, my main is a very pretty Sylvari with green skin and cactus spikes, because what other game is going to let me play a plant? It seems like most players choose Sylvari with "hair" that is leaves instead.

My biggest complaint is you can't easily choose characters with 3+ hair. Lots of love for straight, but the options if you want 3c, 4a or 4b are pretty much nil. Makes me sad since waist length dreads or tiny braids would look fab, and ruling out tightly curly hair means ruling out a lot of neat short looks. Most people don't have straight hair, so show some of the range!

lunalocks
February 20th, 2014, 10:20 AM
I have always admired the few times realism, when it comes to hair, shows up in films. They had Holly Hunter in The Piano deliberately not wash her hair for days to make it look greasy as she lived in the outback and obviously could not wash her hair every day.

ErinLeigh
February 20th, 2014, 11:10 AM
I always notice hair in movies.
I am also one of those people who gets annoyed with a movie if its doesn't try to make things true to life.
I know its silly but I expect these things to be considered. I am a super pain in the arse to watch movies with as I point out all things unreasonable. Hehe

Siowiel
February 20th, 2014, 11:39 AM
For me, Star Wars I-III takes the cake on this, Padme Amidala's hairstyles of course, they chose the flimsiest hairstyles possible for the battle scenes and of course it stays all in place, and the hairstyles are very inconsistent in the amount of hair and the hair texture they require (even those not-so-formal ones where wigs/hairpieces would have been used) and in strong contrast to the hair she's shown with when she has it down.

Springlets
February 20th, 2014, 12:25 PM
Honestly I don't pay much attention to hair in movies, unless it is a period piece then I notice (archaeologist ;) ). I had to stop watching The Tudors because the obviously blow dried hair was getting on my nerves (well that is one reason I stopped watching). I can't bring myself to watch more than the trailer for Pompeii because I know that movie will make me cry.

Yes, historical movies/tv shows are the worst for me. My biggest pet peeve is when the character clearly has chemically dyed hair yet it's set in you know 900 AD. Also, any apocalyptic show (like the Walking Dead) it really bothers me when they make sure that any older women have gray hair and black women have natural hair, but the blonde women must be allowed to keep their bleached platinum blonde hair. :/

spidermom
February 20th, 2014, 12:27 PM
Good point, Springlets; I noticed that, too. Also apocalyptic movies where characters are smoking obviously commercial cigarettes with filters. Where did those come from?

Madora
February 20th, 2014, 02:27 PM
Was watching the last half hour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and loving Anna Quayle's improbably perfect knee length braids..and then a scene or two later she's wearing a coiffure that is much, much shorter. Bummer!

I also nitpick over Indian braids that don't hang properly (you can tell its a wig). Ditto for fantastic braided styles that look grand..but when the heroine's hair is down, the length doesn't begin to be believeable for the braids she was wearing.

excentricat
February 20th, 2014, 03:02 PM
DH is playing a video game in which his female character gets a crown braid and full coverage armor. Some people get it.

MeAndTheMaz
February 20th, 2014, 04:58 PM
Xena always had immaculate hair after a fight. The only time I can think she had otherwise was when she got head lice.

A couple of DIY shows have hosts with "long" hair (BSL+), and they never seem to get too mussed up, though, I'm not sure how much of the actual work they're doing.

On the other hand, I've been watching women's soccer for a few years, and there are quite few BSL+ers that seem no worse for wear after running around full speed for 90 minutes. Lots of braids, but also lots of ponies.

alexis917
February 20th, 2014, 05:04 PM
In my favorite ES game (Skyrim :o) I think the longest hair I've seen is BSL. Everybody has braids/shorter hair/updos!

ReneeG
February 21st, 2014, 09:53 AM
OH my goodness, you hit it on the head with the military hair styles in the movies!! They drive me insane. NO WAY can you wear a helmet and have long hair that looks any way decent when you take it off again.. and showing it out of regulations is such a joke, because there will be someone in your face about it when you walk through the door! This is my constant struggle. I even had a drill sergeant tell me I should cut it all off so I can shoot like a man once... like it affects my shooting to have long hair in a bun?

ReneeG
February 21st, 2014, 09:55 AM
Oops, forgot to tag Gabriel in that!

lazuliblue
February 21st, 2014, 10:33 AM
I was thinking this while watching The Hunger Games yesterday. Rue and Katniss' hair was looking pretty good for having clambered around in tress for days...;)

askan
February 21st, 2014, 03:27 PM
I get annoyed by hair that looks too much like extensions or wigs, to me at least. Like Galadriel in Lord of the Rings, and Cersei Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. It's something about those stiff braidwaves that makes it look so unnatural. Tauriel's hair in The Hobbit is much better! =)

Robot Ninja
February 21st, 2014, 03:33 PM
I actually don't mind when people get in fights with their hair down. It looks cool. I do mind when the hair looks perfectly coiffed afterward, especially when it's the women looking perfect and all the men are scuffed up and dirty.

ETA: Daenerys's hair looks super-fake because of the color, I think. It's all uniform with no variation. I don't find Cersei's hair that bad, and I love Melisandre's hair even though I know it's fake.

PrincessIdril
February 21st, 2014, 04:51 PM
On the rare occasion that I set my hair in braidwaves, if I use slightly too much leave in I get stiff waves like Galadriel. So I personally don't think her hair is that improbable myself (plus the woman literally glows it is perfectly reasonable to assume that Elf magic extends to perfect hair! lol)

Jumper
February 21st, 2014, 07:04 PM
I was thinking this while watching The Hunger Games yesterday. Rue and Katniss' hair was looking pretty good for having clambered around in tress for days...;)

Katniss' braid is one of my favorite braids to do though! And after I got long layers cut I actually cried because when I tried to braid it like that again it fell apart because the shortest layer is too short now.

cathair
February 21st, 2014, 09:25 PM
My favourite hair moments on screen are still Star Trek Voyager. In the first season, Capt. Janeway is sporting this fabulous Edwardian bun. You could always tell when the ship was in real danger because her hair would get a bit messy :D

Kate Mulgrew did a Q&A at destination Star Trek in London and someone asked her about her hair. It's in this video, starts talking hair about 17 seconds in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-x77MPub1s

I think she was pretty fed up with the time it took to put her hair in various updos, which is why she went from have long hair to have a bob in the later episodes. I thought that was really sad. She said Voyager wasn't a starship, it was a beauty salon which made me laugh. We used to call her hair the 'Janeway Onion', because sometimes it was sort on onion shaped sometimes. I used to love watching her hair change.

sunflowersmiles
February 23rd, 2014, 08:12 PM
I was just thinking about this today while watching Return of the King. Legolas was prancing around killing things and all I can think is he looks like he just stepped out of a salon after getting some touch ups on his blond roots. I can't seem to clean the house with my hair down and not get tangled in something!

Larki
February 23rd, 2014, 09:09 PM
Haha, in Tangled I kept expecting a scene where she has to pull leaves and sticks out of her beautiful hair. :p

naopll10
February 23rd, 2014, 10:26 PM
Haha, in Tangled I kept expecting a scene where she has to pull leaves and sticks out of her beautiful hair. :p Yeah wouldn't stuff and sticks and leaves get stuck in it? All that running around in the forest jumping on stuff?

naopll10
February 23rd, 2014, 10:27 PM
And why did they call it Tangled anyway? Getting woman away from wanting long hair? Just a thought.

Larki
February 23rd, 2014, 10:28 PM
Yeah wouldn't stuff and sticks and leaves get stuck in it? All that running around in the forest jumping on stuff?

I know! But hey, movie magic. I bet you anything that the animators made a scene like that just for fun and just didn't put it in the movie. :p

Islandgrrl
February 23rd, 2014, 10:31 PM
Can I just add to this though? I get super annoyed by movies and tv shows that portray military women (and men!) who are in uniform with hair out of regulation! Especially big budget films that have consultants. I mean, they'll do all this research into the weapons and vehicles and forget the hair, especially for the women. ARG!

I'm glad I'm not the only one bothered by this. Although I see a lot of military women every day with hair a bit out of regs. And my sock buns are ridiculous, so I can't really judge.

Islandgrrl
February 23rd, 2014, 10:37 PM
I even had a drill sergeant tell me I should cut it all off so I can shoot like a man once... like it affects my shooting to have long hair in a bun?

Why of course...all that heavy hair, pulling....at the back....of your head....how could you possibly shoot straight? Lol.

MaryO
February 24th, 2014, 02:10 AM
I usually complain about other things in movies that don't make sense (exept for Grey's Anatomy- the loose hair in a medical emergency always bugs me.) But thanks for pointing this out- now I will have more to consider! :-)

Bagginslover
February 24th, 2014, 02:52 AM
I was thinking this while watching The Hunger Games yesterday. Rue and Katniss' hair was looking pretty good for having clambered around in tress for days...;)

In the book, it describes her taking it down, finger combing and rebraiding it several times. Boring viewing in a movie, so they wouldn't have shown it, but its consistant with the book ;)

PrincessIdril
February 24th, 2014, 05:38 AM
And why did they call it Tangled anyway? Getting woman away from wanting long hair? Just a thought.

Or maybe it is alluding to her using the hair as a weapon? The original teaser trailer did feature her kicking Finn's butt while he was tangled in her hair :D And it's probably the same reason Frozen is called that rather than The Snow Queen. Tangled as a title is more likely to appeal to boys than Rapunzel as it is more gender neutral.

And just for fun, HISHE did address the sticks/dirt issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvNy2H-zBNY&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DVv Ny2H-zBNY&has_verified=1 (hope that link works)

Robot Ninja
February 24th, 2014, 08:30 AM
And it's probably the same reason Frozen is called that rather than The Snow Queen. Tangled as a title is more likely to appeal to boys than Rapunzel as it is more gender neutral.


That's exactly why. It's also why Flynn has such a big role. Because movies about girls are for girls only, but movies about guys are for everyone, dontcha know.

queenovnight
February 27th, 2014, 04:00 PM
I always wanted that lovely 'fairytale' movie hair.. then I realized that a whole lot of it is fake xD

LongHairLesbian
February 27th, 2014, 08:23 PM
I used to feel very insecure about my hair's thickness after seeing so many movies and TV shows with girls that have perfect, thick, long hair. Not that my hair is particularly thin, it just doesn't have the ability to create the huge braids, buns, and curls we frequently see in movies. And then I realized that the majority of these women wear extensions! Boy was that a relief. :rolling:

To the lovely person that mentioned The Walking Dead: I noticed how perfect the blonde characters' hair is too! Like I'm pretty sure you don't have access to regular colour touch ups when you don't even have running water. And even if they are natural blondes (which I doubt), blonde people know that our hair gets darker as it gets greasier. If you haven't have access to S&C for weeks or months, your blonde hair is going to be piled on with so much oil, it will make your colour look mousey brown/dark blonde, and it will probably be stringy as hell. Yet Andrea's hair always looked like she had just left the salon, not a zombie attack...

RancheroTheBee
February 27th, 2014, 09:09 PM
It makes me absolutely bonkers when excess styling goes into period pieces. It also bothers the crap out of me when I can see historically inappropriate makeup, but that's a whole other rant. See also: people waking up with makeup on.

On-topic, though: Yes. Huge pet peeve. I understand why hair isn't realistically disheveled in a lot of scenes, because if you need to rearrange the cuts or take a break, getting it back into the same state of disarray is more work than just having perfect hair all the time, but... still.

0xalis
February 27th, 2014, 09:34 PM
This is exactly why I've started researching protective styles for knee-length hair! My character has black, knee-length hair (even though she's not actually human, it's a different universe, her genes would be something similar to half asian, half caucasian.) Something I really want to know is where (like, body-marker wise) a 5-strand braid's tail would end when done on knee-length hair. I can bet there'd be quite a bit of length lost, but as I don't have knee-length hair, I don't know! :/

Springlets
February 27th, 2014, 10:57 PM
To the lovely person that mentioned The Walking Dead: I noticed how perfect the blonde characters' hair is too! Like I'm pretty sure you don't have access to regular colour touch ups when you don't even have running water. And even if they are natural blondes (which I doubt), blonde people know that our hair gets darker as it gets greasier. If you haven't have access to S&C for weeks or months, your blonde hair is going to be piled on with so much oil, it will make your colour look mousey brown/dark blonde, and it will probably be stringy as hell. Yet Andrea's hair always looked like she had just left the salon, not a zombie attack...

Yes, definitely! Pretty much every character on the show looks appropriately sweaty and greasy (totally understandable being as they're entrenched in an AC-less Georgian summer), but the bleached blondes look as if their hair is freshly washed. Also, the adult blondes are magically much lighter than the blonde children... cause you know, that's really common. :rolleyes:

It seems to me that the actresses are in fact natural blondes, just dark or medium blondes, which makes it all the more frustrating why the show wouldn't take that to mean that that should be the hair color of the characters.

LongHairLesbian
February 28th, 2014, 02:08 PM
Yes, definitely! Pretty much every character on the show looks appropriately sweaty and greasy (totally understandable being as they're entrenched in an AC-less Georgian summer), but the bleached blondes look as if their hair is freshly washed. Also, the adult blondes are magically much lighter than the blonde children... cause you know, that's really common. :rolleyes:

Haha my hair is about Andrea's colour when it is freshly washed, but it definitely doesn't stay that way; all it takes is about 3 days without washing to turn it dark blonde. I can't imagine what it would look like if I didn't wash it for several months...

LongHairLesbian
February 28th, 2014, 02:23 PM
The lady in this video seems very sweet, and I really like her hair tutorials. However, she always wears hair extensions when she demonstrates her braids, and I can't help but think "but my hair isn't as thick or smooth as that, the braid won't look as nice :( " They look alright when I test them out, but they don't have the definition hers have, and my strands pop out everywhere. Not saying that there is anything wrong with wearing extensions, they just don't give the viewer a realistic depiction of what their natural hair will look like when they go and try out the braid themselves. Extensions make my braids look puny by comparison. :(

LongHairLesbian
February 28th, 2014, 02:23 PM
Oops! This is the video I was referring to in my most recent post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZEsf2uXzZU

ZombieTeddybear
March 7th, 2014, 11:10 AM
To be fair, that is a channel for a hair extension company I believe.

mysticmanic
March 7th, 2014, 11:41 AM
Every time I watch Practical Magic, Sandra Bullock's hair (at its longest point in the movie) makes me want to cry, because I wish my hair looked that way! Haha, I love it. It's in two loooonnnggg dark braids. I notice everyone's hair in everything...commercials, ads, movies, tv. MY eyes automatically check out their hair. :P

RubberDucky
March 7th, 2014, 12:07 PM
A lot of my pet peeves were already mentioned, but I have to add another: cooking shows. I can't stand it when the cook has their long hair loose and flying all over the place. I just imagine finding hair in my dinner (has actually happened to me in restaurants twice). Ick!

Madora
March 7th, 2014, 02:22 PM
The lady in this video seems very sweet, and I really like her hair tutorials. However, she always wears hair extensions when she demonstrates her braids, and I can't help but think "but my hair isn't as thick or smooth as that, the braid won't look as nice :( " They look alright when I test them out, but they don't have the definition hers have, and my strands pop out everywhere. Not saying that there is anything wrong with wearing extensions, they just don't give the viewer a realistic depiction of what their natural hair will look like when they go and try out the braid themselves. Extensions make my braids look puny by comparison. :(

LongHairLesbian, if it makes you feel any better about your hair, at least you DON'T need extensions to create a style, such as the one in the video. Just because your hair isn't as thick as her false hair, doesn't mean the style wouldn't look interesting with your own hair (assuming you can do it. It is very tricky).

swearnsue
March 7th, 2014, 03:08 PM
Every time I watch Practical Magic, Sandra Bullock's hair (at its longest point in the movie) makes me want to cry, because I wish my hair looked that way! Haha, I love it. It's in two loooonnnggg dark braids. I notice everyone's hair in everything...commercials, ads, movies, tv. MY eyes automatically check out their hair. :P

Oh me too! I watch that movie every time it's on TV just to watch the scene where they dance around drinking pina colatas with their hair down!

swords & roses
March 7th, 2014, 03:23 PM
I notice, too! Legolas's hair always drove me a tiny bit nuts. The stylists took the time & thought out that binding back the top & the sides just above his ears would be a good idea, so that all that running & jumping & shield surfing wouldn't bring his hair awkwardly in front of his ears. (Having worn elf ears on many many occasions, that is definitely an unflattering look!) But the rest that's left down never gets the tiniest bit out of place.

Then there's Tauriel from the newest Hobbit movie. Love those long locks, but archery & villain chasing with it down like that? Really? No.

Period pieces particularly irritate the hell out of me. I watched The Other Boleyn Girl (fantastic book, btw!), and was so horribly distracted by the anachronistic hair styles! Medieval women wore their hair down & loose, but Renaissance women NEVER did. It was ALWAYS up & covered! And French Hoods with loose hair? Big no-no. All that loveliness belongs in a snood, young lady! Grrr....

I've tried to do Princess Leia buns multiple times over the years, & always get a little discouraged when mine turn out so very puny compared to hers. If you check out the length & thickness of Leia's hair when she finally wears it down in Return of the Jedi, it seems fairly believable that she could actually pull off the crazy coifs she'd worn elsewhere in the trilogy. But I recently found out that Carrie Fisher wore major extensions. Her actual hair was only about shoulder length. I feel better now, lol.

http://www.wallpaperhi.com/thumbnails/detail/20130805/star%20wars%20carrie%20fisher%20grayscale%20leia%2 0organa%20monochrome%20white%20dress_www.wallpaper hi.com_14.jpg

ichosethis
March 7th, 2014, 03:57 PM
What they need is a movie or TV show scene in which a long hair character pulls a hair tie out of a pocket or off a wrist or grabs a pen/crochet hook/random stick like object to put their hair up before getting dirty.

DarleneH
March 7th, 2014, 04:05 PM
Loved the hair in 'Practical Magic' eons ago, and it too was improbable: they both wore extensions.

ichosethis
March 7th, 2014, 04:55 PM
Now I won't be able to watch the movie without thinking "extensions!" but oh well, I still love the hair!

Robot Ninja
March 7th, 2014, 05:07 PM
I've tried to do Princess Leia buns multiple times over the years, & always get a little discouraged when mine turn out so very puny compared to hers. If you check out the length & thickness of Leia's hair when she finally wears it down in Return of the Jedi, it seems fairly believable that she could actually pull off the crazy coifs she'd worn elsewhere in the trilogy. But I recently found out that Carrie Fisher wore major extensions. Her actual hair was only about shoulder length. I feel better now, lol.


It wasn't a consistent amount of extensions either. Some of the styles she wore involved way more hair than others.


What they need is a movie or TV show scene in which a long hair character pulls a hair tie out of a pocket or off a wrist or grabs a pen/crochet hook/random stick like object to put their hair up before getting dirty.

The first Transformers movie and the Chronicles of Riddick have characters tying their hair back before getting involved in an action scene. It was actually kind of jarring to have this little bit of realism in horrendously unrealistic action movies.

Shibe
March 7th, 2014, 11:24 PM
And why did they call it Tangled anyway? Getting woman away from wanting long hair? Just a thought.

Tangled isnt just a word used for hair

Rapunzel got tangled up in Flynns troubles, it's a word that have a vast meaning and is not just directed at her hair.

Larki
March 7th, 2014, 11:34 PM
I just want to know if it's possible to get a braid as thick as Rapunzel's in real life. It's gorgeous.

monsoonstorm
March 8th, 2014, 02:45 AM
Someone on the Guild Wars II dev team definitely knows long hair and does good research. Lots of different and sensible up dos on pretty much any race where long hair is an option. No Gibson tuck this time, but lots of double bun options. Even the "loose" hairstyles tend to be done in a way that has a prayer of staying tidy. And the longest "loose" style I've seen is tailbone and 1a. Doable, tho not real practical for a heavy armor class.

That said, my main is a very pretty Sylvari with green skin and cactus spikes, because what other game is going to let me play a plant? It seems like most players choose Sylvari with "hair" that is leaves instead.

My biggest complaint is you can't easily choose characters with 3+ hair. Lots of love for straight, but the options if you want 3c, 4a or 4b are pretty much nil. Makes me sad since waist length dreads or tiny braids would look fab, and ruling out tightly curly hair means ruling out a lot of neat short looks. Most people don't have straight hair, so show some of the range!

Rift tends to have more practical hairstyles and also give a few 4 options. Nothing mega long though.