Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Why the word prequel took so long to appear
The term didn’t become mainstream until the late 1950s, even though stories set before previously released works had appeared in literature and film earlier…
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Reaction gifs replace text responses with repeating clips
A looping clip of a celebrity crying can stand in for a written show of emotion, letting the GIF do the reacting for you.
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Anamorphic street art only looks correct from extreme angles
Artists distort the image so it resolves into a 3D scene from one chosen viewpoint; from elsewhere, the drawing looks stretched and smeared.
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Furious 7 really dropped cars out of a plane
The production sent unmanned cars into free fall with parachutes, with skydiving camera operators filming the descent. Separate shots put the actors inside…
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Why real mobsters thought The Sopranos had an informant
FBI agents overheard New Jersey mobsters discussing how accurately the show depicted their scams and internal conflicts, leading them to suspect someone was…
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Urban parking spots magically appear for busy protagonists
Instead of circling the block for ages, protagonists find a perfectly sized curbside space right in front of their destination just as they need to rush inside.
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Movie rain comes from hoses just off-camera
Film crews can create a downpour with industrial hoses just outside the frame, soaking the actors while the camera crew stays dry.
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Twilight turned middle-aged fans into rival factions
The fandom reached beyond teens: middle-aged women formed passionate camps over the sparkly vampire and the shirtless werewolf.
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Vinyl records contain a continuous locked groove at the end
After the audio ends, the stylus follows a groove that loops it back around instead of letting it run into the label. Some artists hide sound loops there.
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Standard film projection speed is exactly 24 frames
When sound films arrived in the late 1920s, studios standardized 24 frames per second to keep audio in sync. It was the slowest, cheapest rate that still gave…
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Les Misérables had a French stage life before London
A French concept album led to a 1980 production at the Palais des Sports in Paris. The English-language version followed in London in 1985, reshaping the show…
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The best-selling female album is country pop
Its late-1990s crossover appeal helped make a country-pop album the best-selling female studio album.
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Why animated food makes real meals look bland
Animators draw pizza with impossibly stretchy cheese and hams with a perfect shine, making real meals seem disappointing by comparison.
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A screenplay doubles as a shopping list for a film crew
New characters are typically introduced in capitals, helping departments spot who or what the production needs. Names above dialogue also identify the speaker…
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Webcams are frequently taped over to prevent digital spying
A scrap of tape over a laptop camera is a simple way to block it from capturing images.
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Fourth wall refers to the invisible barrier of a box set
In a proscenium theater, the set's three walls form a room; the invisible fourth wall is the open side facing the audience.
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The first modern crossword was shaped like a diamond
Arthur Wynne's word puzzle appeared in the New York World's Sunday Fun section in December 1913. Its diamond-shaped grid looked different from the familiar…
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Windows 95’s startup sound was made on a Mac
Brian Eno composed the Windows 95 startup music on a Macintosh. The sound was meant to make a brief technical transition feel welcoming and distinctive. One…
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The Wonder Years' awkward best friend became a lawyer
Josh Saviano played Paul Pfeiffer, then left regular acting behind and pursued a legal career. The familiar face from a childhood sitcom went on to work in…
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Disney FastPass let your place in line wait without you
The original system assigned a return window instead of making guests spend the whole wait in a physical queue. Riders could leave, do something else, and…
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Disney’s stock gifts made his housekeeper a millionaire
Thelma Howard received Disney shares on birthdays and holidays while working for the family. She held onto them as the company grew, and the accumulated stock…
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The band nearly missed “Under the Bridge”
Kiedis was embarrassed by the song's vulnerable lyrics and initially kept them from the band. Their producer found the poem in his notebook and pushed him to…
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Catchphrase renders complex graphics in real-time
A graphics engine renders the animations live in response to the host, so the mascot can point where the action is happening instead of relying on a…
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Why spelling bees feel like live psychological thrillers
The tension comes from watching a child spell under live pressure: one misplaced vowel can turn an ordinary school exercise into a televised nail-biter.
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