Historical Research

[Javahead]

Accuracy in historical or current settings is a personal bugaboo; I’ve travelled enough to realize how different the world can be, and lived long enough to see how it can change.

Which means that if I don’t watch myself I end up doing enormous amounts of research I either don’t use or dump needlessly into a story. Or just pursue long past the edge of relevance because it’s interesting.

It’s also distressingly easy to fall prey to paralysis by analysis and fear of the obvious mistake. What works for me is doing the research, using lots of very specific details, but avoiding exact dates and locations unless absolutely necessary to the story.

World building a consistent and believable fictional setting from scratch is even more work, though. I’ve got tons of respect for those who do it well.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I write stories for fun. I enjoy research - especially given how the bulk of it is easily available now via the internet, even anecdotes from people in all sorts of situations. I have to resist the urge to shoehorn cool facts into my stories. Well, sometimes I do.

Very occasionally I'll ignore an annoying aspect of reality, like a band forming or a film being released a few months after the events in the story. Other times I make a huge effort to get it right, like my current series where the Troubles in Northern Ireland forms the backdrop to the plot. I used as many stories from reality as I could, given the likelihood of real offence if I got it too badly wrong - I've ended up in more than one pub fight which kicked off when an innocent foreigner asked someone to explain the Troubles.

 

[jehoram]

Even stories set forty or fifty years ago, within my own memory, sometimes require research. Right now I'm trying to figure out when cars first had tape decks, and if they were factory-installed or aftermarket. This would be during the early to mid-1970s, and some of the characters have used cars that are fairly old. The first car I owned, a 1983 Toyota I bought new, came with one from the factory.

The place to go for information like this is the old car clubs. They are usually model-specific, and have tons of information on this kind of stuff, right down to when they made hubcap changes or first introduced a certain type of carburetor or when they changed the configuration of the roll-down window handle. These guys are crazy, but they know their shit.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

The oldest setting I have for a story is 1949, and even for that, I had to check to see if a certain drive-in theater was open at that point. (Fortunately, it was.)

Even stories set forty or fifty years ago, within my own memory, sometimes require research. Right now I'm trying to figure out when cars first had tape decks, and if they were factory-installed or aftermarket. This would be during the early to mid-1970s, and some of the characters have used cars that are fairly old. The first car I owned, a 1983 Toyota I bought new, came with one from the factory.

From https://www.hagerty.com/media/archived/obsolete-car-audio-part-4/

it’s well-documented that the first car with a factory 8-Track was the 1966 Mustang, I can’t find a reliable reference for the first car with a factory in-dash cassette player. On the bleeding edge, I see references to Mercedes as having Becker radios with cassettes beginning in 1971. Most sources list the general envelope of cassette adoption as “mid-1970s.”​

A 1968 ad for an aftermarket cassette player for cars

https://d32c3oe4bky4k6.cloudfront.net/-/media/uscamediasite/images/story-images/2017/12/cassette(3).ashx?modified=20171229163208

The last year cars were available with cassette players was 2010 Ford Crown Vic and the Lexus SC430

The first car with a CD player was the 1987 Lincoln Town Car

 

[SamScribble]

I tend not to write about days of yore, so no research needed there. But I do check to make sure that the navigator taking part in The Fastnet Race is not using an NC77 before the NC77 was released.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've written a number of non-erotic westerns that took a lot of research to get the area and timeframe correct. Seeing Colt Army Single Action revolvers (first released to the public in 1873 in any number) and Winchester 66s and 73s in old westerns set prior to the American Civil War has always been a pet peeve.

My one period piece on this site takes place during and after the Civil War but in the South rather than the West, so more research on the area and what it was like there during the period was needed to get it right. I included a visit to a famous hotel as a way to firmly establish the location and timeframe, and to illustrate that while the character could choose to visit the dining room as a special treat to himself, he couldn't afford to stay in one of its fine, expensive rooms.

A trip to an auto museum a couple of years ago inspired another period piece (1912-1914) that I hope to finish someday. However, it will take a LOT more detailed research before it is ever completed or published.

Yes, it would be nice if movies got details like weapons correct. However, there are problems like schedules and budgets to deal with, and the props department is part of that. I suspect that filmmakers sometimes go, "All right, we have a revolver or a rifle that is close enough. Let's get filming already. Most of the audience isn't going to care or even know that it's not correct."

I know that World War II movies have hassles getting the right kind of tanks. There are companies that will rent you vintage armored vehicles - if you have the budget for it. Getting the correct German or Soviet tank is not always easy. Sometimes American models fill in the gap.

Speaking of Westerns, we have the example of Michael Cimino and his obsession with details in Heaven's Gate. He fretted that the audience would notice if the shoelaces weren't right for the period. Of course, he went so far over budget and schedule that his movie wound up losing over $40 million (about $125 million in today's dollars) and virtually destroying the studio that produced it.

 

[ishtat]

In the film 633 Squadron the hero is at the cockpit of his plane which properly is 1940's when a tractor appears in the background with the bombload on a trolley. The trolley is pulled by a Fordson tractor which I know for certain was not manufactured until 1954 - and that is the only damn thing about the film which I remember.

 

[gunhilltrain]

From https://www.hagerty.com/media/archived/obsolete-car-audio-part-4/

it’s well-documented that the first car with a factory 8-Track was the 1966 Mustang, I can’t find a reliable reference for the first car with a factory in-dash cassette player. On the bleeding edge, I see references to Mercedes as having Becker radios with cassettes beginning in 1971. Most sources list the general envelope of cassette adoption as “mid-1970s.”​

A 1968 ad for an aftermarket cassette player for cars

https://d32c3oe4bky4k6.cloudfront.net/-/media/uscamediasite/images/story-images/2017/12/cassette(3).ashx?modified=20171229163208

The last year cars were available with cassette players was 2010 Ford Crown Vic and the Lexus SC430

The first car with a CD player was the 1987 Lincoln Town Car

Thank you, that all helps a lot.

 

[gunhilltrain]

In the film 633 Squadron the hero is at the cockpit of his plane which properly is 1940's when a tractor appears in the background with the bombload on a trolley. The trolley is pulled by a Fordson tractor which I know for certain was not manufactured until 1954 - and that is the only damn thing about the film which I remember.

I remember seeing that film on TV years ago. When I saw it again later, it was kind of obvious that a lot of scenes used models, not real planes. Not that easy to film real planes crashing. Of course, for The Train with Burt Lancaster, the French railways had a lot of surplus steam locomotives to sacrifice. Filming those crashing - some truly amazing footage resulted.

As for the Fordson tractor - I'm sure that the filmmakers tried to be diligent. However, as I mentioned, they probably thought (not being Michael Cimino), "All right, we've got this tractor. It's only going to be on screen for a few seconds. Let's not waste two weeks looking for another one."

 

[Jamie_and_Lisa]

In the film 633 Squadron the hero is at the cockpit of his plane which properly is 1940's when a tractor appears in the background with the bombload on a trolley. The trolley is pulled by a Fordson tractor which I know for certain was not manufactured until 1954 - and that is the only damn thing about the film which I remember.

A couple of our grandchildren were watching a movie, it was supposed to be 1968, most of the cars were middle 1950s to late 1960s vintage. To us its okay if its a year or so off with a 1970 Buick driving by. But then the MC gets off of a 1979- production Gillig Phantom Bus. That really ruined the whole scene for us.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm extremely impressed with the authors here who tackle erotic stories in historical settings and do the research needed to make them seem real. This is something I never do. It's all I can do to try to get stories done that are set in places that look pretty much like my neighborhood. That you have the time and energy and discipline to write stories in historical settings and do the research is amazing. I must say that reading Chloe's description of the work that she has done for her stories makes me even LESS interested in trying to tackle a story like this!

Good job all. I'm impressed but won't be joining you any time soon.

 

[gunhilltrain]

A couple of our grandchildren were watching a movie, it was supposed to be 1968, most of the cars were middle 1950s to late 1960s vintage. To us its okay if its a year or so off with a 1970 Buick driving by. But then the MC gets off of a 1979- production Gillig Phantom Bus. That really ruined the whole scene for us.

It is probably not that difficult to get the right bus. But then, most people wouldn't know a 1979 Gillig bus if it ran over them.

I actually saw the filming of a movie (March, 1968) called The Subject Was Roses. It's set in either 1945 or 1946. The three main characters get out of a post-1954 Checker cab. The weird thing is that they had at least twenty correct-vintage cars on hand (they were parked all over the streets) but they hardly used them except for a couple of background shots. None of them were taxis, however.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It is probably not that difficult to get the right bus. But then, most people wouldn't know a 1979 Gillig bus if it ran over them.

I actually saw the filming of a movie (March, 1968) called The Subject Was Roses. It's set in either 1945 or 1946. The three main characters get out of a post-1954 Checker cab. The weird thing is that they had at least twenty correct-vintage cars on hand (they were parked all over the streets) but they hardly used them except for a couple of background shots. None of them were taxis, however.

Movie continuity can be fun. We've all heard the stories about Centurions wearing watches, tv antennas in Jack the Ripper movies, that kind of thing; but my favourites are when you bust the perfectionists for glitches.

Kubrick, for example, in Eyes Wide Shut, when Tom "I'm a doctor" Cruise is wandering around New York, there's the same pesky rubbish bin on nearly every street he goes down, and dang, that Yellow Cab driver's got a lot of really short trips. And in 2001, when Dave Bowman is undoing HAL's memory banks, they're coming out in a different order, depending on the camera angle. The best one, cleaned up later but in the first release prints, the reflection of the camera crew in a shiny pillar in one of the tracking shots at the beginning of EWS.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Movie continuity can be fun. We've all heard the stories about Centurions wearing watches, tv antennas in Jack the Ripper movies, that kind of thing; but my favourites are when you bust the perfectionists for glitches.

Kubrick, for example, in Eyes Wide Shut, when Tom "I'm a doctor" Cruise is wandering around New York, there's the same pesky rubbish bin on nearly every street he goes down, and dang, that Yellow Cab driver's got a lot of really short trips. And in 2001, when Dave Bowman is undoing HAL's memory banks, they're coming out in a different order, depending on the camera angle. The best one, cleaned up later but in the first release prints, the reflection of the camera crew in a shiny pillar in one of the tracking shots at the beginning of EWS.

The number of details to think about and the amount of work involved in making even a modest movie is overwhelming. The editing process after the actual filming is complex. If you find a reflection or some other glitch during editing or the continuity of the footage doesn't line up, it's usually too late to do anything about it.

I admire Coppola with The Godfather, Part 2, and Sergio Leone with Once Upon a Time in America who went out on contemporary streets and recreated an earlier New York. In the latter film they got permission to remove the arms from modern street lights but of course they had to leave the poles (which are aluminum, I think). The poles were kind of dirty so they almost blended in, but in at least one scene - a panning shot - they are visible.