Do On-Set Photos Always Ruin the Movie?
It seems recently that fans are up in arms over the fact that big-budget blockbusters to-be are getting all their secrets spoiled by leaked photos taken by bystanders who are near or on the set. In particular, the film everyone is upset at is Spider-Man: Homecoming, and sure, it feels like every thirty minutes we have a new set photo going online showing us actresses being saved by Spider-Man or a picture or star Tom Holland or whatever else is going on. These are different than the photos that big film outlets like Entertainment Weekly or Variety where they are high-def clearly the studio wants us to see them. These are the set photos taken sometimes by amateurs who sneak or just happen to be on-set and who release them any way they please. But are they really spoiling the movie’s plot or story? Well, from what I’ve seen, and I haven’t seen every picture, so I’m not an expert, they haven’t shown us anything we didn’t already know: Spider-Man is in the movie, he’s going to be saving some female protagonists, he’s going to be unmasked at some point, and he’s going up against some bad guys. What exactly is there to complain about?
Sure, there are some on-set photos in recent memory that gave away hints or scenes of the movie that perhaps the studio wanted saved for a later time, like Suicide Squad where Batman was shown riding on the roof of Joker’s car, plus the Batmobile chasing him down. Sure, this would have been a nice surprise in the theater, or more accurately, for the first trailer where it was also shown, but I didn’t feel Warner Bros. had screwed up the film by the time these photos and videos made their way online. Remember, when these big budget superhero movies are being shot in big cities, whether it be in New York City, Vancouver, or wherever, there is a limit to how many people you can close off access to the set to, and there is always going to be an interested person or party sneaking around trying to find something interesting for sites to use. They don’t have the time or resources to make every set or real location a closed set. If that were the case, each movie would end up costing something like $250 million or more. While I don’t live in any areas where these type of films are being shot, I have heard it can cost the studio hundreds of thousands to employee enough drones, personnel, or whichever enforcement they choose to use, and that’s just for one day. It just isn’t cost-effective for the studios. And sometimes there are city or state, or other times national laws, that prevent completely closed-off sets, and in those cases the filmmakers are just out of luck and have to risk everything they shoot being leaked. I heard that this was the case for the scene I mentioned from Suicide Squad, so it does happen.
So yeah, there are unavoidable circumstances where the events of the shoot have to be subjected to the media almost by default because there is no way security can prevent leaks, and at the same time there are circumstances where the studio allows it, because all press is good press for the film, at least during shooting, unless there is a huge star that drops out, on-set fights, or bizarre or irrational behavior. In those cases, however, it is rare for there to be photographic evidence, mainly because the cast and crew and normally professional enough to keep this behavior off-set, and invasion of privacy is at risk for those sneaking around. Perhaps the best advice I can give for those fans out there who are afraid of spoilers, you don’t have too click on every on-set photo that comes out, but instead only look at the professional pics from Variety, Entertainment Weekly, etc., because there’s will be exclusive and they actually had permission, plus whatever pictures they release will likely be given away in the next trailer or TV spot, so it won’t be a spoiler for long if they do introduce a character or show a villain or whatever the case is. So for the former, unsolicited on-set photos, it’s like Internet trolls: there is simply no stopping it. You can protest all you want, shout and scream, blow up your computer, but they will continue to come out and as long as they get clicks, eyes on them, and are talked about, they will continue. So if you’re really fed up with it, don’t pay it any mind from now on. Treat it like other click-bait and move on.
