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Why is it in Hollywood movies every time there is a vent or AC unit someone has fixed little ribbons on it? Is that a thing americans do? Why? The vent in this movie is close to the floor in the toilets of a train. This implies someone got on all fours ON THE FLOOR OF A TRAIN'S BATHROOM to stick those ribbons there for a reason i can't even begin to comprehend.
The only places I've seen that IRL, are stores or commercials. The ribbons help you see how much wind it pushes out, and make it look more desirable.
I'm guessing we only see it in movies as a hack to help us visualize a breeze.
And usually only in movies where airflow later stops for a plot-related reason. (e.g. the life support has shut off on a space station)
Alao if the airflow atarts because it it bringing in toxic gas, or oxygen that instantly fills a room that was without enough.
Somehow I associate airflow being shut off with a turbine fan slowing and stopping. I guess due to Total Recall and OG Half Life?
Actually in this movie it doesn't matter. Something has been hidden behind that vent which the protagonist is about to findbout in a second.We will never come back to that bathroom.
I often see them in offices. People who are working 8 hours in an environment where thy don't control the AC will often want proof that it is or is not working effectively. As there are potentially multiple vents along a duct these ribbons are a handy way to see how much the duct pressure varies across the room.
They had these on the vents at my university, I think it's just so they know they're working
To answer the question about it being in a movie, it’s because the director needed you to know the air was moving through a visual means.
easy way to see if the vent is working or the AC is on
(and not just US, I have seen this worldwide)
I am fairly well traveled. I know mostly countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa, and I never noticed anyone doing this in any hotel, public building, private house or plane or train... Never been to the US though, so I wondered if it was real thing people do.
Ribbons (or visual indicators in general) wouldn't have been stuck on there by a member of the public. It would have been placed there by technicians or maintenance guys to help with their tasks. Not common at home for obvious reasons, but not uncommon in commercial / public spaces.
Hollywood took an existing practice and made it ubiquitous because it was a convenient visual shortcut.
The practice is only used when the vents are hard to reach, Hollywood puts them eveyrwhere, like OP said behind a toilet, where the technician can easily verify by hand or with the actual tool to measure airflow so they have an actual metric to see if it’s deteriorating.
Its a Hollywood trope.
Did you miss my last sentence?
We don't hose our streets down every night either, it just works better for movies because any stains or dogpiss puddles get evened out and reflecting lights bring out the perspective, and are pretty.
Chances are, you've seen lots of HVAC vents without ribbons in Hollywood movies without noticing them, because whether they were blowing wasn't important to the scene.
Whether the air is blowing or not is strictly irrelevant to this scene. something has been hidden inside the vent which the protagonist is about to find out when the picture was taken. We will never come back to this bathroom later. As a matter of fact it would have made sense if the ribbons were not floating and the object was big enough to obstruct the vent, but this is not the case here.
In that case you're right and it's just bad cinema.
It's to show the movement of air.
Also shows the movement of ribbons. Bonus.
Not the ribbon, not the air. Mind is moving.
http://12stepsandzenkoans.blogspot.com/2015/06/not-wind-not-flag-that-moves.html?m=1
I... Got that part.
When I posted in this topic there were no other responses, so I gave you the answer. It's literally the only reason any one ever does this and it's done in movies to show the air moving if it directly affects the plot.
Thankbyou for your answer. In this movie it does not affect the plot.But it is also something one only ever sees in us movies so I wondered if this was something Americans did IRL.
Because when people are hot, they think the air conditioning isn't working, and the little ribbons are visual indicator that yes the air conditioning is actually running!
The answer in movies is the same as IRL: it's to visually indicate that air is moving through the vent. In a movie this can be hard to tell the audience without a possibly annoying sound. In real life you might see this on vents that are difficult to access, probably so an HVAC technician can tell if the vent is working.
Whether the air is running or not is irrelevant to this scene, die example. So that is why I wondered whether it wasbrrue that there were ribbons everywhere on vents in the US.
I thought it was because cheap motels built in the 50s, would do that to show you how cold the ac blows
It would only tell you whether air is flowing, not whether that air is hot or cold.
It’s to show the viewer when the vent is on or off. Typically only when the fact of it being on or off is important.
It is strictly irrelevant to this scene, for example.
Maybe american viewers will be so kind as to tell us in what kind of context they do see ribbons in real life and even post a few pictures?
