Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 July 28

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July 28

Credits of "The Player" (1992)

Hello, can anybody tell why the credits of The Player contain the entry "Nick Nolte: Cher" – as if Nick Nolte played Cher, although both make cameo appearances and, of course, this would generally make no sense at all. Could it just be a simple mistake?--Hubon (talk) 00:46, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

I am not sure what you are talking about. This section The Player (film)#Cast quite clearly lists them separately and as playing "themselves" which fits their cameo roles. I checked the edit history for any recent vandalism that might have caused this and there is none. MarnetteD|Talk 01:13, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

I think he means the credits in the film itself, not the Wikipedia article. --Viennese Waltz 07:48, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation Viennese Waltz. I haven't seen the film in at least a decade and don't remember how the final credits are presented. If it lists all the cameos in a block it might appear in the manner that the OP mentions but that is just WP:SPECULATION on my part. MarnetteD|Talk 14:04, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Maybe the OP could upload a screen capture or point us to a youtube? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:32, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for your answers! Sorry, but I could not respond earlier... Indeed, I mean the credits within the movie itself! I've also been looking for a (legal) full online version, but I couldn't find one.--Hubon (talk) 20:35, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

I suspect just clumsy credits design. Punctuation is not normally used in film credits. The colon is being used here just as a separator.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 06:30, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

It is very possible that the production company was trying to reduce the number of lines in the end credits to get below a certain line count. I am purposely avoiding a long-winded description of how end credits companies charge based on line count in the end credits, but I am willing to go into it if necessary. The end result will be nothing more than: 1) Many production companies outsource end credits. 2) The end credits companies have pricing models, which tend to be based on a line count. 3) If you exceed the line count for a certain price level, the cost goes up - so it is in your best interest to keep the line count below your cutoff. 209.149.113.4 (talk) 13:37, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Very interesting – thank you very much!--Hubon (talk) 22:31, 1 August 2016 (UTC)