How much of a movie based on a true story is actually true?

Showing all posts tagged: visualisations

How much of a movie based on a true story is actually true?

7 May 2025

A fantastic visualisation from Information is Beautiful. Selma, made in 2014 by Ava DuVernay, achieves a score of one-hundred percent. In other words, the plot is based on, so far as the researchers can tell, events that actually transpired.

The Social Network, made in 2010 by David Fincher, and a favourite of mine, has a score of about seventy-six, so nearly all true. I think most viewers realised screenwriters exercised some poetic licence, in a bid to keep the tension on the boil throughout.

What did Earth look like in the distant past?

1 June 2022

A fantastic visualisation of ancient Earth, as it is thought to have appeared in the distant past, going back 750 million years, created by Ian Webster, based on plate tectonic and paleogeographic maps made by C. R. Scotese.

Even better, type in your location’s name and see it where it was in the past, relative to the landmasses of the time. 750 million years ago, during the Cryogenian Period, the major city nearest me, Sydney, sat in the ocean. Might’ve been the best place to be, given glaciers covered the then landmasses, and the world was in the grips of the biggest known ice-age.