The Movie Database-ondersteuning
Ondersteuning → Algemeen
How is the "Known For" section sorted and can it be corrected?
geplaatst door SusanneKSTAFFMOD op 25 juli 2021 om 7:28 PM
Hi, I'm new here and I might have overlooked something but haven't seen this explained or addressed. So: How is the "Known For" section sorted in general and can it be corrected?
Specifically, my current issue is with Ivan Kaye's "Known For" section where two films are listed prominently that shouldn't be there at all (but had been for a while on his IMDb "Known For" section due to the algorithm issue explained below) and one where his role is significantly less important or visible than in at least two of those who rank at the end of that section. E.g. 'Vikings' should absolutely be ranked top on his profile as that is without question the role he is best known for globally while 'The King' and 'Dark Shadows' ended up being marginal appearances and next to nobody knows him for those roles. The role in 'Gunpowder Milkshake' is much more visible while the role in 'Assassination Games' is actually the main antagonist with a title credit as no. 4 for good reason, just the movie itself has less weight etc.
I'm asking because it looks to me like an earlier IMDb status has been taken as a point of reference here when it was still sorted by IMDb's algorithm that, unfortunately, doesn't work well for every actor. (E.g. it automatically prefers movies over TV shows which isn't helpful for actors who're mainly known for their work on TV and it also seems to go by cast list order even though that is often just by order of appearance and doesn't say anything about the visibility of the character or the status of the actor in the thing). I believe that's why they opened it for IMDbPro members to edit it on their pages themselves.
If it's done by algorithm here too, it would be great to know how the algorithm determines what an actor is known for because the above examples don't make much sense to me. If it's done manually, I understand that it's hard to determine what to put there for so many entries, hence wouldn't it be easier, especially for actors who aren't on the "Hollywood star known by everybody on the planet" level to open it for contributors as the audience usually knows best what an actor is known for? Or at least, if IMDb is the point of reference, is there a way to submit info on updates made over there that actually mirror the real situation?
Reactie van lineker
op 26 juli 2021 om 3:48 AM
Hi, unless I'm mistaken the 'known for' section is using the popularity of the movie / TV show to determine the entries that are listed.
Reactie van Banana
op 26 juli 2021 om 6:11 AM
As far as I know, that's true. It's not a "real" Known For section. It's a list of the most popular content he acted in, and therefore the titles we might recognize. Basically every famous person who had a cameo on The Big Bang Theory has the show in the #1 spot.
Reactie van SusanneK
op 29 juli 2021 om 3:47 PM
Aaah, I see! Thank you! Maybe it could be renamed in "most popular projects" or something along these lines? It's a bit misleading this way and I know from my earlier years that I would've tried to get hold of other projects of a new favourite actor without knowing about any of he criteria for this sort of sections. So, I would've been hugely disappointed to find them marginal in something they're purportedly known for.
Reactie van PT 100
op 29 juli 2021 om 6:39 PM
Maybe this is an unrealistic/infeasible suggestion, but it would be nice if the "known for" list could be determined by picking the films that have the highest billings in the cast lists they appear in. The highest-billing films would be the "known for" films. (I see that IMDb has a really complicated, multi-factor system, but I'm not advocating for something like that.)
Reactie van Banana
op 29 juli 2021 om 6:57 PM
The Known For section marginally improved when Travis added the option to chose a department for each person, but there's still room for progress. I'm hoping he will tweak it again in the future.
Yes, I'm with you on this. I also believe top-of-the-list movie roles could have a higher value than bottom-of-the list roles. Similar reasoning with series regular/guest star credits.
Reactie van Moondoggie
op 31 juli 2021 om 6:57 PM
That sounds reasonable to me. But I think IMDb factors in award wins/nominations, which seems to make a lot of sense. And if not nominated or won, sometimes a lesser billed actor is acknowledged to have done major scene stealing. Maybe scene stealing can't be used in deciding "known for," but I think award nominations/wins could be.
So maybe there's a way to add extra weight when the actor either won (greater weight) or was nominated for (lesser weight) a major award.