How does the Bacon number work exactly?
There is this commonly known meme about actors working together with Kevin Bacon and the associated "Bacon number" defining the degree of separation an actor has from Kevin Bacon based on collaborative works. But how does it work exactly?
If I was an extra in a movie with Kevin Bacon, in the same scene as Kevin Bacon but they never listed me in the credits on IMDB, can I claim a Bacon number or does it not count? I don't think it counts something like meeting Kevin Bacon, just acting in movies counts and not even being the director of a Kevin Bacon movie will count as a Bacon number of 1 since only actors count.
With this interpretation, can I claim a Bacon number of 4 if I was an extra in the same scene in a feature movie with Jon Skolmen who has Bacon number of 3?
Is it safe to say that my Bacon number is limited to, and at most 4?
Best Answer
The creators of the Kevin Bacon game elaborated on the major rules of the game in their book "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon". These have been replicated in a number of books including "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: The Complete Guide to the Movie Trivia Game"
HOW THIS GAME WORKS
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a movie trivia game where one person who has been in at least one film is named. Usually (but not always) this is an actor or actress, but anyone appearing in a film can be named. This person is then linked to Kevin Bacon using as few films as possible. However, non-actors and non-actresses that have been in films, people like Donald Trump and Larry King, usually can be linked (Donald Trump/54/Neve Campbell/WT/KB Larry King/Mad City/Dustin Hoffman/SL/KB]
Crew members of films don't count unless they also appear in the film. No animals can be used either, Homo sapiens only.
Appearance in a film by archival footage does not count for game purposes but extras and people who only do voiceover work in a film do count. Links are only allowed using films, no made-for-TV movies, no TV series, no straight-to-video releases, and no video games are allowed. Actors and actresses who have only appeared on stage, TV and/or straight-to-video releases and were never in a film cannot be linked.
I've highlighted the relevant passage. Since you were hypothetically an extra in a film starring Bacon, your 'Bacon number' would be 1. Anyone starring in a film alongside you would have a 'Bacon number' of 2.
By comparison, Oliver Stone's 'Bacon number' is 3 since directing (e.g. being part of the crew for) a Bacon movie wouldn't make him a 1, nor would starring alongside him in the made-for-TV film 'Oliver Stone: Inside Out' since it wasn't a feature film. His closest brush is through his work as an extra on the film 'Dave' alongside Sigourney Weaver (whose 'Bacon number' is 2)
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What do the numbers mean on Bacon?
The higher the Bacon number, the farther away from Kevin Bacon the actor is. For example, Kevin Bacon's Bacon number is 0. If an actor works in a movie with Kevin Bacon, the actor's Bacon number is 1.Does anyone have a Bacon number of 6?
Today, the game is well-known, both for being a fun game to play with friends, as well as a classic homework problem in many computer science classes. The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game is actually a problem in graph theory....The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.Bacon Number# of people42531775200606203372976 more rows•Nov 22, 2013What is the average Bacon number?
By contrast, the average Bacon number is 2.955." "Using one of the actors with the highest known finite Bacon number (7), William Rufus Shafter as the centre of the acting universe instead of Bacon, we can find two actors with a Rufus Shafter number of 15."Do TV shows count for Bacon number?
Links are only allowed using films, no made-for-TV movies, no TV series, no straight-to-video releases, and no video games are allowed.Kevin Bacon Algorithm and Concept
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