Continuity mistake: There is a scene after Tony came up with the idea for the fake movie and presented it to the CIA, where he is looking at papers under a magnifying glass. Tony is holding his cigarette in his left hand under the magnifying glass. The very next shot shows his face, and he suddenly has the cigarette in his mouth. Which he then removes with his right hand. The next shot shows it in his left hand again. (00:25:10)
Continuity mistake: When Mendez and the other two are reviewing possible scripts to choose, Mendez walks into the home, shuffles through scripts and finds Argo. When he goes to give the script to the other guys the script is missing its black cover and back cover. It is a plain white script, obviously not the same as the original one he picked up off the desk. (00:32:30)
Continuity mistake: As the actors all gather around the table to begin reading the Argo script aloud to the media, we see a two shot as the C-3PO character takes a seat at the table. In the next shot (a wide shot), we see the C-3PO character standing in the background, preparing to take his seat. (00:39:55)
Continuity mistake: When Ben Affleck is writing a postcard to his son, he writes "love you Buth. So" before moving to the next line. In the next shot "So" is already on the next line, followed by "much". (00:45:26)
Continuity mistake: When the State Department approves the exfiltration, Ben Affleck is dropped at Dulles Airport (it has a distinctive swooping roof), but after he boards, the plane is seen taking off from Reagan National airport. The evidence is the fact that you see a bridge (the Woodrow Wilson bridge, which was rebuilt in 2006 and can be seen in its current form) in the background. (00:46:35)
Continuity mistake: Ben Affleck gets into a 280s Mercedes driven by the Canadian Ambassador. The front screen wipers on the car are original silver chrome style and fit the screen. When they arrive at his house the wipers have now changed to much shorter modern style wipers, are black, and are the very latest frameless style first introduced in the early 2000's by Bosch. (00:54:04)
Continuity mistake: While in the Volkswagen bus returning from the marketplace, a complete truck is seen in the distance on fire. The shot changes to the main character's face then back to the street. As they pass the truck, it has no fenders.
Continuity mistake: When Tony is sorting through scripts and picks up Argo, his cover studio of Studio 6 Productions, the address and Producer Lester Siegel's name is already printed on cover before rights are bought.
Answer: A film crew is more credible than a group of tourists being involved in this type of activity. Tourists' behavior would be more limited and subject to being noticed by authorities if they acted in a unusual manner. A film crew would have access to more out-of-the-way locations, and if they acted suspiciously, could pass it off as it being part of making a movie.
raywest