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BSG reviewage
Jan. 29th, 2007 06:29 pmHappy today. Got a job. Close to finishing my scarf. And have a week to work on my novel.
Life is okey-dokey.
Enuf personal stuff.
Saw two tv shows last night. Dresden Files - second episode, and BSG. Dresden was by far the most entertaining. Was incredibly bored during most of BSG. That played like one of those irritating music video montages sans the music. From what I read in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wisteria's journal the difficulty with the episode was that over half of it was on the cutting room floor - yes, they shave at least 25-28 minutes off for commericials. Also the director made some odd choices regarding the characters - to the extent that a couple of the actors challenged him on it. Apparently Jamie Bamber asked for a scene to be re-written and directed because it felt out of character.
What many people do not understand about the television biz is that filming tv shows is about as much fun as watching paint dry. You spend most of your time sitting around waiting for someone to get the lighting right. A 60 second sequence could take 6 hours or more to film. So imagine being cooped up with your office co-worker from hell on a cold set for 13 hours, sitting around, not being able to do that much? Boggles the mind, doesn't it? This is why they are paid as much as they are. Another thing - imagine working your tail off and having the majority of your "good" scenes cut without your knowledge or input? This is why most actors do not watch their own tv shows. It ain't a glamorous job or even a fun one. It's hard work. I seldom blame television actors for bad performances any more - I blame television directors, editors, producers and writers - mostly because I know they did a million takes and most likely picked the one with the best lighting not the best acting.
Also TV? Done fast. Really fast. Quick medium. So - tend to go into it with low expectations.
You can't make the story too complicated and complex or you won't be able to hammer out a script, get it shot, filmed, and edited in a week. It's not like a movie where you can film the thing for six months. You get a week. If that. If you're really lucky a bit longer and you have to work around people getting sick, having personal problems, etc. So, you want your plot arc to be fairly simple - charted out ahead of time, or you'll end up taking more time than you need to.
TV is magic. What we see on the screen - is not real. It's a magic trick. Smoke and mirrors.
That's why I adore it. Because I love magic, it makes me happy. But at the same time, I'm fascinated by the work that goes on behind the trick. I'm more process oriented than product oriented, find the way we get there far more interesting than the ultimate destination.
In this week's episode of BSG they did the old let's flip between two story threads that on the surface appear to be completely unrelated, but in fact, are related on one important point that is central to the arc we are about to explore.
[Updated: If you loved this episode - go HERE -selenak does an in depth examination of the metaphors regarding Baltar. Go have fun! If you are a Kara/Lee fan - go to wisteria post on BSG including her essays on Kara. If you found the episode somewhat boring and obvious? Read below.]
( spoilers for last night's episode )
Life is okey-dokey.
Enuf personal stuff.
Saw two tv shows last night. Dresden Files - second episode, and BSG. Dresden was by far the most entertaining. Was incredibly bored during most of BSG. That played like one of those irritating music video montages sans the music. From what I read in
wisteria's journal the difficulty with the episode was that over half of it was on the cutting room floor - yes, they shave at least 25-28 minutes off for commericials. Also the director made some odd choices regarding the characters - to the extent that a couple of the actors challenged him on it. Apparently Jamie Bamber asked for a scene to be re-written and directed because it felt out of character. What many people do not understand about the television biz is that filming tv shows is about as much fun as watching paint dry. You spend most of your time sitting around waiting for someone to get the lighting right. A 60 second sequence could take 6 hours or more to film. So imagine being cooped up with your office co-worker from hell on a cold set for 13 hours, sitting around, not being able to do that much? Boggles the mind, doesn't it? This is why they are paid as much as they are. Another thing - imagine working your tail off and having the majority of your "good" scenes cut without your knowledge or input? This is why most actors do not watch their own tv shows. It ain't a glamorous job or even a fun one. It's hard work. I seldom blame television actors for bad performances any more - I blame television directors, editors, producers and writers - mostly because I know they did a million takes and most likely picked the one with the best lighting not the best acting.
Also TV? Done fast. Really fast. Quick medium. So - tend to go into it with low expectations.
You can't make the story too complicated and complex or you won't be able to hammer out a script, get it shot, filmed, and edited in a week. It's not like a movie where you can film the thing for six months. You get a week. If that. If you're really lucky a bit longer and you have to work around people getting sick, having personal problems, etc. So, you want your plot arc to be fairly simple - charted out ahead of time, or you'll end up taking more time than you need to.
TV is magic. What we see on the screen - is not real. It's a magic trick. Smoke and mirrors.
That's why I adore it. Because I love magic, it makes me happy. But at the same time, I'm fascinated by the work that goes on behind the trick. I'm more process oriented than product oriented, find the way we get there far more interesting than the ultimate destination.
In this week's episode of BSG they did the old let's flip between two story threads that on the surface appear to be completely unrelated, but in fact, are related on one important point that is central to the arc we are about to explore.
[Updated: If you loved this episode - go HERE -
selenak does an in depth examination of the metaphors regarding Baltar. Go have fun! If you are a Kara/Lee fan - go to wisteria post on BSG including her essays on Kara. If you found the episode somewhat boring and obvious? Read below.]( spoilers for last night's episode )
