On Wed, 02 May 2001, Julia Jones wrote:
little bit of B7, but mostly because I'm one of those people who isn't just content to watch the silk handkerchiefs but wants to know how the trick was done. This is one of the many reasons I go wandering around the country to theatres where Gareth is performing. It's wonderful to be able to sit in the bar with one of the actors afterwards and pick apart how the play was put together, to compare what I saw during the performance with what the production crew were trying to achieve.
Excuse me, I don't say much on the Lyst I know, but I'm a lighting technician by trade, and I absolutely had to laugh when I read this. An actor is absolutely the last person you want to ask about production!
this for me is Blade Runner. I happened to read an SF-orientated review before I saw the film. The reviewer had seen the original preview cut, was thoroughly impressed, and was horrified when he went back to see the release version
Same notation, actually. I think your reviewer got it right, but I also think that if you really want to know what the production crew were up to, you'd be better off reading what they themselves had to say.
on the script for _Blake_,
highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds.
What? The most powerful, dramatic, grim and bleak ending to a series ever on television? Oh well, tastes differ.
Back to lurking.
Leslie
Leslie wrote:
Excuse me, I don't say much on the Lyst I know, but I'm a lighting technician by trade, and I absolutely had to laugh when I read this. An actor is absolutely the last person you want to ask about production!
It sounds as if you're using different senses of production - the technical, backstage sort of side (which is probably what I'd use it to mean) v what I'd call something like "artistic vision" - what the directors and actors discussed and then developed through rehearsals?
In message 20010503080642.11710.cpmta@c000.muc.cp.net, Leslie Clifford orac@altavista.co.uk writes
On Wed, 02 May 2001, Julia Jones wrote:
little bit of B7, but mostly because I'm one of those people who isn't just content to watch the silk handkerchiefs but wants to know how the trick was done. This is one of the many reasons I go wandering around the country to theatres where Gareth is performing. It's wonderful to be able to sit in the bar with one of the actors afterwards and pick apart how the play was put together, to compare what I saw during the performance with what the production crew were trying to achieve.
Excuse me, I don't say much on the Lyst I know, but I'm a lighting technician by trade, and I absolutely had to laugh when I read this. An actor is absolutely the last person you want to ask about production!
I suspect that we're simply using different definitions here. It still opens up a new avenue for discussion, though, and I never said no to an excuse to wibble...
An actor is usually the only person available to me:-) Nor do I always agree with this particular actor - most notably on the role that brought him to my attention. However, different perspectives on a production can give me new insight into it.
Even that piece of awful fanfic by one of the actors is an informative look at how *he* saw the character. I think the conflict between how Avon was originally written (I'd cite interviews with Terry Nation, Chris Boucher and David Malony, but my magazines are in a shipping case several thousand miles away) and how Paul Darrow saw him gives a lot of depth to the character.
Drifting away from B7 for a moment - one of the most interesting things I've seen for this was the commercial production of Guards! Guards! with Paul Darrow playing Vimes. I saw it once in each run, so could see how it changed over time (the script for the better, Paul's performance for the worse, IMO). I also had the chance to talk to the cast, the scriptwriter, and the director on more than one occasion. I am also aware of Terry Pratchett's opinion of the play. I went to see it because it was Discworld, the casting was simply an added bonus, so I was not looking at it through the rose-tinted glasses worn by some of my B7 friends:-) My view coincides with Terry's...
The discussion about the play here and on alt.fan.pratchett reflects this. afp noticed, and was not forgiving of, the change in tone to slapstick. afp also includes a fair number of lighting technicians and sundry other backstage types, who tend to express their opinion of actors in less polite terms than you have:-) I think I may have pointed out that a certain actor is considered by many of his fans to be a much better actor when the director sits on him instead of actively encouraging him to ham it up.
this for me is Blade Runner. I happened to read an SF-orientated review before I saw the film. The reviewer had seen the original preview cut, was thoroughly impressed, and was horrified when he went back to see the release version
Same notation, actually. I think your reviewer got it right, but I also think that if you really want to know what the production crew were up to, you'd be better off reading what they themselves had to say.
In this case a lot of it was already a matter of public record - the review was useful because it was by someone who had seen the original cut and could say how it had been changed. Much as I like big explosions and neat special effects, I'm primarily a litfan. Ridley Scott wanted to make _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep_, I wanted to see it. I knew from interviews what Ridley Scott thought about the butchering of his vision, although I think he was being a little less blunt about it at that time than later on when the Director's Cut came out. (I have seen the Director's Cut. I think it's actually *better* than the book.)
on the script for _Blake_,
highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds.
What? The most powerful, dramatic, grim and bleak ending to a series ever on television? Oh well, tastes differ.
No, one bad line:-) From the description I've heard of the notes on the script (I haven't seen it myself), Ridge was responsible for dropping a few words from the script, which action IMO heightened the impact of that last scene.
Julia wrote:
In message 20010503080642.11710.cpmta@c000.muc.cp.net, Leslie Clifford orac@altavista.co.uk writes
On Wed, 02 May 2001, Julia Jones wrote:
on the script for _Blake_,
highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds.
What? The most powerful, dramatic, grim and bleak ending to a series ever on television? Oh well, tastes differ.
No, one bad line:-) From the description I've heard of the notes on the script (I haven't seen it myself), Ridge was responsible for dropping a few words from the script, which action IMO heightened the impact of that last scene.
Well don't keep us in suspense! :)
Una
In message 07c301c0d401$b5248860$0c00a8c0@codex, Una McCormack una@qresearch.org.uk writes
No, one bad line:-) From the description I've heard of the notes on the script (I haven't seen it myself), Ridge was responsible for dropping a few words from the script, which action IMO heightened the impact of that last scene.
Well don't keep us in suspense! :)
I'm not entirely sure about the etiquette, as the only place I have a direct quote is from a thread on The Other List. I'd rather leave it up to those who've actually seen the script in question as to whether they want to put their notes on a publicly archived part of the net. The relevant line is "Oh, Avon...", for those who remember the discussion.
Julia wrote:
In message 07c301c0d401$b5248860$0c00a8c0@codex, Una McCormack una@qresearch.org.uk writes
No, one bad line:-) From the description I've heard of the notes on the script (I haven't seen it myself), Ridge was responsible for dropping a few words from the script, which action IMO heightened the impact of that last scene.
Well don't keep us in suspense! :)
I'm not entirely sure about the etiquette, as the only place I have a direct quote is from a thread on The Other List. I'd rather leave it up to those who've actually seen the script in question as to whether they want to put their notes on a publicly archived part of the net. The relevant line is "Oh, Avon...", for those who remember the discussion.
That's fine, Julia, no worries.
Una
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Harriet Monkhouse -
Julia Jones -
Leslie Clifford -
Una McCormack