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locker_monsterThis is unrelated to the episode, but we got to talking about Doctor Who at my book club today and somehow ended up on the topic of Tom Baker. I mentioned I had knitted a Fourth Doctor scarf and one of the ladies, who is a big geek like me, said to me, "If you knit me a scarf, I would totally pay you for it." Even when I told her that I couldn't work on the scarf until the new year, she was still very adamant. So I seem to have a commission. If my job falls through, maybe I can knit Fourth Doctor scarves for a living. ;-)
Anyway, this episode. Was it totally different and amazing? Well...
The found footage thing was a nice idea, but I don't think it really worked. I was expecting one camera recording everything, but they were cutting between everyone's point of view and station security footage. It feels like a cheat when you can jump to someone else's POV. I thought the episode would be one long, continuous shot from one camera. I guess they had some ambition on this episode, but not that much ambition. The dust watching everything is also a cheat. It allows them to put POV shots anywhere. So in that department, I wasn't that wowed. I did notice right away that shots were from Clara's POV, which made no sense until the Doctor explained why. The blocking was very good in that regard. You had a strong sense of where everyone was standing in a scene, so when there was suddenly a shot and it wasn't one of the rescue team guys, it really stood out, at least for me. Something like Cloverfield did this concept much better, with the one single camera and the occasional glitch to the other footage on the tape.
So, ignoring how the episode was filmed, let's talk about the episode. It was certainly atmospheric. Lots of shadows, lots of shaky running shots, lots of ominous sounds. Was it scare your pants off kind of scary? I dunno. I don't get freaked out by Doctor Who episodes. "Blink", "The Empty Child", "Midnight"; none of them ever made my heart race. I guess horror movies aren't my thing. I think I got too distracted by the camera work and I wasn't wrapped up in the plot. Or maybe I don't find creatures made of sentient eye gunk to be terrifying. They did look interesting, but they weren't the stuff of nightmares.
Or maybe I didn't fully understand what was going on. So the signal from the Morpheus pods mutates people into Sandmen? And the scientist guy was going to infect everyone via the signal? And he sent out the footage before the station crashed? So does that mean everyone in the 38th century is now infected and turning into Sandmen? Or when the station crashed, that stopped the signal? I definitely need to watch everything again.
Random: The station's computer voice reminded me of GLaDOS from Portal. When it was asking that one guy to sing the song to open the door, it totally sounded like something GLaDOS would do. If you've ever played the video game, you know what I'm talking about. The Doctor and Clara's short exchange about putting the word "space" in front of things made me laugh. I always like those moments before the action kicks off. They are moments not tied to the plot so you can get a bit random. They're little exchange about naming the monsters was also cute. I love that the Doctor brought up the Silurians. It was also cute when the Doctor asked Clara to hold his hand. Clara getting sucked into a Morpheus pod was very random, but it's so totally something that would happen only to a Companion. The HUDs on the soldiers' helmet was neat. It's a different sort of way to show a map or schematic.
You know, I can't help but think that I would like this story more if it had been filmed in a more traditional manner.
Next week looks interesting. Rigsy's back and I'm sort of getting a Neverwhere vibe. The Doctor also gets to debut his red coat. It's about time he changed his look. That holey jumper must be wearing thin now considering he's worn it for like half of the season.
Oh, and back to my book club. We also talked about how Peter Capaldi's performance has mellowed this season and that got us onto the topic of how the Doctor broke the fourth wall in "Before the Flood". One of the girls thought it was the first time the show had done that, but I had to burst her bubble and I told her about One wishing everyone a "Happy Christmas" during "The Feast of Steven" from "The Daleks' Master Plan" and Four brief address to the audience in "The Face of Evil". I probably sounded like trivia spouting machine. And yes, Twelve's wall breaking was the first time it was done so extensively so the other girl is still right in that regard. Anyway, book club; we don't just talk about books. :-)
Anyway, this episode. Was it totally different and amazing? Well...
The found footage thing was a nice idea, but I don't think it really worked. I was expecting one camera recording everything, but they were cutting between everyone's point of view and station security footage. It feels like a cheat when you can jump to someone else's POV. I thought the episode would be one long, continuous shot from one camera. I guess they had some ambition on this episode, but not that much ambition. The dust watching everything is also a cheat. It allows them to put POV shots anywhere. So in that department, I wasn't that wowed. I did notice right away that shots were from Clara's POV, which made no sense until the Doctor explained why. The blocking was very good in that regard. You had a strong sense of where everyone was standing in a scene, so when there was suddenly a shot and it wasn't one of the rescue team guys, it really stood out, at least for me. Something like Cloverfield did this concept much better, with the one single camera and the occasional glitch to the other footage on the tape.
So, ignoring how the episode was filmed, let's talk about the episode. It was certainly atmospheric. Lots of shadows, lots of shaky running shots, lots of ominous sounds. Was it scare your pants off kind of scary? I dunno. I don't get freaked out by Doctor Who episodes. "Blink", "The Empty Child", "Midnight"; none of them ever made my heart race. I guess horror movies aren't my thing. I think I got too distracted by the camera work and I wasn't wrapped up in the plot. Or maybe I don't find creatures made of sentient eye gunk to be terrifying. They did look interesting, but they weren't the stuff of nightmares.
Or maybe I didn't fully understand what was going on. So the signal from the Morpheus pods mutates people into Sandmen? And the scientist guy was going to infect everyone via the signal? And he sent out the footage before the station crashed? So does that mean everyone in the 38th century is now infected and turning into Sandmen? Or when the station crashed, that stopped the signal? I definitely need to watch everything again.
Random: The station's computer voice reminded me of GLaDOS from Portal. When it was asking that one guy to sing the song to open the door, it totally sounded like something GLaDOS would do. If you've ever played the video game, you know what I'm talking about. The Doctor and Clara's short exchange about putting the word "space" in front of things made me laugh. I always like those moments before the action kicks off. They are moments not tied to the plot so you can get a bit random. They're little exchange about naming the monsters was also cute. I love that the Doctor brought up the Silurians. It was also cute when the Doctor asked Clara to hold his hand. Clara getting sucked into a Morpheus pod was very random, but it's so totally something that would happen only to a Companion. The HUDs on the soldiers' helmet was neat. It's a different sort of way to show a map or schematic.
You know, I can't help but think that I would like this story more if it had been filmed in a more traditional manner.
Next week looks interesting. Rigsy's back and I'm sort of getting a Neverwhere vibe. The Doctor also gets to debut his red coat. It's about time he changed his look. That holey jumper must be wearing thin now considering he's worn it for like half of the season.
Oh, and back to my book club. We also talked about how Peter Capaldi's performance has mellowed this season and that got us onto the topic of how the Doctor broke the fourth wall in "Before the Flood". One of the girls thought it was the first time the show had done that, but I had to burst her bubble and I told her about One wishing everyone a "Happy Christmas" during "The Feast of Steven" from "The Daleks' Master Plan" and Four brief address to the audience in "The Face of Evil". I probably sounded like trivia spouting machine. And yes, Twelve's wall breaking was the first time it was done so extensively so the other girl is still right in that regard. Anyway, book club; we don't just talk about books. :-)
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