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locker_monster- I finally had a chance to watch the animated reconstruction of "Shada" and I have to say that the animated bits were better than I was expecting. I think the animators had more time and money this time around (as opposed to the very little time and money they got for "The Power of the Daleks" animated reconstruction). Is reconstruction the right term when it's an unfinished episode? How can you reconstruct something that was never constructed? Remounting? Anyway...
What made it work, I think, was Tom Baker's performance. He sounds exactly the same; you can almost forget that the dialogue was recorded recently rather than 30 odd years ago. Also, as an animator, I think you'd have to up your game if you're animating Four. His face is just so expressive. Makes me wonder if the animators filmed Tom while he was delivering lines and integrated that performance into the animation. The other character designs weren't bad, either, though I felt like Romana was a bit plain; she could have used some more definition to her face.
Of course, the best part was the end. I was spoiled on the surprise, since the news was everywhere when the Blu-Ray/DVD was released, but just imagine if you were watching the episode without that knowledge. Here's the last scene in the TARDIS, filmed in live action, though isn't that odd since none of the interior TARDIS scenes were filmed before the strike. There's some dialogue with Four and Romana and there's K9 tinkering with the console. And then, Four gets up from underneath the console and OMG!!!! It's actually Tom Baker back in the scarf! It's in that moment that I like to think that reviewers of the Blu-Ray/DVD had great big grins on their faces.
I was inclined to think that it might not work, having an older looking Four, but it totally worked with the dialogue. Was it always the intention to have the episode end like this? I didn't have access to any of the special features so maybe they answer that question, but regardless, it was fun to have Tom Baker back in costume. And I just loved that the footage was made to match the quality of the rest of the live action footage. It doesn't pull you out of the moment. You don't even think about how the scene was probably filmed on the replica console set that was in the Doctor Who Experience and that Tom is probably wearing the replica Four costume that was also at the Experience (and hey, K9 is probably the prop that was at the Experience as well). Damn, I really want to watch the special features on the Blu-Ray/DVD now. Stupid release date delay in North America...
"Shada" is also an interesting examination of how filming blocks worked back in the day. All of the location stuff was filmed first since it seems to be all there (barring a scene or two of Chris biking). The next filming block was clearly all of the stuff in Chronotis' room since that also seems to be all there. The block that got interrupted was all of the ship stuff; you have some scenes on Skagra's ship and two scenes at the Think Tank. Everything on Shada and the remaining ship stuff was hit by the strike. In my mind, the Earth stuff is easy to do so that gets filmed at the front, and then the space stuff, with monsters and electronic effects, are tackled after since they would take more time. Thank goodness so much was on location.
- Speaking of Doctor Who, I'm watching the live stream that Twitch is doing for the next several weeks. Even though I've seen every Classic Who episode that a person can watch, it's still nice to turn on my TV and have an episode right there. It's also a bit like roulette, since you don't know which episode the stream is on when you join, so it's kind of fun trying to figure out which serial it is. It also helps that there's a contest going on. Weekly prizes and a grand prize of tickets to London Film and Comic Con in October. That's the one Christopher Eccleston is doing (along with five other Doctors!). I highly doubt I have any chance of winning, but it's still nice to dream.
- I also finally finished Horizon Zero Dawn, the video game I got for Christmas. I was going along at a steady clip but then I think I got distracted by some knitting so I was away from the game for a while. Usually it's the other way around (knitting distracted by video game). I think I also got to a point where I was reluctant to finish the game. It's just so much fun, running around in that world. You learn a lot of the lore as you progress further into the game and you don't want those discoveries to end. My version of the game also included the DLC, so I have some more content to get through, but once that's done, no more game. Thankfully, the main plot ends such that they could do a sequel, and I don't doubt that the game developer already has some ideas in mind.
- Vacation in a couple of days! I can't wait to have some time off. It sounds like it might be busy at work while I'm gone, but what are you going to do?
What made it work, I think, was Tom Baker's performance. He sounds exactly the same; you can almost forget that the dialogue was recorded recently rather than 30 odd years ago. Also, as an animator, I think you'd have to up your game if you're animating Four. His face is just so expressive. Makes me wonder if the animators filmed Tom while he was delivering lines and integrated that performance into the animation. The other character designs weren't bad, either, though I felt like Romana was a bit plain; she could have used some more definition to her face.
Of course, the best part was the end. I was spoiled on the surprise, since the news was everywhere when the Blu-Ray/DVD was released, but just imagine if you were watching the episode without that knowledge. Here's the last scene in the TARDIS, filmed in live action, though isn't that odd since none of the interior TARDIS scenes were filmed before the strike. There's some dialogue with Four and Romana and there's K9 tinkering with the console. And then, Four gets up from underneath the console and OMG!!!! It's actually Tom Baker back in the scarf! It's in that moment that I like to think that reviewers of the Blu-Ray/DVD had great big grins on their faces.
I was inclined to think that it might not work, having an older looking Four, but it totally worked with the dialogue. Was it always the intention to have the episode end like this? I didn't have access to any of the special features so maybe they answer that question, but regardless, it was fun to have Tom Baker back in costume. And I just loved that the footage was made to match the quality of the rest of the live action footage. It doesn't pull you out of the moment. You don't even think about how the scene was probably filmed on the replica console set that was in the Doctor Who Experience and that Tom is probably wearing the replica Four costume that was also at the Experience (and hey, K9 is probably the prop that was at the Experience as well). Damn, I really want to watch the special features on the Blu-Ray/DVD now. Stupid release date delay in North America...
"Shada" is also an interesting examination of how filming blocks worked back in the day. All of the location stuff was filmed first since it seems to be all there (barring a scene or two of Chris biking). The next filming block was clearly all of the stuff in Chronotis' room since that also seems to be all there. The block that got interrupted was all of the ship stuff; you have some scenes on Skagra's ship and two scenes at the Think Tank. Everything on Shada and the remaining ship stuff was hit by the strike. In my mind, the Earth stuff is easy to do so that gets filmed at the front, and then the space stuff, with monsters and electronic effects, are tackled after since they would take more time. Thank goodness so much was on location.
- Speaking of Doctor Who, I'm watching the live stream that Twitch is doing for the next several weeks. Even though I've seen every Classic Who episode that a person can watch, it's still nice to turn on my TV and have an episode right there. It's also a bit like roulette, since you don't know which episode the stream is on when you join, so it's kind of fun trying to figure out which serial it is. It also helps that there's a contest going on. Weekly prizes and a grand prize of tickets to London Film and Comic Con in October. That's the one Christopher Eccleston is doing (along with five other Doctors!). I highly doubt I have any chance of winning, but it's still nice to dream.
- I also finally finished Horizon Zero Dawn, the video game I got for Christmas. I was going along at a steady clip but then I think I got distracted by some knitting so I was away from the game for a while. Usually it's the other way around (knitting distracted by video game). I think I also got to a point where I was reluctant to finish the game. It's just so much fun, running around in that world. You learn a lot of the lore as you progress further into the game and you don't want those discoveries to end. My version of the game also included the DLC, so I have some more content to get through, but once that's done, no more game. Thankfully, the main plot ends such that they could do a sequel, and I don't doubt that the game developer already has some ideas in mind.
- Vacation in a couple of days! I can't wait to have some time off. It sounds like it might be busy at work while I'm gone, but what are you going to do?
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Date: 2018-06-02 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-03 05:02 pm (UTC)