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10 Minute Tales - Sky 1's silent film series

Started by Blue Jam, December 29, 2009, 03:03:18 PM

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Blue Jam

This was brought to my attention by weirdbeard here in the Thick Of It thread. Sky 1 have lined up an intriguing collection of actors (and a dog) and let them show off their eye acting and facial expressions in 11 silent films- full info here, and if this doesn't intrigue you I don't know what will:

http://sky1.sky.com/10-minute-tales

The one weirdbeard mentioned, That Syncing Feeling, will probably be of most interest on this forum (and it's on tonight) along with the Neil Gaiman one, Statuesque, but I've been watching them from the start and it's been a delightful little series so far. It's started off as pretty heartwarming but some of them sound more nightmarish.

I've just enjoyed the Patterson Joseph one (Let It Snow) which was rather heartwarming after seeing a remarkably similar family bust-up of my own, and Stephen Mangan was just adorable in The Walkers, showing off his puppy-dog eye skills. Going to give the Neil Gaiman/Bill Nighy one a go in a minute. Anyone else watching?

weirdbeard

I'm really looking forward to this Capaldi one, it's probably my most anticipated bit of TV over the entire Christmas period. 

Can't say I really care about any of the others, although if the Capaldi one blows me away, I'll probably try and catch a few of the others.

Blue Jam

I always thought he'd be great in a silent film and while I'm glad someone else has come to that conclusion and I'll now find out, Tony Grisoni is a big draw for me too. He's a Terry Gilliam collaborator who appears to have written something not unlike Brazil, and possibly influenced by Philip K Dick... I hope this is as good as it sounds.

I'm interested to see how Grisoni portrays the sound being out of sync, that should be difficult in a silent film. And that's why I've been enjoying all of them: it's interesting seeing how the directors are all using the medium of the silent film. For me the ones who have done best are the ones who've treated it like something to play with, rather than a problem to get round. The Walkers has been my favourite so far, relying on longing looks and sweet little romantic gestures between the two protagonists- parts of it reminded me of Wall-E a little. Let It Snow had a nice bit of mime from Patterson Joseph, miming a snowball fight and clearly loving it. My least favourite by far has been Ding Dong with MacKenzie Crook- not his fault but that one relied heavily on glitter, bright colours and slapstick and there was no subtlety- no little looks and mannerisms from the actors. It's been interesting seeing all the different approaches.

And the whole thing is a very nice idea of course, I'd like to see Sky 1 attempt it again with a new set of directors next christmas.

weirdbeard

*knows what Blue Jam's new avatar will be...*

Blue Jam

Not this if that's what you meant:



I can't watch it tonight as I haven't got Sky so I will have to watch it in Dodgyvision in a few days. Please do post up your verdict...

The Neil Gaiman one, Statuesque, was quite nice, lots of attention on the details and costume designs, very visual. Dog Alone worked really well, with the ingenious device of casting an actor who can't speak anyway in the lead. Watching We Three Kings now and the device there is the setting being a war zone, with three soldiers who have to keep quiet anyway. Some of the ideas have been inspired, but I'm not sure about the last one with Ross Kemp freerunning.

weirdbeard

More like 8 and half minute tales.   But it was nice, if predictably a bit weird. 

Now then, which picture do you want first, the one of him lying asleep in bed, or the one of him in the shower...

Blue Jam


weirdbeard

You know, it was my intention to capture and upload it within the half hour.   Capturing it was fine, transferring it to the PC was fine, but YouTube is telling me it will take over 5 hours to upload.  Never mind.

Blue Jam

No worries, I appreciate the effort but I know what YouTube's like. Big thanks, but I can wait.

Honestly, I can. Stop laughing, I CAN.

Friendly_Milk

Quote from: Blue Jam on December 29, 2009, 10:26:54 PM
*calls an ambulance for Friendly_Milk*

QuoteNow then, which picture do you want first, the one of him lying asleep in bed, or the one of him in the shower...

All of these things, pls.

Thanks, Santa.  And Weirdbeard.  You win the Christmas.


Blue Jam

Quote from: weirdbeard on December 29, 2009, 10:42:04 PM
YouTube.  An hour and a bit.

Thanks weirdbeard, it's appreciated. I'm looking forward to this but don't go getting a slap on the wrist from Sky for us though.

hang on in there, FM *runs cold shower*

weirdbeard

Fuck em.  I'll put a link into their website on the info box and if they want to take it down, they can mither YouTube.

Blue Jam

Thanks, I've had a couple of videos blocked in the UK but I haven't been thrown off YouTube yet so you should be fine.

Right... am I the only person watching the other ten films? And are we the only three people here watching any of them? Just watched The Three Kings and it was nicely done, touching when it could have been mawkish, and the language barrier was another good device.

weirdbeard

8 (and a bit) Minute Tale. Peter Capaldi.

Just doing it's post processing so might take a few minutes to get up and running.

Blue Jam

#15
Thanks weirdbeard, that was the best one so far. Really quite disturbing and sad but funny in parts. Great facial expressions obviously. The sound effects were another great device. Nice to see a few similarities with Brazil too.

Quote from: weirdbeard on December 29, 2009, 10:12:45 PM
Now then, which picture do you want first, the one of him lying asleep in bed, or the one of him in the shower...

There's kissing in it as well! Hmmmm, he's looking good for 50-something but I think he's donated all of his body hair to Armando Iannucci.

j_u_d_a_s

I've just nabbed all of those available at dodgyvisiontm. Just an utterly fantastic exercise and makes me wish there were more avenues for productions like these.

I loved Ding Dong especially as it seemed the most traditional yet tightly directed of the pack. It was just such a well timed piece of farce in the second half. (also am I going mad or was that Jeremy Clarkson in a cameo there?)
Have to say though, Neil Gaiman's effort is the most self indulgent. There's not much of a tale there and certainly not one with a satisfying ending. Visually it's well directed and the scenes with Bill Nighy and Amanda Palmer in his home were a highlight. But it just seems to stop rather than end. Also again, it's more than a bit self indulgent to cast your girlfriend in the lead role.

It's excellent to see a channel comissioning one off plays again. It's such an under-appreciated format that I would love to see revived.

Blue Jam

Quote from: j_u_d_a_s on December 30, 2009, 06:50:16 AM(also am I going mad or was that Jeremy Clarkson in a cameo there?)

Hahahahaha... I see who you mean but I think this is another case of 'Rik Mayall in The Thick Of It'.

Got to agree with you on the Neil Gaiman one- it looked nice, was well-shot and edited and Bill Nighy was good in it but the story was a bit disappointing. It could have been very sweet like some of the others but it was built up and then went nowhere.

Syncing was always likely to be my favourite but the story lived up to my expectations. After reading the synopsis I'd been hoping the main character would be a Sam Lowry type and was delighted to see that he was, and I loved the very Gilliamesque
Spoiler alert
bittersweet ending
[close]
. I read that Grisoni is trying to break into directing so I'm interested to see what he does after this.

I'm not sure why I didn't get Ding Dong, I just found it really unsatisfying, maybe it was the story again. The slapstick approach was interesting though, it made me wonder what Armando Iannucci would have made of one of these films.  If Sky repeat this he'd be perfect for it.

It's a great little format and reviving it was a really nice idea, I hope there's another series next christmas.

*checks for Friendly_Milk's pulse*

Blue Jam

Just acquired the rest of the episodes today and caught up with them, the Ross Kemp one, The Running Of The Deer, was an unexpected highlight. I wasn't sure about the idea at first but as a piece of physical comedy I thought it worked much better than Ding Dong. Seeing a chubby middle-aged man take on a cocky young freerunner reminded me of the mimed shoot-out in Spaced. The story was really sweet too, by the end it had put a big smile on my face. Filmed around Southwark Park too so it was nice to see an area I'm familiar with.

Why isn't the series getting more attention on here? This may be the most original bit of programming from this christmas and for the most part the idea has worked really well. I hope Sky 1 do this again or commission a new series of shorts with a different theme- dialogues, monologues, slapstick etc.

Monkeyman1138

Been recording all of these and am waiting for them all to have been shown before I start watching them, am rather looking forward to it, particuarly the Capaldi/Grisoni and Neil Gaiman ones.

rudi


Blue Jam

Fair point, but I haven't even got a telly, never mind Sky, and there are sources which must not be named...

Santa's Boyfriend

Neil Gaiman's Statuesque is up on Youtube, but will almost certainly be taken down once the lawyers notice it.  Get it while it's hot:

Neil Gaiman's Statuesque

j_u_d_a_s

Quote from: Santa's Boyfriend on January 01, 2010, 11:31:10 PM
Neil Gaiman's Statuesque is up on Youtube, but will almost certainly be taken down once the lawyers notice it.  Get it while it's hot:

Neil Gaiman's Statuesque

Really didn't get on with that one like I said. It's terribly self indulgent especially when you know that Amanda Palmer is his current squeeze. Given that she used to make a living as a... living statue herself, I wonder exactly how much of the whole thing was Gaiman.
Spoiler alert
The ending is just perplexing too. So Nighy still fancies other girl despite Palmer statues efforts? So for that he deserves to remain a statue forever? Because he doesn't recognise Palmer's greatness?
[close]
I will freely admit that I do find Amanda Palmer insufferable. But when you see the other efforts, and how playful they are with the format, writing a love story for your girlfriend just seems pretty lazy.

Blue Jam

What did you make of the Ross Kemp one judas? I thought you might enjoy that one after liking the slapstick of Ding Dong.

j_u_d_a_s

Quote from: Blue Jam on January 02, 2010, 02:12:36 AM
What did you make of the Ross Kemp one judas? I thought you might enjoy that one after liking the slapstick of Ding Dong.

Not seen it yet, just making my way through a lot of other tv I missed. I'll naturally update when I've caught it because the idea of Ross Kemp's angry face in a comedy situation amuses me greatly.

Blue Jam

You won't be disappointed then... although his belly in a freerunning situation amused me more.

j_u_d_a_s

Ok, just watched the last batch and was only really disappointed with one.

Perfect day was just a bit pointless really. You knew where it was going well before it got there, like the rest of the series it was well acted and directed but didn't feel as satisfying as other episodes have. Through the window however, again you knew where it was going but it was quite wonderful how all of the camera work was outside the building. I thought it was quite an effective exercise at using just a single location and still providing some kind of narrative. Quite lovely really.
Finally Running Deer really warmed my heart. The way the chase starts off aggressive, turns into some kind of friendly rivalry then finishes off with both parties making friends was very playful.

Overall, this is perhaps the best thing Sky have done since bringing The Simpsons over to the UK. I only hope other broadcasters take notice.