Watch out for that ledge... AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!
Moderator: Spectrum Strike Force
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steviep
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Please tell me that there are up and coming episodes of NCS where a character doesn't come to a sticky end after falling off something very high?
Heh! Looking back across the two series I can see what you mean but it brings up an interesting point about TV shows made today (particularly ones targetted predominantly at children) - how do you "kill" someone in a non-violent way?
The fact that New Captain Scarlet deals with death at all is somewhat unusual in a childrens television program - if someone falls off a cliff, ledge, balcony, building etc. you KNOW they're dead - you don't have to see it happen to know it. Sure, from an adult perspective it'd be nice to have a little more violence and "realism" in the show but it'd only get censored out prior to broadcast (I was surprised that the scene in Skin Deep where Gina gets shot by Black made it through although it was still cut - it's a little more brutal in the uncut version).
Unfortunately, until there's a greater acceptance that animation isn't necessarily just for kids, we're constantly treading a fine line between what we'd LIKE the show to be and what it HAS to be in order for it to be screened at all.
I'd certainly be interested on hearing everybody's feelings about this
Andrew G. Morgan ~ CG Plumber
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Aegis
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"Wow! This is s childrens series?"
I think that the level of violence has been blended very nicely in the new series. Just gritty and realistic enough to keep the adult fans happy, but not gruesome enough to upset the younger fans or to have their parents stop them watching it.
If anything, from what I have seen of the second season, the realism factor has taken a notch upwards. I have loved both the new episodes that have been screened so far.
Aegis, if I was not already enjoying the show, Touch of the Reaper and Virus would have converted me. A big thank youto all concerned.
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Kambei
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Aegis wrote:Heh! Looking back across the two series I can see what you mean but it brings up an interesting point about TV shows made today (particularly ones targetted predominantly at children) - how do you "kill" someone in a non-violent way?
Unfortunately, until there's a greater acceptance that animation isn't necessarily just for kids, we're constantly treading a fine line between what we'd LIKE the show to be and what it HAS to be in order for it to be screened at all.
Well when I heard the series was being remade, my first thought was 'how are they going to keep the Mysterons and retrometabolism?' - because I thought killing people regularly would be forbidden in children's TV today. I thought we might up with just taking bodies over while still alive.
I'm glad the series has kept that edge - it doesn't compromise half as much as I thought it would have to. Horror and violence doesn't always have to be blood-splattered gore. The series still works by terrifying implications - like the tycoon crushed to death in the first story. There's a lot to be said for what isn't said sometimes...
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shaqui
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Aegis wrote:Please tell me that there are up and coming episodes of NCS where a character doesn't come to a sticky end after falling off something very high?
Heh! Looking back across the two series I can see what you mean but it brings up an interesting point about TV shows made today (particularly ones targetted predominantly at children) - how do you "kill" someone in a non-violent way?
The fact that New Captain Scarlet deals with death at all is somewhat unusual in a childrens television program - if someone falls off a cliff, ledge, balcony, building etc. you KNOW they're dead - you don't have to see it happen to know it. Sure, from an adult perspective it'd be nice to have a little more violence and "realism" in the show but it'd only get censored out prior to broadcast (I was surprised that the scene in Skin Deep where Gina gets shot by Black made it through although it was still cut - it's a little more brutal in the uncut version).
Unfortunately, until there's a greater acceptance that animation isn't necessarily just for kids, we're constantly treading a fine line between what we'd LIKE the show to be and what it HAS to be in order for it to be screened at all.
I'd certainly be interested on hearing everybody's feelings about this
Wow! Good answer, Aegis! Believe it or not, NCS is turning out so well, that, to be honest, I'd forgotten about its target audience.
It makes you wonder how OCS managed to get away with drownings, crushings as well as the infamous self-combusting-Captain-Brown scene (repeated in slow motion to boot! Eek!).
I'm not after extra gore or even realism but what's wrong with an old-fashioned shooting once in a while? It doesn't have to be shown on camera.
I always wondered what used to happen to the Mysteron agents in OCS. At one point, only electricity would kill them, then it was the Mysteron gun, while the rest of the time, a good old bullet would put paid. I like the idea shown in Reaper, where an agent would just pooof into thin (green) air once its time was up. Maybe, this could be put to further use when a Mysteron is cornered. It would certainly add to Spectrum's frustration. Of course, this might crop up later anyway....
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steviep
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It makes you wonder how OCS managed to get away with drownings, crushings as well as the infamous self-combusting-Captain-Brown scene (repeated in slow motion to boot! Eek!).
I don't want to offend anyone here, but I think they got away with it because they were JUST PUPPETS!! Kids know the difference!! It's probably best not to imagine how that might have been converted to CGI!!
I agree that there is a limit to how much violence and 'realism' you can put in a childrens' show, but since it was always known that NCS would attract an adult audience as well, would it not have been possible to add in a few extra/alternative scenes that could just have gone straight to DVD? (Anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes would have been fine by me)!! Could there not have been an option to either watch the childrens' version or choose the adult version that branches out to includes the extra scenes? I realise cost is an issue here, but hey, everyone else would have been happy, and even our good friends at Granada could have plugged the show safe in the knowledge that a huge audience would still be waiting to pounce on the extended/enhanced DVD version??!
I don't actually know if it would have been technically possible but I'm sure someone somewhere does!!
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Chris C
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It'll be interesting to see how many differences you notice
As far as alternate content/scenes goes - whilst it's an interesting idea, our real enemy was always time - a CG feature film along the lines of "The Incredibles" or "Shrek" is typically 2 hours long and will be in development for anything up to 4 years.
We produced around 10 hours of fully CG animated television with very little re-use of sets, props etc. in just over 18 months. That the show got made at all still amazes me to this day Because of this, there's very little time to produce additional content other than just the show itself - there are no "deleted scenes" in CG 'cause you only render what you need.
I have to admit though, it would've been fun to have a gag reel or somesuch based on the renders that didn't turn out quite the way we expected them too...
Andrew G. Morgan ~ CG Plumber
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Aegis
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Chris C
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Chris C wrote:I don't want to offend anyone here, but I think they got away with it because they were JUST PUPPETS!!
Is such sacrilege allowed on this forum?
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steviep
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So I take it there is absolutely NO chance of a CGI movie then??!
Never say never
Andrew G. Morgan ~ CG Plumber
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Aegis
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steviep wrote:Chris C wrote:I don't want to offend anyone here, but I think they got away with it because they were JUST PUPPETS!!
Is such sacrilege allowed on this forum?
It's quite funny but I think Chris C is right - I had thought this but hadn't yet posted. In someways, the Anderson shows are almost 'playing with dolls' writ large on TV, and they got away with stuff on (effectively) children's TV that some aduly shows wouldn't have, in their time.
One has to wonder if the same applies to the animation/CGI field?
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shaqui
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Chris C
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Doc Denim
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Doc Denim
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Chris C wrote:Which is why my 4 year old laughs his head off at Itchy and Scratchy, but ran a mile when he saw the 'virus' spreading across the CGI characters' faces.
I have to confess even I found that more horrific than the usual blood and gore that the series has steered away from so far.
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shaqui
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but the I & S segments always make me cringe...
Much as I love the Simpsons, I & S always make me cringe too. It's a bit worrying that the kids find it so hilarious, but it shows what you can get away with if you call it comedy!! Gruesome!!
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Chris C
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