I finished watching Exeter and was plagued by this thought: Seven years of amateur effort by dedicated fans can produce sets and props and costumes that are stunning reproductions of TOS design -- but the best sets and props and costumes in the world still look second-rate in the hands of inexperienced filmmakers and actors.
Acting: Every actor on TOS could and did properly enunciate the dialogue. Despite the popularity of Shatner-bashing (and despite the man's disappointing personal appearances here and elsewhere): When you watch a TOS episode, you see a captain who appears to be busy running a ship and giving serious attention to the things he does. Look at the other leads and you see actors engaged in their characters. (Nimoy, my god, Nimoy.) Even the extras are serious about walking to the other side of the corridor. Whereas, I hate to say for such a passionate effort, Exeter had definitively wooden acting. The one who keeps coming to mind is the Klingon, who talked a mile a minute -- perfectly typical for an inexperienced actor, and awfully hard to hear. Plenty of other times, the actors look like they're just trying to remember where to stand (or forgetting to stand still).
Directing: Oh, the pacing. Oh, the clunky blocking.
Camera work: Admittedly pretty good for nonprofessionals, but a bit tighter technique could really enhance the scenes.
Lighting: This may be the single most deficient element in Exeter. A few good lights, properly arranged, and the whole show would have jumped to life. Well, visually, at least.
Throughout the whole episode, I kept thinking: Put this script in the hands of the TOS cast and crew, and they'd make something watchable for dramatic and cinematic value. As it stands, Exeter is interesting only for the visual details and, to a lesser degree, the writing.
It's an admirable amateur effort (in all honesty, I really enjoyed B'fuselek), but it doesn't compare favorably to TOS. If you want ammunition for TOS-bashing, don't load up with Exeter.
See also Sports Night, now available in a no-frills but nonetheless complete DVD set -- both seasons in one box.
Sports Night was canceled by ABC, who didn't know how to market it (it was a highly intelligent comedy -- imagine that). The final episode was a beautiful dig at ABC: "Anybody who can't make money off Sports Night should get out of the money-making business," spoken by the billionaire tech geek who bought out the fictitious CSC cable network and its "Sports Night" news show.
Sports Night featured one of my favorite characters ever, Jeremy Goodwin, a sports/computer nerd and a/. reader if there ever was one on TV.
Brilliant show. I wish they'd strip out the laugh track from the first season (as with the comparable M*A*S*H, the network didn't think viewers would know which parts were funny), but hey, that's for the Special Collector's Edition, right?
Note: You can check out Sports Night on Comedy Central, but they re-cut the episodes for different commercial breaks, which screws up the act structure.
How about multisession burning? Or controlling the CD-audio subcode? (F'rinstance, I always disable the SCMS bit on my mix CDs.) Plenty of reasons to use third-party burning software. And Roxio is far from the only third party.
Of course, blurring that party line, Apple just boughtEmagic, publisher of several pro audio production and mastering tools -- including WaveBurner Pro, my choice for audio CD mastering and IMHO a ton better than Jam. I actually bought Toast with Jam but returned it due to (1) crossfade limitations and (2) WaveBurner Pro having a far better visual interface.
WB Pro does audio mastering right, but I still need a good tool for data burning; I was going to just get Toast sans Jam, but with this DRM news I may be shopping for an alternative.
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I finished watching Exeter and was plagued by this thought: Seven years of amateur effort by dedicated fans can produce sets and props and costumes that are stunning reproductions of TOS design -- but the best sets and props and costumes in the world still look second-rate in the hands of inexperienced filmmakers and actors.
Acting: Every actor on TOS could and did properly enunciate the dialogue. Despite the popularity of Shatner-bashing (and despite the man's disappointing personal appearances here and elsewhere): When you watch a TOS episode, you see a captain who appears to be busy running a ship and giving serious attention to the things he does. Look at the other leads and you see actors engaged in their characters. (Nimoy, my god, Nimoy.) Even the extras are serious about walking to the other side of the corridor. Whereas, I hate to say for such a passionate effort, Exeter had definitively wooden acting. The one who keeps coming to mind is the Klingon, who talked a mile a minute -- perfectly typical for an inexperienced actor, and awfully hard to hear. Plenty of other times, the actors look like they're just trying to remember where to stand (or forgetting to stand still).
Directing: Oh, the pacing. Oh, the clunky blocking.
Camera work: Admittedly pretty good for nonprofessionals, but a bit tighter technique could really enhance the scenes.
Lighting: This may be the single most deficient element in Exeter. A few good lights, properly arranged, and the whole show would have jumped to life. Well, visually, at least.
Throughout the whole episode, I kept thinking: Put this script in the hands of the TOS cast and crew, and they'd make something watchable for dramatic and cinematic value. As it stands, Exeter is interesting only for the visual details and, to a lesser degree, the writing.
It's an admirable amateur effort (in all honesty, I really enjoyed B'fuselek), but it doesn't compare favorably to TOS. If you want ammunition for TOS-bashing, don't load up with Exeter.
See also Sports Night, now available in a no-frills but nonetheless complete DVD set -- both seasons in one box.
Sports Night was canceled by ABC, who didn't know how to market it (it was a highly intelligent comedy -- imagine that). The final episode was a beautiful dig at ABC: "Anybody who can't make money off Sports Night should get out of the money-making business," spoken by the billionaire tech geek who bought out the fictitious CSC cable network and its "Sports Night" news show.
Sports Night featured one of my favorite characters ever, Jeremy Goodwin, a sports/computer nerd and a /. reader if there ever was one on TV.
Brilliant show. I wish they'd strip out the laugh track from the first season (as with the comparable M*A*S*H, the network didn't think viewers would know which parts were funny), but hey, that's for the Special Collector's Edition, right?
Note: You can check out Sports Night on Comedy Central, but they re-cut the episodes for different commercial breaks, which screws up the act structure.
Of course, blurring that party line, Apple just bought Emagic, publisher of several pro audio production and mastering tools -- including WaveBurner Pro, my choice for audio CD mastering and IMHO a ton better than Jam. I actually bought Toast with Jam but returned it due to (1) crossfade limitations and (2) WaveBurner Pro having a far better visual interface.
WB Pro does audio mastering right, but I still need a good tool for data burning; I was going to just get Toast sans Jam, but with this DRM news I may be shopping for an alternative.