Series 4 graphics reimagined

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GrandDizzy
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Series 4 graphics reimagined

Post by GrandDizzy »

I'm not the biggest fan of the artistic changes from series 4 onwards—not just the move away from hand illustrations, but the move away from beauty and dramatic lighting, with everything looking slightly grittier and flatter, with more unnatural colours.

Since I'm a graphics guy, I thought it might be fun to reimagine how series 4 might have looked. I took a quick screen grab from YouTube and came up with a couple of alternatives. I really just did this for my own amusement but thought I'd share it here in case anyone else found it interesting :-) Also because this forum could do with some threads!

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s4t8brett
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Re: Series 4 graphics reimagined

Post by s4t8brett »

More of those re-touched Series 4 scenes would be lovely, Grandizzy!! I always thought the Dunswater scene unnecessarily grey.

What Series 4 does have in its favour, though, in my opinion, is a good mix of David Rowe-painted scenes, CGI animations (like the Swinging Axe chamber) and location recording.

Also, when we filmed it, I didn't think the backgrounds noticeably bad in the high-res shots we were getting in the studio. One possible exception was the first forest trail after we obtained the Eye Shield, which always seemed pixellated and weirdly psychedelic.
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Re: Series 4 graphics reimagined

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s4t8brett wrote: 04 Dec 2019, 19:42 More of those re-touched Series 4 scenes would be lovely, Grandizzy!! I always thought the Dunswater scene unnecessarily grey.
Just a bit of fun, really, but I will have to do some more when I get a chance.
s4t8brett wrote: 04 Dec 2019, 19:42 What Series 4 does have in its favour, though, in my opinion, is a good mix of David Rowe-painted scenes, CGI animations (like the Swinging Axe chamber) and location recording.
I agree, it is a nice mix. I mean no disrespect at all to the creative team behind series 4. I really enjoyed the series. I'm just ultra-nostalgic about the first three series.

I suppose Tim Child's vision was always for Knightmare to be like a videogame, so I guess, technically, the show was merely fulfilling its original brief by moving more over to CGI.

It's just that I loved the "fantasy storybook" style of the earlier series.
s4t8brett wrote: 04 Dec 2019, 19:42One possible exception was the first forest trail after we obtained the Eye Shield, which always seemed pixellated and weirdly psychedelic.
LOL, yes, there is a fine line between a colourful fantasy world and, as you rightly put it, 'psychadelic'. Some of the pink and purple was a little heavy.

Hey, I've just realised you were a contestant! I will have to do some screens from team 8! LOL

May I ask a question about the filming, which I've always wondered? I presume there were lots of breaks in the shooting while the production crew prepared sets etc. I was wondering how often filming would be stopped, and roughly what was the ratio of break time to actual filming? And what happened during the breaks? Did Hugo keep silent/leave the set?
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Mystara
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Re: Series 4 graphics reimagined

Post by Mystara »

Awesome stuff :)
I suppose Tim Child's vision was always for Knightmare to be like a videogame, so I guess, technically, the show was merely fulfilling its original brief by moving more over to CGI.
That's generally been my take on things and I think he's even said as much. More recent incarnations of Knightmare (such as Knightmare VR) have often done away with the helmet, too.
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Re: Series 4 graphics reimagined

Post by GrandDizzy »

Another one…

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s4t8brett
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Re: Series 4 graphics reimagined

Post by s4t8brett »

Hey, I've just realised you were a contestant! I will have to do some screens from team 8! LOL

>> That would be great to see, Grandizzy. Thirty years next year; Tempus fugit ...

May I ask a question about the filming, which I've always wondered? I presume there were lots of breaks in the shooting while the production crew prepared sets etc. I was wondering how often filming would be stopped, and roughly what was the ratio of break time to actual filming? And what happened during the breaks? Did Hugo keep silent/leave the set?

>> Good question, Grandizzy. Actually, we left the set! We lived in a green room for most of the time, with series 3 and a computer for entertainment. Sometimes we went shopping, or to the cinema of an evening to watch Back to the Future III. Once I saw Hugo enjoying a pipe in a side room.

How long between filming for series 4? About an hour, give or take 30 mins or so I would say. There were very short breaks if an eye shield sequence was attached to a location, and some latter sequences were recorded virtually back-to-back (the three river crossing shots and the three Falling Bridge/Valley of Decision shots). The longest break was probably before Ariadne's lair, not least because we had a Fire Drill to delay things (and tricky for Paul Valentine to get right in rehearsal, I would imagine).

Merry Christmas to everyone reading this on Christmas Eve!
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