The new KM episode is up!
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Well I have only just found out about this episode and only just watched it. I don't come here very often so I guess I'm not as much of a hardcore Knightmare fan as most of you. I haven't read through this thread yet but just want to post my thoughts about this episode.
OVERALL
Overall, while I was very excited about this, I find it a very odd mix of professional production values and distinctly amateur work. On a conscious level, I found that confusing; at the subconscious level I found it jarring. What am I watching here? A fan project or something professional? The episode itself didn't seem to know, and that was perhaps the biggest problem.
THINGS I LIKED
• First and foremost, SO wonderful to see Hugo back as Treguard once more!
• Solid performances from the guest cast.
• Excellent costumes.
• Great script which felt more or less just like classic Knightmare.
So all the elements were there for a great show. However, I'm afraid that most of what I have to say is criticisms. I am not writing this just to moan, I write it respectfully, as a fan, in a spirit of providing feedback so as to help improve any future productions.
CRITICISMS
• My biggest complaint of all was the backgrounds/graphics. Now I really don't like to be rude about other people's work, but I must be honest here and say I really did not like the graphics and that spoilt the whole thing for me. The rooms taken from original Knightmare artwork were covered with coarse digital noise and looked really ugly. As for the other rooms it all just looked really flat, blocky, aliased, plainly lit, covered with heavy noise, and basically everything just looked like cheap videogame graphics. Treguard's room was the worst. It just looks so unfinished and lacking in detail. There could at least have been an animated fire burning in the corner?
• There seemed to be no reverb at all on any of the mics. The classic series made good use of reverb to give that castle/dungeon feeling.
• There seemed to be very few sound effects (eg for the life force). That, to me, is an absolutely essential detail. Without sound effects, it just feels dead and lifeless. In the classic series, it always seemed to me that if there were a bit of an episode where not much was going on, they would show the life force for a few seconds just to give the scene a bit of "life" (excuse the pun).
• I found a lot of the camera framing highly questionable. One shot that comes to mind is near the beginning where Daisy is talking to the team and she is looking out of frame in profile. One of her eyes is hidden. Other shots place the team at the bottom of the screen with the ugliest of dead space above their heads.
• Many of the cameras are interlaced. Obviously a budget constraint but still a shame.
• Some very dodgy editing in places which I am sure most people picked up on. But also some subtle details such as Treguard giving important dialogue without cutting to a shot of him. Conversely, someone thought it was a good idea to show Daisy awkwardly squeezing between the chair and the wall?
• Also some timing issues with regards to people talking over each other, though that is less of a post-production issue and just needs lots of pre-planning.
• I really feel Treguard's room should be a real set. Even just a black, featureless room would have been better than this cheap-looking videogame room. IMHO, Treguard's room needs to have a strong sense of reality in order to provide the "anchor" to the real world, whilst the dungeoneer is out there walking around a fantasy world.
• While Hugo always was, and always will be, an outstanding performer, for some reason in this episode his voice and delivery seemed to lack the strong, harsh, deep and piercing quality he always used to have. He seemed a little placid during this shoot, though as for his voice seeming softer, I suspect that may be down to the micking.
• I did not like the choice of contestants. Now I don't mean that in a personal way, they were lovely people, I just don't think they were Knightmare material. First of all, they are probably the strangest most sinister-looking group of contestants I've probably ever seen on ANY gameshow. And that kind of defeats the object, because the show is supposed to be about taking a group of "normal, average people" (who are portraying the good guys) and putting them in amongst strange fantastical characters. But these contestants were so "un-average", they almost looked like part of the cast. I also thought these contestants were a little too cocky, jokey and familiar with Tregard. There was no sense of this being real with anything at stake. They feel like "relaxed videogame players" rather than "serious contestants".
SUGGESTION FOR THE CONTESTANTS
For future productions I think contestants should be chosen who:
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Are "normal" looking. Plainly dressed, inconspicuous.
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Of a serious and sensible disposition, who will show proper reverence and subordination towards Treguard the dungeonmaster
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Really want to win, perhaps with a prize on offer of some significance.
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Have been adequately prepared by the producers (and all staff) before shooting to make sure there is a serious and sober frame of mind, having had no contact with Hugo prior to shooting, and Hugo only speaking to them in character.
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Perhaps a few common sense rules given out with serious emphasis. Don't talk to Treguard unless he speaks to you. Always follow his instructions. Don't make jokes.
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It would be wonderful to get younger people on the show, perhaps children again. It's so much more engaging to watch contestants who almost believe it is real and get emotionally involved. And then there's the golden rule of gameshows which says the viewer always likes to think he's smarter than the contestants, which is easier when it's a bunch of kids playing
All this might seem unnecessary but for me one of the greatest strengths of the show was always its sense of "reality" and dramatic weight. Hugo's performance has always sent a chill down my spine (and I am surely not the only one) when he looks at the camera menacingly and tells you "It's only a game… isn't it?". For me, this is the heart of what makes Knightmare great, and this is totally undermined when you have contestants casually waltzing onto the show, smirking and making impromptu Monkey Island quips. All of Hugo's performing is just rendered trivial by this.
None of this is meant as an insult to these four contestants, whom I liked as people. I count myself among those who would not be suitable as a contestant because I am very jokey too. I don't think people like me should be on the show! The show needs to feel real. It needs contestants who are young, naive, nervous, and very, very middle-class
SUGGESTION FOR THE GRAPHICS
Finally, I don't know who did the graphics and I really don't wish to be rude, but if another episode is made, I think it would be very wise to ask the fan community for contributions, because there are people here who would have happily provided artwork that is arguably far more in line with classic Knightmare artwork. Alex Fruen is one such candidate (http://www.knightmare.com/fan-stuff/miscellaneous/1547-dungeon-design). And I am another, being a professional graphic designer with plenty of illustration in my portfolio.
Well, all of my criticism is given with love, as a fan. I hope I didn't cause any offense. Clearly, this wasn't a 100% professional collaboration and I assume a lot of fan effort went into making this episode. So even if the final result wasn't perfect, the effort is still appreciated nonetheless, especially the effort in actually bringing Knightmare back!
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I know what you mean about the "fan project" feel, missing all the little details that made the original production so excellent (plus the editing issues you mentioned), but I think it's just because of the time and budget constraints. Not ideal, but we can't really expect anything more polished under the circumstances. (I don't believe any fans were actually involved in making the episode, though, as implied by your last paragraph. I assume David Rowe worked on the graphics, as there's going to be some Geek Week stuff in his upcoming Art of Knightmare book.)
I am not writing this just to moan, I write it respectfully, as a fan, in a spirit of providing feedback so as to help improve any future productions.
Yes, I hope it's clear that all of us who criticised elements of the episode were doing so in that spirit. We just want the show to be the best (and therefore most successful) that it can be!
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It needs contestants who are young, naive, nervous, and very, very middle-class
I don't think it matters what 'class' your in, how would it matter?
Other than that you're pretty much spot on with everything else I think, but it was never going to be a fully polished episode, as for the 'fan episode' feeling I thought it was more of a spoof of itself which felt a bit weird to me.
The contestants had personality which I think isn't a bad thing but they did appear to be attempting to crack a few jokes and live up to their youtube identity's, at least that's how it came across to me, adding to that spoofy vibe I get when I watch it. It was a 'celebrity special' after all. Dunno about their normality, they looked liked regular kids too me.
At the end of the day, it wonderful they thought KM was still popular and relevant to even make the episode, and it has kicked some new life into it.
A new series can't be far. >
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GrandDizzy, I think you made some valid points and I do agree with some of the things you have mentioned.
I will say that it would have been amazing if 4 people from the forum had the chance to have taken part in the geek week episode. Don't get me wrong, Stuart, Dan, Phil and Emma were nice enough but it's a shame the likes of us didn't get a chance to participate.
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Valid points, GrandDizzy, and Canadanne has hit the nail on the head really.
In a typical series, the team would have several weeks for technical setup. Rooms would be tested and rehearsed, camera angles worked out, etc. for this production, the team had one day. That includes all set construction (e.g the voids), costume design, light setup, software calibration, etc. this is largely why there was no antechamber set - there was simply no time.
Similarly, there was very little time available for editing.
Regarding the team, again, it all depends on how you view the episode. If you see it as a brand new episode then yeah, it's going to be different. If you take it as a one-off, special, geek week episode, I think this is the only way it can be done.
Regarding graphics - I am fairly sure that David prepared some, but that at least some of them went unused. If I remember rightly , David made an antechamber that had to be replaced at the last minute. The local chroma key expert was telling me that the dungeons actually have to look a bit fake or cartoonish. Apparently making them highly realistic produces a weird effect. I found it interesting that they actually have to worsen the digital environment. Perhaps that is the source of the digital noise you mention.
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Slightly amused by GrandDizzy's assertion that contestants should by middle class (counts me out then!) Seriously though, you've made some good points GrandDizzy, and given probably the best review of the episode that I have read so far.
I view the Geek Week episode as a sort precursor to future Knightmare (I hope!). I seem to recall Tim Child saying that a lot of the reason for making the episode was to use as a pilot to market a potential production companies. Does anyone know whether Tim has been actively seeking a collaboration with a production company on the basis of the Geek Week episode?
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Delayed for a possible convention.
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Grandizzy, I would respectfully challenge two points you made, a} the cast looked completely unsinister to me, if I met them down an alley late at night I wouldn't be too worried. b) and adventure and escapism should be for kids of any background. I think your point is prebably unsinister meaning just that middle class kids somehow are less assertive/confident, making the threat of the dungeon seem more real in comparison. Anyway a can of worms to be left alone but I wanted to challenge. Peace
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To clarify, my "middle class" comment was mostly humorous. (Did no one notice the laughing smiley I put after it?) I might also have said contestants must be from Yorkshire (since there seemed to be so many Yorkshire teams in the early days).
I suppose what I was getting at with "middle class" was that the children on the show were usually quite well-read and well-educated and suitable for answering questions on popular mythology and literary fiction. In contrast, most young people today are far more familiar with pop culture than classic fiction and mythology, aside from what is popularised on screen. So, class aside, I think you need children who are fairly well educated.
Also, there litteracy skill's r like literally, alot more worser than what they where before I groan up. So they's might struggle too spellcast complicated woard's like "web" and "sun"
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ok thanks, well I agree on the Yorkshire bit, a great accent
I think overall including myself any fans of anything, can get a bit precious about how they think things should be. Taken to extremes you get Misery by Stephen King, where an obsessed fan kidnaps their favourite author and forces them write more novels about their favourite character, but only in a way that sits in with their idealised vision. Maybe Tim Child feels the same way >:-]
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The local chroma key expert was telling me that the dungeons actually have to look a bit fake or cartoonish. Apparently making them highly realistic produces a weird effect. I found it interesting that they actually have to worsen the digital environment. Perhaps that is the source of the digital noise you mention.
I would totally agree that the aim is definitely not for photo-realistic backdrops. That's because there will always be discrepancies between the live action and backgrounds (lighting, tone, contrast, sharpness etc.) and so the closer the background gets to photo-realism the more obvious these discrepancies become to the eye. So a slightly cartoony or stylised look is preferable. Also for the additional reason that we want to see the dungeoneer standing in a make-believe world. We don't want gritty reality, we want fantasy.
So my criticism of the graphics certainly wasn't that they lacked realism. I have a bunch of subtle criticisms but mostly that all the surfaces had a very strong and busy "noise" texture. I found it quite overwhelming and the dungeoneer is kind of "lost" amongst all the detail. Now I find it hard to imagine David Rowe having created these graphics (with the exception of Lord Fear's room, which was beautiful) because David's illustration always had surfaces that were soft, clean and elegant, really quite delicately painted and quite the opposite of this. (I suppose there is the possibility that David always used strong textures in his work which wasn't visible in SD but now is visible in HD?)
It's similar to when you paint backdrops for a stage production such as a pantomime: you generally don't use strong colours or large amounts of high contrast, you make everything softer and plainer, so that the performers really stand out against them. Same when I design backgrounds for catalogue pages. Colours have to be soft and not too distracting so that the products stand out
Well, this is all just my humble opinion. I am still really pleased with the episode, still happy that Knightmare came back. None of my criticisms represent a "thumbs down" from me. The whole thing is a triumph and I am really pleased. Knightmare is the best gameshow ever made.
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I suppose what I was getting at with "middle class" was that the children on the show were usually quite well-read and well-educated and suitable for answering questions on popular mythology and literary fiction
And kids from a working class background aren't ?
A lot of working class kids meet your requirements, and many middle class kids don't, class should be irrelevant I feel.
I don't think KM would had worked as well if it did look very realistic, part of the charm is that weird, illusions feel of the show,(I'm kinda anti CGI) Computer graphics look there worse when trying to look realistic I find
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Yep agree there Wombstar, one of the beauties of the show was it appealed and provided escapism to kids from all backgrounds. Intelligent + perceptive kids can be from any background.
I feel where there is less opportunity for Knightmare or a show like it now to suceed, is that immersive computer games like Warcraft/Runescape/Diablo/many others can now provide that escapism. There wasn't too much in the way of competition back then. The adventures of Zelda and Gaunlett perhaps, but still a world away from what games can create now
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Class has nothing to do with it but I do like my KM teams to have a certain meekness and respect for authority. The show rewarded those who followed the rules of the game - the dungeon was never a place for rebels.
This was my problem with the geek week team; they were too familiar, too cocky, too jokey and at no point really gave the impression they gave a stuff about winning.
Still, they got killed off so I guess the system works
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Thanks for dropping by the forum again, GrandDizzy. It's good to see such and old member (old as in long-standing) among our current posters. If only you'd written 'stereotypically middle class', your comment might have generated a bit less controversy. But probably not.
The children on the show were usually quite well-read and well-educated and suitable for answering questions on popular mythology and literary fiction. In contrast, most young people today are far more familiar with pop culture than classic fiction and mythology, aside from what is popularised on screen
Though even in the '80s we had Knightmare contestants hearing "Theseus [and] Labyrinth" and thinking of David Bowie films rather than Greek mythology! I have mixed feelings about the Geek Week contestants, but ultimately there were benefits in the big fanbases that they pointed in Knightmare's direction, however fleetingly.
If I remember rightly , David made an antechamber that had to be replaced at the last minute.
This may be the graphic that David has recently posted on Facebook.
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If I remember rightly , David made an antechamber that had to be replaced at the last minute.
This may be the graphic that David has recently posted on Facebook.[/quote]
That is beautiful. Very striking. What a shame that it wasn't used.
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Thanks for dropping by the forum again, GrandDizzy.
Thanks, Drassil. Great to be here. Obviously I'm not a regular, but occasionally I like to return , "entering" as a "stranger".
This may be the graphic that David has recently posted on Facebook.
Oh wow. Now you're talking! How sad that this vastly superior antechamber graphic wasn't used, I can only presume there weren't enough angles available for it to be used? I can think of no other logical reason. Shame.
It's lovely to see that David Rowe still has great affection for the programme and is proud of his work (which he should be), and that he was involved with the new episode to some degree. I really hope I haven't unwittingly criticised any of his work, since I have such respect for him. But I cannot deny that to my eyes those new rooms just seemed so starkly different in style to David's classic painted Knightmare backdrops.
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