I’ve watched the first two episodes. The writing is above average, the acting less so.
Critics are remarking about the ability of the actors to do what they do in a single cut, as if such feats weren’t routine in a few thousand years of live theater. People still marvel at SNL being live, even though that’s how most TV was done for a couple of decades in the so-called golden age. I’ll keep watching for the story, but the visual gimmick isn’t adding anything. The technology allowing them to do it has come a long way since “Russian Ark”, which is impressive, but it isn’t needed, and as PGage wondered about using alternate takes, I think the acting might be better if the actors were able to offer a few versions of scenes instead of being locked into one take in this format. Kevin M. (RPCV) On Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 6:39 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote: > It’s just stunning. The single take episodes in one way are a bit of a > distraction, as it is hard not to be taken out of it wondering how they did > it. But mostly it deepens the storytelling, and it is almost like watching > 4 one hour plays. I wonder what it would have been like to use takes where > there were a few flubs? And I too was totally obsessed with how they got > all those background teenagers to hit their marks. > > Most of the actors are superb, and I agree Owen Cooper is amazing (I read > he was not a professional actor), but, maybe because I am a father, I was > most deeply effected by Stephen Graham (also co-creator and co-writer). > Graham is always attention getting in his previous work, but I never > dreamed he was capable of this depth of subtlety and complexity. > > This is the kind of show that if you don’t have a Netflix subscription you > should get one for a single month just to watch this (and then maybe a > couple of seasons of “Is it Cake”). > > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > > On Tue, 18 Mar 2025 at 3:45 AM Adam Bowie <a...@adambowie.co.uk> wrote: > >> I've now seen this miniseries, and it's truly exceptional. Magnificent >> acting from everyone, especially the young kid, Owen Cooper, who's making >> his screen debut as the subject of the whole series. The second episode set >> in a school is a technical tour de force with hundreds of school kids as >> extras being moved around classrooms and playgrounds, and it examines some >> very relevant aspects of society. The third is the simplest of the four >> episodes, yet is easily the most powerful, essentially being a remarkable >> two-hander. >> >> Highly recommended. >> >> There's also a bit more floating around about how this series was >> actually made. As I mentioned, each episode really was done in a single >> shot. And yes, they attached the camera to a drone at the end of episode >> two to get the flight over to the car park. Netflix has posted a video >> showing how it was achieved: >> https://x.com/NetflixUK/status/1901617851192033326 >> >> Each episode was first carefully rehearsed in short segments until they'd >> put together the full hour. Then they had multiple attempts at filming the >> whole episode. I believe the idea was they have five filming days for the >> episode with one take in the morning and a second in the afternoon. But in >> reality, fluffs and mess-ups meant more than 10 takes for many episodes. >> According to Netflix the takes used were: >> >> Ep 1 - Take 2 - shot on shoot day 1 of 5 >> Ep 2 - Take 13 - shot on shoot day 5 of 5 >> Ep 3 - Take 11 - shot on shoot day 5 of 5 >> Ep 4 - Take 16 - shot on shoot day 5 of 5 >> >> >> >> Adam >> >> >> >> On Sat, Mar 15, 2025 at 11:23 AM Doug Eastick <east...@eastick.ca> wrote: >> >>> Fascinating. >>> >>> Well near the end of episode two there must be a camera handoff from a >>> steadicam support to a drone or chopper for a high altitude flyover >>> transition from one plot area to another plot area. >>> >>> >>> >>> /Doug >>> east...@mcd.on.ca >>> >>> On Sat, Mar 15, 2025, 02:35 Adam Bowie <a...@adambowie.co.uk> wrote: >>> >>>> The episodes are indeed all "one-ers" as they call them. Each episode >>>> was rehearsed for two weeks before they shot it in a single take. I don't >>>> believe any trickery was used to hide edits. >>>> >>>> The director has worked before with actor/creator Stephen Graham, in >>>> this style on the movie Boiling Point, set behind the scenes at a >>>> restaurant. That too was a single take. (The spin-off TV series did not use >>>> the same technique). >>>> >>>> That all said, I've still to watch Adolescence, although >>>> writer/co-creator Jack Thorne has an incredible resume, including >>>> everything from Toxic Town on Netflix to the Harry Potter stage show. >>>> >>>> >>>> Adam >>>> >>>> On Sat, Mar 15, 2025, 01:36 Doug Eastick <east...@eastick.ca> wrote: >>>> >>>>> British cop show about an adolescent murder. I'm only two episodes in. >>>>> >>>>> Interesting characters and mystery. Also kinda nice to see a different >>>>> justice system rather than referring to Miranda or amendments :). >>>>> >>>>> The cinematography seems to use one long steady continuous steadicam >>>>> shot for a whole episode. I'm starting, I think, to see where they make >>>>> either cuts (panning walls, passersby ) or digital fades). Either way, >>>>> still fascinating to watch. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> /Doug >>>>> east...@mcd.on.ca >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To view this discussion visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAK5Q1BrnORSTNGy2By_x1woPh29U%3D_VeyAPTGkUOuJuNzSXpaA%40mail.gmail.com >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAK5Q1BrnORSTNGy2By_x1woPh29U%3D_VeyAPTGkUOuJuNzSXpaA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To view this discussion visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGAQbqv46qCSUnTvj6AgJKjVbAYOSY3L44fWN95%3DTtNbJQ%40mail.gmail.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGAQbqv46qCSUnTvj6AgJKjVbAYOSY3L44fWN95%3DTtNbJQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAK5Q1BpBiFYm02ps8T0BWrAtRjoXHRrQufMgKLgqTx9G-Skuuw%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAK5Q1BpBiFYm02ps8T0BWrAtRjoXHRrQufMgKLgqTx9G-Skuuw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGC_Om-Z1oTMFj3%2B2Q9pEkfaABW0Wqy04%2B6jmAqr1FHxLQ%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGC_Om-Z1oTMFj3%2B2Q9pEkfaABW0Wqy04%2B6jmAqr1FHxLQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYJFTG0EhbJPDbvQvQkWOg_QbrTOWif5QKYSUOO2189Ybg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYJFTG0EhbJPDbvQvQkWOg_QbrTOWif5QKYSUOO2189Ybg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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