Channel 4 just cut to BT Tower colour bars for around 5 seconds when they went to ITN for the (live?) Channel 4 news promo during the break on Fern.
Look out at around 6:50 on Channel 4+1
I always thought that the promos were recorded 'as live'. I missed the actual clip so I will watch it on 4+1 but could it be that ITN were late at playing output?
Fern is settling around 800,000 it seems. Some people are calling it a flop, but is it really? I know PoG's show had nearly 2 million, but I was thinking, what was Richard & Judy's ratings particularly at the start?
I always thought that the promos were recorded 'as live'. I missed the actual clip so I will watch it on 4+1 but could it be that ITN were late at playing output?
When Richard and Judy were on at that time, they would often speak to Jon Snow so there is history of it being live (assuming that Richard and Judy was 100% live). He sometimes mentions breaking news, although if course that could be anything up to a couple of hours old.
Ricky Gervais and co. are sounding a bit squeaky tonight - looks like someone's decided to do a quick and dirty NTSC->PAL speed-up for this week's episode, which they'll probably stick with once they realise it frees up 1m12s for more ads Does make the animation a bit smoother though.
Ricky Gervais and co. are sounding a bit squeaky tonight - looks like someone's decided to do a quick and dirty NTSC->PAL speed-up for this week's episode, which they'll probably stick with once they realise it frees up 1m12s for more ads Does make the animation a bit smoother though.
David
Not sure what you mean.
24fps (not 30fps) to 25fps speed up is the recommended way of converting US 24fps productions to UK 25fps (50Hz) stuff as it avoids nasty frame-interpolation standards conversion. It's the standard technique required by the BBC, ITV, C4, Sky etc. if at all possible. No NTSC involved... NTSC to PAL conversion would either be a real-time conversion or if a numpty is involved it would be a 30 to 25 fps slow down - which is much more noticable and would involve losing time not gaining it?
Decent conversions will do a pitch compensation - so people will still talk faster, but not at a higher pitch. Are you suggesting a cheap and nasty conversion has been done without pitch conversion?
Any decent conversion from 24 to 25fps will involve a speed up and a reduced running time - it's the best way of keeping the pictures looking nice (though some directors think it screws comedy timing)
Normally episodes of the Ricky Gervais Show aren't sped up, as far as I've been able to tell - the pitch is normal and you can see that the animation judders on pans. Tonight's is definitely sped up and not pitch-corrected.
"NTSC" was just shorthand - though I would have assumed they'd have been supplied as 30fps telecined (if not animated at 30fps in the first place).
Quote:
Any decent conversion from 24 to 25fps will involve a speed up and a reduced running time - it's the best way of keeping the pictures looking nice (though some directors think it screws comedy timing)
I remember reading something - probably a bit speculative - about automatic micro-editing to squeeze a few more seconds out of programmes, at the beginning and end of shots. Ever since then, I've wondered about some US sitcoms...
Afraid so - I've seen it occassionally before, though more on E4 than C4 I think. Surely something like The Killing is something you want people to get engrossed in, not watch passively.
Well - you've got to point people in the right direction to get annoyed that "#thekillingC4" is a pale imitation of the Danish original haven't you? At least they kept the music.
We now have a definite date for the end of Friends on C4: 30th September.
Quote:
E4 will attempt to be “creative and competitive” at 8pm by playing films, US comedies and UK-originated comedy when it loses Friends in September.
The licence for the American sitcom expires on 30 September, opening a huge gap of 1,043 hours annually in the channel’s schedule.
E4 channel manager Paul Mortimer explained: “The most obvious difference without Friends will be at 8pm, where we will be doing different things on different nights. It is a sign of E4’s maturity that we are able to be a bit more creative and competitive.”
He added: “We can play movies from 8pm to 10pm because some of our titles are 12 certificates and feel a bit young for 9pm, and we can also ramp up our US comedies.” US acquisition Happy Endings is due to start on E4 in September.
Existing programmes, such as The Big Bang Theory, which E4 has on an exclusive life-of-series basis, “will be working a lot harder” to anchor two nights of comedy on the channel, starting at 8pm. The Inbetweeners will also feature in the line-up.
Beyond comedy, E4 will continue to invest in non-scripted content such as Made In Chelsea, which is coming back in September for an extended 10-part run featuring Sir Philip Green’s daughter Chloe Green, and Tool Academy.
Ten brand new series are lined up for E4, most of which are due to start this year, Mortimer said. The programmes will include “lighter, pre-watershed formats, such as a dating show”, and a new series of PhoneShop, The Midnight Beast and Chris Addison’s Show And Tell.
Mortimer added: “Broadly speaking, Friends has played in the 5pm and 8pm slots for years. All that money coming back in [from not renewing the licence] means that there is a degree of richness and a bit more ambition, and we are rapidly developing ideas.
Does make the animation a bit smoother though.