Just seen a trailer on BBC1 for the New Episode of To the Manor Born which is on Christmas Day. I distinctly detected an awful synth version of the classic Ronnie Hazlehurst theme tune in the background. Please No!!! Surely in the year he passed away, they could use his wonderful original?
Yes, it would be a shame not to use the original theme. It was very similar to the later
"Yes, Minister/Prime Minister"
, so any meddling would confuse people as to which they had based it on.
Will it have a laughter track?
I've been looking at all the usual audience ticket websites for a couple of months and I've not seen a shout out for a live audience for this show.
For it's grand re-appearence after all these years the BBC are not going to used the audience kept in the file marked C:/SoundEffects/studio_audience_laughter.wav are they?
I've just seen an item on News24, I detected some element of FILMIC EFFECT being used on the VT elements.
I sincerely hope that it is NOT produced using that ghastly 'invention'.
Are you sure it wasn't shot in 25p? These days it is standard to shoot HD in 1080/25p rather than 50i. It is only SD productions that shoot 50i and "Film Effect" in post production, rather than shooting natively at film frame rates.
If you shoot in 25p natively then many of the mistakes made when shooting 50i and converting to 25p using "film effects" in post can be avoided - as you are seeing things as they will be broadcast - so avoid panning too fast etc. Also - you don't lose vertical resolution.
Cranford, Bleak House, Silent Witness, Last of the Summer Wine, Torchwood, Hotel Babylon, Robin Hood are all shot 25p native... Cranford looked stunning - and Silent Witness looks pretty good. I suspect many people assumed they WERE shot on film... (Particulary Silent Witness which has switched from 25fps Super 16 to 25p HD video)
Of course - it could be that To The Manor Born has been shot SD and flickered - as Doctor Who is...
By the way - looks like it was shot in HD - so it has probably been shot 25p rather than "film effected" in post. It is broadcast on BBC HD on Boxing Day.
Think you have to be careful between "Film Effect" - which is widely used to mean artificial treating 50Hz (aka 50i) video - and shooting natively at 25p (the same frame rate as film) which is common for HD drama as 25p (24p in the US) HD video is increasingly being used as a replacement for film in TV (and movie) drama.
I have never been a fan of shooting 50i and flickering in post - the reduction in vertical resolution and the inability to preview motion whilst you are shooting are the major issues. However shooting at 25p solves both of these - and if done well is pretty similar to shooting on film these days.
(BTW - never heard "filmic" used as a technical term - more an aesthetic description)