I have a very good friend with whom I share a lot of TV and books and movies who once described watching Torchwood as being like crack: you know its terrible for you, you know its not amazing TV, but you have to keep watching, and when you don't, you go through withdrawal. I thought the part about having to keep watching and withdrawal to be apt (I have not examined Torchwood closely enough to decide whether its really terrible or not, I think its because I'm scared to). But the point is, some shows are like crack, and I think a prime example is Glee.
Glee's pull is the music. A show where people sing? Its like having a musical every episode and that's awesome. I love musical episodes -- they tend to be my favorite episode in a series. I love musicals in general, and so I decided to try Glee.
The major problem with Glee is not the characters (though they could use some work), nor is the plot (hackneyed and cliche in some places), its the pacing. I know I have already discussed pacing -- but that was the good kind of pacing, the kind that draws you in and compels you to keep going. Glee either is attempting this and failing, or the writers have no idea what's going on.
I started Glee after four episodes had aired and felt the compulsion to tear my hair out. They stuff so much plot into those four episodes that it feels like a full half season. Rachel and Finn happen far too quickly, the emotional pull of Emma and Will is too rapid for me to love them. Quinn is pregnant and its really Puck's, but she makes Finn think its his, and Terri is faking a pregnancy. Too much stuff is going on in four episodes for one season, let alone four episodes. The problem continues as the show goes on.
The central plot at the beginning of the series -- that glee club has to succeed in order to continue -- fizzles and dies as the series gets its back nine and so we lose the suspense that could have been built. Terri has an outrageous plan that is so stupid it hurts and degrades Will's character to a chump. Seriously? He wasn't aware that his wife was being really weird about her pregnancy? The plot meanders in and out, and attempts to be interesting, but because it was blown too early, you lose that chance.
The other thing you lose is emotion. I found this particularly jarring in recent episodes when moments that are supposed to be heartwarming just didn't make sense. I am bothered by the Rachel finding her mother storyline. Yeah, it could be interesting eventually to find out about Rachel's mother -- but leave that for another couple of seasons! You have another two already ordered, why bring in something that forces emotionality on the audience when it hasn't been built too? I was confused, sincerely confused, as to why Rachel would want to find her mother. She explained at the beginning that her "two gay dads" had found a surrogate, and yet when the mother thing came up, she suddenly wanted to know why her mother had given her up.
Well, because your mother was a surrogate, and your two gay dads wanted you and had paid money to have you.
The sudden jump to finding her mother happened in two episodes -- and herein lies another problem. This show seems to not understand the concept of time. Terri has been faking her pregnancy since after Quinn got pregnant, and yet Terri had to start padding right away while Quinn still looks like she's not in the slightest pregnant. Additionally, Terri's plan to have Quinn give her the baby during Quinn's spring break seems to be all wrong, as spring break for Jesse already happened and Quinn still doesn't look pregnant. We also spend so much time waiting for sectionals/regionals and get told its coming up so soon, yet because of that we lose the urgency that the writers were looking for.
I suppose the point of this is, Glee is an example of a show that has pacing problems. Its not a good show as a result, and is therefore like crack -- you have to keep watching it because maybe there will be a time when the writers realize what their doing and the show will become good. And in the meantime you get to listen to music. Yes, fast paced is good, but there is something to knowing when too much is happening in a show for its own good.
So take the lesson from Glee. Pacing is important. Work on it, and you might have something that is worth it, instead of just addictive (and will eventually make you lose your teeth).
Showing posts with label Torchwood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torchwood. Show all posts
Friday, May 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
First Tags
In one of the current novels I'm working on, I decided to write it with a TV shows standard arcs, as if each chapter was an episode of a season. It worked really well to be honest, and I got reinvested in my newest novel again by thinking about trying it again. Only this time making the chapters actually like episodes of TV shows. So I started looking at tags of the first episode of various shows.
Legend of the Seeker came to mind first as it is an epic fantasy (similar to what my novel will be like). LotS starts with Kahlan running from a quad, and heading into Westland. Then you go to Richard... half naked... okay, distracted. Craig Horner's torso is just so attractive.
If you think about it in terms of character developement, the tag is an important event. You've got your first impression of the characters in these brief moments. Here we get an impression of Kahlan -- strongly. We start out with her in action -- running. She also has an emotional, caring moment when her sister gets shot. We get to see the major facets of her personality in the first, what five minutes? We also get to see Kahlan's power at work, and watch her face down death without fear. And then she's all "I'm a lone ranger you can't touch me emotionally!" but is totally into Richard even though she knows its wrong.
Richard as well gets some of this. We see Richard caring about a young boy and being a generally nice and sweet guy -- and then we get to see him being really impulsive and running off to help Kahlan because she's pretty in white. Or because that's what his personality is like. He doesn't back down from a fight, he defends the weak (well he thinks Kahlan is weak), and tries to help even though she's a stranger.
And of course we get to start with the UST. Kahlan and Richard get into it right away and the music indicates everything you need to know about their future relationship.
I stopped off next with Xena, same creative vibe from it, but older, because I'm writing a fantasy, but also because my novel deals with a redemptive quest and who better to look at then Xena for that?
The tag once again sets up characters well. Xena has two protagonists: Xena (duh) and Gabrielle.
Xena's first scene is melancholic as she attempts to deal with events in her past (we see through flashbacks that she was a warrior princess pretty much), and she wants to make up for her past sins. She has a conversation with a boy who's parents she killed, and decides to give up her battle gear -- attempting to bury it. But when given the opportunity to fight, she enjoys it -- you can see it on her face the way she laughs and has this bright smile on her face, because its what she's meant to do. Thus, we are set up with a conflicted character, one who wants to do the right thing, but doesn't know how to not fight.
Gabrielle's first act on the show is to offer herself in place of another. If you've seen the show, it is completely who Gabrielle is. She is never conflicted about her actions, knows what is right and will act on it. What you see as the tag moves on is that she's fighting -- she wants to save herself and others -- but in another way its also fighting against what she is. Gabrielle does go under significant changes as the show progresses, but she will always be at the heart of the matter, and will remain Xena's moral center.
Without even trying too hard this show has set up the central conflict, and without the protagonists having a conversation, you can tell what's going to happen already. Its a very strong tag in that way. Character here is more important even then in what happened in LotS because it is so well defined that you don't really need plot to move it forward.
Moving on to a show that is not high fantasy, but more sci-fi, I looked at Torchwood's opening. They don't really have a tag for this episode, so I just watched a bit, knowing what happens in its entirety.
As a great lover of this show I would say that the character's well done in this tag as any other -- but as a more impartial, looking for information kind of viewer, I would say you get hints from this tag. There's the hint about Jack being not quite normal (Jack: Still at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again.) and Owen being a bit of an ass, as no one wants him to talk to the dead guy, and Tosh being not so good at communication. The best you get from it is that Jack is the father figure of the group, and Gwen is a clever-clogs because she figures out how to watch Torchwood at work.
Gwen then gets more of an intro with the rest of the act (and episode). They introduce her as an every woman -- though in reality she's kind of special -- but the point of the tag is to make the viewer feel like you're with Gwen the whole time. She is our lead in and as a result, she is the most important character. Its interesting to see how she gets drawn into this world where there are weevils and people get brought back to life, and how she won't let it go, won't stop picking at the surface of things, as if she just has to know (which comes up later in the show).
By giving her the tenacity to keep going despite the odds, we get invested and I think that's what gives this tag its edge. Unlike the previous two examples, we're drawn in as Gwen is, and its not so much about character as it is about the possibility of what she's looking at.
We see in the Firefly tag the loss of the Battle of Serenity Valley. This is a classic setting up a story so exposition doesn't have to happen later and I love Joss Whedon for doing it this way. This is a very important scene in Mal's life -- and in Zoe's -- but definitely Mal's, and it builds his character incredibly. You see him caring for his men, looking out for people and truly believing in something -- the moment when he kisses the cross -- that's the moment. And you see it -- the Mal we know, or will come to know, who will never give up. We also get the usual amusingness of Joss Whedon's dialogue with Wash. And there is a set up for what this show is going to be about -- space pirates.
The thing about Firefly's tag is that it does so much with so little time -- setting up the show, introducing us to our main protagonist, dealing with the fact that Mal is a haunted, haunted man, and seeing the clear difference between Mal of the past and Mal now (also, Nathan Fillion being on a Joss Whedon show and not scaring the shit out of me... oh well, I watched Buffy before Firefly I realize that Nathan Fillion was Mal before he was Caleb).
Speaking of Buffy, in her show we have an interesting situation -- considering Darla is set up, and she's not a main character. But its a good way to show what exactly is going to happen in this series -- vampires exist, and we're going to blow your silly little minds. Its much shorter then the other tags I looked at and I think that's what makes it so worth while. Its to the point, we don't get character development, its a good start to a monster of the week kind of show.
Lets look at an example out of the fantasy realm -- Grey's Anatomy has a sort of shtick that makes introductions easy -- the voice over:
Legend of the Seeker came to mind first as it is an epic fantasy (similar to what my novel will be like). LotS starts with Kahlan running from a quad, and heading into Westland. Then you go to Richard... half naked... okay, distracted. Craig Horner's torso is just so attractive.
If you think about it in terms of character developement, the tag is an important event. You've got your first impression of the characters in these brief moments. Here we get an impression of Kahlan -- strongly. We start out with her in action -- running. She also has an emotional, caring moment when her sister gets shot. We get to see the major facets of her personality in the first, what five minutes? We also get to see Kahlan's power at work, and watch her face down death without fear. And then she's all "I'm a lone ranger you can't touch me emotionally!" but is totally into Richard even though she knows its wrong.
Richard as well gets some of this. We see Richard caring about a young boy and being a generally nice and sweet guy -- and then we get to see him being really impulsive and running off to help Kahlan because she's pretty in white. Or because that's what his personality is like. He doesn't back down from a fight, he defends the weak (well he thinks Kahlan is weak), and tries to help even though she's a stranger.
And of course we get to start with the UST. Kahlan and Richard get into it right away and the music indicates everything you need to know about their future relationship.
I stopped off next with Xena, same creative vibe from it, but older, because I'm writing a fantasy, but also because my novel deals with a redemptive quest and who better to look at then Xena for that?
The tag once again sets up characters well. Xena has two protagonists: Xena (duh) and Gabrielle.
Xena's first scene is melancholic as she attempts to deal with events in her past (we see through flashbacks that she was a warrior princess pretty much), and she wants to make up for her past sins. She has a conversation with a boy who's parents she killed, and decides to give up her battle gear -- attempting to bury it. But when given the opportunity to fight, she enjoys it -- you can see it on her face the way she laughs and has this bright smile on her face, because its what she's meant to do. Thus, we are set up with a conflicted character, one who wants to do the right thing, but doesn't know how to not fight.
Gabrielle's first act on the show is to offer herself in place of another. If you've seen the show, it is completely who Gabrielle is. She is never conflicted about her actions, knows what is right and will act on it. What you see as the tag moves on is that she's fighting -- she wants to save herself and others -- but in another way its also fighting against what she is. Gabrielle does go under significant changes as the show progresses, but she will always be at the heart of the matter, and will remain Xena's moral center.
Without even trying too hard this show has set up the central conflict, and without the protagonists having a conversation, you can tell what's going to happen already. Its a very strong tag in that way. Character here is more important even then in what happened in LotS because it is so well defined that you don't really need plot to move it forward.
Moving on to a show that is not high fantasy, but more sci-fi, I looked at Torchwood's opening. They don't really have a tag for this episode, so I just watched a bit, knowing what happens in its entirety.
As a great lover of this show I would say that the character's well done in this tag as any other -- but as a more impartial, looking for information kind of viewer, I would say you get hints from this tag. There's the hint about Jack being not quite normal (Jack: Still at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again.) and Owen being a bit of an ass, as no one wants him to talk to the dead guy, and Tosh being not so good at communication. The best you get from it is that Jack is the father figure of the group, and Gwen is a clever-clogs because she figures out how to watch Torchwood at work.
Gwen then gets more of an intro with the rest of the act (and episode). They introduce her as an every woman -- though in reality she's kind of special -- but the point of the tag is to make the viewer feel like you're with Gwen the whole time. She is our lead in and as a result, she is the most important character. Its interesting to see how she gets drawn into this world where there are weevils and people get brought back to life, and how she won't let it go, won't stop picking at the surface of things, as if she just has to know (which comes up later in the show).
By giving her the tenacity to keep going despite the odds, we get invested and I think that's what gives this tag its edge. Unlike the previous two examples, we're drawn in as Gwen is, and its not so much about character as it is about the possibility of what she's looking at.
We see in the Firefly tag the loss of the Battle of Serenity Valley. This is a classic setting up a story so exposition doesn't have to happen later and I love Joss Whedon for doing it this way. This is a very important scene in Mal's life -- and in Zoe's -- but definitely Mal's, and it builds his character incredibly. You see him caring for his men, looking out for people and truly believing in something -- the moment when he kisses the cross -- that's the moment. And you see it -- the Mal we know, or will come to know, who will never give up. We also get the usual amusingness of Joss Whedon's dialogue with Wash. And there is a set up for what this show is going to be about -- space pirates.
The thing about Firefly's tag is that it does so much with so little time -- setting up the show, introducing us to our main protagonist, dealing with the fact that Mal is a haunted, haunted man, and seeing the clear difference between Mal of the past and Mal now (also, Nathan Fillion being on a Joss Whedon show and not scaring the shit out of me... oh well, I watched Buffy before Firefly I realize that Nathan Fillion was Mal before he was Caleb).
Speaking of Buffy, in her show we have an interesting situation -- considering Darla is set up, and she's not a main character. But its a good way to show what exactly is going to happen in this series -- vampires exist, and we're going to blow your silly little minds. Its much shorter then the other tags I looked at and I think that's what makes it so worth while. Its to the point, we don't get character development, its a good start to a monster of the week kind of show.
Lets look at an example out of the fantasy realm -- Grey's Anatomy has a sort of shtick that makes introductions easy -- the voice over:
Meredith: The game: They say a person either has what it takes to play, or they don’t. My mother was one of the greats. Me, on the other hand… I’m kinda screwed.
OH! A fish out of water story! Not knowing what the hell you're doing! Ah to be a medical intern (I was going to go to medical school, I know GA in no way exemplifies a real intern's life, but the feeling is similar). We get to meet Derrek, and Meredith of course, and get to peek into her head and its interesting to have a voice over at the beginning because it means you get to add in all sorts of information that is necessary to know about the character. I almost feel like its cheating though.
One thing that GA manages to do well though, is to throw the characters into action, despite it not being a fantasy show where anything can happen. GA is incredibly dramatic, and you get to see all the drama unfold in front of you in an addictive mess.
On a medical note -- let's look at Scrubs, where the tag introduces you to goofy, cute JD. Here again you get a voice over -- but this is more personal then Meredith's voice over -- its just whatever thoughts go through his mind. We get introduced to the characters quickly and efficiently, and quickly understand that this is going to be a comedy.
So from all of that, what do we get from the first tag ever?
1. Introduce the important characters, giving them details that are salient and important to the character and therefore making the characters differentialable.
2. Set up the premise of the show: what is going to happen in each episode (monster of the week, case of the week) or general theme (fish out of water, space pirates!).
Beginnings are hard -- obviously, or I would be working on my own -- so it can be useful to see how other people do it and "borrow" their ideas (though don't steal that's just annoying).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)