I vaguely remember this TV series from back in the late 1970s. I didn't actually watch it then, 'dunno why not. It was a who's who of UK thespian excellence all enlisted to tell the story of the Plantagenets, with very interesting semi-stylised set design, actually all beautifully directed on Beeb indoor sets:
It seems to have disappeared, though some thoughtful soul has plastered the whole series on YouTube. Interesting music score too, what there is of it ... the titles are at the end of this episode. Did it ever hit the US I wonder?
My word, that is a very young Brian Cox. Always worth watching, IMO.
The economy of the production design says an awful lot about what was permitted as compromise, so long as it did not debase the programme itself, as an end-product. I think that particular type of theatrical style from the beeb will become one of those things impossible to reproduce. Compare it to Wolf Hall, wherein anything deemed to be lacking can be added in post, following on from actual location shoots. The approach to The Devil's Crown required everything to be captured in-camera and no post, largely dictating the style as a matter of necessity. And what a unique atmosphere has been chalked up on VT?
It's sad that today everyone just assumes full CGI production values as a necessity, a given. There's no REAL reason why this couldn't be made with just these prod limitations today, but it'd probably not sell, and that's sad. The series looked like a mediaeval tapestry or Hour Book brought to life.
We pretend to be post-modern, but actually most cinema today is enslaved to a uniform technique and fashion, as always.
And if people would accept it, there could be mainstream exposure for smaller production companies to make real artistic masterpieces on a smaller budget like this. We're not really progressing, except in technology.
It's the Orson Welles 'make miracles out of nothing' school of film.
It's sad that today everyone just assumes full CGI production values as a necessity, a given. There's no REAL reason why this couldn't be made with just these prod limitations today, but it'd probably not sell, and that's sad. The series looked like a mediaeval tapestry or Hour Book brought to life.
We pretend to be post-modern, but actually most cinema today is enslaved to a uniform technique and fashion, as always.
And if people would accept it, there could be mainstream exposure for smaller production companies to make real artistic masterpieces on a smaller budget like this. We're not really progressing, except in technology.
It's the Orson Welles 'make miracles out of nothing' school of film.
