Was watching Fingersmith, one of those BBC period dramas. Was rather rather drab and slow (so much that I thought a few times about going to do something else but the couch was warm & cosy). Not to mention heading towards a rather predictable ending. So predictable that I kept thinking *something* had to happen but nope. It just kept plodding in the same direction.
Until the final scene of the episode. Which I should have seen coming, it's so obvious in hindsight, but I didn't. That's the best sort of twist.
I think it's easier to pull off an-obvious-after-the-fact-twist on TV because you can show things without drawing attention to them or distract the viewer when something Important is happening. The opposite occurs though, in murder mysteries, when you need to make sure the viewer has seen an important bit of evidence without them being aware of it. For example, you can describe what a character is wearing in a book and the fact that they're wearing a pearl necklace is just part of the description. On the screen, if you want them to be told that, you have to get in close which draws unnecessary attention to that necklace.
I spend far too much TV time wondering how certain effects (esp. mood settigs ones) could be recreated in priont.
When I'm not wondering about how drab everything is during those period dramas.
Until the final scene of the episode. Which I should have seen coming, it's so obvious in hindsight, but I didn't. That's the best sort of twist.
I think it's easier to pull off an-obvious-after-the-fact-twist on TV because you can show things without drawing attention to them or distract the viewer when something Important is happening. The opposite occurs though, in murder mysteries, when you need to make sure the viewer has seen an important bit of evidence without them being aware of it. For example, you can describe what a character is wearing in a book and the fact that they're wearing a pearl necklace is just part of the description. On the screen, if you want them to be told that, you have to get in close which draws unnecessary attention to that necklace.
I spend far too much TV time wondering how certain effects (esp. mood settigs ones) could be recreated in priont.
When I'm not wondering about how drab everything is during those period dramas.
