4.8 DVD Commentary

[lwhite53]

Info from 4.8 DVD commentary [Lance Narayan - Director, Special Features; Omar Madha - director; Francesco Reidy - asst director]:

-Opening recap -- gives an idea of where Adam's mind is when this ep begins.

-Ghost of Fiona passing behind Adam while he's watching the tv -- question of whether that read to the audience.

-Wandsworth Prison used as a location.

-Hugo Ross -- Howard Brenton (writer) wanted George Baker to be cast in the role. Actor has an inherent softness and pathos but can also seem very menacing -- a gentle giant. Portrays a great sadness behind his smile.

-Ross house -- location in Hartfordshire. Rambling mansion with "mildewed grandeur."

-Great on-screen chemistry between Ross and his wife -- the affection between them is palpable.

-Hampton Court House -- location for Tring. Fiona's parents place just around the corner from the this location.

-First scene between Harry and Adam (discussing Ross) was undirected -- just let the actors do their thing together.

-First scene between Adam and Ruth at doghouse -- very weighty, gives the grist of the ep [info usually disseminated in meeting room scenes].

-Club scene -- location the Cross in King's Cross.

-Harry and Hugo Ross -- two grand masters squaring up to each other in their first scene together. Great writing by Howard Brenton -- well structured scene.

-Excelsior Hotel -- location at Trinity Square, opposite ticket window for the Tower of London.

-Ben Daniels (Oleg Korsakov) -- one of those actors who appears to really be the person he's playing. Ability to keep his face still but convey that a lot is going on underneath.

-Korsakov's flat -- a designed set. Hinted at power, very cold -- hard to film because it was so white.

-Raza Jaffrey very good at action sequences (fight in Korsakov's flat) -- lots of technical stuff to get right while staying in character.

-Special ops team that smashed into Korsakov's flat -- real spec ops personnel.

-Discussion about what should happen to Ross -- memory loss or have him die. Thought they were killing off too many people so went with memory loss -- more poignant end for his character.

-Adam and Wes at end of ep -- very touching, especially with piano underscoring.

[Sorry folks -- this was one seriously uninformative commentary; they spent most of it discussing camera angles, tracking vs. hand held camera shots, editing, etc.]

[Tea Lady]

Thanks lwhite53. I did click on the commentary for this episode myself to see if they talked about one of the H/R scenes and I nearly fell asleep! It wasn't the most exciting commentary, no, unless you work in the industry I guess. Interesting comments about George Baker though.

[JHyde]

I agree that it was much more poignant to leave Ross as a shell. Killing him off would have made him a martyr and left him with more dignity. As anyone knows who's spent time with someone with Alzheimer's or dementia, this was far more cruel.

[allanah]

I agree with the comments about the commentary. The episodes where they had one of the actors commenting were good but where it involved technical people talking about camera angles and lighting it was just yawn.

Fans are most interested in the character interactions and storylines and the commentaries which hardly talked about that were very disappointing - who did they think would be interested in listing to an hour of film technical talk - we want some insight into characters and storylines!

I do recall being very annoyed watching some of the more emotional scenes and having people blathering on about film locations in the background when the drama on screen was so much more interesting.

[A Cousin]

It puts me in mind of the old joke:

How many Directors does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One. The Director holds the light bulb up and the world turns around them.

Some of my best friends are Directors but sometimes they lose the purpose of audio commentaries.

Love that first scene with Harry and Adam. It did feel very organic.

Thanks again lwhite53!

[JHyde]

The worst audio commentary I have ever listened to was Fred Armisen's for 30 Rock. And he's an actor. I swear the guy just wanted to talk about his contract and how it was negotiated.

So there are worse things than talking about camera angles.

[A Cousin]

(27-07-2010 12:53 PM)JHyde Wrote:  The worst audio commentary I have ever listened to was Fred Armisen's for 30 Rock. And he's an actor. I swear the guy just wanted to talk about his contract and how it was negotiated.

So there are worse things than talking about camera angles.

LOL! I could tell a How many actors does it take to screw in a light bulb joke - and I have been one of those! - but I won't.