Remakes, remakes and oh look, more remakes

I used to avoid movies a lot. Mainly it was a lack of money combined with a lot of stuff that just didn't appeal. Recently though, I've started to watch AMC Movie Talk and my interest in films has been revived. Seriously, if you've not watched it and want to keep up to date with movie stuff it's well worth a subscribe on YouTube! Anyway, what I do notice a lot of lately is remakes, reboots, sequels and reimaginings. Sure, such things have been around far longer than I, but it was the news that Roland Emmerich is preparing a Stargate reboot. Now if, like me, you were a fan of the TV show don't get excited. Emmerich wants to do another movie, but this wouldn't be just another movie, no it'd be a reboot (hopefully moving into more sequels).

This proposed reboot of a series that I absolutely loved got me thinking about why we are getting so many reboots. The answer, I'm sure, must be partially to do with money. After all, what in this world isn't about money? Beyond that though I actually realised that there really isn't much difference between a reboot/reimagining of movies and a new production of an existing stageplay. Anyone who frequents theatres (and I'm mainly talking professional theatre) will know that a new production of an old script happens fairly often. In many cases staging an existing script is a good way of getting those bums on seats and filling an auditorium.

I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to come to this realisation, but perhaps there's some interesting lessons to learn about movies from the directions that theatre has gone in. After all, if we look at the similarities between staging a theatre script and a reboot of a movie, we can see just how similar the two things are.

Stage
-Established character is given new appearance and psychology by a fresh actor
-Scenes, settings and even the script are reworked to make the production more relevant to the current audience
-New techniques and technologies are applied to achieve an effect or spectacle that either wasn't possible before, or to improve the spectacle.

Screen
-Established character is given new appearance and psychology by a fresh actor
-Scenes, settings and even the script are reworked to make the production more relevant to the current audience
-New techniques and technologies are applied to achieve an effect or spectacle that either wasn't possible before, or to improve the spectacle.

Okay, I'll admit that I was so lazy I copied and pasted those point, but think about it they do both apply.

I know it's not an earn shattering thought, but hey, you've read my previous posts right?

One more week!

Yesterday we hit the stage with Dead Reckoning. We've got a nice set which set us all to the task of reworking the blocking. It's that lovely and frustrating feeling of having to rework all your moves and concentrating so much on not hitting furniture, or touching wet paint that the lines that have been solid for weeks just drop out of your head at the crucial moments.

Still, we've got a few rehearsals left before opening night. It's long enough to polish the show.

And that's about it for this blog post. It's basically a plug for Dead Reckoning.

It opens Wednesday, 11th September, and closes Saturday, 14th September at the Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight.

Get your tickets from the Gladstone Theatre Website

Doctor Who at the Proms...a great shame.

I'll be honest I recently watched Doctor Who at the Proms 2013. Now I'll be clear I love the music soundtracks of a lot of TV shows. Battlestar Galactica has one of the most phenomenal soundtrack ever. I listen to all four CD's on one long unbroken writing session. Bear McCreary, in common with Murray Gold, have a genius for writing music that is able to both stand on it's own two feet and raise the emotional level of TV shows a few notches. It's possible to listen to the music of these two composers and be led on an imaginative journey. The music is strong enough to survive without visuals. If you don't believe me then check out Doomsday (Comp. Murray Gold), The Shape of Things to Come (Comp. Bear McCreary) or even Henry V: Opening Title (Comp. Patrick Doyle) now stand those alongside Elegy (Comp. Faure). For my money they are all tracks that are beautifully composed and stand alone as music, rather than mere accompaniment.

What has this got to do with the Proms? Yes, I hear the question. Well I've never actually watched many of these proms and I was very surprised to see just how visual the event was made. Video screens, vast arrays of props and actors in costume and make-up terrifying the audience. What disheartened me though was that the music itself is strong enough that it doesn't need all that. So why did they include it? Apart from the use of bagpipes (a personal dislike of mine), doesn't The Name of The Doctor stand up as well as those other tracks? Why is it that the producers felt that visual accompaniment was required? Aside from soliciting inappropriate whoops and yells from and audience, who I would have hoped turned up to hear the music, the visuals turned the event into a place where the music was once again playing second fiddle. Perhaps though, the producers felt that this was just another money making opportunity for the franchise, rather and an opportunity to celebrate the music and musicians.

Leaving my own complaints about how the event was produced, the show left me wondering something. Is our society one that requires visual entertainment now? I have trouble believing that's the case, on one hand I have many friends who read and write widely, listen to audio books and radio plays; on the other hand there are the multitude of adaptations that have hit our movie screens, TVs and theatre. Perhaps it's a lack of time? Perhaps we do not have the time to pick up book and read for ten hours, but do have the time for a two-hour play?

I'm sure I could easily be wrong, perhaps the heavy visual element of the Proms was not what I think it was but merely an attempt at pleasing young children, rather than introducing them to another form of entertainment? It does still leave me wondering though. Why is it that we feel the need to adapt less visual forms of entertainment and package them in more crass and colourful displays?