Hinterland / Y Gwyll

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

People like to visit the settings of TV and film dramas, but I can't see these bleak wintry landscapes doing a great deal for tourism, Aberystwyth at its grimmest...... But who knows

Devil's Bridge has long been a popular "attraction" - getting a space in the miniscule Car Park is a holiday game in itself! - and it's not far from Strata Florida Abbey, so a full morning's entertainment for all the family.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Dave is right - the conclusion of Series 3 does tie up the various threads from previous series quite well. Some stretching of "Police protocol" required for dramatic purposes, I suspect: Semi-Spoiler:would a police officer be allowed to ignore the orders of his senior officer - and later have the authority to instruct constables to arrest his own senior? But still very involving series (and I don't share Dave's reservations about the incidental Music, which has frequently fascinated me*).

Cardinal has made a very good start last night - great potential here.


* = Clarification: the use of Music has often fascinated me, not Dave's reservations.

[Richard Tarleton]

If you get a move on you may be able to watch series 3 before it is taken down from iPlayer - or perhaps you've already recorded it.

The sound track is somewhat overdone, but it does seem to have been created as a "genre' series.

I have it in the can

As to the soundtrack, as I've indicated above there must be an ornithology adviser somewhere, the "wildtrack" is spot on. Whereas Lewis and Midsomer Murders make do with 4 birds - willow warbler (normal rural), peregrine (wild rural) and tawny owl or barn owl (er, night ) - but they're both ITV......

[Dave2002]

I have it in the can

Well done!

As to the soundtrack, as I've indicated above there must be an ornithology adviser somewhere, the "wildtrack" is spot on. Whereas Lewis and Midsomer Murders make do with 4 birds - willow warbler (normal rural), peregrine (wild rural) and tawny owl or barn owl (er, night ) - but they're both ITV......

Glad you approve of the birds - and that's informative about the ITV production (though in fairness productions are often done by third party companies - and can be sold on to different broadcasting companies ... perhaps you should seek a job as an adviser ...).

The way the sound track was done had (as I'm sure you realise now) "creepy" music - at some points in the action - though in fact often with an anti-climax - so you have to guess whether the creepiness presages a significant event or not - but the sound track was quite consistently moderately loud and noticeable. A few flimic points - extensive use of framing in different scenes, some fairly obvious L and J cuts (look them up) and in Episode 3 just before the end there is a good example of cut on black.

I did rather wonder whether each episode could have been cut down to 1 hour, but so many programmes these days are longer, and to fit in with the "genre" characteristics the episodes may be deliberately slow.

The one other feature of this series is the use of two languages, which presumably means that the actors must sometimes (always?) have had to redub the soundtrack either in Welsh or English, as well as the video having the alternative language (depending on language version) shown in appropriate scenes.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The one other feature of this series is the use of two languages, which presumably means that the actors must sometimes (always?) have had to redub the soundtrack either in Welsh or English, as well as the video having the alternative language (depending on language version) shown in appropriate scenes.

I don't think so - Mathias is a non-Welsh-speaker and always talks in English. The Welsh-speaking characters talk to each other in Welsh, and to non-Welsh-speakers (and non-Welsh speakers, such as Mathias' wife in series 2) in English. The Welsh dialogue is subtitled in English, but there's no need to "dub" or subtitle English dialogue in Welsh, because everyone who is fluent in Welsh is also fluent in English.

[Dave2002]

That's a good point. I'm not so sure about the Scandi ones though, as not all Scandi people can understand each other's languages well - the most difficult being Finnish and Icelandic.

[vinteuil]

.

... I think we enjoyed it to the end, good to have loose ends tied up - but of course all sorts of procedural improbabilities/ impossibilities, as indicated by ferney in #17 supra. The photography impressive throughout. We kept betting here whether Mathias wd ever smile but [ SPOILER ALERT ] of course he never did - carrying the weight of the woes of being Mathias and keepin' them brows furrowed and supportin' all the misery of the world rather gets in the way...

But lordy lordy lordy - the clunkiness of UNDERLINING and spelling out every stage of the back story as we moved in to the last act - surely by now viewers are accustomed to a much swifter and allusive approach to telewele narration?

My welsh ancestry prevents me casting any nasturtiums on any expected slowness in the presumed audience's uptake...






.

[vinteuil]

That's a good point. I'm not so sure about the Scandi ones though, as not all Scandi people can understand each other's languages well - the most difficult being Finnish and Icelandic.

... well, since the Finns are not Scandinavian ( tho' they are Nordic ) and have a Finno-Ugric language totally unrelated to the Indo-European scandinavian languages that's not surprising...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages

[Richard Tarleton]

A few flimic points - extensive use of framing in different scenes, some fairly obvious L and J cuts (look them up) and in Episode 3 just before the end there is a good example of cut on black.

Thanks for this Dave - noticed these before elsewhere without knowing they had a name

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thanks for this Dave - noticed these before elsewhere without knowing they had a name

And from me, too.

https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/what-is-j-cut-and-l-cut-in-video-editing/

[Dave2002]

Re msg 20 again, since not every person from Wales speaks or understands Welsh, I suppose there is only a need to produce an "English" version, with some snippets of Welsh and subtitles to suit most people, and which might only be a mild irritation to those who actually understand the Welsh language.

I had thought that this particular programme was being distributed in different versions, but perhaps it hasn't been.

Some of you may enjoy this video editing 101 Youtube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH0MoAv2CI
It has most, but not all, of the possible named types of cut.

PS: and thanks to the correction about Finnish - though I was aware that Finnish is not related to the other languages - the closest major language arguably being Hungarian, though some of the Baltic country languages are closer - http://www.studyinfinland.fi/what_to...nnish_language

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Re msg 20 again, since not every person from Wales speaks or understands Welsh, I suppose there is only a need to produce an "English" version, with some snippets of Welsh and subtitles to suit most people, and which might only be a mild irritation to those who actually understand the Welsh language.

This is how I had "understood" (read "presumed") it.

Some of you may enjoy this video editing 101 Youtube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH0MoAv2CI
It has most, but not all, of the possible named types of cut.

Again - many thanks, Dave

[vinteuil]

Re msg 20 again, since not every person from Wales speaks or understands Welsh, I suppose there is only a need to produce an "English" version, with some snippets of Welsh and subtitles to suit most people, and which might only be a mild irritation to those who actually understand the Welsh language.

I had thought that this particular programme was being distributed in different versions, but perhaps it hasn't been.

... I think two versions were done -

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/jul/30/hinterland-tv-noir-wales

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... I think two versions were done -
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...-tv-noir-wales

For "'understood' (read = 'presumed')" read "got completely wrong"!


The documentariette in Dave's #26 is really very good - AND has a little snippet of Gundula Janowitz for extra good measure.

[Richard Tarleton]

Re msg 20 again, since not every person from Wales speaks or understands Welsh, I suppose there is only a need to produce an "English" version, with some snippets of Welsh and subtitles to suit most people, and which might only be a mild irritation to those who actually understand the Welsh language.

Around 19%, or 562,000 people (acc. to 2011 census) in Wales speak Welsh....but the spread is not even, with much higher percentage in rural heartlands of centre west and north, and Carmarthenshire.


However, Welsh language policy as practised by govt and just about every public and private body and business of any size is directed towards enabling people to "live their lives through the medium of Welsh" should they wish to do so.....

I'm trying to remember whether there was less Welsh in Series 1, or whether I just didn't notice the subtitles, or whether there weren't any (I watched series 1 on Netflix).

I hadn't realised they'd shot it twice, so thank you for that.