Info om live-avsnittet

Lite uppdateringar från vår vän Colin om live-avsnittet. Det är mitt fel att det inte kom in i tid häromdagen..
Redigerat 10/3 enligt Colins önskemål (Uppdelning av stycken)
 
 
 
Despite early signs of success on Thursday, I stopped being able to post messages again shortly after! :(
 
Here though, as promised, is more information about Emmerdale’s 40th birthday and live episode. I'm sorry this wasn't posted yesterday (or indeed Thursday as I originally said). It's mostly my fault this time. :o
 
 
 
The first information about the 40th came on April 6th when producer Stuart Blackburn appeared on TV and revealed that the week would include a wedding and two births this was before viewers even knew Gennie was pregnant! Very soon after we knew there’d actually be two weddings, and on 1st May the live episode was confirmed. I mentioned that a major spoiler about the live was revealed on 6th September, as did a lot of other publicity material including facts and figures from which the following statistics and interview extracts all come.
 
 
 
First are some statistics about the live episode. However due to the live episode still being six weeks away, some of the figures may not be exact (I know one fact about the size of the cast was definitely wrong).
 
 
 
 
 
Vital Statistics: The Live Episode In Numbers
 
27 cameras will be used to film the live episode
There will be 70 crew members working almost double a regular Emmerdale shooting day
Actors will have a maximum of approximately 4 minutes to change and move between sets
350 supporting artistes will be required in total
5 generators will be used to power the village for filming
There will be 4 newborn babies on set
20 rain deflectors for the cameras will be on stand by in the case of extreme weather
50 microphones will be used
There will be 110 hours of rehearsals in the lead up to the live. 10 hours a day for 11 days
There have been 6 versions of the live episode script to date
23 make up artists, 26 prop assistants and 30 costume crew will be required for the live episode
4 golf buggies will be used to transport cast around the village on the night
1 stunt coordinator will be involved in the live as the cast will be doing their own stunts
7 wedding dresses will be on standby during the live episode
 
 
 
 
Director Tony Prescott
"What we basically have for the 40th birthday episode is a magnificent play, set on the world’s biggest stage, in the middle of the Yorkshire wilderness. You can just imagine the problems that could be unleashed. As long as you can cope with them, these adverse conditions can actually make brilliant pictures. Sometimes the adversity can actually galvanise it into making it look even better. You do have to make lots of contingencies. For instance we have four dresses for Chas (Lucy Pargeter) in case it starts raining. It wouldn’t be fair to keep an actor in a wet dress and expect them to perform some of the biggest drama ITV has ever played out.
 
For me, a live episode is a fantastic celebration of the skills and crafts of the cast and the crew. I think we shouldn’t lose sight of that. These people are working day in and day out to deliver one of ITV’s biggest soaps. They do it magnificently and it’s really nice to be able to move their skills on and display them to the world in this way. It is a stage play in effect, it’s not a drama. A drama is made in an editing suite and you don’t film in story order. There is a real truth about what we are going to do and there’s adrenalin because what we shoot is true to the moment. We are not going to be playing with it in an editing suite and we are not going to be reconstructing the drama and making a scene into something different. This is a totally different ball game
 
I don’t know if you have ever been to a football match and watched how they shoot it. They have these huge technical scanners with twenty cameras. You walk in and see a sea of green in front of you and you try and interpret what you can see from that sea of green. This is not a dissimilar situation. Most dramas are made with one camera. We are going to use a thirty-camera scanner. That means we have thirty cameras and probably 27 of them will have people operating them. The drama is going to be assembled by a vision mixer of supreme quality and put together as it happens. I will, on paper, describe and stage every single shot, which could be up to 1500 shots. The vision mixer will follow the camera script and pull the whole thing together. Remarkable job!
 
I have been quite heavily involved with the scripts. I take a draft away and work on it to ensure it can be done. Even though I have thirty cameras, those cameras don’t just do the one job, they go off and do other jobs. I have to choreograph it so there is enough time for the camera to move somewhere else. We have to move actors from one location to the next. It has to be timed precisely to make sure we can physically get them there without crossing another scene that is taking place. I try to get involved to the point where I’m thinking about the tempo of what is to happen too. Often there might be scenes six or seven pages long and if you want to keep an audience riveted for an hour, some of those scenes will be far too long."
 
 
Lucy Pargeter (Chas)
Are you nervous about the live episode?
This is an experience that I am going into with the best people possible and I’m doing the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. I’m not looking forward to it though. Hopefully the two weeks rehearsal beforehand will settle our minds. It’s the first time anything like this has been done purely on location, so logistically and technically it’s not just a matter of us remembering our lines. I’m trying not to think about it because at the moment we are doing all the scenes for the episodes before and after the live so it’s really heightening what we are going to have to put ourselves through during that hour.
 
Have you done any live TV before?
No and I’ve never really done any theatre. I’m slightly worried about my burping problem! I burp when I’m under pressure. I think everyone feels the same though. A lot of the cast have done theatre before but nobody has done a live. Many of the crew and our Director have done it before so they all know what it involves.
 
 
Liam Fox (Dan)
With the live episode approaching, what is the atmosphere like on set at the moment?
Everyone is really looking forward to it. There are a few nervous people but overall everyone is pretty excited. The thought of actually doing a live episode on location and pulling it off is amazing.
Can you sum up what is so challenging about live drama on TV?
There are no retakes. I think it’s probably more difficult for the people behind the scenes as it’s all about hitting marks and making sure that’s all spot on.
 
 
 
 
Sammy Winward (Katie)
How does it feel to be playing such a big part in Emmerdale’s 40th birthday?
It’s amazing. The atmosphere is brilliant at the moment. Everyone knows we have such a huge event coming up but we’re all in it together. It’s very nerve-racking but really, really exciting.
What are you most worried about?
I’m most nervous about giggling. I do it at times when I shouldn’t. If I have 30 people waiting for me to do a scene and I get the giggles it makes it a million times worse. It may go the other way, because the live might completely freak me out so there is no laughter inside me. Nicola and Jason and I all set each other off.
 
 
 
Jason Merrells (Declan)
 
Are you looking forward to the 40th celebrations?
I’m looking forward to the buzz and the focus it’s going to give the show. I can imagine lots of people are going to watch the live who don’t normally watch Emmerdale, which is great! The audience need to know it’s happening. We’ll be truly live! There’s no room for error.
 
 
Gaynor Faye (Megan)
The live episode is fast approaching. What is the atmosphere like on set?
It’s full of trepidation and excitement. I think everyone’s excited about it especially now we’ve got the script. There are nerves as well, but I’m really looking forward to it.
How does it feel being one of the main characters in Emmerdale’s 40th birthday celebrations?
It’s fantastic to come into the show and be around for the 40th birthday. To be largely involved is the icing on the cake.
Are you nervous about the live?
I’ve done lots of theatre including the first run of Calendar girls and I’ve played Cathy in Wuthering Heights so I’m no stranger to live performances but it’s a bit scary. I think the fact that we’ll all be rooting for each other helps. It’s a real coming together of everybody to make this hour so special. There’s a feeling that the company, crew, cast, makeup, wardrobe, press everyone is in it together. It’s an accumulation of a lot of hard work. The party after it will just be incredible. My character does seem to have a lot of tongue twisters, mainly in the insults I throw at Katie. There is always a string of words which I do love. Although I’m hoping I don’t get too many of them in the live.
________________________________________
More insight will follow on Monday. :)
 
Next today though I would like to tie up a ‘loose end’ from a comment I made way back on 14 May 2012: "Also to stay briefly with the future, you've just met three actors with music based connections. Funnily enough, it was announced yesterday that a new 2012 character is to be played by an actor who has appeared in TWO 'Find a Popstar' types shows - more on that when the time comes, too!"
 
Well, it turned out that 'new character' was a bit of an overstatement! She only made two appearances in Emmerdale, but her attempts to launch a music career resumed for a third time in 2012 so there is a bit of an interesting story to tell! EDIT: Well, I hope it's interesting because I've written quite a bit about it! :o
 
Remember Talia Brice? She was the girlfriend of Justin, Jacob's dad. Though credited in Emmerdale as Carolynne Good, she is usually known as Carolynne Poole. Following the success of ITV's "Pop Idol", which began in Autumn 2001 (and whose first series featured Natalie Anderson (Alicia) who in her Last 50 heat lost out on a place in the Final 10 to series winner Will Young) the BBC launched a rival show called Fame Academy. Carolynne appeared in the second (and final) series in 2003, finishing a very respectable third. Following on from that, in 2004 she toured with Tony Christie (who had a guest spot in Emmerdale in 2005) but was generally forgotten about by the wider public until appearing on The X Factor in 2011, where she reached the "Judges Houses" stage, before being rejected by Louis Walsh.
 
In 2012 Carolynne again auditioned for the X Factor, this time reaching the live finals which began just a week before Emmerdale's anniversary, on 6th October. Unfortunately Carolynne was in the bottom two that week. What happened next was, arguably, the most controversial moment in the history of the show. The judges are supposed to name the act they want to send home. With only Louis Walsh left to vote, if he sent the other contestant, Rylan, home, then Carolynne would be through to week two. If he sent Carolynne home, the vote would go to "Deadlock" and the decision would be based on the viewers vote. After a minute of saying 'this is so difficult' etc., Louis eventually said he wanted to keep Carolynne. The host, Dermot, insisted Louis had to say who he wanted to send home, at which point Louis said "I want to take it to deadlock". Despite the fact that Louis still hadn't given the name of who he wanted sending home, Dermot now decided this was an acceptable answer and it went to Deadlock. Sadly, only moments after her joy of thinking she was through to the next week, Carolynne was told she had been bottom of the vote, mentor Gary Barlow stormed off stage, and Carolynne's X Factor journey was over! How can Louis' first answer not have been OK, yet his second was? Watch for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1xBMlSqQ98 During her sing-off performance, the show producer was seen talking to Louis, and some say Louis was pressured into saving Rylan against his will, because Rylan was supposedly a fun, entertaining personality. Given Rylan's "hilarious" reaction to being told he was through to the live shows, one might see why the producers would have wanted to keep him on. It has to be seen to be believed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4CTReuSw08. Amazingly, Rylan finished the series in 5th, despite the fact that even most of his fans would probably admit he wasn't that great a singer. He's now a presenter and "TV personality"! I'm not sure what became of Carolynne, but she was hoping to try and make it in America as a country music star.
 
I think this incident was a real shame - and surely either the rule is 'you must give the name of the person you are sending home', or it isn't!
 
That same week, "Strictly Come Dancing" started on the BBC - the (original) British version of the show known in Sweden as "Lets Dance" (do you not have Swedish equivalents of these words?!?). The stars that year included the interviewer from the Daybreak clip I linked to (that's why they started talking about dancing in the clip), and Lisa Riley aka Mandy Dingle. She finished in 5th place, becoming the most successful Emmerdale star to appear on "Strictly". (Chelsea Halfpenny's Aunty Jill won in 2004, but of course she doesn't count!)
 
Referring back to the quote at the start of this section, the other three actors with musical connections (who had all joined in August 2010) were Jake Roche (who played Hannah's boyfriend Isaac), whose mother Coleen Nolan was one of The Nolans, and father Shane Richie also had a hit record (Shane also appears in a clip I shall link to on Monday), while Jake himself now fronts a band himself; Natalie Anderson - who as mentioned above was in Pop Idol (as seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbmoXgD2ZRQ 21:30 in); and Pauline Quirke (Hazel) who sung the theme to a comedy in which she starred from 1989 to 1998, and which was revived this year, with the new series finishing this Thursday just past! Here she is as the second singer on the new recording of the theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDJ9EgNuGYc Pauline is in the pictures from the one that looks like a film strip.
****
Lastly in this post a quick word about dropbox.com. Although I used the word ‘account’, it is free to join, and is a great way of sharing files with other people or just other computers you own. The live episode link wouldn’t work because it was more than 15 minutes. I also have some other longer videos to share starting on Monday so it is definitely worth signing up. :)
 
Speaking of Dropbox, here is a link to watch all the videos I have shared so far: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wpkc7560d2qwdsx/sdr7Y9Eqby The first 13 ITV videos are now all 100% spoiler free, as is video 14 from BBC News. The 15th is the one from Daybreak and the 16th from ITV News - see the "The Big Day" section of the previous post for spoiler warnings - with the last video being the full episode, that requires you to be signed up to view.
 
Thanks by the way everybody for all the thanks! I'm glad you are finding it interesting! :)
 
Trassel: I live in the UK. :) (I've never actually visited Sweden, however, I do absolutely love ABBA! :) )
 
Have a good weekend everyone, and I will be back with more info on Monday, as well as a link to a special live behind the scenes programme that was shown straight after the live episode. :)

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