Davin News Server

On Tue, 09 Apr 2024 16:37:53 -0700, The Doctor wrote:

> In article<0001HW.2BC5F96208C79A9A30E89E38F@news.giganews.com>,
> Pluted Pup <plutedpup@outlook.com>  wrote:
> > On Mon, 08 Apr 2024 08:23:19 -0700, The Doctor wrote:
> >
> > > "Doctor Who - The Underwater Menace" is a four-part serial from the Fourth
> > > Season of the original series, first broadcast in 1967. The story revolves
> > > around the Doctor and his companions landing on the lost underwater city of
> > > Atlantis, where they encounter a megalomaniacal scientist intent on raising
> > > Atlantis from the depths of the ocean.
> > >
> > > Episode 1 introduces the intriguing premise of an underwater civilisation,
> > > showcasing impressive set design and atmosphere. However, subsequent episodes
> > > struggle to maintain momentum, with the plot becoming increasingly convoluted
> > > and the pacing uneven.
> > >
> > > One of the standout elements of "The Underwater Menace" is the memorable
> > > performance of Joseph Furst as Professor Zaroff, the deranged scientist
> > > determined to conquer the world. Furst brings a charismatic yet sinister
> > > presence to the role, elevating the story whenever he appears on screen.
> > >
> > > Unfortunately, the serial suffers from production limitations, particularly
> > > evident in the underwater sequences, which are hampered by primitive special
> > > effects. Additionally, the characterisation of the Doctor and his companions
> > > feels somewhat underdeveloped, with less focus on their interactions and
> > > dynamics compared to other serials.
> > >
> > > While "The Underwater Menace" has its flaws, including a somewhat lackluster
> > > resolution, it still offers moments of entertainment and showcases the
> > > creativity of Doctor Who's early years.
> > >
> > > Episode 1: 6/10
> > > Episode 2: 5/10
> > > Episode 3: 4/10
> > > Episode 4: 5/10
> > >
> > > Overall Rating: 5/10
> >
> > What good is this "chatGPT" junk? Stupid "chatGPT" doesn't
> > even mention that the first and forth chapter is in telesnaps.
> >
> > The Underwater Menace is the only presentation I've seen with
> > half-way decent telesnaps.They are nearly free of animation,
> > if I recall right, they don't zoom in or out, they don't
> > scroll, they don't have fade ins or fade outs, etc.
> >
> > It'd help to have some text to help explain what's going
> > on that's not apparent in the dialog. And it should be
> > obvious that text shouldn't scroll, especially left to right,
> > as producers will evidentially do anything they can to make
> > a program harder to view, so when they hear the word "text"
> > they immediately think "words are boring, they must be
> > animated in some way".
> >
> > The telesnaps in the Web of Fear episode were terrible, panning,
> > scanning, zooming in and out, even oscillating between
> > telesnaps during dialog, as if the viewer needs to see a
> > picture of the Doctor staring at the camera in order to
> > recognize his voice and words, and showing the telesnaps
> > out of order.
> >
> > The telesnaps that came with the American DVDs of Power of
> > the Daleks (at that time the BBC refused to issue Blu-Rays
> > to Americans, and I didn't yet get a multi-region player)
> > had a something called like Small Change presentation of
> > the complete telesnaps but it was even worse: they allocated
> > less than a megabyte per second which would have enough
> > except that Loose Change went and animated the telesnaps!
> > Steam bubbles up, the telesnaps move and each scene change
> > has a fade-in and fade-out: every animation of the telesnaps
> > dissolves into macro-blocks.
> >
> > The telesnapped Marco Polo is merely an excerpt, not complete,
> > and suffers from some animation of the telesnaps.
> >
> > Telesnaps have a bad reputation, and this is due to
> > producers treating them bad. There's no reason that
> > the entire collection of black and white Doctor Who
> > hasn't been released already on home video, using
> > telesnaps of the unavailable episodes.
> >
> > The Underwater Menace has half-way decent telesnaps.
> > Unnecessary animations were done to the titles in
> > the beginning of the episodes and it was not necessary to
> > animate the end to eliminate the Tardis from the
> > picture. The storyline at that point was completely
> > clear and if the last real telesnap showed the Tardis,
> > so what?
>
> Does it have access to any telesnaps?

In no way did I imply that ChatGPT or the like should
be producing Doctor Who series for home video.

Is that something you'd like?