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Post by diane on Feb 7, 2006 22:19:27 GMT -5
I am sure you all know that we are extremely excited about Season 3 DVDs.
We can now announce to you that the members of The Moonlighting DVD Committee (Cindy, Hazel, Vicki, Lizzie, and myself) were invited to record the fan commentary for "The Straight Poop".
We considered it a great honor to be asked, and we took all the knowledge from the mail lists, message boards and chats and incorporated them into the commentary. So, know that each and every one of you ML supporters were in that booth with us.
We will be posting some pictures and observations about our experiences here on DavidandMaddie.com in the next few days.
Until then, please continue to post your reactions here to everything on these wonderful DVDs -- this excitement reminds me of the good old days.
Thanks...I love this fan community!!
diane
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Post by bluemoongirl on Feb 8, 2006 0:12:05 GMT -5
Hey Diane ;D How cool for you guys to be asked to do the commentary!! I just finished listening. Great job! You guys kept the flow going with all the different scenes that popped up and the dynamics of the episode and characters. Very enjoyable. It is so nice to put a voice to your names on the forum. I'd like to add to the commentary in some of the places where there was a question that wasn't answered. Just because I know...if that's ok. The restaurant scene from the pilot with the geeky doctor was shot in the Bonaventure Hotel with the glass elevators - they're pretty famous elevators. The building has 4 circular sides. Very beautiful hotel in the business district of LA. The hotel was the hotel in an 80's series called It's a Living about the waitresses who worked in that restaurant. The clock tower in the pilot is the Eastern Building on Wilshire Blvd. - downtown. The building is still there. If you're in LA. I recommend checking it out. It's so bizarre to see such an ornate building like that. And then to know how famous it is in Moonlighting. The quick shot in the credit bloopers where David and a mustached man almost run into each other on the floor is a shot not used in Next Stop Murder. Forgot the characters name, but, you know, the irritating guy. Oh! And one other thing...I loved how you all went "Who is she talking to???" during the bar scene. Classic!! ;D So funny because we have been debating that for months now on the forum. Ha!! Thanks for being our voice. Now you are forever immortalized with Moonlighting. Woohoo!
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Post by ryangie97 on Feb 8, 2006 11:00:28 GMT -5
Wow congratulations Diane, Cindy, Hazel, Lizzy, Vicki!! I listened to this commentary last night and it was great. That must have been so exciting and you all sounded like you were having a blast. It was great to hear a commentary from fans perspective, I was grinning and agreeing with everything you guys were saying ;D
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Post by tobiagorrio on Feb 11, 2006 13:08:48 GMT -5
Great commentary. One thing I can answer is about Gerry Finnerman's use of diffusion for Cybill Shepherd. Finnerman was a veteran cinematographer, and the way cinematographers were trained to shoot in the "old days" was to photograph a leading lady's close-ups through filters so as to make her look as beautiful as possible. It doesn't look realistic at all, but it's not supposed to; the point is to create images that look even better than real life.
Finnerman had been one of the photographers on "Star Trek," and on that show, every Special Guest Babe was photographed exactly like that, with all the filters and diffusion. It wasn't about hiding flaws, it was about making them look "perfect" on a tight budget and schedule (TV shows don't have access to the hours of makeup and styling that actors get for movies). It looks silly now because with the clarity of modern TV screens and DVD presentation, it's easy to spot the difference between the woman's close-ups and the man's, but it wasn't as obvious at the time. So the diffusion wasn't a negative comment on Cybill's age or her looks, it was just the way Finnerman always photographed women.
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Post by bluemoongirl on Feb 11, 2006 13:14:33 GMT -5
Good point. I'm sure that Cybill must of had a say in the choosing of Finnerman. She was quoted as saying that she didn't want to look like Bruce's mother - given their age difference. So that style of diffusion was perfect for Cybill and such a beautiful look for a leading lady. Even though it was quite obvious they were shooting that way, I loved the soft glowing look to her close ups - very elegant.
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Post by adyjdy on Feb 11, 2006 14:32:51 GMT -5
It was SO nice to hear from you guys. I would love to see A LOT more of that in Seasons 4 and 5... (Lions Gate, I'll be waiting by the phone. ) Your comments were so insightful and funny! Sorry, but I think I enjoyed this one above all the others. I don't get into the details of who shot what, how they did it, oh and here's where you can see Cybill's double. This commentary provided analysis and appreciation for the characters rather than the process of production. A breath of fresh air! One question: Was Lizzy there? I read on here that she was going to be on. I love her fanfic, so I was really excited to hear her voice for the first time. I didn't hear her introduce herself at the beginning...
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Post by Hazel on Feb 11, 2006 17:26:36 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for the positive feedback! It was so much fun to do, and we were channeling so many of our board pals throughout, so that may be why it sounds so familiar! Getting back to the diffusion thing, I was the one who probably raised the biggest ruckus about it simply because it was so obvious at the time-- hence the gauze joke in the episode (cool that Finnerman could poke fun at his technique, btw). I remember discussing ML with people at the time and it was something that most everyone remarked about when they talked about Cybill Shepherd. "What are they hiding?" I'm familiar with Finnerman's work, and know that he's used the technique with a bit more subtlety in the past (and then there's "Mudd's Women" ). He is obviously amazing at what he does-- witness Dream Sequence-- but this is my one complaint. It was and is distracting to me. He's spoken about his use of diffusion on Moonlighting www.davidandmaddie.com/chem-finnerman-pbs.htm, and defends it as not overdone, but I as an average non-ASC viewer, disagree. At any rate, I'm glad they ditched it in later episodes. We may never know whose call it ulitimately was, but I still feel it wasn't a great choice (although it certainly doesn't ruin the show for me!). JMO! YMMV! Edit to add: Lizzie was invited to do commentary as a member of the DVD Campaign but unfortunately, she couldn't be there. We missed her!
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Dave
1st Level
Dirty Dave
Posts: 180
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Post by Dave on Feb 27, 2006 6:38:56 GMT -5
My congrats on the commentary track of the ladies on the Straight Poop. Wonderfully done. They should definetely get you to do one respectively for the two last seasons. Great insight info that is appreciated by fans around the globe. A couple of times you missed guessing the episodes of the scene extracts but hey ...... you did great !!!
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Post by babyhayes on Feb 27, 2006 21:33:41 GMT -5
Hey girls! That was great commentary, I loved the overlapping talking, was perfect and I understood it all too! Think my fave bit was when they showed the kiss from Witness and there was a second's silence and then "PHWOOOW!" at the moment of impact! That was hilarious! It was just great the way your obvious enthusiasm and love for this show shone through and as Dave says it echoes fans from all over the world, so thank you & Congrats!!!!
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