tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post3388469748896066722..comments2024-02-15T06:33:28.234-08:00Comments on LL's Musings 小賢角落: ND Daily Exclusive: A different way of filming HK television series -- interview with the creators of HKTV’s new crime thriller “Borderline”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-2659636336755448562013-06-24T17:05:19.048-07:002013-06-24T17:05:19.048-07:00@redmittens & sport3888: Agreed regarding ATV...@redmittens & sport3888: Agreed regarding ATV…though I also feel that another reason for their failure was the fact that they had bad management for decades who, time and time again, made bad decisions that really did them more harm than good. Related to this, I also feel that ATV management throughout the decades had too much of an ‘arrogant’ attitude and as a result, never felt the need to acknowledge issues or even attempt to rectify them until it was too late….unfortunately, I sort of see TVB going down that same path right now with the way their management has been the past 10-15 years or so. Too bad….llwy12https://www.blogger.com/profile/02401832364832078932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-12256925692787788602013-06-24T16:55:06.507-07:002013-06-24T16:55:06.507-07:00@redmittens: Yup, that’s the exact same feeling I...@redmittens: Yup, that’s the exact same feeling I had – better appreciation for the entire 42 minutes of the episode! It’s definitely refreshing to see HKTV actually putting audience’s interests ahead of their own revenue / profit and also see them taking our input so seriously (unlike TVB who pretty much just denies everything and makes it sound like we – the audiences – are the problem!).<br /><br />I actually have a feeling that Lawrence’s story will be resolved earlier than expected in that he’s probably going to be put in jail and then somehow breaks out or is proven innocent and then the rest of the time will be dedicated to figuring who the real killer is (this is based on the plot summaries because every version of the summaries I’ve read seem to allude to Lawrence getting framed for murder as being ‘in the past’ rather than something that drags out over many episodes….this actually makes sense given how fast-paced the first episode was and how much story they were already able to cover within those first 42 minutes. <br /><br />I agree with you about the ancient series part. I also highly doubt that they are even going to try and tackle that until they get their license, since so much more investment is needed for ancient series, so it’s wise to wait until things are more stable. Writing-wise, I’m not too worried because HKTV seems to have most of TVB’s best scriptwriters working for them now and with a more ‘free’ environment, the outcome will likely be better than what TVB had.<br /><br />Regarding BAW – while I agree about the necessity for unconventional series, I still feel that Chow and Chik went a bit overboard with that series – meaning that they made that series way more ‘pretentious’ than it really needed to be. In comparisons, I actually liked When Heaven Burns much more because it didn’t try as hard to be ‘complicated’ and ‘pretentious’ – sure, WHB was a bit on the ‘deep’ side, but not in the sense of being ‘difficult to understand’ – the story and premise were pretty simple and the dialogue during many segments were very well-thought out and expressed – the ‘deep’ part refers to it making us reflect on the series’ underlying message and lessons and in a way, it made us think about our own lives / actions as well as those within society. BAW on the other hand, was too complicated – I think where that series failed is that Chow / Chik tried to use the WHB approach with that series, but it failed because it just doesn’t work as well for ancient series due to the more complicated dialogue and such.<br /><br />I also wasn’t too thrilled with Chow Yuk Ming’s response back a few months ago when he was interviewed by ND Daily and talked about why BAW failed. Sure, at least he was truthful, but still, when you say things like “we knew what the audiences wanted but we purposefully wanted to give them something else in the hopes that they will like it” and also “I was being selfish and put more of my own personal stuff into the script than I should have, completely neglecting the needs / desires of the audiences as well as the artists”, I think it shows that innately, the person cares more about getting personal satisfaction out of a script / series than fulfilling the needs of the audience. At the end of the day, there’s probably nothing ‘wrong’ with this persay, but it’s just way too much going on the opposite side of the spectrum in my opinion….<br />llwy12https://www.blogger.com/profile/02401832364832078932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-62710013875817448382013-06-23T17:29:23.532-07:002013-06-23T17:29:23.532-07:00Wow, after reading the article it just makes me ap...Wow, after reading the article it just makes me appreciate the whole 42 minutes so much more. I agree that there are still some imperfections in the first episode like editing and the flow of the dialogue but the overall episode still blew me a away. I'm just curious how they will weave in the "case by case" aspect into it because right now it is very like "story" based. I suppose they will slowly bring it to full circle and resolve the initial "conflict" at the end and have the various cases build up to a final confrontation. I was totally not expecting a confrontation of the two sides in the very first episode. I'm also looking forward to how they handle Lawrence's life after the incident. A lot of things have changed since.<br /><br />Now I want to see what happens when you get HKTV to make an ancient series. I think they will only venture into that when they establish themselves in the industry, build their HQ and get their license. Ancient TVB series are a joke now and Mainland only gives good visuals but poor script or acting.<br /><br />I think they bring up a good point about Beauty at War. Although it is not necessarily "commercial" but I like that it is different from the mix. There should always be someone out there to take risks and make something unconventional or else we will never improve. I think Chik's series are best left at 20-25 episodes but what it feels like is that the execs at the top forced them to make a 30 episode series so they had to elongate the plot. <br /><br />@ Sport - that is so true about ATV! They really had decent scripts and good actors but they never had the chance to "shine" because HK is very appearance based. Plus they don't promote their artists properly so the audience never really knows who they are unlike TVB who shoves them in your face 24/7.redmittensnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-65199370020275908582013-06-22T17:51:52.221-07:002013-06-22T17:51:52.221-07:00@fangorn: Uncle Chi's character is definitely...@fangorn: Uncle Chi's character is definitely my favorite so far as well! I've always loved him as an actor even back when he was doing supporting roles in TVB, so with him having the lead role in this series, I absolutely had to support! From the moment he appeared on screen (in that first gun fight scene) he was already so cool-looking....and absolutely loved that scene in the convalescent home (Yu Mo Lian was absolutely hilarious in that scene...LOL). I actually can't wait to see more of Uncle Chi and Dominic battling acting chops in future scenes.<br /><br />@sport3888: Speaking of DIF....seeing Uncle Chi playing a cop again in a TV series made me want to go pull DIF3 and rewatch his performance in there again (yes, that's how much i miss seeing him onscreen, especially since I don't watch HK movies as much as I used to anymore, so less opportunity for me to see him onscreen).llwy12https://www.blogger.com/profile/02401832364832078932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-63593984370940660822013-06-22T17:45:24.058-07:002013-06-22T17:45:24.058-07:00@sport3888: Yup....TVB series have definitely det...@sport3888: Yup....TVB series have definitely deteriorated from how they were in the past (like they say in the article, TVB's series have lost their past splendor...). DIF 1-4 was also one of my favorite franchises and I've rewatched all 4 of those installments so much that i feel like I can recite the dialogue...haha! Also, with past TVB series, I would oftentimes get that 'chasing series' feeling, which had caused me to do some 'crazy' things such as finish watching an entire series in 1 sitting (don't ask me how, but I've actually done it many times before...LOL). Nowadays, I can barely stand watching a series in its entirety even ONCE, let alone multiple times! llwy12https://www.blogger.com/profile/02401832364832078932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-67856342018399799052013-06-22T17:39:56.853-07:002013-06-22T17:39:56.853-07:00@fangorn: You're welcome and thanks for comme...@fangorn: You're welcome and thanks for commenting! Though I didn't have too much problem with the editing of the first episode, I do see where some of the transitions appear choppy and not as smooth....regardless though, still way way better than what we're used to seeing from the other station...<br /><br />Omg, totally agree with you on the FF thing...I've been finding myself doing that for pretty much every single TVB series nowadays (though to save time, I pretty much just skip watching entire episodes altogether...even doing so though, I still don't feel like I've missed anything...LOL). With the limited time that I do have in a day, I would much rather spend it watching worthwhile stuff rather than junk.llwy12https://www.blogger.com/profile/02401832364832078932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-69885549862154375942013-06-22T17:27:36.285-07:002013-06-22T17:27:36.285-07:00Oddly enough I never do that with American TV show...Oddly enough I never do that with American TV shows. I'm even willing to rewatch their episodes several times without forwarding that's the quality that HKTV should aim for!<br /><br />I remember I only rewatched DIF1-4 many times and several ATV series such as Good Old Days, My Date With A Vampire trilogy, Project Ji Xiang, etc Mostly because Joey Meng's husband Chan13 is such an amazing scriptwriter and the acting was always solid.<br /><br />Though their failure in ratings was probably due to poor filming equipment and visual quality. Audience complained so many times about the hue of their series that made them look old, yet they never changed it.sport3888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-37158523839951177452013-06-22T17:23:14.337-07:002013-06-22T17:23:14.337-07:00Still need to finish this article preview posting ...Still need to finish this article preview posting more comments.<br />I totally agree with you! I forward almost every TVB series/episode that I watch! I never used to do that with their classic series such as DIF1-4.<br /><br />lol I really like how they noticed the habit of audience, including myself, listening to the tv/series and multitasking rather than actually watching it!sport3888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5765116522593136045.post-60208493463200149202013-06-22T00:11:30.345-07:002013-06-22T00:11:30.345-07:00Thanks for the article translation. AH..no wonder ...Thanks for the article translation. AH..no wonder Lawrence is speaking better than the trailer :P ...<br />I already watched the first episode. Meant to comment on the other article but nvm...<br /><br />IMO, it was good, I didn't fast forward (well, I did a lot of FF in TVB series). But I dont like the editing in the first episode. Im not an expert in analysing dramas or acting but what I felt when watching it was that the transitions between scenes were not that smooth. <br /><br />I like, however, the fast-moving plot. And that they are not afraid to kill of characters. Although I dont think they will kill off any of the 5 leads that soon. <br /><br />Im happy with the background settings, the characters and the plot so far. My fav character so far is Liu Kai Chi. Leila have yet to appear so cant comment on that.fangornnoreply@blogger.com