Comments on: TV v. Film: The Benefits of Time http://popvultures.com/2008/08/06/tv-v-film-the-benefits-of-time/ Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:47:59 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Ed http://popvultures.com/2008/08/06/tv-v-film-the-benefits-of-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2883 Ed Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:28:49 +0000 http://popvultures.com/?p=783#comment-2883 Another thing worth noting is that the very thing that gives TV the ability to do serial storytelling, the speed of production, also makes it much harder for it to match cinema in terms of cinematography & design. Another thing worth noting is that the very thing that gives TV the ability to do serial storytelling, the speed of production, also makes it much harder for it to match cinema in terms of cinematography & design.

]]> By: Ed http://popvultures.com/2008/08/06/tv-v-film-the-benefits-of-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2882 Ed Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:06:04 +0000 http://popvultures.com/?p=783#comment-2882 I'm not sure this is about TV vs Film. It's serial fiction vs standalone fiction. Lost couldn't be a novel, but it could easily be a comic. And serial fiction is possible in cinema, most obviously in the film serials of the pre-1950s, but a lot of film franchises of today have strong serial elements (Harry Potter, to pick an obvious example). A lot of TV drama avoids character development anyway, because once our hero overcomes his or her flaws, there isn't much drama. Even with Gaius Baltar I think it's debatable how much real development there is, certainly in the first 2 seasons. A lot of the time the benefit of serialisation is not that characters develop & grow, but that you can throw the same characters into different situations. In such cases the only inherent advantage with TV is that you can do this faster. There are of course exceptions, which is where serialised fiction has something that film doesn't, but right along with them come all those terrible jumping the shark moments where suddenly many hours of invested time are completely pissed away. But even in the case of successful, non-trivial character development over the course of many TV episodes, is there any objective sense in which that is better than character development in a film? I'm not entirely sure that the argument doesn't ultimately reduce to the question "Do you like your favourite TV series more than your favourite film?". And my dad's car IS faster than your dad's car... I’m not sure this is about TV vs Film. It’s serial fiction vs standalone fiction. Lost couldn’t be a novel, but it could easily be a comic. And serial fiction is possible in cinema, most obviously in the film serials of the pre-1950s, but a lot of film franchises of today have strong serial elements (Harry Potter, to pick an obvious example).

A lot of TV drama avoids character development anyway, because once our hero overcomes his or her flaws, there isn’t much drama. Even with Gaius Baltar I think it’s debatable how much real development there is, certainly in the first 2 seasons. A lot of the time the benefit of serialisation is not that characters develop & grow, but that you can throw the same characters into different situations. In such cases the only inherent advantage with TV is that you can do this faster.

There are of course exceptions, which is where serialised fiction has something that film doesn’t, but right along with them come all those terrible jumping the shark moments where suddenly many hours of invested time are completely pissed away.

But even in the case of successful, non-trivial character development over the course of many TV episodes, is there any objective sense in which that is better than character development in a film? I’m not entirely sure that the argument doesn’t ultimately reduce to the question “Do you like your favourite TV series more than your favourite film?”. And my dad’s car IS faster than your dad’s car…

]]> By: Rachel http://popvultures.com/2008/08/06/tv-v-film-the-benefits-of-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2874 Rachel Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:54:24 +0000 http://popvultures.com/?p=783#comment-2874 I agree with you, although I think time is also the downfall of TV in many cases - there's always the pressure to keep a successful TV series on the air (particularly in the US market), which leads to wandering plots and a lack of direction. I agree with you, although I think time is also the downfall of TV in many cases – there’s always the pressure to keep a successful TV series on the air (particularly in the US market), which leads to wandering plots and a lack of direction.

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