[01x04] October 20th, 2008

[fbc]

They didn't start from zero. TopGear is a well-established franchise and these are supposed industry professionals. Aside from the presenters, there's no reason it shouldn't be damn-near perfect from day one.

The problem is you're really, really underselling the exceptional talent behind the scenes of Top Gear. It's not just JC, Hammond & May - the team behind the show are exceptional in their own right, and that's why any other program - not just a TG franchise - is going to struggle to be as good.

So while TGAu has the formula, it doesn't have TG's staff - and that's the real key to it. TGAu are doing a great job and the show is developing really nicely, and as their experience builds the show will keep improving - but whether it will ever truly be as good as Top Gear is a tricky call because it's so damn hard to assemble a team as incredible as that behind Top Gear - but that applies to every other TV show out there.

 

[Clown]

Go to 46mins where Charlie and Warren are taking about where to put the new jack.
Charlie calls Warren "darling"
Maybe that explains all the fake mucho stuff.

 

[Icedvovo]

The problem is you're really, really underselling the exceptional talent behind the scenes of Top Gear.

I agree TGUK are an exceptional team. I've been trying to match their 'look' for years.

However, TGA has proved they CAN shoot and edit something that is the equal of TGUK. On the surface....

So they can do it technically, where they've dropped the ball is creatively. They left the whiteboard too soon. And it's endemic of the Aussie film industry. The stories are all undercooked. And we do have the creative talent here to equal TGUK, they just rushed the process.

/rant.

 

[melbournian]

BTW, I take back any criticism I made about Charlie moving his arms too much. I just came back from a group interview for a job, where I had to get up and talk about myself, and could only watch in horror as my arms flapped about so hard I was about to take off.

 

[il est myron]

(yeah, about that Holden, some simple monster yank engine that the Stig can't keep on track cause it's a wallowy big low tech tank and Steve can't do a donut in it while Jeremy the non Pro can pull them off in any car any time..)

Why are people so passionate about rubbishing Holden/Ford? I can understand if their cars are not to your taste, but there's no need to go all "RARGHH HOLDEN FORD ME NO LIKE" whenever they're on the show. Nobody cares.

 

[Stoopidflanders]

^^^ Exactly. Not many countries actually design and build cars, but Holden and Ford do a great job of it considering the size of our population and our car market. They build cars to suit our country, lots of big open roads and long distances to travel, and they do it comfortably and effortlessly.

Its always the same though, there are the Skyline/import enthusiasts who constantly bag Aussie cars as low tech, heavy dinosaurs. Then there are the Aussies car enthusiests who wouldnt go anywhere near so called "Jap Crap" just because of the badge they have. Thats sad, because they dont know what theyre missing.

I have both an import Nissan, and a V8 Holden ute, and i love them equally for how they go about what they do.
Same goes for my Excel to actually....

 

[Armunn]

^^^ I think it's endemic to this country that Australians are simply not proud of anything Australian made. It's the same with Aussie movies, food, clothing etc. No matter how good it is, or how much the rest of the worlds press praise the item, Australians seem to have a hatred that is bordering on pathological. Actually if something Australian made is better than it's international rivals people want to hate it even more.

 

[Icedvovo]

^^^ I think it's endemic to this country that Australians are simply not proud of anything Australian made. It's the same with Aussie movies, food, clothing etc.

I think Aussies have a lower tolerance for the rubbish. But they will embrace the good stuff.

The Castle is one of my favourite movies. And Crackerjack is Gold. And the Dish.

 

[Armunn]

I think Aussies have a lower tolerance for the rubbish. But they will embrace the good stuff.

The Castle is one of my favourite movies. And Crackerjack is Gold. And the Dish.

I've heard from a lot of people that they think all Australian cinema is bad. Even when you point out classics like that.

 

[Icedvovo]

I've heard from a lot of people that they think all Australian cinema is bad. Even when you point out classics like that.

Noooooooo! No-one can hate The Castle!! Surely!

 

[il est myron]

it doesn't compare to the high tech movies of glorious japan

damn wallowy big low tech movies that steve can't do a donut in

 

[Dr_Grip]

The GPS challenge offered two interesting firsts in Top Gear:

1) The car lost, which is good since it never happened in 11 series of Top Gear UK and it was about time that the challenges stop being this predictable. On the other hand - the car losing on Top Gear - heresy!

2) The first instance of blatant, obvious racism on Top Gear. From the clich? of the wild man knowing the bush, to the aboriginal leader walking while Warren is riding a horse, the whole setup stank of colonialist, racist views. With zero aboriginies in the team, null aboriginies visible in the studio audience the first one visible of course knows the outback from his heart and walks while the whilte colonialist sits on a horse and makes witty remarks. If Top Gear Australia is half as scripted as Top Gear UK their interaction can only be described as intentionally racist (warren talking, him not reacting), if it was unscripted, it was a case of bad casting (which one could also see as racism) OR should have been scripted more. I intentionally downvoted the episode as 1/10 cause this annoyed me so much.

And no, i am not a political correctness freak. I laughed about Jezzas "Eaten a spaniel" comment, i had no problem with Warren's drawing in Ep. 1, of annoying-voice-guys Taxi Driver impersonation in Ep. 2, i had no problem with "style and passion"-style italy clich?s... but having half of a challenge based on racist stereotypes simply crosses a line.

The main problem of Top Gear Australia, apart from this, is clearly visible in the closing credits: Only two cameramen. TG UK uses at least four, maybe even five cameraman simultanously shooting track action, challenges, everything... Watch the making of of Clarkson's "Supercar showdown" DVD (which shares most of its crew with TG UK) and gape in awe at the sheer amount of cameras and manpower involved. If you film a car drifting round a bend with three cameras from three different angles at the same time you get much better editing possibilites than when you film three drifts from one angle each...
...not to mention the (im)possibilities of getting decent coverage of the track with only two cameras.

edit:
Additionally, a film editor (and tg fan) friend of mine pointed out that they try to copy the blueish color correction look of TG UK, while, at least on a location like the desert a more reddish tone would look much cooler. For an example of this compare an episode of the original CSI (very modern, stylish, cold, blue neon look) with one of CSI:Miami (red, yellow and "earthy" colors emphasize the hot, humid, alligator-ridden-swamp-surrounded Miami)... Top Gear Australia, too, should get its own trademark look, still instantly recognizable as TG, but working with the surrounding, not against it...

 

[ChicagoCub]

^ really good idea with the colors. Simple things like that would help give the show its own character but TGAu is too busy copying the details of TGUK. My biggest gripe is Cox. I know everything is scripted BUT I feel like he is reading of a prompter word for word. He is unnatural.

 

[nameless1]

WHAT!!!

Were we watching the same show!? This is how the TGA 'team' captured the only interesting part of the lap, where Stig apparently 'has a lot on'.

Sorry, but the track work is still total shit!

yes it is, but it looks like it is becoming better, there was a few good shots along

I think it was a failure as it was worse than the previous episode... i hope next week's will be entertaining!

i agree, boring episode, that race or challenge whatever was it meant to be, was really boring...

I couldn't be bothered to write a full review, but I will say:
1) Charlie Cox is still annoying as all hell. He ruins the whole thing. I cannot stand him.
2) Drop the Australiana, its condesending, and its not funny.

+ 16 :lol:

 

[Dr_Grip]

^ really good idea with the colors. Simple things like that would help give the show its own character but TGAu is too busy copying the details of TGUK. My biggest gripe is Cox. I know everything is scripted BUT I feel like he is reading of a prompter word for word. He is unnatural.

As i already said in the 1x02 thread, the lack of originality is a problem...
...good to see i'm not the only one having this color correction views.
But i don't see what everyone's problem with Cox is...seriously, SIARPC is unwatchable on TG UK, too, and apart from this i think he does a far better job as a studio presenter than as a car tester, he can't say driving Ford GT is "better than sex" while looking like he's having as much fun as while watching paint dry. Especially his lively arm movements and line delivery are fine with me, they aren't bad, just different from other presenters... as long as he's not trying to channel Clarkson, which inevitably leads to failiure, including, but not limited to, the Some say... Stig introduction.

 

[Icedvovo]

The GPS challenge offered two interesting firsts in Top Gear:


The main problem of Top Gear Australia, apart from this, is clearly visible in the closing credits: Only two cameramen. TG UK uses at least four, maybe even five cameraman simultanously shooting track action, challenges, everything...

It's so true, and I brought it up in EP01. Problem is, it's getting more obvious that they have too few cameras. A soundy friend told me they use up to 9 cameras on the TGUK track work.

Here's a still from TGUK S11E06 - Britain vs Germany. I count 3 cameras, pus the camera shooting the pic. That's at least 4 on a location shoot abroad. Two more than TGA use at home with no accommodation expenses!

http://img410.imageshack.**/img410/8776/topgearcrewoa6.png

Additionally, a film editor (and tg fan) friend of mine pointed out that they try to copy the blueish color correction look of TG UK. Top Gear Australia, too, should get its own trademark look, still instantly recognizable as TG, but working with the surrounding, not against it...

There's something very important to note here, that Australian light is VASTLY different to anywhere else in the world. It's incredibly 'hard' and very difficult to apply creative grades to. And it's not about aperture, the light is just simply 'hard'.

For instance, TGA would never be able to achieve the "Three Silver Jags across the Scottish Moors" dark look that TGUK use so regularly, because that light simply doesn't exist here.

Of all the things I criticize, I actually reckon they've done a pretty good job with the colour grades, knowing the harsh Australian light they would've been working with.

EDIT: Although the credits are hard to read - in the TGUK S11E06 credits I counted 4 cameramen, 6 film cameras and 3 minicams.

TGA use the same two poor bloody cameramen for the studio work!!!

It's a Dog and Pony Show.

 

[Dr_Grip]

It's so true, and I brought it up in EP01. Problem is, it's getting more obvious that they have too few cameras. A soundy friend told me they use up to 9 cameras on the TGUK track work.

Including the hardmounted cameras like on the tire wall, i have no doubt about this numer.

There's something very important to note here, that Australian light is VASTLY different to anywhere else in the world. It's incredibly 'hard' and very difficult to apply creative grades to. And it's not about aperture, the light is just simply 'hard'.

This might be true, in the same way as Hollywood films look better than european ones cause of the light, but it's still no excuse for emphazising blue not red in the grading

 

[Dr_Grip]

TGA use the same two poor bloody cameramen for the studio work!!!
It's a Dog and Pony Show.

This so can not work. These poor two guys are supposed to do studio camera work, motorsports camera work (on the track), documentary film camera work (road tests and challenges) and even some feature film camera work (scripted parts of challenges and road tests). There are only few people who can do only one of this jobs (believe me, each of these jobs needs a different set of skills) on the skill level displayed in TG UK... how should they be able to do all these jobs at once? They can only fail. Epically.

 

[Icedvovo]

Suggestion for Charlie Cox replacement.

Michael Stahl.

I reckon he'd be great.

 

[Icedvovo]

This so can not work. ... how should they be able to do all these jobs at once? They can only fail. Epically.

Happens all the time over here. There's never any real budget so everyone learns to 'make do'.