The Wire Thread

[Sut]

Just on the last episode of Season 2 now, having not seen it for about 5 years. Major Valchek is one hateful cunt and Brother Mouzone is the weakest character in it.

[Hades]

Agree about Brother Mouzone. Felt the same way about Omar to an extent but apparently there's historical basis for his character.

[Dr Nowt]

Cast spotting. Bubbles as a short-order cook in the film Super.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Seen quite a few of these fuckers in fringe.

[Sut]

Seen a few in the Strand.

[Jim MM]

So I'm spending a bit of a time on planes this week and that's when I always need a good book. I just watched Season 5 last week and it puts me in mind to read Homicide or The Corner.

 

I must say before I go on that the opening scene of the very last episode is one of my favourites, superb stuff from the mayor and I mention this because neither the character nor the actor seem to get much love in general.

 

Anyway, I figure I will just wander into a bookshop and surely they will have one or both of these books, right? The fourth shop I went into, I ask the lad if he has any of David Simon's books (blank look ) and helpfully explain that he is the guy who made The Wire. I expect him to point me towards the Crime section but he asks me if it's the American or British The Wire I'm talking about. I am a bit stunned by the possible implications and ask him about the British one. He tells me it was a popular TV show about 10 years ago. That is when I realised that I am not going to be reading about West Baltimore tonight.

 

Instead I have something called 'Galveston ' by Nic Pizzolatto. I don't know if it's going to be any good but he is the guy who wrote True Detective which featured Lester Freamon as a priest of some sort in one episode. That's as close as I could get.

[Jim MM]

By the way, do books ever get made into Minor Motion Pictures? I'd love to watch one for a change.

[Lee909]

Just been looking online for a few new Tshirts and found this on Ebay

 

[Chairman Meow]

They're on redbubble too Lee. One of my exes got my one a while ago. 

[Lee909]

Ill have a look thanks

[lifetime fan]

Cutty in Law & Order SVU.

[Lee909]

[FanchesterCity]

Just for those into The Wire, there's a BluRay release due in the summer....

 

Over the years, there's been a whole lot of debate about widescreen format i.e. will it be stretched? cropped? what? Well, it seems rumours of it being filmed in a wide aspect originally were correct and the BluRay will reflect this (mostly).

 

There's a sample site below where you can compare the 'old' 4:3 ratio with the widescreen version (via drag and drop).

 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/28/7457291/the-wire-hd-screenshot-comparisons

 

I'm putting this on my torrent list for the summer!

[Frankenhooker]

It was framed and shot in 4:3. David Simon has explained the process, in depth, on his site.

 

 

 

[FanchesterCity]

Slightly misleading that, since the original shots were on 35mm which is 4:3 BUT full frame, and the TV series was cropped / framed to his direction. That means the actual full frame contains parts the TV viewer never saw (to the top and sides).

In the 16;9 framing, you can now see more to the sides (at the cost of less top and bottom)

 

So his 35mm film contains additional footage to the sides which the widescreen version will reveal.

 

People have just assumed that because it was filmed in 4:3 and framed in 4:3, there's nothing 'missing' - but there is, because the TV crop is smaller than full frame.

 

He seems a bit ambivalent to it all though, saying generally the 16:9's not too detrimental, but for a certain scenes he thinks it weakens the impact. I'm sure he's right, but I still think the BluRay edition will be a welcome addition to most libraries.

 

[FanchesterCity]

As Simon puts it:

At which point, Bob set about to work with 4:3 as the given. And while we were filming in 35mm and could have ostensibly “protected” ourselves by adopting wider shot composition in the event of some future change of heart by HBO, the problem with doing so is obvious: If you compose a shot for a wider 16:9 screen, then you are, by definition, failing to optimize the composition of the 4:3 image. Choose to serve one construct and at times you must impair the other.

Because we knew the show would be broadcast in 4:3, Bob chose to maximize the storytelling within that construct. As full wide shots in 4:3 rendered protagonists smaller, they couldn’t be sustained for quite as long as in a feature film, but neither did we go running too quickly to close-ups as a consequence. Instead, mid-shots became an essential weapon for Bob, and on those rare occasions when he was obliged to leave the set, he would remind me to ensure that the director covered scenes with mid-sized shots that allowed us to effectively keep the story in the wider world, and to resist playing too much of the story in close shots.

 

He explains how they could have protected themselves with a wider composition (because the 35mm film is recording a wider image). That info wasn't lost, he just ignored it because he wanted to make the 4:3 as perfect as he could.

 

The new 16:9 will simply use that 'off screen' image and hopefully still do a decent composition with it.

I suppose in a sense, it's better to see it as intended, BUT as a 16;9 version, at least it's not stretching the image or zooming and cropping.

Apparently though,they've had to CGI some parts probably do to stray objects or distractions outside of the original framing.

[RoboRiise]

Reading Simon's comments, it's interesting to hear that stuff about something you never really consider about good TV (or films) namely how much of the 'feel' of it is influenced by the cinematography as opposed to the actors, writing, direction (although that's obviously interlinked) and so on.

 

It struck me particularly because I was looking at the thread about Fortitude last night and as a result of that thinking about Twin Peaks.  I've heard many comments about Twin Peaks since the announcement of the new episodes that say it's dated these days and shows its age and whilst I agree to an extent, one way in which it has definitely retained its impact over the 25 years since I first saw it is in the sheer sumptuous visual spectacle of watching it.

 

I anticipate exactly what that linked article says about The Wire in 16:9 and HD being correct; some scenes will undoubtedly benefit from the more cinematic feel of a wide ratio but others will lose the almost photo-journalistic style that the tighter cropping of the original 4:3 format helped to emphasise.

 

I don't actually own a BluRay player at the moment but I never got round to buying all of The Wire box sets on DVD, only have the first two - in view of that this might be what tips me over the edge to actually get one and pick these up when they come out.

[Remmie]

Jeez some proper nerdy aspect ratio freaks here! Haha.

 

I don't care how it looks when Bunk is telling an anecdote, yo!

[Kevin D]

Bunk: His whole story is fucked, and here's why: first, it don't make any sense.The shooter took out the woman and left him breathing to talk to you.He should be dead, too. Second, there's a drug depot in there. The glass, reinforced steel, camera, low inventory. And, third, he's shining us on about that big-ass .50 cal hole because I know who put it there, and he knows who put it there. And if he were to say, "Oh, that? That's Omar's previous. Ripping off a re-Up in here--" Which is what happened-- he be fucked. So, what? A guy comes in the first time with a .50 caliber because he knows the glass is thick, then comes back the next week with a nine? The job isn't about picking the stories we like best.

[Kevin D]

Mcnulty: Hey, what the fuck? Let me guess, the Deputy? How's he got onto this so quick?

 

Daniels: I told him.

 

Mcnulty: You told him? Why would you be telling him?

 

Daniels: He's the Deputy for Operations, I arrested an aide to a state senator.How do I not tell him?

 

McNulty: Have you noticed there hasn't been a complaint from the senator? Know why? What is his driver doing coming out of the high-rises with so much money?

 

Daniels: I told the Deputy that.

 

McNulty: What did he say? Mind our own business? Give the man back his money and go the fuck away?

 

Daniels: Pretty much.Except he said a few things for my benefit, too.Like how I had shit all over him.Like how he was shutting us down, this week.

 

McNulty: The fuck he is.

 

Daniels: We're done. I go past Friday, and I'm buried. He told me that.

 

Mcnulty: He's gonna bury you? For what? You're doing your fucking job.

 

Daniels: You think the job is gonna save me? You think it's gonna save you? Chain-of-command. That's all I got from the Deputy, today.

 

McNulty: Chain-of-command? Did you tell your major about the senator's driver? Or the Colonel? No? Then where's your chain-of-command? What's the shift lieutenant doing going up the back stairs to the Deputy Ops?

 

Daniels: What are you saying?

 

McNulty: Nothing.

 

Daniels: Goddamn right.

 

Mcnulty: Why, he got something on you? You say you got the Deputy's ear. What the fuck's he got on you?

 

Daniels: Only rank, Detective.

[lifetime fan]

Senator Clay Davis in Europa Report.

[Sugar Ape]

Downloaded this in HD the other day to rewatch and just making a start on it now with some Rum. The quality is amazing.

[Section_31]

Superb 

 

 

http://www.firebox.com/product/7172/Isiah-Whitlock-Jr-Talking-Bobblehead

[lifetime fan]

Nicky Sobotka and Valchek in Law & Order SVU.

[Captain Turdseye]

Nicky Sobotka and Valchek in Law & Order SVU.

Seen him in loads of stuff recently. Orange Is The New Black and The Brink among others.