RTE Storyland 4

Havermeyer

I'd have to agree with most of what Frank Funk has said regarding the script writing.

I watched all of the shows last night and felt that the writing was quite poor, with the possible exception of Vidileaks. The writing wasn't particularly helped by the standard of acting either though.

I single out Vidileaks for the simple reason that there wasn't much/if any dialogue between any characters. Dialogue is a factor that lets down Storyland year in year out, but also lets down many fully commissioned shows produced by RTE, imo.

There were a couple of ok ideas from this years batch, but they were poorly executed, imo.

The only show to come from the four years of Storyland with good writing, regardless what you think of the show/storylines itself, was Hardy Bucks. There's a fluidity to the dialogue, which is helped by a more natural performance from the central cast.

That's just my two cents. I'll keep an eye on the shows and hope that they improve, the further they get.

indough

the kinetic typography and editing in cuckoo is almost brain melting. in the space of about the first 30 seconds it made me want to tear my eyes out of their sockets. it may or may not have been funny but i don't find irish comedy remotely humorous at the best of times so can't really comment on that. the dialogue seemed a bit forced in the living room scene but i don't know is that a valid criticism. i have to say i found it a bit unbelievable that two young fellas would have payed enough attention to a photofit in some crappy whinging rte documentary to have recognised the girl on a night out whilst presumably half cut

i can't believe that someone had the balls to not only totally and unashamedly rip-off a terrible show like 'v', but to call it victory was just the icing on the cake. some examples of terrible acting in it too but i like the idea of an irish sci-fi, if only it was executed a bit better (which im sure it could be with more than this shoestring of a budget allows). it had some ok costume design though and some of the effects were at least passable given the constraints. i would probably continue watching it for all the wrong reasons but still, entertainment is entertainment i suppose!

hysteria is my favourite so far purely for its technical quality and the fact that they had the good sense to copy something that was actually good in the first instance (in my opinion it is essentially 'children of men' albeit with a slightly modified premise, although i could be proven wrong with later episodes of course). i felt it had the best balance of writing, acting and cinematography. it also had the best cliffhanger, which is really quite an important factor in this format (only barely forgave it for that info dump at the start though).

talk it out may have potential because it has an interesting enough concept, but again the comedy was far too obvious for my personal tastes so i didn't find it funny. Looked nice to me though, well enough framed shots as far as i could tell and realistic enough set and costume design.

i didn't like the begrudgers purely for subjective reasons, as in the subject matter and style just wasn't of interest to me, so i wont really comment as i didn't watch it the whole way through.

trouble x 3 has some pretty frantic editing cutting between shots in what seems like less than a second at times. im not sure its a valid complaint but personally i found it a bit off putting. again there was obtrusive use of typography that drew me out of the action. it was an ok concept let down by horrible acting on occasion.

i didnt get the point of vidileaks and always find other people's political opinions boring. therefore i couldn't sit through it due to personal taste and wont comment on the quality but i will say i would never consider watching it if it were a series.

Surly

I really liked the opening of Talk It Out but it lost pace quickly after that. Some potential there though, hope they get to make another (better) episode.

Hysteria was the prettiest but it's completely devoid of originality. That Sarah Connor voiceover at the start put me off straight away and the "Get orf moi land" line towards the end made me burst out laughing.

Like the idea of The Begrudgers as well, just didn't find it all that funny.

There are clearly some strong performers in Student Teacher but it would really benefit from better editing, the pacing is all wrong and the timing of most of the gags isn't working.

Much as I love the Hardy Bucks the fluidity of the dialogue is mainly down to how much of the scenes are improvised, it'd be generous to say it's well written. Those lads are genuinely funny fúckers.

Galvasean

Qualifiers for the next round (in no particular order other than alphabetical):

Cuckoo
Hysteria
Student Teacher
Talk It Out
The Begrudgers
Trouble Times Three

Galvasean

For those who missed it on RTE's site, the full first episode of Hysteria:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awf4XLZLfME

I think all of the episode 1s (plus promo material) are available on Youtube now.

Galvasean

The 2nd episodes are up now:
http://www.rte.ie/drama/featured/storyland

homerbert

Second episode of Trouble Times Three is up. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.rte.ie/drama/featured/storyland/troubletimesthree.html

Thanks for watching.

SiDoyle

Second episode of Talk it Out is up.

Let us know what you think!

Cheers.

http://www.rte.ie/drama/featured/storyland/talkitout.html

Galvasean

The episode 3s are up now for those interested.

http://www.rte.ie/drama/featured/storyland/hysteria.html

homerbert

Hi All,

The latest episode of the Trouble Times Three is up: http://www.rte.ie/drama/featured/storyland/troubletimesthree.html

Cheers,
Eoin

Ainec

RTÉ Storyland Round 3 has begun. Check out 'The Begrudgers' and please voite if you like what you see! Thanks!
http://www.rte.ie/drama/featured/storyland/begrudgers.html