PBS Discussions

Judy___ · Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 19536 Location: AZ

Well they could have had Lewis demoted for dating a suspect/witness and placed Hathaway in charge for at least one of the episodes.

Lewis isn't a family man nor a non-alcoholic anymore. Surely some woman chased him more or less successfully in the 2 or so years he mentions drinking heavily???

On seeing a beautiful girl he took a liking to pulled out of the river would a man like Lewis stand there deaf and dumb? No tear in the corner of the eye? No anger? No closeup on his throbbing temple?

Or going to the recital in a rented suit -- come-on - even working class stiffs own appropriate fitted clothing for the odd occasion where evening wear is required in the UK. For upper level police it is often required when covering certain kinds of security situations. In any case if Lewis mentioned that it was rented there was something else going on -- and the writers weren't sure what to do with the moment to bring tension to it.

I don't think Lewis or Hathaway are dull - only the scripts. And Lewis' boss is not Jane Tennison - unfortunately. A lot of bite could come from that conflict which never quite comes to the fore. The part could be written so there is some attraction there as well as hostility... maybe they have a bit of a past? Did Lewis reject her? Did she resent being rejected by a lower class man?

One of the better moments was when the director of the school in the last episode mistook the partners for a gay pair and Hathaway smilingly tapped Lewis' knee while Lewis looked totally disgusted. The actors may surpass the scripts yet - lets hope. LOL.

Let the class warfare begin.

As for American dialogues, Arizona has at least 8 all by itself. Some, especially from downtown Phoenix, can barely be understood as English.
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jayohallen · Joined: 02 Nov 2009 Posts: 3 Location: jeffersonville, in

II couldn't agree more about the sound probllem. I bought a nice TV and sound system so I could enjjoy TV more. I don't want to watch TV on a computer asnd listen with headphones. The background sound and musicneeds to go down when people are talking. This is not just a problem with this episode or series, I notice it with all Masterpiece shows. They need to have someone that doesn't have the best hearing in the world watch and listen in a typical living room series. I have noticed that the moderator responds to quite a few posts but I haven't been able to find one in this thred so far.Love all the series but the enjoyment is lessened by having to figure out half of the dialect by guessing and paying close attention to the action.
Thanks
Jim

Judy___ · Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 19536 Location: AZ

Unfortunately TV has poor audio [even the big fancy systems actually have rather poor audio specs and these are often made worse by the acoustics of a typical room).
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braintan · Joined: 22 Oct 2009 Posts: 91

I really enjoy the accents. I just wish I knew what they represented. I find Lewis' very understandable, also Hathaway's. What accent did the bar owner who found the journalist in Quality of Mercy have? I loved his "They were loud, very loud." as if it pained him. There must be more quiet bars in Oxford. What was the English professor/murderer's accent in Quality of Mercy? I also liked the man in charge of the allotments. Please tell, those who know!

pip · Joined: 24 Oct 2009 Posts: 32

I believe that would be Scottish. Listen to David "Dr. Who" Tennant doing interviews on U tube, or Billy Connolly.

My husband has a dickens of a time with the accents. We've been to see Eddie Izzard several times, and he still has no idea what went on, lol. When we visited London he just smiled and nodded. Of course our Boston accents can be pretty bad some times too, lol

I'm really getting to love the Welsh accent. Several of the BBC shows are filmed in Cardiff, which is beautiful. Check out Gavin & Stacey to hear some of the thickest Welsh going.

decarillion · Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 33 Location: Camden, AR

I've gotten very used to hearing different UK accents, over the years, since I watch a lot of programming from there.

I recently watched Juliet Bravo, and I did get tripped up a few times and played back a scene or three to understand better, though LOL

I hate the fake American accents some UK productions use--they all sound the same to me; I also hate when Americans 'fake' having a NY accent or other distinctive accent--those are usually easily identified as...fake Smile

Why not just hire actors who come by those, naturally?

Anyway, my son is taking a position at UCL in London at the end of this year. I am SO looking forward to going to England and hearing all this Brit goodness for myself!

Silvio · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:45 pm Post subject: Re: Accents!

decarillion,

Well, I am of two minds about this question of British actors doing "American" accents.

On the one hand, I can't deny that Hugh Laurie and Cate Blanchett totally rock when they put on an American accent. However, Sean Connery kind of dropped the ball in that Indiana Jones movie where he played Indie's dad and kept wavering between a Wild West and his native Welsh intonation.

Also, right about now there is a battle raging on American Broadway between directors, and the deaf community, who feel that a deaf actor ought to be portraying Helen Keller for instance.

so it's not an easy topic.

But regarding Brit accents, I am willing to listen twice or even three times to intuit what the hell they are saying. It makes things more interesting.

So even though I do watch online, or else on my pathetic 12-inch tv screen, I don't mind. I will persevere. That's what makes life interesting.
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Silvio

Judy___ · Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 19536 Location: AZ

Well, there is always closed captioning. Surprised

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Sheerwater · Joined: 20 Nov 2006 Posts: 185

Silvio · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:13 am Post subject: Re: Accents!

Sheerwater,

Thanks, sorry about that. My poor confused ears!

And Judy, I don't think you can turn on the closed captioning if you watch online, or am I wrong about that too?

Anyway, it's important to watch their faces and not be distracted by print on the screen. In my experience, the people who place the subtitles do so without any regard for the background color, so often you can't read them anyway.

I'd rather back it up two or three times while watching Hathaway's grimaces or Lewis's scowls than get it the first time from the print and miss the expressions.

Well, there's a grumpy start for a Wednesday morning. (Just kidding; I remain charactistically chipper in spite of my vast ignorance being revealed.)

Smile

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Silvio

Judy___ · Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 19536 Location: AZ

I once had Closed Captioning turned on by accident so it is possible. Whether it is on the new main PBS player page, I don't know. [I just checked -- it is not available on the macromedia player at pbs.org main page]

There are various ways in to the PBS server to get the videos and they seem to have different players available on each route. I was using the Microsoft viewer when the closed captioning occurred. Anything Quicktime has fewer features on my computer as I don't have the full installation of Quicktime - only the freebie.

P.S. I took a look and cannot now figure out how to turn on CC on purpose. This is bizarre since PBS was the first to use closed captioning.

All web pages are supposed to be handicapped accessible so the closed captioning option must be available in some way, especially at PBS.
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Judy___ · Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 19536 Location: AZ

Show captions or subtitles in Windows Media Player

When playing a Windows Media file or DVD that contains captions or subtitles, you can show the information in Windows Media Player.

Click the Play menu, point to Lyrics, Captions, and Subtitles, and then click On if Available.

Begin playing a file or DVD that contains captions or subtitles, and then click Now Playing. Subtitles appear on top of DVD videos, while captions appear below the video portion of Windows Media Video (WMV) files.

Notes
If captions and subtitles appear even though you have not turned them on in the Player, verify that the sounds accessibility feature of Windows is not turned on.

If you are playing a Windows Media file or DVD that has captions or subtitles in a different language, you can change the language in which the captions or subtitles are displayed. For more information, see the Language settings FAQ.

The performance of the Player may degrade when showing subtitles or captions on computers that have limited video memory.

.....................................
The Microsoft option is available on the Masterpiece home page (Click where it says settings and select windows media)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/

Click Watch Online for desired show.

Click view full episode.

This opens a screen that begins to play. At the bottom left screen you can select which player to use and high or low speed.

For example:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/placeofexecution/watch/video.html?ep=1&chap=0&size=r&fmt=w

............

Masterpiece Contemporary files seem not to have CC included. I think this is an oversight of the web developer so I've sent wgbh a note.
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Judy___ · Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 19536 Location: AZ

You might also try the DVS service - reverse engineer the instructions taken from PBS' FAQ.

A narrator is describing everything that happens in the program. How do I make it stop?

You likely have inadvertently activated the Descriptive Video Service (DVS). You can easily disable this feature.

Most newer-model TVs with stereophonic sound systems are able to receive a Second Audio Program (SAP) channel that provides enriched verbal descriptions of what is heard and seen on a TV's primary audio and video channels. The SAP channel is designed for use by the blind and other visually-impaired persons.

Most TVs and VCRs require you to turn on the SAP channel in order to receive and record DVS. The selector is usually labeled SAP, MTS, Audio 2, or Audio B on your TV panel, remote-control device, or on-screen menu. De-selecting the SAP channel should eliminate the Descriptive Video Service and solve your problem.
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"The goal of a just society is inseparable from love and beauty"...Ralph Nader