Narration for New Knightmare

How might you change Knightmare if a new series were to be made?
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s4t8brett
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Narration for New Knightmare

Post by s4t8brett »

Has anyone else thought of this? A new series of Knightmare could have a narrator - who may or may not be Treguard (or a successor) - and the narrator could relate events as if historical. Why might that be beneficial? I am sure I haven't thought-through all the implications yet, but it would obviate the need for the eye shield, for instance, because the narrator could link to the next scene, thus removing the problem of continually guiding a contestant to a precise exit, and 'speeding up the game-play'.

Also, in our quest, for example, Merlin was in stocks but couldn't give his own name while in them ... as it turned out, the Floor Manager (Tom Hunt) asked us who we thought he was and then replied that it was 'no secret' that it was Merlin ... however, it could be that when originally scripted the idea of Merlin not knowing his own name was an opening for us to find it out. Yet when we got to The Crazed Heiffer, Motley asked us where we were bound, and the exchange was rather transactional and superficial. Because it was word-for-word 'live', you didn't feel - or at least I don't think our team felt - you could go into the level of banter that would make for good improvisation and allow such connections as who was in the stocks, to be investigated. Granted the later spyglass gave insights that could drive dialogue, but again in my opinion this was still rather transactional and shallow. However, with a narrator, the 'dipping in' nature of relating the quest could mean that a more in depth conversation could have developed, without fear of pressure to keep the action exciting, in the knowledge that some editing would be done later on, keeping the relevant and interesting bits.
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DuxBellorum
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Re: Narration for New Knightmare

Post by DuxBellorum »

I'm not sure if I fully understand.

Do you mean a re-cap of the events we would have just watched?

If we have just watched them, I don't see the point and besides we got a recap at the start of each episode anyway.

With the Eye Shield, which seems to have an equal number of fans and detractors, we at least got the impression that the Dungeoneer was going somewhere, be it up a flight of stairs or through a forest clearing.

I think any sort of additional "Half-Time Report" would detract from the flow of the episode.

Apologies if I have misunderstood the original point you were trying to make... ???
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s4t8brett
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Re: Narration for New Knightmare

Post by s4t8brett »

I didn't mean a re-cap as a repetition, rather selective editing in the first place to keep it interesting and pacey. Eye Shield sequences could be used in passing rather than start-to-finish - dipped into, to avoid being too long. I also thought the abrupt turns in Series 7 Eye Shield sequences were somewhat quirky and contrived.
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Re: Narration for New Knightmare

Post by HobGoblin »

The one chink in Knightmare’s format is its occasional slow pace. However, if new episodes were made the following could/should be done:

1). Selective editing: yes, absolutely. I was watching the Crystal Maze the other day - a pretty fast paced show - and it occurred to me that Knightmare wasn't that different. People go into rooms, complete puzzles, navigate obstacles, solve riddles. The main difference is that in TCM the time limit is always ticking away and rooms can only last up to three minutes. Any thinking time is done with the time limit not only on screen but very real for the contestants. With KM a lot of thinking/dithering was on screen with only a hypothetical danger of life force running out. A sense of urgency was sometimes lost.

I don't know how heavily quests were edited before broadcast but I get the feeling that editing out shots of teams ‘thinking’ could easily speed things up. Because there is no formal time limit this could be done without the viewer realising. However, I don't think a past tense, ‘highlights’ style narration would work - events need to be ostensibly in real time or tension will be lost - we need to feel as if we're following a live quest, not dipping in and out (similarly, live sport is more exciting than highlights). But editing can nonetheless definitely be used to increase pace. (Going further - IMHO too far - life force could reset for each room and be an animation the advisors could actually see. This would give an ever present time limit - though it would probably be a very different show then. That said, perhaps causeway style timers could be used more extensively without too many issues).

2). Employ a non-linear distribution model: streaming, in other words. Netflix shows don't have fixed running times because there's no schedule to follow - episodes can be as long/short as the content requires. This means no padding to get to 16 x 25 mins (or whatever). KM in the internet age could zip along nicely.

3). Removal of eyeshield sequences (and other passive paths) - or at least use sparingly. They are boring, repetitive and prolong room exits unnecessarily!
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Re: Narration for New Knightmare

Post by Mystara »

Re: Thinking time

Yes, this was edited down as much as can be. Basically, if the team solved the challenge (puzzle/question) then the team was usually edited to eliminate all the thinking time - they just immediately "get" the answer". If the team fail to figure it out then obviously you can't just show the team being presented with a query and then immediately losing, so you need to show that they "thought about it" and couldn't figure it out.

Comparing it to the crystal maze is interesting. One big difference, of course is that in the crystal maze, you get the "down time" between zones and between games where the tension releases, everyone is reminded of the status, etc.
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s4t8brett
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Re: Narration for New Knightmare

Post by s4t8brett »

I've had second thoughts about past-tense presentation but I think selective editing could be used more. When I first saw the eye shield I thought they'd cracked integrating VR. I still think those sequences can add atmosphere, narration and variety and I would like to see choice within it e.g. choosing a direction (maybe five secs to choose an alternative direction otherwise it continues as it was), and ideally characters and props blended into it. Crystal maze-sized set in blue screen/green screen?!

A dragon ride can be a passive path but what if a team member could 'steer' the dragon?
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Re: Narration for New Knightmare

Post by wombstar »

I never felt the eye shield sequences were boring, i liked them a lot they not only added a bit of atmosphere but without them the dungeon seemed very 2D, it gave the viewer to really go into the rooms and pathways.

It was the Dragon ride which use to bore me to tears, once was ok, but it was just the same thing over and over. And i wouldn't want them to edit out all the thinking the team has to do, not every show has to be crash bang wallop over before it's started. Crystal Maze works as a high energy face pace show, knightmare worked better when you have breathing space, allow a little story/sub pots and character to interact.

I also didn't mind rooms that didn't really do anything like the various dwarf tunnels and corridors.. they looked great and help to establish this was a big dungeon and teams needed to navigate it.
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Re: Narration for New Knightmare

Post by pjmlfc05 »

The only time I liked the eye shield was the end of episode 1 in series 7 where Simon was in the dwarf tunnel. It should have been used in more scenarios like this.
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