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Miniatures Adventure => VSF Adventures => Topic started by: Johnno on August 09, 2019, 03:57:10 PM
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Just saw a trailer on Facebook.
Looks like Amazon Prime is launching a new series on Labour Day.
Called Carnival Row, starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne.
Production looks good and lots of terrain inspiration.
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Interesting uniforms too! Maybe Russians as stand-ins?
(http://i1.wp.com/www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-07-at-14.18.00.jpg)
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Watched the first episode last night. Has a wonderful alternative reality (fantasy) dystopian Victorian vibe. Great look and high production values.
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On third episode now and finding it very good.
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Seen the lot and thoroughly enjoyed it. Episode three, featuring battle in Tirnanog was excellent with more than a hint of Steam Punk, especially the gatling armed airships. In 10mm the Pendraken 1860s Bavarians and Saxons in peaked caps would make good Burgue troops. Something like Pendraken’s WWI Serbs might serve as Pact Troops.
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I've seen the first three episodes and agreed that there is much source material that can be used in a SteamPunk universe.
I'm tempted to model some Carnival Row Airships for a revised Aeronef game.
https://www.geeknative.com/68026/full-carnival-row-trailer/ (https://www.geeknative.com/68026/full-carnival-row-trailer/)
I'll keep the Blog updates with any progress.
Tony
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I've seen the first three episodes and agreed that there is much source material that can be used in a SteamPunk universe.
Best bud and I binged the first three yesterday, and though I thought it got off to a bit slow start, compared to some recent 'wow' things I've seen of late, sticking with was definitely worth it.
After Valerian, I was quite impressed with Ms. Delevinge's performance.
Hard to admit, the way I feel about Amazon, mind you. :P
I'm tempted to model some Carnival Row Airships for a revised Aeronef game.
...
I'll keep the Blog updates with any progress.
The gasbags will need a reviewing of the episode, as hadn't fully registered with me; thanks for the heads-up, Tony, and I'm sure I'll be watching for more.
Doug
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Has anyone seen any of their concept artwork? I’m curious.
Dan
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The writer has released a RPG based on the series:
https://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Carnival-Row-RPG.pdf
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Anyone watched / watching?
What do we think?
I'm about halfway through, and can't quite make my mind up about it. I love the concept of rolling traditional faerie races and creatures into a steampunkish / Victoriana setting. The production design is lovely. A lot of the acting is great - I actually think Orlando Bloom's got better as he's got older. And Cara Delevigne is once again great (as she was in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. She may be a model first and foremost, but she's more watchable than many trained actors I can think of).
Against that, some of the modernisms in the dialogue really jar; the fairy wings (in their relaxed state) look naff and inexplicable (how do they poke through their clothing?); some of the acting feels overdone (Chloe Pirrie as the leader of 'the Black Ravens' seems to think she's in a modern spy thriller - this partly down to her lines, but also her delivery which feels at odds with the pseudo-period flavour of the rest of the piece). The accents are all over the place, and there appears to be (like Ripper Street), just one main set - the street scene with its cast iron stanchions and market stalls (Carnival Row is spoken of as a district, not one street). Above all, I get a feeling they've tried to shoehorn too much in. The basic concept is strong enough, but then they've added a Jack The Ripper storyline, a political intrigue sub-plot, and the bludgeoning allegory of the plight of refugees the world over... It feels like they've thrown the kitchen sink at it. It might have been better with a 'less is more' approach.
But overall, I think the pros of the overall creative idea and execution, outweigh the cons of a few of these niggles. I'll see how it pans out by the end of the season :)
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A couple of weeks ago I watched Episode 1 and it prompted me to restart my Gothic Horror project. Since then I haven’t had time to watch Episode 2 :D
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Yeah, I'm about 4 episodes in I think and I'd agree with all of that Cap. The Black Ravens leader is so one-dimensional, smugly leaden in delivering her lines it's almost painful to watch scenes with her in. And yes, I find the clumsily patronising 'oppressed immigrants vs ignorant natives' angle to be overdone … so far, who knows where it will go though?
On the plus side, it's the first really good acting performance I've seen from Orlando Bloom; he's moved from 'movie star' into 'accomplished actor' category for me. Cara Delevigne is good as well and other than the aforementioned Black Ravens leader, the supporting cast are all excellent in their respective parallel storylines.
It's a solid B grade for me so far. Hopefully the script will provide a little more substance soon without jumping the shark and spoiling the whole mood of the thing and we can get a few quality seasons out of it.
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I am not familiar with the term jumping the shark. What does that mean in plain English.
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I am not familiar with the term jumping the shark. What does that mean in plain English.
It’s a reference to an episode of The Fonz where he water-skied over a shark, which the audience clearly felt was an improbability too far and ratings subsequently plummeted. Thus ‘jumping the shark’ is when a TV series stretches its credibility leading to a fall in popularity.
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I binge watched it when it came out, the back story doesn't really kick in unit episode 4 onwars where it starts to slot in place. Hoping there is another series
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I'm half way through watching the series and I've enjoyed it so far.
My only criticism is the language - far too may f and c words.
Now I swear like a trooper so its not their use, its the plain uninventiveness of it all. I'm sure there are plenty of other Victorian and Edwardian alternatives that might be used.
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I am not familiar with the term jumping the shark. What does that mean in plain English.
Yeah, what SI said really, I guess I thought it was a more common phrase than it is! Any plot that escalates too far into crazy stuff and leaves itself nowhere to go.
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Just finished watching the first episode. Interesting, although I'd prefer more of the Castle Falkenstein vibes than the Ripper Street ones; but I like that it seems, from the first episode, to be more "Great Game"-alluding than the usual Prussian Invasion Scare fare... I'm curious to see where it goes. Maybe it'll prompt me to paint my LAM VSF stuff.
But Vignette? Seriously? Not a bit too much, Cara Delevigne(tte)?
[EDIT: After I typed that I realized she's spelled Delevingne, but still...]
Those names, I swear by my Old Gods, those names... make it feel a bit like a Steampunk Cosplayer Fanfic. Not that I read any of those.
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Finished the series in about 3 sittings and quite enjoyed it. We are hoping for a second season.
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Have watched all 8 episodes over the last few evenings. Very much a slightly dark take on Castle Falkenstein (which is a very good thing) and I think it could work really well as an RPG if the world of the Burgh is expanded a bit beyond the half dozen movie sets it consists of currently.
It is a shame they tried to squeeze so much story into only 8 episodes, but I guess that is the way the industry is these days. Does not really give enough time to explore the environment and the history which gives the setting its background.
The writers have an obvious liberal agenda to sell you and consequently the storyline only progresses along a single very predictable scenario. From the beginning you know what the end is going to be, you just don't know exactly how the story is going to get there.
It is certainly worth watching and I hope they do get to make more episodes.
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Just finished it. Thought the second half of the series was a lot better than the first half. Still think the 'resting fairy wings' are pretty duff. Given all the CGI tricks of the trade these days, you'd have thought they could come up with something that looked better than a pair of damp dishcloths hanging limply down the back, and sometimes inexplicably absent altogether. Given that they were styled like insect wings, folded insect wings are not floppy like that. Poor. Also, so much plot crammed into the final episode, it really started getting a bit mental all over the place. But those criticisms aside, it included some surprisingly good acting, it's an appealing concept, and there were some lovely characters, scenes and dialogue. On the whole, I'd give it a good 7/10 and hope they make another season.
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Yes that was my thoughts as well, it felt like they were trying to cram to much into that final episode, did they run out of money or something
Hope they do make another season
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I quite liked the show. There is a free RPG supplement available for Carnival Row, apparently written by one of the show's writers:
https://nerdist.com/article/carnival-row-tabletop-rpg/
It uses the Cypher system, which I am unfamiliar with. It does flesh out the history of the world a bit.
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Yes, I found the backstory info in the RPG download very interesting. I think there will definitely be a follow up, now that some film companies appear to have pulled out of links with Amazon and Netflix. A shed load of new Amazon studios material has recently appeared.
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(...)'resting fairy wings' (...) sometimes inexplicably absent altogether. (...)
It was mentioned once or twice (though it's "blink and you'll miss it") that the fairies in servitude are commonly forced to wear clothes (corsages or whatnots) that cover up the wings and prevent them from flying. It's more of the aforementioned "fantastic racism" aspect, but tying in with 19th century practices of posture-correcting apparati and the like.
I finished it on a weekend binge and was quite favourably inclined, overall. Not quite sure where they'll take the story from where it left off, but I'll give it a try come the next season.
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I have some of the criticisms voiced above (the refugee idea being played very heavily, the crowded plot lines), but overall I really did quite enjoy the series and I am looking forward to a second series.
I wonder what's happening to his werewolf buddy now that old Legolas's condition has changed so dramatically. Hopefully they haven't forgotten about him.
-Michael