SHADOWCAST
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Review by Matthew Kopelke
I've always been extremely hesitant to view fan films that attempt to re-create a past Doctor / companion team. In a lot of cases, one can end up with a final product that is dragged down by the over-riding need by the production team to extract particular types of performances from the regulars, while at the same time appease the fans watching who will expect certain conventions of that particular era to be obeyed. In the case of the Federation's latest fan film, the attempt is made to re-create the look and feel of Doctor Who circa 1985 - and to a good extent it manages such a feat.
Before we proceed, however, we need some
S
[...]
Therefore, it is a testament to the Federation that they manage to pull off this
interior location so convincingly. Although you can occasionally see brick walls in
some shots (and it is highly unlikely an artificially-created science station on a
rocky planet would be made of bricks) these are only minor niggles when compared
to what the team have managed to create - by carefully choosing shots and angles
and working in a very good interior location, Director Robert Warnock has managed
to turn a humble office location into an atmospheric & deserted space research
laboratory. One thing that surprised me was how much more atmospheric these interior
settings were when compared to the aforementioned Colin Baker stories. It just goes
to show that it's not budget that makes a good film - it's how you use what's
available to you that counts.
Another wonderful production element that really appealed to me about this particular
fan film was the attempt by Robert Warnock to inject extra atmosphere into the visual
picture by meddling around with some nice lighting effects. This is another avenue
usually avoided by fan films, due mostly I feel to the complexity of achieving such a
vision. However, Shadowcast again proves itself to be something out of the ordinary
by not only attempting some light / shadow contrasts, but it does succeed. This is
what helps the interior locations to appear so realistic. So, a big thumbs up from
me to the team for managing this element!
However, in terms of the visual nature of things in Shadowcast, there is one small
fly in the ointment. That is, the model shots. Now, given that the story is book-ended
by some lovely CGI titles, it was a bit of a shock to see some wonky model work appear
in the piece. Now, don't get me wrong - the actual models are rather nice. Mostly
it is down to the fact that I felt with so much visual loveliness apparent in the
rest of the film, it was such a step down to see some models which, although
wonderfully evocative of the Colin Baker era itself, it just seeemd to jar with
such lovely locations and lighting. I suppose this raises the question, should
the pursuit to achieve a re-creation of an era from 20 years ago be at the sacrifice
of gloss? Perhaps so for the production team, but honestly I'd have gone for CGI
sequences, because they honestly would have suited the rest of the film so much
better. Having said that, I must applaud some of the very ambitious visual effects
sequences - the lunar surface sequences were very well done, and the video effects
were top notch.
The film was captured using a wonderful Canon XL-1, and delivered to me on DVD.
This is only the second fan film I have seen on DVD, and I have to admit that I
love the medium for fan films. With rapid advances occuring in the realm of
digital video work, it just goes to show that fan films are starting to reach
the stage where they look better than the show they are homaging. If lumped in
with the Colin Baker era, this is easily the best looking story, and that's
saying something - because it does have the smallest budget. I know 20 years
makes a lot of difference, but it is when one sees wonderfully realised fan
films such as this that one realises that the BBC's assertions that Doctor Who
needs a big budget to return really is nonsense - it just needs dedicated people
at the healm, and there's no denying that Shadowcast is a pure labour of love.
The actual script is a rather solid piece, with some wonderful lines of dialogue
and a solid plot. OK, so the plot is ever so slightly cliched, but this isn't a
film that sets out to re-define the film genre - mostly to tell a solid tale with
some wonderful production values and some lovely moments of tension. This is one
thing that struck me about this film - it actually manages to create tension,
and maintain tension without the audience loosing interest. Well, I didn't
lose interest, at any rate - but that could also be down to the fact that the
writers chose wisely to restrain themselves, and go for a short and punchy 50
minute serial broken up into 2 25-minute episodes. Nicely paced, as well.
Now we come to the tricky part of acting. As I said above, re-creating a certain
era of the BBC TV show can lead to all sorts of complications. Therefore, it is
great to see that the film's biggest success is the performance of Steve Hill
as the 6th Doctor. Nicely evocative of Colin Baker's performance circa the
1980s, but sadly lacking some of the more recent characterisation from the
Big Finish audio dramas. However, given how well Steve has done thus far with
mimicking Colin Baker, I am sure it is only a matter of time before he takes
into account the Big Finish additions to the character. Jennifer Adams Kelley
gives a solid performance as Peri, but sadly isn't up to Steve Hill's level
of mimickry. Robert Warnock gives a slightly stilted performance as Fiske, but
I found myself upset when his character died towards the end. Just goes to show
that the performance was definitely working on some levels. Wil Roysdon's Blake
is sadly rather poor in the "madman possessed by something unearthly"-type
character, but thankfully when he snaps out of his trance, he shares a beautiful
scene with the Doctor in what appears to be a cell of some kind. From that point
on, his performance picks up considerably - that is, until his demise at the
end of the episode.
The stand-out performer from the guest cast is Bryan Gruszka as base commander,
Dexter, who delivers a charged performance which I found rather compelling. It
was wonderful to see his dynamic range as an actor on display - his performance
here is as far as you can get from that of Bill Filer, UNIT Operative! Well
done to all involved, I suppose, for proving that fan films are not the home
of wooden acting!
I must admit that I am slightly biased in this next point, but I found Rob
Warnock's incidental music score very compelling, and the soundtrack CD has
become one of my most prized possessions in the CD rack. Rob has a wonderful
ability to compose extremely creepy and evocative scores, and are about as far
away from your Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner scores as you can get - and
that ain't no bad thing! Rob's score is a delight to all the scenes it accompanies,
and I found myself being dramatically enticed by it every step of the way.
About the only slight complaint I have about the musical side of things is the
rather poor theme tune that accompanies this DVD. Although technically very
competent, I just couldn't find myself getting into it as much as I have other
recent renditions that I have heard. Sorry Rob!
Overall, I have to say that I really enjoyed Shadowcast. On the one hand, it
manages to re-create both good and bad elements of the Colin Baker era it
emulates (with a great performance from Steve Hill, model work that reminds
me of the 1980s, and a wonderfully atypical script) but it also manages to
embellish on them in some wonderful ways (a great interior location and some
wonderful lighting effects, not to mention some very ambitious visual effects
sequences). The props and costumes were wonderful (it was nice to see good
uniforms being just that - uniform!), and it all held together really well.
I look forward to the next Federation outing, and I highly recommend this DVD to all and sundry.
Overall Score: 4 / 5 (Good)
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© 2005 The Federation, Faded Flowers Productions, and Chronicles of Who. This is a not-for-profit production.
"Doctor Who" is a trademark of BBC Worldwide © 1963-2005. No attempt is made by the Federation to profit from the use of BBC trademarks. |