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This sub-forum is for the 2019 series and any individual entry topics. Content from the 2018 series can be found in the Challenges Archive.

GMRC Series 2 - Episode 2 - 'Classic books'


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On 29/09/2019 at 22:47, RLWP said:

 

I guess is depends. If it is firing photons, no - photons have no mass

 

Richard

Massless, yes, but photons still have momentum, and therefore there will be some (though negligible) recoil.

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On 27/09/2019 at 17:38, grahame said:

The Martian tripod fighting machines all seem to have articulated legs with 'knees' in them rather than straight stiff-legged ones, like the Woking Martian :

 

It seems that BBC have worked out the details now:

 

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I don't think anyone else has mentioned it yet, so apologies if they have and I've missed it, but the viewing figures for episode 2 are out now.

 

They've actually dropped a bit from the first episode - down to 914,849 this week - making it the 13th most popular C5 programme (sandwiched in between various different episodes of Neighbours!).

 

But, all of C5's viewing figures were down this week - episode 1's figures of 1,058,700 would have made C5's top five this week - so the drop is probably due to more general factors rather than people deciding they didn't like it. It's possible that the catch-up figures will make up for the difference on live viewing.

Edited by MarkSG
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33 minutes ago, MarkSG said:

It's possible that the catch-up figures will make up for the difference on live viewing.

 

I certainly hope so.

 

I enjoyed last year's series. I'm also enjoying this year's series.

 

More to the point, I'm rather hoping for another series next year - and more in future years.

 

 

Huw.

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Dare I say it, but this year's series has taken a couple of episodes to get going. Last year the series started with a 'bang' with the Missenden controversy. This year's series started with three almost identical layouts, episode 2 was better but I think episode 3 is the first one where we've seen some really good layouts.

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On 27/09/2019 at 19:02, JohnDMJ said:

 

Most quadrupeds are bipeds using their arms! Ever wondered why you have shoulder of pork or mutton? The two front 'legs' are classified as arms!

 

Why do photographers use tripods and not quadpods? Three legs are statically more stable that four!

Or perhaps their forelimbs are classified as arms because we're bipedal and base animal anatomy on our own. We're very unusual in being true bipeds and the adaptation was never completed hence the number of bad backs we get. A fair number of dinosaurs were and are bipedal but they had large tails to balance them so were not as upright as we are.

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12 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

Dare I say it, but this year's series has taken a couple of episodes to get going. Last year the series started with a 'bang' with the Missenden controversy. This year's series started with three almost identical layouts, episode 2 was better but I think episode 3 is the first one where we've seen some really good layouts.

Interesting conundrum that - there's logic that says a 'good' episode 3 would be reflected in better viewing figures for episode 4 ... But if they're counting catch up figures as well ...

 

It's likely (is it not?) that semi-final and especially final viewing figures would be higher anyway. Or does that logic not work either?(!)

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9 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

Interesting conundrum that - there's logic that says a 'good' episode 3 would be reflected in better viewing figures for episode 4 ... But if they're counting catch up figures as well ...

 

It's likely (is it not?) that semi-final and especially final viewing figures would be higher anyway. Or does that logic not work either?(!)

 

But so far they've only shown three episodes.....

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12 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

Dare I say it, but this year's series has taken a couple of episodes to get going. Last year the series started with a 'bang' with the Missenden controversy.

 

Well, last year's series appeared to start with a 'bang' - until people realised that the programmes were shown out of sequence - so the first programme shown was one in which the judges, crew etc had already got into their stride.

 

OK - this year wasn't quite the "cold start" which could be expected from the first one or two actually filmed - but I'd still expect a certain amount of getting back up to speed.

 

 

Huw.

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1 hour ago, Huw Griffiths said:

 

Well, last year's series appeared to start with a 'bang' - until people realised that the programmes were shown out of sequence - so the first programme shown was one in which the judges, crew etc had already got into their stride.

 

OK - this year wasn't quite the "cold start" which could be expected from the first one or two actually filmed - but I'd still expect a certain amount of getting back up to speed.

 

 

Huw.

Hi Huw

Most of the audience will not of course have realised (or cared?), that the heats were shown out of sequence. We happened to have inside knowledge from team members amongst us. 

Are this year's heats being shown in recording order? There's no particular reason why they should be. Unless a series is being recorded fairly close to transmission* or has an overall progressive narrative it's very common to record programme one after a couple of others to avoid a hesitant start.  For GMRC and similar programmes, the series editor is is completely free to sequence the heats in whatever order gives the best flow across the series. This is a bit of an art but they'd probably, for example, want to avoid running two of the weaker programmes back to back.  The pieces where the presenters  talk about who may be able to go forward despite not winning the heat, will almost certainy have been recorded after the heats. I can't remember whether these were in vision or voice-over but voice-overs are normally recorded very late in post-production.  

 

*Recording the later programmes in a series after the early ones have been transmitted has the advantage that you can gauge audience reaction and make appropriate changes. It is though far more expensive than recording them all as a block but there can be circumstances that make that worthwhile. 

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7 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Hi Huw

Most of the audience will not of course have realised (or cared?), that the heats were shown out of sequence. We happened to have inside knowledge from team members amongst us. 

Are this year's heats being shown in recording order? There's no particular reason why they should be. Unless a series is being recorded fairly close to transmission* or has an overall progressive narrative it's very common to record programme one after a couple of others to avoid a hesitant start.  For GMRC and similar programmes, the series editor is is completely free to sequence the heats in whatever order gives the best flow across the series. This is a bit of an art but they'd probably, for example, want to avoid running two of the weaker programmes back to back.  The pieces where the presenters  talk about who may be able to go forward despite not winning the heat, will almost certainy have been recorded after the heats. I can't remember whether these were in vision or voice-over but voice-overs are normally recorded very late in post-production.  

 

*Recording the later programmes in a series after the early ones have been transmitted has the advantage that you can gauge audience reaction and make appropriate changes. It is though far more expensive than recording them all as a block but there can be circumstances that make that worthwhile. 

 

However, the Final was recorded and the winner known before Episode 1 went to air! That's the advantage of using only 'internal' judges as opposed to asking the public's opinion!

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9 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Most of the audience will not of course have realised (or cared?), that the heats were shown out of sequence. We happened to have inside knowledge from team members amongst us. 

 

Fair comment - although this knowledge did nothing to dampen the appetite of anyone here for these programmes.

 

Of course, it also helps that the people who take part in contests like this would never want to do or say anything to spoil other people's enjoyment of them.

 

We didn't get any nonsense along the lines of: "The series start screening in a few weeks' time - in the meantime, here's a photo of us holding the trophy. Enjoy!"

 

To be honest, I wouldn't expect any of that - and, in this regard, any non disclosure agreements are effectively superfluous. Let's face it - if someone needs to be told to "keep their trap shut", they're probably not the sort of person anyone else would want on their team.

 

 

1 hour ago, JohnDMJ said:

However, the Final was recorded and the winner known before Episode 1 went to air! That's the advantage of using only 'internal' judges as opposed to asking the public's opinion!

 

Another advantage is that the verdict doesn't rely on how many friends team members have who can afford to keep on ringing premium rate "rip off phone lines" to vote for them.

 

No, with known judges, everyone (contestants and viewers) knows that progress (or otherwise) will be determined based on consistent criteria.

 

We might agree with the judges - occasionally we might not - but we know they can be trusted to give their honest opinions and judge fairly.

 

We also know that the judges - and all the contestants - would also be agreed that baksheesh and other sharp practices will never have a place in GMRC

 

Ultimately, this trust is critical in any contest like this.

 

 

Huw.

Edited by Huw Griffiths
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15 hours ago, Huw Griffiths said:

 

Fair comment - although this knowledge did nothing to dampen the appetite of anyone here for these programmes.

 

Of course, it also helps that the people who take part in contests like this would never want to do or say anything to spoil other people's enjoyment of them.

 

We didn't get any nonsense along the lines of: "The series start screening in a few weeks' time - in the meantime, here's a photo of us holding the trophy. Enjoy!"

 

To be honest, I wouldn't expect any of that - and, in this regard, any non disclosure agreements are effectively superfluous. Let's face it - if someone needs to be told to "keep their trap shut", they're probably not the sort of person anyone else would want on their team.

 

 

 

Another advantage is that the verdict doesn't rely on how many friends team members have who can afford to keep on ringing premium rate "rip off phone lines" to vote for them.

 

No, with known judges, everyone (contestants and viewers) knows that progress (or otherwise) will be determined based on consistent criteria.

 

We might agree with the judges - occasionally we might not - but we know they can be trusted to give their honest opinions and judge fairly.

 

We also know that the judges - and all the contestants - would also be agreed that baksheesh and other sharp practices will never have a place in GMRC

 

Ultimately, this trust is critical in any contest like this.

 

 

Huw.

Hi Huw

It doesn't make any difference to me, or probably to any of us, what order the heats are shown in- they're not interdependent so it doesn't influence the competition in any way-  I'm perfectly happy for the producers to show them in any order they like.

 

I've heard interviews with Bake-Off winners talking about how hard it was to not let on about the result for a fairly long time even from their immediate family. They've all succeeded though. 

 

I absolutely agree with you about consistent judging. Whatever we may agree or disagree with, Kathy and Steve have to take responsibility for their decisions so take them seriously;  there's no guarantee, in fact very little likelihood, that viewers ringing in to vote -as you say on premium phone lines-would do the same; we all remember the Boaty McBoat Face fiasco! viewers also only see a fraction of the work or even of the final result of that work. Watching Jenny's interview for Hattons with the War of the Worlds layout was a revelation, there was far more in it than had been apparent from the programme and I'm sure the same would have been true for other layouts.  We didn't see all that but the judges did.

 

I don't think you can really judge a skills/artistry based competition, which this is, in any othe way than by experienced practitioners and we all accept that their decisions are somewhat subjective.  In any case, the whole series was recorded en block and, with a complex location set up, with lights, grips (camera mounts) catering et al, that would be the only economical way to do it. It's the same for Bake Off though not for the big "shiny floor" shows like X-factor but they have vastly larger budgets. I'm not sure how many heats of University Challenge are recorded in a studio day but it's quite a few and they've worked that way from very early on. 

 

I'm amused by the idea of the judges being nobbled for a deliberately cosy model railway building competition. It suggests visions of far-eastern betting syndicates staking millions on the result. I have heard though that village gardening competitions  can be pretty ruthless ! More seriously, having the work going into the layouts properly evaluated and discussed by judges who know what they're talking about even if we don't always agree with them, does help to encourage the idea that railway modelling is a properly artistic and creative hobby, not train sets writ large. 

 

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