Veronica Mars Gets A Clue On DVD!!! (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Grey]

Great article. This comment:



is exactly why I'm surprised that more shows aren't using HD. HD has long been touted as quicker and giving more immediate feedback to filmmakers. Both attributes I would expect to be very attractive to television producers given the budget and time constraints associated with the medium.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

The show was broadcast in HDTV... so it's not technically a lie to put that on a box. The standard broadcast version was 4:3.

It's definitely NOT matted. I've seen episodes in 4:3 and have compared them to my 16:9 HD copies... definitely more information on the sides (the show looks much better wide as well).

I guess we'll have to wait for HD-DVD to see Veronica Mars with amazing video quality... *sigh* :frowning:

 

[Tony Kwong]

There are advantages in both. HD is still very expensive compared of 16mm. the same or sometimes cheaper than 35mm. Remember this is a UPN show and VM is considered a "cheap" show to produce. VM looks to have a number of in camera related lighting effects (combined with computer assisted) that may not work with HD. I still think using HD cameras still kinda suck because of the different tape formats. There is no "common" formats for shooting in HD yet. Different size camera, etc. Going from 35mm to HD does indeed make a lot of sense, specially for programs with lots of CG work. Remember changing formats sometimes is hard, you have to not only change the cameras, also things like lighting, sets, post prod, editing and distros may have to be altered as well.

 

[Kevin Grey]

I've finished off the first disk and I'm really enjoying the show.

However, I do have some issues with the flashbacks. Veronica is such a different person in them that the 8 months to year time frame since then just isn't enough to sell the transformation into her current spunky character. And for the life of me I have no idea how she could have been best friends with somone like Lily.

 

[Citizen87645]

I have more of a problem with that horrible wig she has to wear in those flashbacks.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Well, the idea you have to think of is that her entire life altered. She lost a lot of her youth. She tried to re-establish herself at that party, and instead was drugged and raped. It really forces someone to grow up.

Also, now that her entire social life was removed, her mother left.... her only option was her father. So if he's working double-time to handle that job... she's going to have to work hard WITH him. Probably started with a little "Veronica, answer some phones for me... etc. etc. Look this up." Eventually she's trailing people and taking photographs. For almost eight months she had NOTHING to do but hang out with her dad.

Also, Lily was very full of life. Everyone kind of loved her, but didn't necessarily KNOW her. Veronica probably loved her free spirit. She also wasn't really stupid or anything, just kind of blissfully ignorant. So when you remove the influence of her petty "friends" it's understandable she'd show up a lot. It's not really something that she GOT to transition to, she was forced into it. When your friend is murdered, your dad is blamed, your friends and school treat you like crap, your drunken mom leaves town, you're drugged and raped at a party of your peers, your boyfriend dumps you... all in the course of a month... she's lucky she remained sane.

 

[Kevin Grey]

I get the idea fine, its the timeframe I have an issue with. It just feels way too short for such a dramatic transformation.

Its really just a nitpick since the timeframe is driven by the needs of the plot but I do find it jarring nonetheless.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Has anyone listened to the nearly scene-specific commentary for the extended pilot from Rob Thomas' website yet? Aside from the technical problems with the volume in several places, it's pretty good for a first-timer. He asks for advice, which I'd be happy to give him, but he also deserves some kudos. I hope he does more for some of the more important episodes, and that he can get the cast and crew to join him.

 

[seanOhara]

You don't think a year is sufficient for a teenage girl to change her personality?

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Sean, you just made my day.

 

[Kevin Grey]

So completely and to feel so comfortable in it? No. I've known plenty of people who have undergone pretty dramatic transformations (with college typically being the largest catalyst) but even a year later there were generally some pretty obvious remnants of the previous personality still there.

Veronica in the flashbacks and Veronica in the show's present are two entirely different people to me. I don't see any connectivity tissue between them though maybe that will come out more as the season progresses.

Veronica Mars to me is one of those people who is 'cool' entirely because she makes zero effort to be cool and is completely comfortable with that. The flashback 'popular' Veronica is the polar opposite. I'd buy it if there were glimpses of the 'real' Veronica beneath the popular exterior but so far (four episodes in) I haven't seen any of that.

 

[ElijahS]

But, admittedly, Veronica's transformation comes from many different places (the Lilly situation, the breakup with Duncan, her father's job and her mother leaving), so that's more of a force for change than just going to college.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Again its not the transformation that I have an issue with- it makes sense given the context. It just feels way too complete for a year's time.

I'm not trying to make this a big deal because it's not but it just rings false for me.

 

[Ryan_Guah]

I'm not sure how old you are, but I can say I know plenty of people that have undergone similar personality changes in less time than a year. So much happened to her all at once, that I don't doubt she changed. It wasn't all by choice either, it was by force. Notice after Duncan broke up with her she was at Shelly's party still the person she was before. But soon people shut her out, so she had no other choice but to form a friendship with herself, and that changed her quickly.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Not that it matters but I'm 30.

That's a good way to put it- "formed a friendship with herself." Except to me that would imply that the Veronica we see at the beginning of the series is the real deal and the flashback Veronica was essentially a facade. If that's the case (and it probably is) then I would expect to see some hints of the real Veronica under Popular Veronica. If she is so comfortable in her skin now then there should have been a degree of discomfort in acting in the expected manner of the popular girls. However I think Kristin Bell's performance in the flashback provides no hints that Popular Veronica is anything but completely true. Again, maybe that changes as we get more flashbacks.

Basically, I don't believe that people can truly change almost instantaneously. They can make the decision to change that quickly- ie try to be more extroverted, nicer, be in better shape, etc but it takes time for the reality to catch up to the projection. In that case there is usually a period of time where you can effectively withness the transition occuring. I've known people who have had similar transformations to Veronica on the surface, but deep down you could always tell that they weren't either comfortable either in the before or after. Kristn Bell's performance however would seem to indicate otherwise.

Anyway, not a big deal. I'll let this drop.

 

[Jonny P]

I did buy this set (and yes, I still hate the packaging with the overlapping discs).

My wife and I started watching this show at the beginning of this season based on excellent reviews and a recommendation from a friend.

So far, we are enjoying the show, but like most shows on television, it isn't without its flaws.

There is no question that there are plot holes (just as there are in a myriad of shows on television). But because the show has been received so favorably, it means the new viewers are going to scrutinize it a lot.

Unfortunately, that always happens.

To be honest, I am not looking for realism in this show. It really isn't too realistic (and please...don't try to defend "realism"...I mean, Veronica made a camera out of an iPod Mini last night that was apparently "so good" that it took these beautifully hi-res incriminating photographs).

It is a cute show that has humor. Kristin Bell is very likable (as is most of the cast).

Everytime an episode ends, I want to see more. That is a good sign.

 

[Ryan_Guah]

See the problem is that you're 30. Teenage girls, which you're not either a teenager, or a girl, are very different than your average person. And it's not an instantaneous change, it's a year long progression. What exactly would you like to show through? The flashbacks in Season 1 served the sole purpose of how Veronica interacted with Lilly, and to move Lilly's story along. It wasn't to show Veronica doubting her friends making fun of the poor kids and such. Obviously I'm not going to change your opinion, so this is really a moot point, but I felt the need to debate.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Here's the amazing thing about being 30- I had to be a teenager to get here. And, hell, I might have even known a teenage girl or two in the process. Pretty sure they haven't changed much.

Also, creator Rob Thomas is 40 so by this argument he knows even less about teenage girls than I do. Not that I think its really a valid argument but thought I'd throw that data point out there.

As to what I would like to show- what I mentioned earlier- a glimpse of the "real" Veronica under Miss Popular. Again, not a big deal, just an observation.

 

[CherylJ]

Kevin: I totally get what you are saying, and that did give me pause in some of the earlier episodes, but by the end of the season it all just made perfect sense to me.

First of all, I don't actually see the two Veronicas as that different, where most people (like you) see them as two entirely different people. Old Veronica was always smart and sort of mildly snarky (have you seen "Lord of the Bling" when she says "And I'll take pictures of you yacking in your living room."?) But the main difference is that old Veronica was just blissfully *happy* and had no reason to be bitter or jaded.

Then Duncan dumps her. And Lilly is murdered. And everyone she knows turns their back on her and her dad. And then she is drugged and raped at a party full of people who USED to be her friends. And then, to top it all off, her mother runs off, leaving her with nothing but a note and a crappy music box. And she's gone for months, with no phone calls or letters. Nothing.

That is a *lot* for anyone to go through, particularly a 16-year-old girl. I think her life was an absolute living hell at school every day during her entire sophomore year after Lilly was killed. That tends to have an effect on people. I've seen similar changes in some teenagers after the death of a parent or close friend or relative, for example.

(Heck, if you watch The O.C., Marissa is a much different person now and she hasn't gone through anything close to what happened to Veronica.)

Veronica's life was so awful that she had to toughen up quickly or she would have crumbled and started cutting herself and developed an eating disorder and doing other horrible things that troubled teenage girls do. She didn't want to crumble so she got very tough, very fast. And that's where we meet her in the Pilot.

As far as the friendship with Lilly goes, I had a friendship almost exactly like that in H.S. so it was never a problem for me. Lilly is a very good friend to Veronica, even though her wild ways are, well, wild. But Lilly always seemed to have Veronica's back, and even encouraged her to wear strapless red satin instead of yellow cotton. Now in the world of teenage girls, that's a good friend. Obviously Lilly was never afraid of being upstaged by Veronica, and I think Veronica enjoyed a vicarious look into Lilly's wild side without traveling down that path herself.

And considering how awful most of the rest of the 09er girls are (with the exception of Meg), I would have picked Lilly as a best friend also. Lilly was the queen bee of 09erdom and was a ton of fun, but Veronica trusted her not to stab her in the back. And obviously, Veronica didn't have to worry about Lilly wanting to steal Duncan, when probably ever other 09er girl would have done it in a heartbeat.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Cheryl, I haven't seen "Lord of the Bling" yet (or at least I don't think I have. I've been using the Play All feature so I don't know the episode titles). But I'm only five episodes in so that gives me some hope that future episodes will elaborate on that aspect of Veronica's personallity.