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cimoreneI'd say that visually Rings of Power has the most rock-solid first-class production values, from the production design and props to the quality of effects, of any of the big genre streaming tv efforts being foisted upon the public of late.
It looks better than House of the Dragon, which, however, has got absolutely fantastic CGI and some stunning scenery CGI as well. House of the Dragon, though, can't get away with its white Targaryen wigs. There are a few that are sort of believable, like Rhaenyra's mother Aemma's and Lord Corlys's white dreadlocks. But Rhaenyra's, Daemon's, and the king's wigs all look pretty fake, and I'm not really sure why. Maybe I'll try to track down what a wig expert has to say about them, perhaps. Matt Smith actually has completely colorless, invisible eyebrows, so it's not like the color of the wig isn't plausible and the edges are good. Wax and I were discussing the possibility that it's because the texture of the hair looks unlike real white hair. Expensive wigs tend to be made of thick, straight hair from the Indian subcontinent, as I understand it, and the individual hairs are typically quite thick, whereas white blond hair in nature tends to be extremely fine. Maybe it's because they have an appearance of having been ironed straight? Maybe it's because they have done no better a job than Game of Thrones did with plausible hairstyles for their imaginary time period, which has misogyny and objectification of women in a way strongly reminiscent of multiple parts of early modern Europe but has magically invented modern haircare. Even though they don't have showers. House of the Dragon also has some questionable wardrobe design choices alongside some absolutely stunning costumes that display a real grounding in historical dress.
Wheel of Time looks less expensive and polished than either of these others when it comes to wardrobe, particularly less plausible and researched but also far more cheaply (and visibly impossibly with the in-verse level of technology). Wheel of Time has some really interesting hair design, at least, but it also has gone for sexy and modern hair on women at the expense of any coherent worldbuilding or logic. On the other hand, Wheel of Time feels more coherent and confident than Rings of Power. House of the Dragon arguably has the best dialogue of the three, but Wheel of Time's isn't exactly bad as an adaptation, it's just drawn from a source where the characters frequently have incredibly stupid conversations (and do really stupid things) to keep the plot moving. This raises my blood pressure and inclines me to yell at the screen, but it's not actually bad adaptation.
Of these three, Rings of Power is by far the least coherent and competent-feeling. The tone/register seems wobbly; the interleaving of the various plots and scenes feels mystifying. The other two don't have any problem starting or continuing a narrative, building characters, revealing twists, or framing exposition, so it shouldn't be that hard for Rings of Power to manage, given how much time they had to prepare. Of course, Rings of Power is trying to write a narrative out of what I gather is scattered background material, so perhaps their task is more creative than these other two. I understand that House of the Dragon, even though it's also gone back centuries to pick a not-necessarily-that-obviously-pivotal point in the history of its universe, is actually based on a book by GRRM - one that already had a narrative, I mean, which would give a lot of advantage to the script writers. But on the other hand, maybe they needed to devote more time or money to getting it written.
So I'll compare it instead to Foundation, which I only watched a couple of epsiodes of before I gave up in disgust, but I saw Wax watch the rest of the season, which has departed so far from the premises of Asimov's admittedly extremely wacky Early Work that it's essentially written a whole original thing. In Foundation, too, there are transitions between the different plot threads that feel wobbly and dubious. (Foundation is better at striking the mood it wants, for the most part, although I think there are some false notes still. But it's got some of the same flaws of the screenwriter-put-a-generic-screenwriting-beat-that-doesn't-work-for-this-genre sort that kept annoying me in Rings of Power.)
As of now, I'm continuing to watch House of the Dragon (with extreme prejudice about the hair), essentially unwilling to watch any more Rings of Power although not annoyed enough to necessarily flee the room at the first sign of trouble, and interested in what Wheel of Time does next but with a healthy dollop of hatewatching in there (but I guess I was already hatereading the books even at like age 12, so that was inevitable to an extent). And as mentioned, I already threw Foundation on the "glare when Wax watches it with headphones when I am in the room" pile some time ago.
It looks better than House of the Dragon, which, however, has got absolutely fantastic CGI and some stunning scenery CGI as well. House of the Dragon, though, can't get away with its white Targaryen wigs. There are a few that are sort of believable, like Rhaenyra's mother Aemma's and Lord Corlys's white dreadlocks. But Rhaenyra's, Daemon's, and the king's wigs all look pretty fake, and I'm not really sure why. Maybe I'll try to track down what a wig expert has to say about them, perhaps. Matt Smith actually has completely colorless, invisible eyebrows, so it's not like the color of the wig isn't plausible and the edges are good. Wax and I were discussing the possibility that it's because the texture of the hair looks unlike real white hair. Expensive wigs tend to be made of thick, straight hair from the Indian subcontinent, as I understand it, and the individual hairs are typically quite thick, whereas white blond hair in nature tends to be extremely fine. Maybe it's because they have an appearance of having been ironed straight? Maybe it's because they have done no better a job than Game of Thrones did with plausible hairstyles for their imaginary time period, which has misogyny and objectification of women in a way strongly reminiscent of multiple parts of early modern Europe but has magically invented modern haircare. Even though they don't have showers. House of the Dragon also has some questionable wardrobe design choices alongside some absolutely stunning costumes that display a real grounding in historical dress.
Wheel of Time looks less expensive and polished than either of these others when it comes to wardrobe, particularly less plausible and researched but also far more cheaply (and visibly impossibly with the in-verse level of technology). Wheel of Time has some really interesting hair design, at least, but it also has gone for sexy and modern hair on women at the expense of any coherent worldbuilding or logic. On the other hand, Wheel of Time feels more coherent and confident than Rings of Power. House of the Dragon arguably has the best dialogue of the three, but Wheel of Time's isn't exactly bad as an adaptation, it's just drawn from a source where the characters frequently have incredibly stupid conversations (and do really stupid things) to keep the plot moving. This raises my blood pressure and inclines me to yell at the screen, but it's not actually bad adaptation.
Of these three, Rings of Power is by far the least coherent and competent-feeling. The tone/register seems wobbly; the interleaving of the various plots and scenes feels mystifying. The other two don't have any problem starting or continuing a narrative, building characters, revealing twists, or framing exposition, so it shouldn't be that hard for Rings of Power to manage, given how much time they had to prepare. Of course, Rings of Power is trying to write a narrative out of what I gather is scattered background material, so perhaps their task is more creative than these other two. I understand that House of the Dragon, even though it's also gone back centuries to pick a not-necessarily-that-obviously-pivotal point in the history of its universe, is actually based on a book by GRRM - one that already had a narrative, I mean, which would give a lot of advantage to the script writers. But on the other hand, maybe they needed to devote more time or money to getting it written.
So I'll compare it instead to Foundation, which I only watched a couple of epsiodes of before I gave up in disgust, but I saw Wax watch the rest of the season, which has departed so far from the premises of Asimov's admittedly extremely wacky Early Work that it's essentially written a whole original thing. In Foundation, too, there are transitions between the different plot threads that feel wobbly and dubious. (Foundation is better at striking the mood it wants, for the most part, although I think there are some false notes still. But it's got some of the same flaws of the screenwriter-put-a-generic-screenwriting-beat-that-doesn't-work-for-this-genre sort that kept annoying me in Rings of Power.)
As of now, I'm continuing to watch House of the Dragon (with extreme prejudice about the hair), essentially unwilling to watch any more Rings of Power although not annoyed enough to necessarily flee the room at the first sign of trouble, and interested in what Wheel of Time does next but with a healthy dollop of hatewatching in there (but I guess I was already hatereading the books even at like age 12, so that was inevitable to an extent). And as mentioned, I already threw Foundation on the "glare when Wax watches it with headphones when I am in the room" pile some time ago.
(no subject)
Date: 5 Sep 2022 07:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5 Sep 2022 07:51 pm (UTC)rather than much more expensive human hair
which is why they look unconvincing
(no subject)
Date: 6 Sep 2022 04:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6 Sep 2022 01:17 am (UTC)<3