Secret Diary 4.2 reaction post
OKAY, POST ABOUT SECRET DIARY TOTALLY ADAPTED FROM A CONVERSATION WITH CATEY TIME.
First of all, I love the editing on this show sfm. The fourth wall breaking, the mini flashbacks and humor sequences and just... god, it's so clever. I love that they're still being innovative with this. So, YAY SHOW. The soundtrack also continues to be INCREDIBLY AMAZING on all levels.
On a shallow note: not a fan of the high ponytail, and they have been seriously abusing the false eyelashes so far this series. LESS OF THAT PLEASE.
On a New People Are New note: idgaf, I think Poppy's presh. She's no Bambi, certainly, but I'm deciding to go ahead and like her in an 'innocent until proven guilty' mode rather than keep my hackles raised. It's just too exhausting otherwise. Tim the Gay Client was lovely and I hope we see more of him, but alas, I doubt we will. The girls Belle is handling, though... blehhhh. Charlotte the Domme got old REAL fast, and that one chick who looked like Bambi in the promos was not Bambi, so I have to resent her a little on principle. The third escort has an AMAZING ACCENT and she can come back at any time.
Also on that note, it was interesting to see how much more Belle seemed to enjoy/apply herself towards the escorting of Tim when put in contrast to her Madaming. The scene at the restaurant was so awkward it was painful to watch (her nervous laugh! her failed jokes! le sigh) and she was just as happy as we were to be back in her element. [WHY NOT LET CHARLOTTE TAKE OVER? I mean, I was happy as anyone that she said fuck off and had a badass moment, but really: she hates being a madam. Why not give it up?]
Speaking of which, another logic fail: why did Hannah have to send Poppy to tell Ben she'd be late. A text wouldn't have sufficed? I'm glad we got to see Tim and Belle bond, both because she is SUCH A CUTE DORK about her job ("You're gay! Thanks! Course! Ohhhh, that feels good") and because it's a conversation she needs to be having. Balancing her separate parts.
And now to the biggie: Ben. Part of me wants to take a leaf out of his book and make a giant list of PROS and CONS, but I don't think there's any way I could do that neatly. I love the record player, and the dorky dancing, and the history of them being friends that comes from that scene. I loooooove how physically affectionate they are-- there's a clear and deliberate line between how she treats Bestie!Ben and Boyfriend!Ben, and I was worried there wouldn't be. That said, though, Ben said a lot of his typical passive aggressive bullshit in this episode ("Well isn't that fucking magic" "No more clients back at the house"), and DUDE, I AM TRYING SO HARD TO ROOT FOR YOU. COULD YOU NOT?
I'm not sure how I feel about this whole Ben's mum knows thing, either. Are we supposed to believe that he told her, or that she figured it out on her own? I'm not sure what I imagined Ben's mum would be like, but I wasn't imagining her-- she was like Mrs. Penderghast, only fiercer. The little flashback fantasy of bb!Ben and his mum in the tub was fantastic. Buuuuuut ARGH IDK. Of course she'd look out for her little boy, and be like "CAN YOU DEVOTE ENOUGH TIME TO MY SON?" I won't hold that against her. And in general, I am for more people in Hannah's life knowing about Belle. But the scene also put me on edge.
And lastly, the pool scene. AMBIVALENCE, THY NAME IS LEAH. Bills and Iddo played the fuck out of these moments, and I appreciate that so much. But ohhhh... two minds, I am of them. On the one hand, they've been friends for like a decade, which means to a certain extent, she's right: FUCK slowly. It's not as if they're about to ~learn undiscovered secrets~ about each other. On the other hand, that makes for a lot of traffic in that new house of hers, and they're so new-- they could easily swing too far in the other direction from avoidance to overexposure. Neither is healthy.
Ultimately, though, I can't really say that I'm on Team Ben. I'm on Team Hannah, and more specifically, Team Hannah's Happiness. If he can do that and be that for her, I'll gladly support him. But I stop rooting for him the second he starts undermining her. What I want least of all, though, is for Hannah to disappear. I could go either way on whether or not she keeps escorting at the end of the series, depending on how they play it-- but I want her to be in the sex industry for the reasons she got into it: because it's something she enjoys, and is good at. Not because she's so emotionally fucked up as Hannah that she can't deal with the world any other way. You know?
In other news, I love the way that Billie Piper breathes.
... that sounds creepy. I'll elaborate.
Right now at school, I'm taking a lab in Motion Picture Editing. One of the texts for the course is a book by Walter Murch-- a big time editor who's done all sorts of famous films. In one of the later chapters, he talks about how early on in his career, he started noticing that (when working with high quality footage, anyway) when he found the rhythm of the scene, he tended to always want to make a cut when the actor was blinking.
At first, he doubted himself-- wondered if he was taking cues he shouldn't, or if it was unprofessional. But the more he thought about it, the more he stood by his instinct.
He argues that that's the difference between a good actor and a bad one-- blinking at the right time. Our blinking has to do with our thinking; we can stare at one thing for a really long time, or we can shift rapidly. The eyes are the window to the soul not just because eyebrows are expressive, but because blinking is a clear indicator of thought processes.
According to Murch, a bad actor won't blink at the right places. Even if they're saying everything they should say, or doing everything they should do, they aren't present in the scene. They're thinking "what comes next, does this look okay, I don't think I said that as well as I could have," and that registers in when and how often they blink.
A good actor thinks WITH the character. Inhabits their space. Blinks along with them, thinks their thoughts.
Billie Piper doesn't just blink with her characters; she breathes with them.
It doesn't matter who she's playing-- each of her roles gets their own habits, their own tics, and their own particular ways of breathing. She'll rush a line, or deliver it in a strange voice; she'll run out of air halfway through or gasp or stop breathing entirely, depending on what's called for. So many actors don't do that-- either because they don't want to look like they're messing up, or because it simply doesn't occur to them to.
I've noticed a lot of this in Rose, especially since watching Secret Diary-- not just what she did, but how she's grown as an actress-- the things she DIDN'T do. That's why the second half of series two is my favorite bit of all. She'd settled in. She was breathing with her. Idiots Lantern and Fear Her and Army of Ghosts. Rose is so much more vibrant in these episodes. So by the time you get to Impossible Planet and Satan Pit-- the last episodes she SHOT-- those episodes are so successful just as much for her acting as the amazing script. Rose wouldn't have come across as quite as badass if they'd shot them in sequence, because Bills was at her Rosiest at the end.
And don't even get me started on Doomsday. That's just a whole other level. Talk about breathing with Rose. As beingfacetious put it: "There are so many similar scenes in things, partings and goodbyes and all, and lots of them are good. But it's like... she's not a good actress. She fucking is Rose Tyler and she's so in love with this Time Lord and she's about to be in another universe without him forever
and a good actress would get into it, but Billie Piper is it. So much so for me that after all this time and after s4 and knowing exactly what comes after, I'm still just distraught."
Or her hands. I could write a whole other essay about Billie Piper's hands. Rose didn't use hers much, but Hannah? Hannah does. For all we talk of Ten's oral fixation, Rose was the exact same way-- biting her lip, tongue in her teeth. Hannah's not like that at all, though-- Hannah's handsy.
Rewatch the scene with Hannah and Ben outside the church, at the end of 3.8. I mean, first of all, that scene is directed beautifully. It's one take. She and Iddo just DO THE FUCKIN' SCENE. No cuts, no shot/reverse shot. Just one master, one take. Watch her hands. All of her nervousness, her anxiety and guilt and regret, you see it in the twist of her fingers and the rub of her palms. This has been true ever since the very beginning of Secret Diary-- near the start of series one, there's a fantastic moment where she pulls out a roll of cash and then plays with the rubber band, and it's like... god. It's like you see right through her.
Which is a long way of saying, as much as I love this show, and as interested as I am in the plot and the ~themes~... mostly I am just happy to have an excuse to stare at this woman for 22 minutes every week. And as long as they keep giving me that, I am fine.
On that note: WRITE FOR THE FICATHON!
First of all, I love the editing on this show sfm. The fourth wall breaking, the mini flashbacks and humor sequences and just... god, it's so clever. I love that they're still being innovative with this. So, YAY SHOW. The soundtrack also continues to be INCREDIBLY AMAZING on all levels.
On a shallow note: not a fan of the high ponytail, and they have been seriously abusing the false eyelashes so far this series. LESS OF THAT PLEASE.
On a New People Are New note: idgaf, I think Poppy's presh. She's no Bambi, certainly, but I'm deciding to go ahead and like her in an 'innocent until proven guilty' mode rather than keep my hackles raised. It's just too exhausting otherwise. Tim the Gay Client was lovely and I hope we see more of him, but alas, I doubt we will. The girls Belle is handling, though... blehhhh. Charlotte the Domme got old REAL fast, and that one chick who looked like Bambi in the promos was not Bambi, so I have to resent her a little on principle. The third escort has an AMAZING ACCENT and she can come back at any time.
Also on that note, it was interesting to see how much more Belle seemed to enjoy/apply herself towards the escorting of Tim when put in contrast to her Madaming. The scene at the restaurant was so awkward it was painful to watch (her nervous laugh! her failed jokes! le sigh) and she was just as happy as we were to be back in her element. [WHY NOT LET CHARLOTTE TAKE OVER? I mean, I was happy as anyone that she said fuck off and had a badass moment, but really: she hates being a madam. Why not give it up?]
Speaking of which, another logic fail: why did Hannah have to send Poppy to tell Ben she'd be late. A text wouldn't have sufficed? I'm glad we got to see Tim and Belle bond, both because she is SUCH A CUTE DORK about her job ("You're gay! Thanks! Course! Ohhhh, that feels good") and because it's a conversation she needs to be having. Balancing her separate parts.
And now to the biggie: Ben. Part of me wants to take a leaf out of his book and make a giant list of PROS and CONS, but I don't think there's any way I could do that neatly. I love the record player, and the dorky dancing, and the history of them being friends that comes from that scene. I loooooove how physically affectionate they are-- there's a clear and deliberate line between how she treats Bestie!Ben and Boyfriend!Ben, and I was worried there wouldn't be. That said, though, Ben said a lot of his typical passive aggressive bullshit in this episode ("Well isn't that fucking magic" "No more clients back at the house"), and DUDE, I AM TRYING SO HARD TO ROOT FOR YOU. COULD YOU NOT?
I'm not sure how I feel about this whole Ben's mum knows thing, either. Are we supposed to believe that he told her, or that she figured it out on her own? I'm not sure what I imagined Ben's mum would be like, but I wasn't imagining her-- she was like Mrs. Penderghast, only fiercer. The little flashback fantasy of bb!Ben and his mum in the tub was fantastic. Buuuuuut ARGH IDK. Of course she'd look out for her little boy, and be like "CAN YOU DEVOTE ENOUGH TIME TO MY SON?" I won't hold that against her. And in general, I am for more people in Hannah's life knowing about Belle. But the scene also put me on edge.
And lastly, the pool scene. AMBIVALENCE, THY NAME IS LEAH. Bills and Iddo played the fuck out of these moments, and I appreciate that so much. But ohhhh... two minds, I am of them. On the one hand, they've been friends for like a decade, which means to a certain extent, she's right: FUCK slowly. It's not as if they're about to ~learn undiscovered secrets~ about each other. On the other hand, that makes for a lot of traffic in that new house of hers, and they're so new-- they could easily swing too far in the other direction from avoidance to overexposure. Neither is healthy.
Ultimately, though, I can't really say that I'm on Team Ben. I'm on Team Hannah, and more specifically, Team Hannah's Happiness. If he can do that and be that for her, I'll gladly support him. But I stop rooting for him the second he starts undermining her. What I want least of all, though, is for Hannah to disappear. I could go either way on whether or not she keeps escorting at the end of the series, depending on how they play it-- but I want her to be in the sex industry for the reasons she got into it: because it's something she enjoys, and is good at. Not because she's so emotionally fucked up as Hannah that she can't deal with the world any other way. You know?
In other news, I love the way that Billie Piper breathes.
... that sounds creepy. I'll elaborate.
Right now at school, I'm taking a lab in Motion Picture Editing. One of the texts for the course is a book by Walter Murch-- a big time editor who's done all sorts of famous films. In one of the later chapters, he talks about how early on in his career, he started noticing that (when working with high quality footage, anyway) when he found the rhythm of the scene, he tended to always want to make a cut when the actor was blinking.
At first, he doubted himself-- wondered if he was taking cues he shouldn't, or if it was unprofessional. But the more he thought about it, the more he stood by his instinct.
He argues that that's the difference between a good actor and a bad one-- blinking at the right time. Our blinking has to do with our thinking; we can stare at one thing for a really long time, or we can shift rapidly. The eyes are the window to the soul not just because eyebrows are expressive, but because blinking is a clear indicator of thought processes.
According to Murch, a bad actor won't blink at the right places. Even if they're saying everything they should say, or doing everything they should do, they aren't present in the scene. They're thinking "what comes next, does this look okay, I don't think I said that as well as I could have," and that registers in when and how often they blink.
A good actor thinks WITH the character. Inhabits their space. Blinks along with them, thinks their thoughts.
Billie Piper doesn't just blink with her characters; she breathes with them.
It doesn't matter who she's playing-- each of her roles gets their own habits, their own tics, and their own particular ways of breathing. She'll rush a line, or deliver it in a strange voice; she'll run out of air halfway through or gasp or stop breathing entirely, depending on what's called for. So many actors don't do that-- either because they don't want to look like they're messing up, or because it simply doesn't occur to them to.
I've noticed a lot of this in Rose, especially since watching Secret Diary-- not just what she did, but how she's grown as an actress-- the things she DIDN'T do. That's why the second half of series two is my favorite bit of all. She'd settled in. She was breathing with her. Idiots Lantern and Fear Her and Army of Ghosts. Rose is so much more vibrant in these episodes. So by the time you get to Impossible Planet and Satan Pit-- the last episodes she SHOT-- those episodes are so successful just as much for her acting as the amazing script. Rose wouldn't have come across as quite as badass if they'd shot them in sequence, because Bills was at her Rosiest at the end.
And don't even get me started on Doomsday. That's just a whole other level. Talk about breathing with Rose. As beingfacetious put it: "There are so many similar scenes in things, partings and goodbyes and all, and lots of them are good. But it's like... she's not a good actress. She fucking is Rose Tyler and she's so in love with this Time Lord and she's about to be in another universe without him forever
and a good actress would get into it, but Billie Piper is it. So much so for me that after all this time and after s4 and knowing exactly what comes after, I'm still just distraught."
Or her hands. I could write a whole other essay about Billie Piper's hands. Rose didn't use hers much, but Hannah? Hannah does. For all we talk of Ten's oral fixation, Rose was the exact same way-- biting her lip, tongue in her teeth. Hannah's not like that at all, though-- Hannah's handsy.
Rewatch the scene with Hannah and Ben outside the church, at the end of 3.8. I mean, first of all, that scene is directed beautifully. It's one take. She and Iddo just DO THE FUCKIN' SCENE. No cuts, no shot/reverse shot. Just one master, one take. Watch her hands. All of her nervousness, her anxiety and guilt and regret, you see it in the twist of her fingers and the rub of her palms. This has been true ever since the very beginning of Secret Diary-- near the start of series one, there's a fantastic moment where she pulls out a roll of cash and then plays with the rubber band, and it's like... god. It's like you see right through her.
Which is a long way of saying, as much as I love this show, and as interested as I am in the plot and the ~themes~... mostly I am just happy to have an excuse to stare at this woman for 22 minutes every week. And as long as they keep giving me that, I am fine.
On that note: WRITE FOR THE FICATHON!