David Tench Tonight
Sep 1st, 2006 by Hil
I caught a little of the second episode of David Tench Tonight last night, and I’m quite intrigued. My impression on googling is that people disliked the first episode, but I wonder if it doesn’t have the same kind of sophistication and potential as Norman Gunston, and will take a bit of time to really get to appreciate.
David Tench is a larger-than-life cartoon talk show host, animated in real time using a sensor suit motion capture and digital enhancement technologies (like Peter Jackson’s Gollum). The character was conceived by Andrew Denton and technically designed by Australian visual effects company Animal Logic, whose Executive Producer Zareh Nalbandian says:
“Tench can break the rules of television at the same time as creating ones of his own. He is totally irreverent because he can be. This is a character and format that can surprise, challenge convention and constantly evolve. It’s the big advantage of the virtual character. Nothing is real, reality is what you make it and you can bend reality to any shape you want.”
Is it classed as puppetry? I don’t know, but my feeling is its so close it doesn’t matter, and animation and puppetry overlap in so many ways.
Of course you can already see Tench on YouTube. (don’t judge it only on the promo clip - the recording there has messed up the lip sync)
You can read more about David Tench at Wikipedia. Apparently the Wikipedia entry was part of the pre-show viral marketing. I haven’t decided if that was underhand or savvy - or maybe both.
The Herald Sun has an interview with Tench.
This behind the scenes article doesn’t spill much, but maybe it’s better than nothing!
That’s interesting Hil. From the clips I was able to see the camera work looks a bt jumpy, swining from host to guest and not often showing both together. Must be really hard for the guest. Wonder if they do their interview to a blue screen? Reminds me of Max Headroom. Did he reach Oz?
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/maxheadroom/maxheadroom.htm
Sorry I didn’t see this before, Sally. I certainly heard of Max Headroom, though I don’t recall ever seeing it. From the article you link to he looks a lot more hard hitting than any of the Tench I have seen. I’m beginning to think he is not going to live up the promise I saw in the idea.