Currently, I am working on the next 3 episodes independently as one continuous story as, with the concept and expert writing of The Wire, moments that are not focused on detail in some scenes are revisited in greater detail later on. A literary exploration that should go farther than dictating legislation or flaws within that legislation.
For example, the liklihood of several "crime scenes" only really boil down to one or two when all the elements are in place. A sense of contrast that depicts many aspects of life. Old and new. Life and death. Beginnings and endings. Everything will feel understated as some moments are never fulfilled to their summary conclusion, as in life, everything is on-going long after you stop watching, like an alternate reality pictured within the confines of a 3464 X 2310 (referring to information in relation to size) window at which we can shut the blinds on you at any times. What we can't see doesn't mean it does not carry on.
Much like Visconti's La Terra Trema, and many other Realist films of the Post-War era, the definition of realism was showing the moments that say, Hitchcock, would remove. I'm not saying we are likely to include an Italian maid washing a floor for 20 minutes, but the concept of retaining images that would more or less be removed for pacing purposes, remain in one form or another. With the luxury of a long running series, whose to say our characterisation needs to be exacting and precise. One thing about each of our lives is that it gets boring and banal sometimes. We struggle for some sort of acitvity to keep our minds occupied but more importantly, to keep us feeling alive, hence we struggle with pattern and monotony. We may be of the MTV generation but I reckon dulling audiences with fast-cutting, overgraded visuals, moves nothing forward. The power of TV is intense and exact, the gimmicks of tabloid TV aside, cinema has become a fairground ride, the best of films sneaking away into the darkness of tiny cinema screens, someone's had-graft, blood, tears and sleepless nights little recognised personal picture, to maybe be remembered. But with all good, it it usually only appreciated to it's potential long after the artist has passed from this world.
Stylistically, we will be following the general rule that story dictates everything, whilst the visuals should compliment the telling of the story. Nothing flashy, nothing too over-the-top, just simple understated storytelling with interesting, true to life (as the stories remain true themselves), characters, hinting at aspects of Scottish culture, scenary, beauty and ultimately, humanity and morality. Universally understood factors that transcend outwith the boundaries of our culture alone. Something that can be spoken out to many and understood fully by a few.
Ryan Jon Amey Henderson
Co-Creator/Co-writer