The Twilight Zone effect

S

Sneakle

Well-known member
As I was channel switching between episodes of The Twilight Zone and some Matrix sequel, it dawned me; there are so many zillion dollar movies that aren't as good as one 30 minute episode of the Twilight Zone.
 
Agreed.:beer:

Twilight Zone episodes kick ass. It's all in the writing... which is a lesson that Hollywood needs to learn.
 
I caught a bunch of TZ episodes last night as well. Indie and short film makers could learn a lot from watching them. Small casts (just two or three actors is not at all unusual), a minimal number of simple sets, tight, well written scripts with a twist at the end, simply lit and shot, the sound is always solid. The same applies to Alfred Hitchcock Presents and a few similar series from that era.
 
I DVR'd a bunch yesterday so I can watch them this afternoon commercial free. :beer:

"That's a real good monster you created, Anthony. Real good."
 
unclebob6958 said:
I caught a bunch of TZ episodes last night as well. Indie and short film makers could learn a lot from watching them. Small casts (just two or three actors is not at all unusual), a minimal number of simple sets, tight, well written scripts with a twist at the end, simply lit and shot, the sound is always solid. The same applies to Alfred Hitchcock Presents and a few similar series from that era.
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I actually think the sound on TZ episodes sometimes borders on horrible. But everything else applies, natch.
 
Sneakle said:
As I was channel switching between episodes of The Twilight Zone and some Matrix sequel, it dawned me; there are so many zillion dollar movies that aren't as good as one 30 minute episode of the Twilight Zone.
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Rod Serling was a brilliant writer for his day. He made a lot work with very little.
I have the complete series. Loved it as a kid and more so as a filmmaker.

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)... My moto
 
unclebob6958 said:
I caught a bunch of TZ episodes last night as well. Indie and short film makers could learn a lot from watching them. Small casts (just two or three actors is not at all unusual), a minimal number of simple sets, tight, well written scripts with a twist at the end, simply lit and shot, the sound is always solid. The same applies to Alfred Hitchcock Presents and a few similar series from that era.
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I completely agree, but I'd also add that most of the time, the story has a very nice little high concept premise at the center of it. The thing is, these are high concept stories that can be done with minimal special effects. Something that is not a bad starting point for underfunded up and coming filmmakers.

The banner in my sig is from a scriptfest script that was heavily influenced by The Twilight Zone when I created it. I actually plan on expanding it into a 25-30 minute film, sort of as an homage to The Twilight Zone which had 30 minute running times per episode. The qualities you mentioned though -- small cast, not a ton of sets, the twist, etc. Those are things that were/are on my mind in regards to my script. Plus of course, the black and white cinematography. I am a huge fan of black and white photography and cinematography. The Twilight Zone featured some of the best cinematography on TV back in it's day.

Thinking about it though, we of course have some good modern day Twilight Zone inspired films. M Night Shyamalan's films are the obvious first ones that come to mind. Then there is Christopher Nolan's work, especially Memento, The Prestige, and his upcoming film Inception all seem like they could've been inspired by The Twilight Zone.

If any of you have seen the sci-fi thriller Imposter, then you might agree with me that it is a very Twilight Zone-ish feature length work. It was based on a Philip K Dick short story. Actually, Dick wrote some of his short stories in a very Twilight Zone-like manner with a twist and all. This reminds me that there were some great sci-fi/fantasy/speculative fiction writers that wrote scripts for The Twilight Zone. People like Harlan Ellison, Roger Zelazny, and Richard Matheson who wrote the quintessential Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.

Also, there are some really great episodes from the Twilight Zone revival that began in 1985. A couple that I vividly remember are The Hellgramite Method, about an alcoholic that uses a parasitic organism to cure his addiction. Seriously creepy and unsettling stuff. Then there is the excellent Shelter Skelter, which is about nuclear war and the extreme paranoia that it created amongst the average man.

Of course, The Outer Limits was also pretty darn awesome in its own right.
 
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They do have very good memorable stories. And they always played them out great.

To Serve Man, yes, was a good one. I also like 'Mirror Mirror' I think it was called, 'The Hell Worm' and 'Button Button' I think they were called. It's been a long while. :)

I do find, now, that some of the pacing is slower and drawn out more than I like nowadays, mainly due to the entertainment threshold having been risen over the many years. I also find the same threshold thing with music, comparing todays music with the past songs.

//actually, I youtubed them. 'Mirror Image' was not the one I was thinking of, but's a good one too. Also 'In the eye of the beholder' was good. hehe, they all were.
I was thinking of the one with a single male, ex con type, in a hotel room (That's the whole setting I believe), and his reflection in the mirror is another side of his personality that tries (talking back to him) to smarten him up from the crooked life. What was that one?

//And I guess 'Hell Worm' wasn't the name of the other one. The monster within the mans body was called that but not the episode. Ring any bells?
It think it was if the man drank, the evil worm got bigger, but if he layed off, the monster would sleep kind of thing and he'd be okay. Great analogy to alcoholism I thought. What was that one called again? hehe.
 
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David Jimerson said:
I actually think the sound on TZ episodes sometimes borders on horrible. But everything else applies, natch.
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Compared to most of the programs done back then TZ was pretty good. (I will agree that there were a few bad ones.) If you get a chance check out the DVDs of the series, the sound is much better than the generational copies you hear on TV.
 
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