Some attempts at answers: Heaven Sent, Â Part 1
in no particular order... Â and I will answer more in the next few weeks...
We wanted to have minimal foreshadowing. I know: you âsaw the doctorâs handâ, you âguessed the entire plotâ or you âknew it was Gallifreyâ -- (thanks BBC press room - face plant on desk).
On first viewing we wanted the audience to discover clues as the Doctor did. Breadcrumbs. The line to walk: is the audience confused or intrigued or just frustrated? We wanted to avoid âbadâ confusion -- well, you all know about that.Â
The episode requires attention -- I donât think itâs âNetflix and chillâ .Â
The scripts did this all by themselves. That was not one of my conscious challenges.
In terms of last series, given that I had a falling sequence again, I wanted to make sure the two sequences were different. I also knew there were things I wanted to do better for myself. But itâs always about how you are interpreting the text FIRST. Â (see my answer to the next question)
First of all, thatâs some compliment, so thank you! Â And Iâm embarrassed reading it. (more, more!)
You will see some of my âprocessâ in the previous post, but itâs difficult to describe how a shot list evolves.
At the risk of sounding pretentious even using the word âprocessâ, here are a few of my thoughts:
I think about each shot and ask if it enhance the storytelling? So first I make sure I understand the key to the scene, then I look for a visual way into that. I try to stay away from style over substance. I have seen criticism and praise for this â that my style, especially last season, was not âshowyâ . That is because Steven Moffatâs writing is so layered, and the actors so brilliant at portraying that, I do not want the camera to get in the way. Anyone can spin the camera 360Âş, but why?Â
I look for shots, moves, lighting, that bring something more to the scenes. If I canât come up with something that will enhance, I stay simple and let the brilliance  of the script and acting shine.
Sometimes I visualize what I think are amazing shots but they will simply take too long to shoot or require equipment that is too expensive. Then I have to compromise and simplify. (Then I pout, but not for too long). On set this happens too -- I prepare to do something cool and fancy, then time-reality gets in the way, and I have to give things up. All day long.Â
I donât try to over-create, I try to expand.
The first edit was about 62 minutes, so we cut out maybe 6-7 minutes, but if we had had to reduce it to the standard 45, it would likely have destroyed the complex story, so the BBC was asked to accept a longer show, which fortunately they did.Â
There is always some debate about what needs cutting. Usually there are some more obvious places (expensive VFX? slow pacing? repetition? less than it could have been?) Â and then some that require more debate.Â
The most complicated areas were the opening (see previous post) and the middle where the Doctor explains how the castle works. It could be argued that the opening scene could have been removed completely, or that it was completely necessary to prepare the audience for the tone of the episode. As stated, because it was so non-standard, the discussion over its content and length was significant.
The montage in the middle was non-linear and therefore malleable. You will see from the script that we re-ordered it and added some voiceover. We cut a few gorgeous shots from it, but they got in the way of the flow. The removed piece of the Veil in the Library was our most effective shooting of the Veil, but it felt repetitive. The pantry was an experimental shot that I really liked, but wasnât entirely effective, and I didnât fight to keep it.Â
I wanted to keep the whole dolly along the length of the table for the Soup-eating scene - and there was  a definite âis it too long?â debate â how long is a piece of string? Was it art-indulgent or did it emphasize the idea of âforeverâ while you asked yourself - why? Intriguing or boring?Â
I was always concerned I might fail the experiment and not visualize the script to its fullest potential.Â
---------------------------------
More answers to come later.Â
