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Thunderbirds (TV Series)
''Thunderbirds'' is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, filmed by their production company AP Films (APF) and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It was filmed between 1964 and 1966 using a form of electronic marionette puppetry called "Supermarionation" combined with scale model special effects sequences. Two series, totalling 32 fifty-minute episodes, were made; production ended with the sixth episode of the second series after Lew Grade, APF's financial backer, failed in his efforts to sell the programme to US network television. Set in the 2060s, ''Thunderbirds'' was a follow-up to the earlier Supermarionation productions '' Four Feather Falls'', ''Supercar'', '' Fireball XL5'' and ''Stingray''. It concerns the exploits of International Rescue, a life-saving organisation with a secret base on an island in the Pacific Ocean. International Rescue operates a fleet of technologically-advanced rescue vehicles, headed by five craft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction On Television
Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality. Visual production process and methods The need to portray imaginary settings or characters with properties and abilities beyond the reach of current reality obliges producers to make extensive use of specialized techniques of television production. Through most of the 20th century, many of these techniques were expensive and involved a small number of dedicated craft practitioners, while the reusability of props, models, effects, or animation techniques made it easier to keep using them. The combination of high initial cost and lower maintenance cost pushed producers into building these techniques into the basic concept of a series, influencing all the artistic choices. By the late 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Gray
Barry Gray (born John Livesey Eccles; 18 July 1908 – 26 April 1984) was a British musician and composer best known for his collaborations with television and film producer Gerry Anderson. Life and career Born into a musical family in Blackburn, Lancashire, Gray was encouraged to pursue a musical career from an early age. Starting at the age of five – with piano lessons – he studied diligently and became a student at the Manchester Royal College of Music and at Blackburn Cathedral. He studied composition under the Hungarian born émigré composer Matyas Seiber. Gray's first professional job was for B. Feldman & Co. in London, where he gained experience in scoring for theatre and variety orchestras. From there, he joined Radio Normandy as a composer-arranger. After serving for six years with the Royal Air Force during World War II he returned to the music industry to work with such names as Vera Lynn and Hoagy Carmichael. In 1956 Gray joined Gerry Anderson's AP Films a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Feather Falls
''Four Feather Falls'' is a British children's western television series, the third puppet TV show produced by AP Films (APF) in association with Granada Television. It was based on an idea by Barry Gray, who also wrote the show's music. The series was the first to use an early version of APF's Supermarionation puppetry. Thirty-nine 13-minute episodes were produced between April 1959 and April 1960, and the series was first broadcast on the ITV network from February to November 1960. The setting is the late 19th-century fictional Kansas town of Four Feather Falls, where the hero of the series, Tex Tucker, is a sheriff. The four feathers of the title refers to four magical feathers given to Tex by the Indian chief Kalamakooya as a reward for saving his grandson. One of the feathers allowed Tex's guns to swivel and fire without being touched whenever he was in danger, two conferred the power of speech on Tex's horse and dog, and the fourth feather could summon Kalamakooya. Te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 when he founded the Incorporated Television Company (ITC; commonly known as ITC Entertainment) to distribute programmes, and following the success of ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' decided to focus on bringing them to the American market. Grade had some success in this field with such series as Gerry Anderson's many Supermarionation series such as '' Thunderbirds'', Patrick McGoohan's ''The Prisoner'', and Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Later, Grade invested in feature film production, but several expensive box-office failures caused him to lose control of ITC, and ultimately resulted in the disestablishment of ATV after it lost its ITV franchise. Early life Grade was born in Tokmak, Berdyansky Uyezd, Taurida Gov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scale Model
A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes such as anatomical structures or subatomic particles. Models built to the same scale as the prototype are called '' mockups''. Scale models are used as tools in engineering design and testing, promotion and sales, filmmaking special effects, military strategy, and hobbies such as rail transport modeling, wargaming and racing; and as toys. Model building is also pursued as a hobby for the sake of artisanship. Scale models are constructed of plastic, wood, or metal. They are usually painted with enamel, lacquer, or acrylics. Model prototypes include all types of vehicles (railroad trains, cars, trucks, military vehicles, aircraft, and spacecraft), buildings, people, and science fiction themes (spaceships and robots). Methods M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarionation
Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", " marionette" and "animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet TV series and feature films of the 1960s. These productions were created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed at APF's studios on the Slough Trading Estate. The characters were played by electronic marionettes with a moveable lower lip, which opened and closed in time with pre-recorded dialogue by means of a solenoid in the puppet's head or chest. The productions were mostly science fiction with the puppetry supervised by Christine Glanville, art direction by either Bob Bell or Keith Wilson, and music composed by Barry Gray. They also made extensive use of scale model special effects, directed by Derek Meddings. The term "Supermarionation" was first used during the production of '' Supercar'', whose final 13 episodes were the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marionette
A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose. Etymology In French, means 'little Mary'. During the Middle Ages, string puppets were often used in France to depict biblical events, with the Virgin Mary being a popular character, hence the name. In France, the word can refer to any kind of puppet, but elsewhere it typically refers only to string puppets. History Antiquity Puppetry is an ancient form of performance. Some historians claim that they predate actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC when string-opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Company Television mogul Lew Grade set up the Incorporated Television Programme Company (ITP) with Prince Littler and Val Parnell in 1954. Originally designed to be a contractor for the UK's new ITV network, the company failed to win a contract when the Independent Television Authority felt that doing so would give too much control in the entertainment business to the Grade family's companies (which included large talent agencies and theatre interests) although the ITA said that ITP were free to make their own programmes which they could sell to the new network companies. ITP put most of the production budget into producing one show, '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (ITV, 1955–59). However, the winner of one of the contracts, the As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunderbirds Are Go (TV Series)
''Thunderbirds Are Go'' is a science fiction television programme produced by ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures. It uses a combination of computer-generated animation and live-action models. It is a remake of the series '' Thunderbirds'' created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson which follows the exploits of International Rescue (IR), a rescue organisation run by the Tracy family out of their secret island base in the Pacific Ocean. They use technologically-advanced craft for land, sea, air and space rescues in their operations, the most important of which are a set of vehicles called the '' Thunderbirds'', piloted by the five Tracy brothers. The programme premiered on 4 April 2015 and concluded on 22 February 2020, running for 78 episodes across three series. It was well-received by critics and fans of the original series, and has spawned several branches of merchandising since its broadcast. Background A revival of the 1960s science fiction Supermarionation television series '' Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunderbirds 2086
''Thunderbirds 2086'' is the English dubbed version of the Japanese anime series , loosely inspired by the original Gerry Anderson Supermarionation series '' Thunderbirds''. The English dub was produced by ITC Entertainment, the original production company for ''Thunderbirds,'' although Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson were not involved. The series includes music and sound effects from ''Thunderbirds'' and Anderson's other series: '' Stingray'', '' Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', '' Joe 90'', '' UFO,'' and '' Space: 1999''.''The Complete Gerry Anderson - The Authorised Episode Guide'', Chris Bentley, (Reynolds and Hearn, 2005, 2006 and 2008 editions) A total of 24 episodes were produced, but only 18 were broadcast on Fuji TV in 1982. Background The series takes place in 2086 and chronicles the adventures of a rescue team called the "Thunderbirds" ("TechnoBoyager" in the Japanese version, a portmanteau of "technology" and "voyager" with the last part coming out as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITV (TV Network)
ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is branded as STV (TV channel), STV. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been Legal name, legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4. ITV was, for decades, a network of separate companies that provided regional television services and also shared programmes among themselves to be shown on the entire network. Each franchise was originally owned by a different company. After several mergers, the fifteen regional franchises are now held by two companies: ITV plc, which runs ITV1, the ITV1 cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Associated Television
ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (TV network), ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and subsequently to the Midlands all week from 1968 to 1982. It was one of the "History of ITV#The Big Four and Big Five, Big Four" until 1968, and the "Big Five" after 1968, that between them produced the majority of ITV networked programmes. In 1982, ATV was restructured and rebranded as Central Independent Television, under which name it continued to provide the service for the Midlands. ATV was awarded its first franchise by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide the Independent Television service at weekends for the London region. This service started on Saturday, 24 September 1955, the second ITA franchise to go on air, and was extended until Sunday, 28 July 1968. ATV was also awarded the franch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
