Bbc 4 Tonight - The Big Melt

[Stuart0742]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/b03slty8

The Big Melt - How Steel made us hard

21:00 tonight (Sunday)

[saw119]

Was at the Crucible when they performed this live and thought it was excellent. However, as far as I could tell, not all the footage is of Sheffield so it's slightly naughty.

[tozzin]

We were talking about this in the Pub last night, cant see why the makers of the programme used Mr Cocker, did he work in the Steelworks for fifty years?

[saw119]

Don't understand what you mean. He only did the music. I wouldn't expect a steelworker of 50 years to write and conceive a musical score for a film. Just like I wouldn't expect same steelworker to assemble and edit a film from 1000's of hours of footage like Martin Wallace has.

[lysander]

From my little bit of past experience... having worked in the industry, written , lectured and even done some broadcasting on the topic, I just hope they get a few facts right. Nothing grates so much as wrong terminology being used by people who don't know any better, but ought to have taken the trouble to do some more research! Very few people, today, have any conception of just how vital was one half square mile of Sheffield to the nations War effort...twice!

[tozzin]

Don't understand what you mean. He only did the music. I wouldn't expect a steelworker of 50 years to write and conceive a musical score for a film. Just like I wouldn't expect same steelworker to assemble and edit a film from 1000's of hours of footage like Martin Wallace has.

Sorry I was led to believe that he was commenting on it.

[ukelele lady]

The sound track was by Jarvis Cocker and also Richard Hawley , sadly there was no

commentator so you had to guess where places were.

It was a bit deceiving because some of the places were not Sheffield, there was a bridge

being built which I think was Newcastle and another scene of somewhere near Manchester.

This could have been to let you know that the steel used in these towns were from Sheffield.

Also at the beginning of the programme they shown you clips from the Dial House Club which

has been taken from the German made film from the 60s which we have on this site.

I was guessing that some of the scenes were from Fox's at Stocksbridge and after

watching Steve's film on Steel Town at Stocksbridge it is the exact same footage.

Well done Steve at least your film has a commentator.

[duckweed]

Bridge over the Tyne was built by nearby steelworks so cannot understand why they chose to put that in plus young couple (girl with grubby patterned tights) were sitting on Banks of Tyne with the ferry going up and down. Not sure where they were when building that big structure, and running up and down the girders.

[saw119]

I think it very much has to be viewed as "Art" rather than a documentary and looked at from that viewpoint I think it's quite successful. At the Crucible we were all given squares of blue plastic to view through during the smelting scenes to replicate the glasses the steelworkers wore. One thing to say in it's favour is the sheer number of musicians from Sheffield who played on the soundtrack, nearly all in fact. This isn't the first kind of thing the BFI has commissioned, I don't know if any of you saw From The Sea To The Land Beyond but that was very similar with a score by British Sea Power.

[duckweed]

Perhaps if they had not implied it was about Sheffield specifically in their ads it would have been better. Problem is for many of us when you hear words Big Melt these days you think of Magna's presentation.