Category Archives: AV

Teletubbies

我觉得Teletubbies在的Wikipedia的介绍实在太搞笑了!

The programme features four colourful characters: Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po who live in a futuristic dome (the “Tubbytronic Superdome”), set in a landscape of rolling hills. The environment is dotted with unusually talkative flowers and periscope-like “voice trumpets”. The only natural fauna are rabbits (although birds are often heard, particularly blackcaps and wrens). The climate is always sunny and pleasant save for occasional inclement days, with rain and puddles, and snow at Christmas time.

The Teletubbies are played by actors dressed in bulky costumes, although the sets are designed to give no sense of scale. The costumes vaguely resemble large spacesuits, although the Tubbies appear not to wear real clothes. They are instead furry, and have metallic silver-azure rectangular “screens” adorning their abdomens. These screens are used to segue into short film sequences, which are generally repeated at least once. When the series is shown in different countries around the world, the film inserts are to be tailored to suit local audiences. (The British inserts are default).

The Teletubbies have the body proportions, behaviour and language of toddlers. The pacing and design of the show was developed by cognitive psychologist Andrew Davenport, who structured the show to fit the attention spans of the target audience. The repetition of practically every word is familiar to everyone who has ever worked with young children. There was also help from Shatarra Willis the stage manager who helped the show to become a success.

The Teletubbies speak in a gurgling baby language which is the subject of some controversy among educationalists, some of whom argue that this supposedly made-up talk is not good for children. (A similar complaint was made forty years previously about another children’s series, Flower Pot Men). Tubbies are at the stage of understanding speech but not yet fully capable of articulating it, exactly like their target audience. They often simply groan in disapproval in situations where a human toddler would throw a tantrum. The Teletubbies’ catch-phrases are Eh-oh (hello), as in: Eh-oh, Laa-Laa, to which Laa-Laa will respond, Eh-oh, [other Tubby’s name]; “Uh-oh”, a common toddler response to anything untoward; “Run away! Run away!”, especially from Dipsy; and “Bye-bye” at least four times in a row. Laa-Laa, when flustered, will explode with “Bibberly cheese!”, which is as angry as they get. Perhaps the most common exclamation, however, is “Big hug!” which one or more of the Teletubbies will invariably call for during the course of an episode, resulting in an enthusiastic group hug.

All the Teletubbies say “Bye-Bye” three times. The narrator bids each Teletubby goodbye, and they disappear, but reappear a moment later saying “Boo!”. The narrator then says “No”, and proceeds to say goodbye to each Teletubby again. The sun is then shown setting, and the Teletubbies each say goodbye again, before jumping down a hole in the roof of their house. Finally, one Teletubby says goodbye a fourth time- they pop out of a hole in the house and say “Bye-bye!”. For special episodes, and at the end of the “Fun With The Teletubbies” cassette, all four Teletubbies say “Bye-bye” in this way. Many of the occurrences of the show, including the end sequence, and the scene preceding the short film broadcast on a characters tummy were shot only once, and the same scenes are used in each episode.

The surreal environment is an evocation of a toddler’s perception of the world, where they are ordered about and told to go to sleep, while wonderful and mysterious things happen without explanation. A prominent feature of each episode is a radiant sun that has an image of a smiling baby superimposed upon it. The baby in the sun occasionally laughs out loud in short bursts. To adults the laughter does not seem to be in response to any stimulus or humorous developments in the plot line of the episode.

The Teletubbies’ diet seems to consist exclusively of Tubby Custard (which is sucked through a spiral straw bowl) and Tubby Toast (circular toast with a smiley face on it). One of their companions is the Noo-Noo, a sentient, self-propelled vacuum cleaner.

Machines like the Noo-Noo, voice trumpets, and the televisions in the Teletubbies’ stomachs were designed to show small children, who are born into a world surrounded by strange and powerful electronic gadgets, that technology is benevolent and helpful, not something to be afraid of.

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从小提琴齐奏说到文革音乐作品

我是在一个俞丽拿的纪录片中第一次看到小提琴齐奏这种形式的。那是俞丽拿在上音小提琴专业时组织的一种演奏形式,当时我没有听到他们演奏的生音,只是觉得这种形式很生硬,难怪没有成为主流。前段时间看到了《文革小提琴齐奏作品》这个唱片,马上下载来一听,才领略到小提琴齐奏美丽而独特的音色。唱片曲目均为知青一代耳熟能详的曲目,可是有很多我还是第一次听到。以前听我妈说过,文革的歌曲能流传到改革开放后让我听见的那些,都是比较好听的,没流传下来的,是自己本身不太好听,那个时代过去了,也就没人爱听了。但是这唱片里的每首曲子,在音乐上都很优秀,尤其是那首《我们是学大寨的青年突击队》。

说到小提琴齐奏,就要说起五十年代末上音那个“小提琴民族学派实验小组”。何占豪、丁芷诺、俞丽拿等七八人,改编出了《二泉映月》《旱天雷》《步步高》等独奏、齐奏曲。现在市面上俞丽拿和李坚的《梁祝》小协唱片里收录的几个钢琴伴奏作品很多就来自于这个年轻的小组。我上网搜了一下这段历史,本来想找点介绍材料,但是相关的历史越找越多,基本上是围绕《梁祝》小协的。虽然《梁祝》小协的由来我之前已经了解过,但细看了这些历史细节之后仍然很有感触……

“(俞丽拿自述)那一年考进上海音乐学院本科管弦系,我还不到17岁。从附中开始,我在乐队里就是拉小提琴的,那时这件西洋乐器对于国人来说还十分陌生。我们到农村去演出,选了外国的一些经典小提琴曲,演完以后,大家说听不懂。比起声乐系学生唱完后下面大喊再来一个,我们感到了强烈的挫败感,决定成立一个‘小提琴民族学派实验小组’。党委同意了,却没有把我的名字列进去,理由是我专业成绩好,担心我搞‘实验’分散精力,影响参加小提琴比赛的成绩。我打报告坚决要求才获批。就这样,我们一共六个人,五个大一的女生,加上一个男生何占豪,组成了这个小组。”

“最初的实验,是从民族音乐里选择一些耳熟能详的曲目用小提琴演奏,像广东音乐的《步步高》、西北民谣《四季调》、二胡名曲《二泉映月》(俞丽拿边讲边演,每奏完一曲,就要观众说出乐曲名)。但我们依然很迷惘。有一次我到北京演出,在舞会上,周恩来总理请我跳舞。我不会跳,但总理说没关系,你跟着我的脚步就行,于是我就不断地踩到他的脚。跳舞的时候,我向总理吐露了我们小组的苦恼,总理说,你们年轻人敢想敢做,一定能解决问题的。一年以后,总理到上海来,我们就用小提琴给他演奏那几首民族音乐。总理听完对我说:‘俞丽拿,你提的问题现在不是解决得很好吗?’我一听就愣住了,我一个小小的演奏员一年以前向总理提的问题,他居然还记得!我们由此也得到启发,小提琴这件西洋乐器400多年了,传到中国不受欢迎,乐器本身并没有责任。我们要做的是给它增加一个说‘中国话’的功能,但是我们演的民族乐曲都太短了。”

“转眼到了1958年的下半年,我们管弦系开始准备1959年国庆10周年的献礼,大家商定要创作一首小提琴协奏曲。至于题材,当时正值‘大跃进’,所以想了好多革命口号的题材,比如‘全民皆兵’、‘大炼钢铁’,最后才把最适合小提琴特点的‘梁祝’作为备选题目列上去。但是恰恰就是这个题目,被独具慧眼的党委书记选中了。就这么确定了曲式和题材,但我们是管弦系的,不是作曲系,创作起来有难度。后来领导从作曲系五年级调来一位高才生帮助我们,他就是陈钢。陈钢和何占豪两个人真的是缺一不可,陈钢有作曲的功底,何占豪熟悉产生《梁祝》的土壤——越剧。他是进修生,来自浙江越剧团乐队,受越剧的影响很深,我们开玩笑说,他的骨髓里都有越剧的味道。所以《梁祝》是集体创作的结晶,可能也只有那个年代,人人不为私,才会有那样的成果。”

这段自述基本上能反映整个过程了,其中还有一些小特写。话说我国建国后音乐学院里的教学体制基本上是从苏联的音乐学院学来的,西洋乐器类,课程曲目自然多为西洋古典音乐。为什么会出现一个“民族音乐实验小组”,而且发起人还是一堆年轻人呢?

到了音乐学院,我感觉到了世外桃源,音乐好像不是为老百姓做的。那时要求我们送音乐下乡,音乐学院组织到农村开音乐会,老百姓开始来的很多,但人却越拉越少。我们问台下的听众:好不好听?答:好听!再问:能不能听懂?答:听不懂!但当时有一种观点,就是要多为老百姓演出,听多了,他们就听懂了。

但接下来的一件事情对我触动很大。一次去乡下演出,老人、孩子来了很多,但很快陆续走了很多人,最后只剩下一个老太太。我们很激动地对她说,老大娘,您很好啊,那么爱听我们的音乐,虽然现在只剩下您一个人,我们也要认真为您演出。老太太说:因为你们坐的凳子是我的!

老百姓需要民间艺术,他们喜欢听越剧、沪剧,我们为什么不能满足他们呢?于是在农民的这种需求和启发下,我就写了一个四重奏:梁山伯与祝英台。此外我还用小提琴拉阿炳的“二泉映月”,改编了广东音乐“步步高”,带着这些音乐再去演出,非常受欢迎。我们班级的几个学生决定成立一个组织,起名为“中国小提琴民族学派”,交给校长孟波审批。他说这个名字太大了,你们有什么理论和作品呢,如果没有怎么能称为学派呢?我看起名为“上海音乐学院小提琴民族化试验小组” 比较妥当。于是这个小组成立了,一共6个人,包括俞丽拿、丁芷诺等。

这些人中除了我对民族戏曲音乐比较熟悉外,他们都不熟悉,因为他们从小就接触西洋音乐,认为巴哈就是音乐,音乐就是巴哈。为了熟悉我们的民族音乐,我们经常在晚上去看越剧、沪剧演出,周末去城隍庙去看去学江南丝竹。

但是,毕竟小提琴是西洋乐器,并不是为中国传统音乐而生的。今天我听到的俞丽拿演奏的中国作品,无论从编曲上到演奏上,其中国味儿都达到了极致,显然,这里面融入的是汗水和天才。

我们在进行小提琴民族化的创作中,遭到了很多人的反对。因为在人们看来我们把小提琴的技法都搞乱了。音乐是艺术的皇冠,而小提琴、钢琴则是皇冠上的明珠,把小提琴和“下里巴人”的越剧结合,破坏了小提琴艺术的规律,在学术上是很犯忌的。于是我们经常会和反对我们的人进行辩论,在辩论中我们也吸取了其中有益的东西。比如小提琴民族化,用小提琴拉二胡曲子,必须充分发挥小提琴的性能,而不只是把曲子改编一下。

反对声中我也得到了鼓励。在一次并不成功的演奏中,系党支部书记刘品看到了我内心对民族文化的依恋与忠诚。他鼓励我为创造中华民族自己的交响音乐大胆探索,这也是孟波在院党委会提出的奋斗目标。因为受到了系党支部书记的直接鼓励,我一鼓作气把越剧《梁祝》中十八相送、楼] ]>