Every year I find plenty to love about this show. But I also love to be a critic and this year I have SO MUCH bad material to pick on. I could not resist coming here to vent. First, I don't really have anything bad to say about the models or the performers. Good job, beautiful and talented people all around! NOW, moving on to the production itself. HORRIBLE! We have been seeing the same things over and over the past few years: the cuts to back stage, voice commands from the the crew, close-up shots of the crowd, interviews about goofy topics with the models, etc. Wow, way to be creative. I am sure the clothing designers are not going to get any slack if they bring out the same old designs year after year, but clearly the show itself is allowed to. I can think of some crazy stuff to do: bring out some animals; have part of the show hosted (Conan?); have some models do a talent show; have an evening gown segment... Furthermore, how many times do you need to do a dark, out of focus zoom-in on some boring celeb sitting in the audience? You actually wasted time on screen to show me Paris and Vin instead of a beautiful woman? And within that shot, you wasted even more time showing the camera zoom in and attempt to focus, as if that is somehow "stylish." Breaking news, you are an idiot. (How awesome could it have been if a model leaned over, pulled Malin out of the crowd and they did a couple quick dance moves on the catwalk? What a fantasy... And don't tell me Malin wouldn't have done it!) Camera work, BAD, BAD, BAD. I watched the show in 1080i on a theater big-screen. I would say barely 25% of the show was actually fully in focus. The rest was always a bit fuzzy. Every shot was either headed into focus or headed back out! I can see the opening scene being out of focus and that was fine for the effect that it brought. But many times I could see the camera focus going in and out with the zoom as if that is some kind of fancy style that instantly makes you a pro. Sorry, you are wrong. When you zoom in on a model, why would you EVER want it to be out of focus??? Many times the camera was focused on the stage lights. Auto-focus madness or operator asleep at the switch? Lastly, I cannot put my finger on it, but somehow certain cameras were of a lower resolution than the others such that the quality would change from one camera to the next. It was mostly on the over head shots, but I found it a little distracting.
See you next year ladies...
