Phantom of the Graveyard

Adanor

Dedicated Member
They are inside the Sid's Cafe having some sort of discussion and then they go outside where they encounter Smiler washing the window under Ivy's close supervision. I wasn't really paying attention but wouldn't they have seen Smiler from inside the Cafe? Wouldn't they have seen Smiler from inside the Cafe? But I could be wrong?
 
I've just had a quick look at the episode.

When they are inside, we don't actually see them get up and go outside, and there is a definite break from the interior scene to the exterior scene.

So we could assume there is a reasonable time gap between the two scenes, to allow Smiler to set up his window cleaning task.
 
Yes, I agree, there is a "fade," meaning elapsed time between the inside and outside shots. But definitely worth observing/mentioning. FAR worse editing oversights have happened throughout the years of television/film.
 
In the early series the square outside the cafe is much smaller, often when the cafe door is open the church wall is only a couple of feet away, shot in the studio's so space would be a problem I expect
 
Yes, there's a few discrepancies with the café........ like the window in the kitchen that's non-existent on the outside.
In the real building, the counter faces the door too !
 
Yes, there's a few discrepancies with the café........ like the window in the kitchen that's non-existent on the outside. In the real building, the counter faces the door too !

I've always wondered how the interior was laid out when it was a chippy. I wouldn't be surprised if the water and gas were located where they are now and if those connections were simply ignored when the space was used as paint storage for the hardware store next door between the closure of the chippy and the opening of the cafe.
 
I always thought that the cooking area seemed rather small. From inside the cafe the cooking space seems alright. Yet trying to visually measure things up from the outside shots the cooking space seems shrunk, or too small. I know it is television and they have to be creative with what space is available.

Apparently there is space for cooking as well as a stairway to the next level up. As mentioned when Ivy was upstairs and says she did not hear the bell in one episode. Also for the Bollocks guys to go up there to the area where they had their meeting. I believe in the real shop the counter is along another wall, as mentioned.

Yes, some of the shots through the window the wall seen opposite appears closer in some episodes than others. Probably the studio versus location shots. Or something going on outside and they made a fake wall screen to cover it. Oh how the mind wanders at times, at least it keeps us busy. ;)
 
I always thought that the cooking area seemed rather small. From inside the cafe the cooking space seems alright. Yet trying to visually measure things up from the outside shots the cooking space seems shrunk, or too small. I know it is television and they have to be creative with what space is available.

Apparently there is space for cooking as well as a stairway to the next level up. As mentioned when Ivy was upstairs and says she did not hear the bell in one episode. Also for the Bollocks guys to go up there to the area where they had their meeting. I believe in the real shop the counter is along another wall, as mentioned.

Yes, some of the shots through the window the wall seen opposite appears closer in some episodes than others. Probably the studio versus location shots. Or something going on outside and they made a fake wall screen to cover it. Oh how the mind wanders at times, at least it keeps us busy. ;)

I believe that the only time they filmed inside the actual cafe was the scenes with Bill Owen in Last Post and Pigeon. Normally all interior scenes would have been filmed in the studio, after all the location scenes had been completed, but Alan Bell was afraid that Mr. Owen might be too ill to function by then, and his presence was essential for those scenes.
 
As a note, since the Cafe used to be a Chippy and a paint store, it had never been properly cleaned and reportedly there was a really foul odor that emanated from inside. And anyone who had to briefly make an entrance from that door certainly had to "act" like they didn't smell a thing.
 
I believe that the only time they filmed inside the actual cafe was the scenes with Bill Owen in Last Post and Pigeon. Normally all interior scenes would have been filmed in the studio, after all the location scenes had been completed, but Alan Bell was afraid that Mr. Owen might be too ill to function by then, and his presence was essential for those scenes.

In his book Bell says they had filmed inside the real cafe once before, in "Getting Sam Home."
 
In his book Bell says they had filmed inside the real cafe once before, in "Getting Sam Home."

Thanks. Now I recall having read that. Wasn't it because they were on an impossibly tight budget and under extreme time constraints?
 
The only tight time constraint they had, was very sadly, the state of Bill Owen's health.
 
Thanks. Now I recall having read that. Wasn't it because they were on an impossibly tight budget and under extreme time constraints?
Yes, that's right. That's when the cafe was built out and they decided to make a real cafe. It matches the studio cafe quite well, but there are several small differences. One being the distance from the window to the kitchen wall is only about 12 inches in the real cafe, whereas in the studio it is quite a bit deeper. Of course the door to the kitchen is fake and the door on the opposite wall is not built out the same. They rarely showed the back wall in Getting Sam Home as it is covered with a fake wall to cover the real kitchen area. They don't show the back wall at all in Last Post and Pigeon. Of course they had to move the counter out in both episodes to make it match the studio cafe and to give Ivy room to go behind to pour tea, etc.
 
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