"If I let some sentences be short that's a formal decision."

TV At the Illuminations blog, John Wyver reviews Matthew Collings's latest arts series Renaissance Revolution. I like it. It's a good review, especially since it opens like one of my Behind The Sofa things by writing in a faux-Collings voice:

"Hi. That's Matthew Collings. Hi Matt. Matthew makes films about -- art. He knows a lot about -- art. He's pretty good. I like watching him. He's just been on BBC Two talking about -- the Renaissance. He talked in three films called -- Renaissance Revolution. The films are pretty good. I like them. I'm happy that the BBC commissioned them. I like the BBC. A lot."

I've not had a chance to see the shows yet (this is the week that Doctor Who series fnarg has been released on optical disc) but John's post puts it right at the top of the list. What John probably wasn't expecting was for Collings himself to leave a rebuttle in the comments in which he takes umbridge at the notion that the films are too polished:

"I constantly agonise about the relationship between images and words. If I let some sentences be short that's a formal decision. They were longer at an earlier stage of the script. The musical ideas in the series are my own, based not on whimsical perversity but personal association, which I could indulge, because the BBC has a blanket rights agreement on a very wide range of material. Again the tie-up of music, words and pictures involves endless experiment and change."

Until I see the films, I can't really say who I agree with. What I will say is that Collings's comments are well worth reading in and of themselves in offering an insight into the difficult production process of presenter led arts documentaries.