File:CaptainScarletPuppets.ogg

A one-minute video sample from the episode "Attack on Cloudbase", which culminates in an argument between the puppet characters of Captain Blue and Colonel White on the subject of Blue's romantic interest, Symphony Angel, whose whereabouts are unknown following the shooting down of her interceptor aircraft at the start of the episode.

"Attack on Cloudbase" (Episode: 31, Production: 30, Original Air Date: 7 May 1968) on Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons Volume 5 DVD (2001) (Chapter 2: 07:05-08:05 minutes). Clip extracted from episode with a combination of RealPlayer trimming tools and Firefogg .ogg open-source converter.

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

Whole frame so that a number of puppet actions are visible, and to avoid misrepresenting the original material. A one-minute clip of a 25-minute episode, representing 1⁄25 (or 4 per cent) of the source. Presented in a scaled-down form of the original 4:3 aspect ratio.

Lower than that of the source footage. Through encoding, the dimensions of the picture have been scaled down to 400 x 320 (width x height) pixels and the video bit rate reduced to 318 KBps. Reduction of the video resolution, dimensions and length renders this clip undesirable for pirating purposes or other duplication, private or commercial.

To support statements and critical notes on the subjects of puppet character motion, appearances and voices in the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons article, in particular the "Puppets" production section. A motion-picture clip is justified, since these three areas cannot all be demonstrated within the limited format of a still image, while words alone cannot express them in such a manner as to benefit the reader's understanding of the topic.

In this clip, the difficulties of inducing realistic movement in the puppets are evident when the camera switches to a close-up angle for shots of characters walking off (to keep the puppeteer hand providing the motion hidden from view). At the start of the clip, the depiction of two characters entering a room necessitates a break in the shot, since the supporting strings made it impossible to film, in one continuous motion, puppets passing through doorways. The absence of animation on the part of the characters is detailed through commentary and quotations in the section of the article in which the clip is embedded, and on a wider scale relates to the alterations made to the design of Supermarionation puppets between Captain Scarlet and the preceding Gerry Anderson production, Thunderbirds (which is discussed in the reception section of the article).

Additional worth can be found through the clip's depiction of character appearances and voices, particularly of Captains Scarlet and Blue, which form the basis of discussion towards the end of the "Puppets" section. The usefulness of the clip extends to other areas of the article if it is considered that the range of character accents demonstrated within the one minute reflects comments appearing in the opening of the "Casting and characters" section: the proliferation of English-sounding voices to the puppet cast, contrasting with Thunderbirds and demonstrated in this clip through the characters of Scarlet and Colonel White, supports the critical comment from the Gerry Anderson biography that ends the first paragraph. It is also reported in the following paragraph that the tones of Scarlet were inspired by the Mid-Atlantic voice of actor Cary Grant, which goes further to justify the insertion of a video clip which includes dialogue from the character.

In conclusion, the clip greatly aids the reader's understanding of Captain Scarlet on more than one level, providing visualisation of production difficulties and sound to demonstrate the effects of casting decisions, while also acting as a partial "cast photo" to illustrate some of the regular characters.

No free alternatives are known to exist. To obtain an accurate visual sense of puppet character motion and likenesses, and an accurate audio sense of puppet character voices (both of which are discussed in the section in which this clip is embedded), a fair-use video upload of the source material is justified. Fair-use, reduced-quality reproduction of the source material precludes the possibility of misrepresenting that material and its elements.

Copyright © 1967 Century 21 Television (production) and ITC Entertainment (distribution). Use of this clip in the specified article complies with relevant Wikipedia policies and the fair use doctrine detailed in United States Copyright Law.