Running stretch
The film is only about 17 minutes long (including the end credits) while the episode runs for 25 minutes. So the episode has eight additional minutes of runtime to fill. Because of this, some scenes in the episode are stretched out a bit more, making the film seem more fast paced in return.
For instance, it takes Olivia's
Elly about five times longer to walk from her bedroom to the bathroom and turn on the tap than Rebekah's
Elly.
- Rebekah's Elly tiptoes to the bathroom in a seemingly straight line and locks the door, then looks out the window for a second or three before she turns on the tap.
- Olivia's Elly stops and looks into her brother's bedrooms on the way and the shot where she looks out the bathroom window at the tree is stretched out much longer, switching between Elly's face and the tree multiple times. Only then does she turn on the tap.
Elly's dialogue through the bathroom door when eating the cookie is much shorter in the film, leaving out quite a few lines that are in the episode.
All in all this is a recurring theme: the scenes are there, the dialogue is there, but the series has more lines added in and more shots to make up the scene.
Anger issuesThere is a noticeable difference in delivery between Olivia's and Rebekah's lines: Olivia's
Elly is a lot angrier at her parents at the beginning of the story than Rebekah's
Elly is. Not that Rebekah's
Elly is cheerful, don't get me wrong, but it's only when her brothers start to tease her that
Elly's anger really starts to show. Before that she comes across as steadfast and determined to save her tree, but not particularly angry.
Notable is the way Elly reacts to Anthony's (Tony's in the film) suggestion of him taking a shower while she's in the bath.
Film Elly responds with a determined and defensive
"No.", while
TV Elly almost breaks the glass in the window with her high pitched
"NO!".
Max Phipps delivers a different Mr Jensen than we're used to. Scary, yes, as Max seems to excel at being, but different scary to Robert Essex' performance; Max makes a more maniacal Mr Jensen to Robert's more sinister and plotting Mr Jensen.
The delivery of the lines on what to do with the tree stump are good examples of this: Robert's
Jensen is absently dreaming of what he'd do with the stump if it was up to him, while Max's
Jensen just wants to get it over with and start cutting the tree down, and gets impatient with everybody there.
- Robert's Jensen: "…then we rip out the stump, [pause] and…perhaps burn that section…then you can [pondering]. either fill in the hole that remains [pondering]or perhaps to install a cement pond [pause] some people do that [pondering]. If I had a hole [pondering] I'd do that…"
- Max' Jensen: "…and then: we RRRRIPPP out the stump, (and-you-probably-burn-that-bit-of-it [hastily]), then you fill in the hole in the ground or perhaps… put in a cement pond. Some people do that!"
The delivery of the word
"Neat" is also a good example of the different deliveries between the two actors. Max' delivery quickly corrects Douglas' statement of everything becoming
"flat", with an undertone of "now shut up, and let's turn this tree into bits", while Robert's really
throws the word out as to convey his opinion as the only truth.
Other differences in delivery are mostly timing and choice of wording; nothing major.
Zooooom!The shots are mostly the same too. Of course the film was shot at a different location (not at 5 Copnal Court), and the tree is very different (a straight, very tall eucalyptus tree). The bathroom is a lot smaller and the kitchen looks completely different to the one in the series, but in general the shots are very similar between the film and the episode.
But there is one shot in the film that stands out: when Mr Jensen rings the doorbel, the camera zooms in dramatically on mum, who is startled by his arrival and quickly makes sure her hair looks nice. Why does she do that? She doesn't in the episode…. does
Film Mum have a crush on Mr Jensen? Oooh…. speculation…!
This idea is strengthened by the fact she tells Mr Jensen and Robert "
Off you go boys… uhhh… I mean MEN" while half giggling as they head off to the tree with the chainsaw and the climbing gear. Oh dear, Mrs. Barton… oh dear!
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One funny difference is one of necessity: after throwing the toilet paper at her brothers, Elly hangs out of the bathroom window. Then Robert walks into the yard and starts shouting at her. In the film, he merely gets a few words out before Elly slides the window shut with a bang. But
TV Elly has to "wind" her window shut, which takes a while. So Robert gets a whole second sentence out before she's gone.
So all in all, film and episode are similar, but slightly different.
…but I haven't mentioned the big difference yet…