Talk:Abba: The Movie

Name of the Game Video

Whoever keeps editing this out, please get yourself a user name so it will be possible to properly discuss the issues. At present I am forced to revert since there is no-one "there" to talk to about this. I can't take edits seriously when the person making them can't even be bothered to take 30 seconds to fix themselves up with a user name. For your information, there are TWO videos for NOTG, there is the one where they are sitting in a kitchen playing a board game (Fla-spel, whatever that is), and there is one which is essentially the NOTG "dream sequence" footage from The Movie. I don't know which ones are considered "official" videos, nor do I know which territories got to see which one, but at the time, the dream sequence one got widely shown on UK television - Top of the Pops and so on. Presumably it was part of the promo or film tie-in - makes perfect marketing sense to me anyway. Later, the other video seemed to get more popular - the recent DVD of Abba - The Definitive Collection contains this other version. So unless you are calling me a liar (and despite it being almost 30 years ago, my memory is very good) then the text as it stands is correct - in SOME territories NOTG was definitely promoted using The Movie dream sequence footage. It's likely it was a different edit rather than a straight lift from The Movie (since in the film the song is intercut with scenes of Ashley oversleeping, etc, whereas in the video these are absent and only have him in the saloon bar, on horseback, etc...). If you think I'm wrong, prove it. And by the way, don't tell me my edits degrade the article - if I hadn't written it, there would BE no article. I'm trying to do the right thing here, but reverting continually under a shifting IP address defeats this. Graham 09:27, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

To add to this, I just saw the movie and the dream sequence is not the same as when he oversleeps, as it states in the article.

I have nothing to do with you guys editing war, but I do have some other comments that might be of interrest. First, the "Fla-spel" is a slight misspelling of "Fiaspel". "Spel" is the Swedish word for game, and "Fia" is simply the board game Ludo!

I also worked as a sound tech in the post production of the feature movie, and I know the story why there are two "videos" of NOTG. None of the videos by Lasse Hallström, by the way, were actually shot on video. They were all that I can remember shot on 16 mm in 25 fps. Anyhow, for reasons I can't recall now, the decision to make one of NOTG came up with very short notice. And I mean short! It had to be done the next day! (You know, it might even have been the same day! After all, this is almost 30 years ago!) There were absolutly no time to prepare anything. Brains were all in high gear, but no one could come up with a good idea. Then some one said, intended as a bad joke, "Let them sit and play Ludo, that's a game!" No one laughed. After a brief moment of silence, every one agreed, there wasn't much of a choice! A Ludo board was dug up from somewhere, and the video was shot in a timely fashion! The deadline was not broken, but every one agreed that the result was kind of cheap looking, to say the least. After the big movie itself was finished, a new version was made with footage from the movie. None is more "official" than the other.

I'm also curious about what exactly the text "The Movie also featured a number of film-making firsts, including the first use of the flutterbox..." is referring to? And whatever a flutterbox is, if it was used in Starwars, they were before ABBA: The Movie! We acctually had the first screening test of one reel in a big theatre that was showing Star Wars at the time! --Towpilot 05:08, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Thankyou, this is excellent information! I knew I was right about there being two videos, but since several others seem equally adamant that there weren't, and I only have my own memory to call upon, it is harder to defend the facts. Now as for the flutterbox, I'm less sure about that - the sequence in question is the elevator ride for 'Eagle' where the light flickers past as if the elevator were travelling upwards. I recall reading - possibly in the UK fanzine Abba Magazine at the time - that this effect was created using a "flutterbox" which I imagine is probably nothing terribly sophisticated, probably a rotating mirror and slit in front of a spotlight. The same article seemed to hype it as a great piece of new technology though they probably just wanted to make it seem more significant that it really was, and yes, they mentioned that it was also used in Star Wars (though not being a SW fan I don't know where in that movie there is a similar effect). Again, this is only from memory, but I definitely didn't make it up! Perhaps you can recall something now knowing it was the 'Eagle' elevator effect? Graham 07:17, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

The visual effects in the elevator sequence was created by a guy named Bengt Schöldström. He is unfortunally not with us anymore. But I think I remeber that it was made with some kind of equpments he came up with himself, exclusivly for this movie! I seriously doubt that it was used in any Star Wars movie, specificlly not the first one wich was already in theatres when post production on ABBA started! But if you want to dig in to it, or find other info on the subject, there is hope. The other special effects guy is alive and well, still working in the business (I'm not!). His name is Björn Selander, now working for a company called Nordisk Film Post Production. Their web site is here [1]. There is a contact list in upper right corner, he is listed with e-mail address as "Head of Film Restoration". Frankly, I don't think there was anything in the movie that wasn't done before! The "Mono-to-Stereo-opening" was inspired by "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines" A slight and barely noticeable differens in the music mix compared to any other movie, was the fact that only left and right channel was used, exept in Dancin' Queen segment where a fake center channel was created with left and right channel trough a harmonizer! Well, that might be the only connection with Star Wars. James Earl Jones voice as Dart Vader was processed through a harmonizer! But harmonizers had beeb around for a while at that time! --Towpilot 08:49, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Thank you

To whoever added "Nej" in the quotes instead of "Na" — it was me, Jetstar888 who put "Na" there, (I couldn't be bothered logging in). "Nej" sounds very Swedish, but how come when I play the ABBA movie on my DVD player, and the guy says "Cut that ____ out", how come I only here: "Nej nej nej nej nej! Cut that..."?

Cast

Should the roles that people played in the film be listed against their names? The listed cast weren't "playing ABBA fans" - for example, Harry Lawrence is the man selling ABBA tickets for "fifty bucks", Frances Mathews is the harlequin figure on stage introducing I'm A Marionette, Ray Marshall is the man in the car who says the traffic jam for Kings Cross is--203.48.242.193 08:51, 20 March 2007 (UTC) "back that way". The other named people are probably other hotel staff, the musicologist ("if you take an ABBA song apart"), and others with featured roles. Thoughts?

    I just got the "Number Ones" digital video disc.  "Fiaspel" looks like an infringement of "Aggravation", but smaller.