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Clip description
Poss (Erin Pratten) and Kim (Maria Nguyen) rescue a dirty old doll. In a magical moment, the faceless doll begins to move and communicate through gesture. On their way home, the officious Mr Fish (Mark Mitchell) bans the doll, saying ‘No rubbish is allowed!
Curator’s notes
Other than the opening wide shot, most shots are much closer, to show the world from a child’s perspective. The tight shot which brings us in close to Nipper playing with his toy truck, then pulls back a little to reveal a real truck in the background is a lovely example of the ways in which the camera and editing have been used to enhance the storytelling. The camera is also in close when EC begins to move, and these close shots, with the haunting EC theme music help create a special moment of wonder for a child audience.
The doll EC has minimal facial features and doesn’t talk, communicating through highly expressive gesture and movement. Many adults find the faceless EC initially quite disconcerting but children warm immediately to this doll and what it represents. Based on the Steiner homemade faceless doll, EC became one of the most recognised elements of Lift Off.
Mark Mitchell’s Mr Fish represents a very different aspect of a child’s world. Mitchell had a great time playing this bossy adult caricature designed to represent authority, rules and discipline in children’s lives, and has said that Mr Fish was his favourite role. The camera almost always looks up at Mr Fish, seeing him from the children’s point of view as he looms over them, while all shots from his point of view look down on the children.
In a wonderful touch, Mark Mitchell also plays over 50 other character roles in the series, mostly figures of authority such as the parking inspector, the lifesaver, and the boom gate operator. Every time the children are told they can’t do something, the adult authority figure looks like Mr Fish.
