Members All My Shadows Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 There's absolutely nothing at all that is "false" about my nostalgic feelings towards the traditional soap look. Soaps are noted for their longevity and for their ability to stay the same while updating and making things modern. A 2008 episode of a soap doesn't look the exact same as an episode from 1975, but there are similarities that exist and create consistency. The stage-inspired production of soaps is something that has always kept me watching - I feel much more closer and much more intimate to characters in that type of situation. It feels more real to me. Even as a kid, I felt more of a fondness for something like "Three's Company" than I ever did for "Happy Days," because the characters were more life-like to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sedrick Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 What GL is doing is going further than THE CITY did. While THE CITY featured more regular location-shooting than had ever been seen in daytime, it was still shot for the most part in the studio on the same three-wall sets that soaps have been using since the 1950's...the only thing was that THE CITY's sets were HUGE, and ABC rented out the SoHo building for some scenes. GL is truly reinventing the wheel as far as production goes. IMO this is the most significant advance in the production of daytime soaps since Gloria Monty took over GH in 1978. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JamesF Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 Okay then, I understand nostalgia for the shows as they used to be but I don't get the posters across various forums who genuinely feel it's a travesty when the soaps step foot outside of the studio. All the soaps in the UK and Aus used to film in exactly the same way -- purely studio based and on tape but they have unilaterally adopted modern production methods and wouldn't have survived otherwise. People who aren't former soap fans are simply not going to "get" what it's all about when they can turn the channel and see vibrant, airy, realistic product elsewhere. If they wanted to go to the theatre, they would. And as someone who loves soaps as a genre, I'm kind of offended that until now little effort has been made to make them more contemporary. Bottom lining it, I don't believe that the soaps are the same while having modernised. They've taken a few step backwards in production by not including any of the location shooting that used to be common and a million steps backwards with regard to story/writing. I don't get the paradox that primetime drama is some of the most intelligent, well written and well produced in history while the networks scratch their heads when viewers aren't turned on by undead foetuses walking around plastic parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stenbeck212 Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 FINALLY. Wheeler has finally mentioned something specific about how this overhaul can directly affect stories and characters, to TV Guide: "Our audience has been very clear with us," Wheeler says. "They don't like the nonreality of soaps — the fake grass, the fact that people in Springfield never seem to go to work or actually do their jobs or take care of their children. They want the stories and characters they love but with the same sense of reality they get from Grey's Anatomy and other nighttime shows." But how much has the lack of sets inhibited Kreizman's storytelling ability? Friday's episode is going to be a huge test. It's too bad that CBS isn't promoting it like the recent actors' returns on AMC. I disagree. With the exception of a few series that have broken the mold in recent years, prime time TV is still a wasteland of predictable police dramas. The CSIs and Law and Orders don't even trust their huge viewership with long story arcs, even with massive audiences that come back week after week. Crimes are committed and solved in every episode. Completely unrealistic. The formula is way up there with undead fetuses if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Noel Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 Are you freakin' kidding me? What a crock of crap! Oh, I've been very clear with them whenever I've made my phone calls and it hasn't been about the fake grass or that I'm depressed because I never get to see characters like Dinah or Harley work in their specific workplaces. I've made my phone calls about the inconsistent writing and I've made calls about how much the veterans on the show are truly missed etc. Why has she alienated her viewers? Why is she so stubborn? I could go on and on, but just for the record... I have NEVER called and expressed my unhappiness with the fake grass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 So far it looks real meh. It looks like when Star Trek officers used to beam down to the studio backlot. Why are they all in the woods? Why does the camera have to move constantly? It's one thing when you're shooting "cinema verite" in a city atmosphere like Eastenders (where the camera DOES NOT move that much, BTW) or The City, but these are sedate scenes in a suburban atmosphere and it just comes off amateurish, like Blair Witch Project, or student film or Last House On The Left (which was much better BTW). This plus the fact that they are shooting in actual staff offices and bathrooms is not a good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 As far as the new look goes, i think it is a damn good thing and i am shcoked it has taken this long. oveaseas soaps shoot outside like this. And they look and feel so much better than any american soap opera. Yes, it is true that they need good storytelling, as the setting is only a setting, but thats not the point. not for me anyways. Soaps are getting slashed budgets and are having to trim the cast. So if this rpoves to work and soaps can function on smaller budgets without huge cast cuts - and the look is better than ever - why not? I am not a dan of the shaky camera work, but i have seen handheld camera worki done rioght - and done right i love it. I am willing to give the crew time to figure it all out. At least it is something. Something is being done to try and find new ways to save soaps. Something is better than Nothing, and nothing is all we have got in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 What? Why not? Every time i call GL it is the main reason. screw fake grass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MichaelGL Posted February 26, 2008 Members Share Posted February 26, 2008 LMAO. Anyways as much I might adore the new Spaulding study, the writing for the show is still going to be crappy. John Conboy made the show "visually appealing", but the writing also wasn't there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AddictedToSoaps Posted February 27, 2008 Members Share Posted February 27, 2008 Well for me all that fake grass is the reason I stopped watching GL!! How can anyone watch a show that has fake grass!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Noel Posted February 27, 2008 Members Share Posted February 27, 2008 God forbid. That's the primary reason why I quit watching Desperate Housewives altogether was because of the fake grass. It had nothing to do whatsoever with the inconsistent writing and the poor judgement decisions made by the EP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JamesF Posted February 27, 2008 Members Share Posted February 27, 2008 A new promo if people haven't seen it. Like the logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted February 28, 2008 Members Share Posted February 28, 2008 ^That is great. But way to much Josh/Cassie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Noel Posted February 28, 2008 Members Share Posted February 28, 2008 ^^Josh & Cassie = Ellen Wheeler's favorites. Forget the viewers who hate this couple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gray Bunny Posted February 28, 2008 Members Share Posted February 28, 2008 One (okay, another) thing I don't like about these new cameras is that the color quality looks faded. In a recent episode, they were cutting back from Company, the set and using normal cameras, to the outside using their hand-held, and the color is so different; the new look is very washed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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