Let's Talk Production Values

[rangethatrover]

I am obsessed with visuals. This thread will probably get 2 replies but I do not care.

Y&R- The most beautiful soap on the air. It is just so pleasing to the eye.

and I wish some major character would buy Brad's house so it would be on more.

The 1st sign of the bad side of Paul Rauch being at Y&R is Sharon's GODAWFUL redecorating of the Abbott mansion.

Those PILLOWS. I can't take my eyes off them like a car wreck. Cheap, cheap, cheap. The style of the Abbott mansion with that couch and those pillows is something I would expect on GH not Y&R.

And speaking of ABC, why do their soaps (with the exception of OLTL) LOOK SO FREAKING CHEAP!!!!

Tacky, bad lighting... what production designer or executive producer would be happy with the way those shows look?

GH looked excellent during the Wes Kenney years in the late 80's. (former Y&R producer).

And why do B&B's outdoor sets (shot in the studio) look so fake? And Y&R's always look so real..

And OLTL is the only soap that seems to bother with actual sunlight (shining through windows, ect)

[rhythmchyc]

Dude, what the heck was up with the tacky table decorations too. Really cheap fiberglass looking stuff? And it didn't match the walls at all. Definitely IKEA inspired. Sharon decorated the little cottage she and Nick lived in for like 10 years and that place didn't look anything like this piece of crap. Dear God in heaven LOL.

I don't know why she wants to continue living there. She should find her own little condo for her and Noah and leave that house to Jack, Ashley, and the rest of the Abbots, for God's sakes!!!!

[rangethatrover]

AMEN! Rhythm!

The Abbott living room looks like Urban Outfitters!!!

Those pillows are particularly gackworthy. I can't get them out of my head!!

Very college dormy, very Ikea. LOLLLL

[dm.]

Well, let's hope Ashley redecorates as soon as Sharon leaves the place (that is, if she does).

She hated even the minor changes that Sharon did a few months ago, so this should shock her even more.

[BadZoe]

Who owns the Abbott mansion? Is it Jack or the family as a whole? Hopefully Sharon can move into Brad's house, when Jack finds out about her cheating lips, and be mistress of his manor.

[Darn]

I keep reading that OLTL has such high production values...I don't see it. It looks as cheap as AMC to me.

[Rakesh]

What was up with GL using 99 cents plastic cups for Thanksgiving dinner. ROFL

[DaytimeFan]

Y&R, by far, has the best production values. I think it really comes down to the use of wood paneling and the accompanying lighting that makes the show look so much better than the others. Also, Y&R's sets are filled with knick knacks and accessories to add colour and sparkle. Take a look at the Abbott mantle or the sconces and chandeliers in the Chancellor mansion, those accessories are so specific, so perfectly chosen for the inhabitant, the sets have a 'feel' AND a 'look'...IKEA is exactly what I thought when I saw Sharon's redecoration (more like assault on aesthetic beauty)...The Abbott mansion is one place that is classic, it didn't need touching. I sure hope Ashley purges all Sharon influences once she gets the boot (which I hope is sooner rather than later!)

B&B's sets are the second best, but they are a deep stoop from Y&R. Due to the heavy use of light colours/pastels the lighting washes the sets out a bit. I've also always thought that for the stereotype of Los Angeles grandeur, B&B's sets were quite small. I like them a lot and I think they are good, but the scale of them seems off. That show could easily improve.

DAYS is the most uneven and it's clear that the older sets were the best. The Brady Pub is gorgeous and detail filled, very authentic looking. The OLD Kiriakis mansion was one of the best sets the show had, when that set was destroyed for storyline purposes I was a tad dismayed, it was great and the pile of sh*t that Victor's living in now (which is actually Vivian's old townhouse) is so small it's embarassing. The Dimera mansion was also very nice until it too was destroyed and then had to be rebuilt. After that it wasn't ever as nice again. That hotel suite set is terrible and WHERE does Kate live?

GL = Joke. They did a wedding in a kitchen and the bride walked 5 steps and was at the end of the aisle. That's embarrassing.

ATWT is like the ABC soaps, cheap looking but attempting to look OK. I just don't get it at ABC, do they really save that much money?!

[Sindacco]

I hate the lighting on GH, it's so dark.

[rangethatrover]

Darn- In my opinion AMC has that cheap bright lighting, tacky sets, the godawful faux film camera thing. I can't take it. Mainly, I hate the lighting.

And yes GH is lit terribly dark. I like darker lighting-see B&B, OLTL, and Y&R- but GH has no color, depth- it is dark and flat. Incredibly unnattractive. I saw a scene the other day with Luke and Tracy and I was thinking what did they do to piss of the lighting director!

And Daytime fan is so right about Y&R's knick nacks, sculptures, ect.

It gives the sets such personality, and a very lived in, elegant look.

OLTL takes a much more sparse approach to their sets, but most of them are class and elegant(with the exception of Marcie's brown apartment and anything involving Roxie of course).

B&B is lit well but the sets look much more "set-like" than Y&R's.. Completely lacks Y&R's warmth.

OLTL has alot of warmth and color in its look, its the opposite of GH. Linda Gottlieb overhauled the lighting in 1991 and the show has kept that darker, cinematic look ever since. That is part of the reason I hope that Lisa Hesser "De La Cazotte" or whatever is not coming to OLTL. At least Valentini "gets" visuals and music.

It fascinates me how different the shows look.

I always thought Passions looked like a sitcom, which I guess was fitting with the type of show it was..

When I watch old Y&R on Youtube I forgot how great the cameras moved on that show back in the day, alot of swooping, flowing, cinematic stuff. Y&R was always in a class by itself.

One of the soap magazines even commented once in the eighties that you will never see any of those jerky messed up camera movements on Y&R.

[Adam]

Y&R is easily the best looking soap.... I always thought ATWT had decent production values....

AMC never u8sed to look as cheap as it has for the past 5 or 6 years. I guess we can thank JHC... but I am not watching for the background so it really doesn't bother me. I have thought the wardrobe and lighting has improved a bit since Pratt came on as a consulting producer.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I believe Sharon's Abbott mansion update is only temporary and won't last.

Y&R's kept a lot of its older, more legendary sets. They've all hold up VERY WELL over the years, and I've noticed that they've given some sets a fresh coat of paint and more dept lately, like the Chancellor mansion set this year. The show is overall BEAUTIFUL. Some sets could use a little cleaning and painting though. The outdoor sets are so realistic on this show, it almost feels like they're on location.

B&B is second best, but their sets have less dept than those on Y&R, and sometimes the lighting can be all over the place. The exteriors are top notch on this show, and of course the Forrester mansion is based on the Bell mansion.

DAYS has ALWAYS looked like an 80's soap to me. A lot of that show's aesthetics are SO DATED. Some sets are very nice, like the Brady Pub and Dimera mansion, but overall there's a certain blah look to the show.

ATWT has such a stagey-look. It has an almost theatre-like feel to it. It works very well for them, and a lot of their sets are nice, but there's quite a few bland looking sets on the show. Some need serious updating.

AMC looks HORRIBLY cheap and so un-soapy. AMC used to have a lush and soapy look under Behr in the 90's, but now it sometimes looks like a 70's sitcom. Julie's HORRIBLE WHITE LIGHTING and liking for white/pastel colored sets is ATROTIOUS. Julie should be sent to prison for revamping the Chandler mansion, as far as I'm concerned.

OLTL is extremely HIT OR MISS. The set decorations on this show are AWFUL. The show also has this depressing "black" look to it that makes it blah. Some of the sets are among the best sets for an East Coast soap though, but are definitely overrated. The lighting is great though.

GH is the most BLAH-est looking soap based in LA. I've loved JFP's production values on other shows, she's very good with that type of stuff. However, GH is just not her forte. The show is horribly dark in lighting, it looks like a damn cave! The sets are cheap-looking, and the set decorations are atrocious. The only thing that saves GH is that they have an AMAZING directing team.

GL, do we really need to comment on this show? The show looked AMAZING in the 90's, but sadly, those days are OVER.

[rangethatrover]

"OLTL is extremely HIT OR MISS. The set decorations on this show are AWFUL. The show also has this depressing "black" look to it that makes it blah. Some of the sets are among the best sets for an East Coast soap though, but are definitely overrated. The lighting is great though."

What WorldTurner, you don't like the Angel Square Hotel? LOLLLLL That set is horrible, just horrible.

As far as dark/black- you must HATE the revamped Carriage House. I don't quite get what they were going for here. I actually like it. But it is painted so darkly and lit so incredibly darkly- very jarring from what it used to be. Everytime it is on I think of Y&R episodes I have seen on Youtube from the 70's when it appeared that the set was not lit at all, only the actors were. That set is SO DARK.

Asa's mansion is absolutely amazing because it has this huge golden dome above it that they rarely show anymore. That was the 1st set that Linda Gottlieb updated-

I wish they could somehow make Llanfair a little bigger and give it a dining room like the Chancellor or Abbott places..

I think Todd's house looks like some kind of organic spa. It simple, clean with lots of windows. It is very California.

My favorite set in daytime is Viki's kitchen. It is BEAUTIFUL. Dorian's is nice as well.

[Sindacco]

On DAYS, I loved the old Kiriakis Mansion (the one that Kate set on fire).

[DrewH]

AMC: Everything looks so orange. Way too much of that color. I think the special way they film makes the sets look even worse. I do like the new hospital set though. That's probably the most realistic looking hospital set on soaps.

ATWT: They only have three, right? The hotel, Carly's house and the Snyder farm. I do like the way Carly's kitchen looks. Very realistic.

B&B: They have some of the best mansion sets. Eric and Stephanie's house, Brooks's house and Taylor's house are some of my favorite sets on daytime. The new location shots are not flattering though. And the shots taped at Forrestr Creations don't go along with the old exterior shots we used to get of Forrester. The company looked like an actual house before. But when they do the location shots outside Forrester, it looks like they're in the middle of the city.

DAYS: The only sets worth talking about on this show right now are the pub, Chez Rouge, DiMera mansion and the Kiriakis mansion. I did love the old Kiriakis mansion before it was burnt down, but I like this one as well. Whoever said that it was Jonsey's townhouse was right. You can totally tell. They just added the foyer set to the front. I wish we got to see the rest of Mickey and Maggie's house, which used to be the Wesley house and before that, it was Peter Blake's house. I like when they how Titan Industries, but they don't have any extras as executives walking around in the background so that's distracting. I refuse to believe that Philip, Melanie and Stephanie are the only ones that work at Titan. The Penthouse Grille is a favorite of mine and I don't know why they don't show that more often. Give Chez Rouge a nice break. And who could forget Salem Place? That was probably the best set in daytime. Now we're reduced to a fake outdoor set connected to the Java Cafe set. And the only way you can tell that it's Salem Place is a cheap looking sign in the background outside. Don't even get me started on losing Marlena's penthouse.

GH: I agree with whoever said their sets look cheap. The lighting is bad as well.

GL: Are you serious?

OLTL: They have good sets. The only one I'm not really fond of is the Angel Square Hotel. It looks so dirty, disgusting and roach-infested. Why would anyone want to stay there? Michael is a doctor. He can't afford a place a little nicer? Go stay at the damn Palace Hotel.

Y&R: They're the king of daytime sets. All of them are good. The Newman ranch and all of the houses on the land, the Abbott house, the Chancellor mansion, Brad's house, Crimson Lights, Michael's apartment (another one of my favorites), etc. They're just so damn good.