GH to go hi-def?

[MarkH]

I always found early Y&R to be WAY too dark. That Brooks mansion was just...I needed a miner's hat to see the characters.

I noticed an improvement specifically when Lorie Brooks got her apartment. That's when the set had noticeable depth and texture to me, and I remember the bookcase at the back of her set being backlit...which is now commonplace, but I seem to think (outside of the Allegro/Jonas/Gina's) it was fairly unusual on Y&R and on daytime.

Would this have been a Wes Kenney implementation, or did Conboy's regime "see the light"?

I'm wondering if some of the lighting issues you are mentioning are money-based. What if GH just has a bank of lights...fairly cheaply located...and more or less flood the set. Whereas Y&R might have more lighting directors/staff, so they can work on more focused light and key lights and stuff?

I don't know anything about this, but I'm wondering if Y&R simply has a bigger budget to light things more carefully and precisely.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Watching it again on SoapNet...

I just don't understand how this show went from one extreme to the other extreme with its lighting. Where is the happy medium? The show went from being lit dark and dull, to being lit bright and blinding. Yuck.

[Toups]

Wyman was obsessed with orange, bright colours (unfortunately, Tomin's brought them back when doing flashbacks. I miss Ed Scott's black/white flashbacks).

What was JFP thinking lighting everything so bright and neon? That is so not her style.

[rangethatrover]

Interesting stuff Mark, I think the show was at its darkest in the very early days, I think Y&R lit the actors directly from what I have read, the sets were nearly unlit. The shows I am watching from the mid 80's are the Wes Kenney years and the show is beautiful to look at at. And it looks identical today. Bu then again, I have seen those Katherine scenes with phillip from 1975, I think? And her mansion looks IDENTICAL in lighting, set (although its been painted god knows how many times) It is downright trippy.

I don't know what lighting designer would want their show to look like GH now, or before. The visual of the show is set by the executive producer.

My god, you want flooded lights, look no further than Paul Rauch's OLTL. It was without a doubt the most brightly lit soap ever. There were some excellent sets, I loved Dorians 83/84 penthouse before, and I loved her penthouse in the mid-late 80's, loved Tina's salmon colored lol apartment too. But he did have a bank of HUGE lights - That is what Linda Thorson said in an interview when Linda Gottlieb came on board "that showed every pore on their faces".

I actually like dark lighting much better than cheap bright lighting(AMC, now DAYS). But there is bad, flat, murky, ugly dark lighting (like GH) and then there is Y&R dark lighting. GH seems to just "flood the set" like you said with no nuance, or mood. And as always I love this odd subject. But it really does affect the whole "mood" of the show.

[Paul Raven]

Re Y&R,under John Conboy the show's lighting was dark and moody.

From The Soap Opera Book(1976)

"Visually,Y&R is more glamourous than most other soaps.There are many,many facial close-ups,actresses often appear in striking white or black gowns,against bright red backgrounds-Hollywood style.They wear dramatic headscarves or plunging necklines-or both.And the lighting is extraordinary."Absolutely,I strive for artistic effects",says John Conboy.He claims that it is not unusual for his staff to spend 8 ur 9 hours lighting a set.The result is a lighting that is generally darker,murkier and moodier than other soaps.Indeed it is often difficult to make out furniture and other elements of the set.In line with the Hollywood look,bright colours tend to be utilized.The dominant color appears to be orange-orangey lipstick,nail polish and scarves".

In an Afternoon TV interview,Wes Kenney stated that one of the first things he did was change the lighting to get away from the Conboy style.

I guess it fitted in with the changes in storytelling and pace that were happening.

I wonder how much input Bill Bell had in those days, as he was based in Chicago.

[rangethatrover]

I LOVE IT PAUL. THANK YOU!!

Well I guess it is clear that the Wes Kenney era lighting remains to this day. It is still much darker, moody, and artistic than any other soaps. I guess the main difference is that you can clearly see all the sets and set decoration, Y&R has beautiul sets so that is a good thing.

8-9 hours to light a set! WOW. I respect conboy's artistry if nothing else, and I guess he probably did help in the destruction of poor GL.

[MarkH]

Now, when Kenney came to GH, I noticed none of that kind of artistic influence. Or am I wrong?

[rangethatrover]

HAH! I was totally going to bring that up! YES, the lighting on GH during Wes Kenney's reign was very good and much more Y&R ish. For real. He was there during my favorite era, 87-90. The show was by far ABC's best show production value wise. I will try to find a good quality episode link from his era at Youtube. Alot of them are crappy quality. Also, GH had excellent background music in the late 80's (just like OLTL). AMC's sucked balls. Old fashioned and hokey. GH used to use movie soundtracks, they used the Risky Business instrumental and they used ALOT of the "Flowers In The Attic" score during the Olivia Jerome/mob storyline.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Wes Kenney was really there for a transitional moment for Y&R, not only in production, but in terms of story too. Weren't The Fosters and Brooks phased out while he was there and weren't Victor and the Abbott's introduced? I know a lot of that came from Bill Bell, but I know Bell trusted Kenney a lot and their relationship went back to DAYS in the late 60's/early 70's.

John Conboy is all looks and no substance. He can produce a good looking soap, but the story element and writers he likes are atrocious.

[MarkH]

Yes. Kenney came on when the show moved from 30 minutes to 1 hour. I remember, for a time, there was a sudden influx of a few Days stars during that era too.

Why did Kenney leave Y&R, if he and Bell got along?

Who replaced Kenney? It wasn't right away Ed Scott, was it?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think by the end, Wes and Bill had two completely different visions for the for show, so they ended their partnership amicably. Unlike Bill's relationship with Conboy, which ended on very bad terms. Bill talked about this in his interview with the Achieve of American Television.

It was Ed Scott, he was promoted once Kenney departed.

[MarkH]

Thanks! I have never watched that Bell interview, but I really need to...

[MarkH]

What are you all thinking of this hi-def stuff?

We didn't get it in my market till today. I actually had to contact the network (ABC), the cable provider and the local affiliate and get them talking to one another.

Sara Bibel waxes positive and optimistic about the HD switch today, and I guess I agree with her. It is definitely a sign of investment.

GH looked pretty good--in terms of crisp and clear--in HD on my TV. It is not quite as beautiful as my regular show, but I liked it.

I do notice that orange hue over everything...and I'm guessing that is an aesthetic choice to deal with tans, etc. But I could get used to it. And it varies. Jason Cook and Kristen Storms and CERTAINLY Leslie Charleson looked normal colored. Steve Burton and Sarah Brown and Lisa Locicero (sp?) and even Ric Hearst looked pretty orange; so did Ingo Rademacher. I wondered therefore if it had more to do with particular sets and the lighting of those sets.

Still, I'm very pleased to see the investment, it does matter to me, I like when soaps strive to up their visual appeal and join the rest of television.

Good heavens, Maurice Benard just came on and he looks like an over-cooked lobster!

[Cheap21]

The HD GH debuted?

[MarkH]

4/23, last week.

I'm watching a pink, natural Rebecca Herbst play against a sweaty, grunting, shiny and RED Tyler Christopher. They've got to get those colors right....