GH: Discussion for the Month of July

[frequentsoapfan]

Why wouldn't they just reshoot instead of doing that crap? And FV has no problem reshooting dumb crap from what I've heard

The only soap I can say I have been visually amazed by in recent years is B&B oh and whenever AMC did those park scenes after the move to LA. That park was really beautiful.

[Cheap21]

Bc that takes time and money. I dont get why they didnt just use the camera that was on Laura Wright instead. Im guessint it could have been intentional but in that case, that was a poor decision

[ChitHappens]

Who are they trying to kid by putting GH characters as promotion when they only care about OLTL 2.0: The Chronicles Of Todd Manning?! GMAFB!

[R Sinclair]

And Kelly Monaco still looks pissed off.

[DynamiteKiddo]

I know that on OLTL, there was SO much unused footage (evidently the majority of Joey & Kelly's sendoff was cut for instance), and a lot of it didn't end up on that "More Life to Live" thing. I honestly don't think the extra thing is a big deal, but it stands out because they've never done it before. A lot of primetime shows actually do this (and I'm not being a "Cartooni fangurl") but it's typically as a segue for a cut. But primetime shows obvs. have a budget and creative team that soaps do not.

I appreciated AMC's park because as a soap fan, I savor any outdoor stuff (shoot me, I actually really dug GL in New Jersey) . . . but I thought that was such a backlot looking park, or like a tacky theme park or something. AMC improved in LA, but holy sh*t balls, that was one ugly show when I was watching off and on from 2001 to the end. But I think AMC's main problem was that blinding lighting. I actually liked their steady hand held cam experiment because I thought it gave the (horrible) sets a LOT more depth and dimension. It's sad because you can tell that somewhere around when JFP came aboard, a lot of GH sets were cost effectively remolded and got smaller and less realistic . . . Jason's penthouse is a prime example for me, which I thought was an amazing set in the 90's. The same thing has happened on "Days," like the Horton home for example.

I'm mixed about B&B, but when they get it right, they get it right. All soaps should use establishment shots, IMO.

[R Sinclair]

I'm inclined to believe that's intentional. General Hospital does what OLTL didn't, which is record tape on each camera instead of having one tape record the line feed cut by a switcher in the booth as the show is being taped. FV (and his enthusiasts) say he sits in on the editing of each show, so I don't doubt for a second that if he wanted to use a different angle, he would have. These kinds of shots are used often in other motion picture pieces no matter what the genre. It's supposed to not only give the scene a voyeuristic feeling, but also add depth to the scene. Especially on soaps, where everything is shot pretty much downstage to get tighter angles.

[DynamiteKiddo]

Interestingly, they already had the three planes of depth there with or without the extra walking in front of the camera, something television is always accused of not caring about.

[R Sinclair]

Sonny, Jason and Carly?

Oh... you said three planes of depth -- not three planes of death.

My bad.

[DynamiteKiddo]

LOLOL!

[alexisfan07]

That is the one thing the new opening improved on. She looks gorgeous in the smiling shot of her.

[ChitHappens]

Wow! That had to be the longest hour of my life, even with ff! At one point, I looked to see how far into the eppy I was and was hugely disappointed that I was only 19 in. The production values are in the toilet and the stories? Whew!

Details aren't even important at this point. What a horror show!

[MrQuartermaine]

I agree. The general consensus was that today's episode was a bore.

[Cheap21]

I thought the Todd/Johnny and Sam/Krisina scenes were good

[ChitHappens]

I think I could deal with boring, but it was the total opposite of GH boring. Of course, an audience is supposed to appreciate expediting stories and not allowing them to drag further, but the plot point dialogue and the nonsensical conversations was just awful!

• Scully Jr wants revenge on Sonny after this amount of time has passed and for what? Nothing!
  
• Kelly Sullivan looked absolutely possessed talking to Sonny today, and it was such poor acting. Did budgets cuts take the directors as well? My money says Cybil will put this all together and finger Johnny at a public event.
  
• Carly defending not one but two psychos? Why? There's no reason for this. She told Jason today she wasn't stoopid? Really?
  
• Johnny copping to killing Anthony to Todd was for what? Why was that confession needed? Yes, wrap this chit up, but if we had to suffer thru it, make it good. Not a bit of effort. I saw the other day where he confessed to a random Connie sighting? WTF was that? It was the most contrived piece of garbage I've ever seen. For a man trying to hide his crimes, Johnny is doing an awful lot of confessing. There are ways to quickly move a story along, and today was not it.
  
• Pluto/Michael, why force two people as a romantic pairing when they look like fraternal twins? They are setting up a Carly/Todd as enemies here... For sure!
  
• Johnny's account of how he knows about Todd? This is the resurrection of Gigi Morasco all over again. The worst piece of convoluted storytelling I've ever witnessed. And riddle me this batman, why is a man who disposed of a body sending men to find said body? Yes, we needed a reason for the goons to be in the woods at night in the middle of a storm, but couldn't we just say they were having sex with one another and didn't want anyone to know? The goons remembered every single detail of that night? Lawd have mercy!
  
• In the middle of Jarly's conversation, Jason switched to protecting Sonny, and it was the oddest moment. It almost looks as though Steve knew it too.
  

Today was pure rotgut, so I can't believe ABC has any desire to save this show. I refuse! Perhaps because they are driving thru these stories, a change may come. One can only hope.

That was the 2nd of the two eppies I am supposed to watch a month. This is getting hard. I may have to take it down to one.

[Antoyne]

They're wasting Shawn on ALEXIS?!