Home Theater Forum - View Single Post - Why TV productions are recorded this way?

Douglas Monce · 07-11-2008, 03:57 AM

Up until the late 1980s, most American 1 hour dramatic TV shows were shot AND edited on film, most of the time 35mm. Many of the sitcoms were shot on video tape, Three's Company comes to mind.

Dr. Who, being a BBC production shot both on film and tape as did most of the other BBC shows. They would shoot the indoor sets on tape, but shoot 16mm film for the locations. This is one of the reasons Dr. Who has such a hit or miss look to it.

Starting around 1988 American TV shows switched to editing on tape. Shows like L.A. Law, Mattlock, and Star Trek: The Next Generation were among the first to do this. They would shoot the show on film just as they always had. Then the film would be transferred to tape, and all post production, editing, titles, sound mix, and any effects, would be done electronically. In the case of ST:TNG, model shots were done on film, but all the compositing (IE combining of models with backgrounds such as stars or planets) were done electronically.

The result of this is that all those shows from the late 80s are stuck with the look of late 80s tele-cine machines, which were fairly soft and and in TV resolution. In addition to that they were interlaced. This makes them look not so great on a large HDTV.

Shows like ST:TNG could be updated to HD resolution, however all the original film elements would have to be re-scanned, and each episode would have to be re-edited from scratch. This would include re-compositing the model shots, and completely re doing things like phasers beams from scratch.

In recent years most TV shows have gone to post production in HD, and don't have the problems that the shows from the late 80s and early 90s do.

This however is one reason that an old show like Perry Mason or the original Star Trek can now look fantastic, where as a late 80s show like Babylon 5 or TNG look pretty crappy. The have the original edited 35mm negatives of those old shows to go back and do brand new scans of.

Today this seems somewhat short sighted of the producers of these shows, however a show like Star Trek: TNG would probably not have been possible to produce on a TV budget if they had done all the post production on film.

Doug

07-11-2008, 03:57 AM	#8 of 33
Douglas Monce *Douglas Monce* Member Location: Phoenix, Arizona Join Date: Nov 2006 Local Time: 05:28 PM Local Date: 10-13-2008 Posts: 3,520	Re: Why TV productions are recorded this way? Up until the late 1980s, most American 1 hour dramatic TV shows were shot AND edited on film, most of the time 35mm. Many of the sitcoms were shot on video tape, Three's Company comes to mind. Dr. Who, being a BBC production shot both on film and tape as did most of the other BBC shows. They would shoot the indoor sets on tape, but shoot 16mm film for the locations. This is one of the reasons Dr. Who has such a hit or miss look to it. Starting around 1988 American TV shows switched to editing on tape. Shows like L.A. Law, Mattlock, and Star Trek: The Next Generation were among the first to do this. They would shoot the show on film just as they always had. Then the film would be transferred to tape, and all post production, editing, titles, sound mix, and any effects, would be done electronically. In the case of ST:TNG, model shots were done on film, but all the compositing (IE combining of models with backgrounds such as stars or planets) were done electronically. The result of this is that all those shows from the late 80s are stuck with the look of late 80s tele-cine machines, which were fairly soft and and in TV resolution. In addition to that they were interlaced. This makes them look not so great on a large HDTV. Shows like ST:TNG could be updated to HD resolution, however all the original film elements would have to be re-scanned, and each episode would have to be re-edited from scratch. This would include re-compositing the model shots, and completely re doing things like phasers beams from scratch. In recent years most TV shows have gone to post production in HD, and don't have the problems that the shows from the late 80s and early 90s do. This however is one reason that an old show like Perry Mason or the original Star Trek can now look fantastic, where as a late 80s show like Babylon 5 or TNG look pretty crappy. The have the original edited 35mm negatives of those old shows to go back and do brand new scans of. Today this seems somewhat short sighted of the producers of these shows, however a show like Star Trek: TNG would probably not have been possible to produce on a TV budget if they had done all the post production on film. Doug "I'm in great shape, for the shape I'm in." Bob Hope in The Ghostbreakers Last edited by Douglas Monce : 07-11-2008 at 04:26 AM.