The Most G-T Shows at Once

[chris319]

Barker's entrance is a clever bit of directing. It involves a matched dissolve from the title to door 2, with Barker walking diagonally across the stage toward camera 1. Breslow somehow had to bridge the gap from camera 1 to the single of Barker on camera 4 without disorienting the viewer. The solution: a wide shot of the audience and the stage on camera 2. To add to the cleverness of this maneuver, you never see camera 2 itself, even though it is quite close to Barker's path out of door 2.

The appearance of the Hi-Lo game is another nice touch. He could have put the Hi-Lo table on the turntable or behind the price tag, but instead he had the models roll it on. In Lucky Seven, he could have put the car behind a door but instead had it driven onstage. One thing I always liked back in the fur days was the way the Zinman Furs logo floated on and off the screen. Nuances like these I don't think Paul or Bart would ever have come up with.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 1 2004, 06:03 AM\']

The appearance of the Hi-Lo game is another nice touch. He could have put the Hi-Lo table on the turntable or behind the price tag, but instead he had the models roll it on. In Lucky Seven, he could have put the car behind a door but instead had it driven onstage. One thing I always liked back in the fur days was the way the Zinman Furs logo floated on and off the screen. Nuances like these I don't think Paul or Bart would ever have come up with.

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Hi-Lo on the turntable? Don't think it would fit there. TnPIR94 used the car rollout technique for Any Number, Money Game, and I think One Away. What would really be wild is Double Prices on the turntable.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 1 2004, 05:03 AM\']The solution: a wide shot of the audience and the stage on camera 2. To add to the cleverness of this maneuver, you never see camera 2 itself, even though it is quite close to Barker's path out of door 2.

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That's the shot that starts with the close-up of the stagelights before tilting back down to stage level, yes?

And all that gets thrown out the window if Golden Road (among a couple of others, a comprehensive list of which is not necessary) is played, as Barker then enters from the audience.

Doug

[tvrandywest]

Amen to the credit being given to Marc Breslow. Let's not forget the great shots utilizing the mirrors on pieces of furniture, and the interesting close-ups of car hubcaps and the like that pulled-out to reveal the full vehicles.

Credit also goes to Technical Director Ray Angona who was given the chance to be creative with some of the wipes and transitions, as well as the manufacturers' logos. And please remember that those fun effects were all created on the old equipment, long before the computer assistance now available to Mr. Eskander and Mr. Hallmark.


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[cmjb13]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Dec 1 2004, 01:09 PM\']as well as the manufacturers' logos
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I always liked those logos (especially when the model was holding it for a close-up) and wondered why they went away.

I thought it was because it was a cost-cutting measure and it was easier to display the logos via graphics, rather than art cards (or whatever they were called)

[chris319]

That's the shot that starts with the close-up of the stagelights before tilting back down to stage level, yes?

No, it was orignially just a shot of the audience and stage with a couple of star-filtered colored lights at the back of the house. Watch an episode from, say, 1974. Then some cameraman got ambitious one day and started shooting the lights.

[tvrandywest]

Talk about first memories of old episodes, I remember being fascinated by the way the show was shot with both straight-on wide shots of the stage AND reverse angle wide shots of the audience and contestants from a spot obviously in front of door #2... all without ever seeing a camera or crew member in the shots. Awesome for such a fast-paced show produced live to tape.  

We show clips of classic clips from Price in the TPiR-Live stage show, and I have had the chance to see a number of moments of great direction over and over again. Moments that captured obviously unexpected events, making them so magical decades later. Poor coverage would have detracted so much from their entertainment value.    Kudos again!


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 1 2004, 01:55 PM\']

That's the shot that starts with the close-up of the stagelights before tilting back down to stage level, yes?

No, it was orignially just a shot of the audience and stage with a couple of star-filtered colored lights at the back of the house. Watch an episode from, say, 1974. Then some cameraman got ambitious one day and started shooting the lights.

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I did mean currently (not expressed--my bad).  I first recall the "lights" pan being circa 1981 or 1982 (might've been earlier--but not by much).

So the "lights" pan wasn't under orders from Breslow (if I'm inferring what you're saying correctly)?  Interesting.

And I'll join Randy in the kudos as well--I've always had an appreciation for directors, whether it be for game shows, music/variety, sports, et al, and the shot selections they use.  Kinda makes me I had pursued directing during my school-aged years.

Doug

[chris319]

So the "lights" pan wasn't under orders from Breslow (if I'm inferring what you're saying correctly)?

Possible scenario:

CAMERAMAN: Hey Marc, how do you like this shot?

BRESLOW: Looks great! Let's use it!

Note to Zach: If they wanted to play Hi-Lo on the turntable, they would have built it to fit the turntable ;-) In fact it's possible that the very first Hi-Lo table could have fit there.

Note to Randy: TPIR has never had a straight-on wide shot of the stage. In order to do so they'd have to have a camera on the flat spot in the back of the house a la Match Game. That flat spot was used for the "pill" under Breslow's direction, which was used to model furs and fashions and which was probably done away with under Paul Alter (and which, IIRC, had PINK carpeting -- dirty pink, but pink just the same).

I'm surprised they've never hung a camera on a pipe or on top of a door with an extra-wide-angle lens for a shot of Barker, the stage and the audience a la Tattletales.

[cmjb13]

A few years ago, they had one camera mounted in the back corner of the audience near the TPIR sign stage left, but was never used on air. It's possible, they had one in the other corner as well.

You could see what it was showing in the monitors and it looked pretty cool, similar to this photo...

http://home.comcast.net/~cmjb13/Picture.jpg

[tvrandywest]

Note to Randy: TPIR has never had a straight-on wide shot of the stage. In order to do so they'd have to have a camera on the flat spot in the back of the house a la Match Game.

Certainly correct, Chris. I guess that was the illusion it created in my mind. We sure had full coverage of the set from various angles at various times, and never saw that camera in front of door #2 used for the contestants' bids.


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[ChuckNet]

One thing I miss from the Breslow days is the shot sequence he would frequently use when Bob would ask Johnny to call a new contestant - closeup of Bob, dissolve to a shot pushing in on the audience, dissolve to the standard pan of the audience.

I was just thinking of that shot, myself. :-) I also liked how he would stage the One-Bids in unique ways, such as putting the models behind the audience (like a fashion show runway) if they were offering evening gowns.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[ClockGameJohn]

Since this has turned from a G-T thread to a TPiR Director's thread, there's just so much stuff to list.

Remember when Contestant's Row would be shown on the TV they were bidding on?  Same goes for Showcases...

Or Johnny & Rod would be on "TV" doing the plug, and Rod would 'hand' the plug card to the model above the TV!

Certainly each director has had his own niche, but some of the best (and most creative) directing on Price came from the old days.

Pull an old Price tape out and compare it to today.  So much cool stuff you've probably forgotten about!

[SplitSecond]

Bart's recent MO seems to be to throw new shots at the wall (anything that wasn't tried by Breslow or Paul Alter) and see if they stick - and he often keeps using them, even if they don't.

The trucking shot of home base (the turntable) as Barker and the contestant walk up there is a cool (if unnecessary) idea in theory, but in practice, the camerawork is shaky and inconsistent.  What does it buy him?

Having three models model a trip skin or two models flip over a price tag is certainly different... but again, what effect does it achieve?

And I find it interesting that the same director thinks that the dearly departed Plinko prize reveal infringes on his reaction shots, yet refuses to set up a split-screen to get reactions from the contestants spinning the Big Wheel.

[ClockGameJohn]

[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Dec 3 2004, 12:57 AM\']The trucking shot of home base (the turntable) as Barker and the contestant walk up there is a cool (if unnecessary) idea in theory, but in practice, the camerawork is shaky and inconsistent.  What does it buy him?

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That turntable shot is not Bart's idea.  Bob requested it.