Why so many sitcoms look the same
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2018
- The one about sitcom lighting.
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In this episode of Vox Almanac, Phil Edwards explores the surprising history behind sitcom lighting.
Karl Freund was the genius cinematographer behind Metropolis, the silent film classic. But then he designed the set for I Love Lucy - the first of the multicam, laugh-track heavy sitcoms. Today, they look bland, but it wasn’t always that way. But at the time, Freund had a good reason to tackle the challenge.
These lighting techniques are still in use today on sitcoms like Friends, the Big Bang Theory, and other multi-camera hits. What looks generic to our eyes was, at one time, the result of an artist who made the impossible look easy.
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Set lighting is just one part of everything that goes into a TV show. Watch our video to see the entire process from start to finish: bit.ly/2Ji191l
Vox My friend is a lighting major, he’s so obsessed with sitcom lighting, he creates these models to light them and tinkers endlessly
I find it weird that the pinned post has lesser likes than the other top comments
Vox the one thing these sitcoms have in common is how insufferably white these sitcoms are.
I was hoping you would address the example shown in 30 Rock, when they did their 2 live episodes. Right in the very first scene, the very first line was Jack saying, "Lemon is it just me, or does everything look....weird? It's like we're in a Mexican soap opera." And it DID look totally different. So which camera style was used for which kind of 30Rock episode?
Din't Desi suggest the three camera set up, that is what was always said in documentaries and interviews, or did he just take credit like Thomas Edison?
Vox makes videos about things I didn't even know I was curious about
Most common Vox comment appears.
*like track plays*
dirty pure
This comment deserves a million likes
WC
I want to give a like but right now your likes are perfect
Contemporaries Club Exactlyyyyyyyyyyyy
All germans who were geniuses had to have a messy hair.
Most of the great physicist like Planck or Heisenberg were not Jewish. There is that one picture of a young Planck with messy hair, though.
MR SLAV I wish I was a genius
Huzufu, then take your arm and start rubbing your hair.
MR SLAV Is one of them a mad scientist?
Albert Einstein was a plagiarist
BIG BANE THEORY.
"you merely adopted the laugh track.. I was born in it.. Molded by it."
woww
This comment really kills me
You're a big bane.
"when you have heard the track, then you have my permission to laugh"
To alot of people, sitcoms have become the bane of their existence...
*laugh track of dead people intensifies*
someone explain this to me please
navleen kharoud These recordings are very old, most people laughing are already dead. It was recorded in early 20th century.
Most laugh tracks were made in the early 19's, so most people that got their laughs recorded are now extremely old, or dead
Thanks!
jesus christ i almost forgot about that....
Video discusses the cinematography of Karl Freund, the three-camera setup, and the lighting, blocking, costume and makeup choices that went into making it possible to shoot this way. The comments are 90% about laugh tracks, which the video only mentions in passing.
People like to complain about laugh tracks. I guess it's that they feel patronised by it like they're being told when to laugh or something
That is a thing you can say that would be true
Bob Tipping partially that and partially that it is a social tool used to minimize the need for good writing.
Why hire talented comedians that can tell funny contractual jokes when I can cut corners a play a pre recorded laugh.
[Queue laughter]
laugh tracks are evil.
FlowersInHisHair after reading your comment... imagined the laugh track in my mind.
I'm so upset that the "What's the Point" spin-off from "Vox" never got renewed beyond the second season. They were just getting into their own, with the "Carlos' does a spreadsheet" plot line really showing how he could act against type and bring depth to the character.
Which videos were these?
Emmy Award winning screenwriting.
What wrecked it was when Staples came in as a sponsor and demanded they tone down all the sexual tension. Then some producer clicked a button and said, "There! That was easy!".
Sitcom: makes an unfunny joke
Laugh Track: *HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHH*
Sums up Big Bang Theory there
Pretty much the formula of a lot of them yep!
OneTuber...isn't that what sitcoms are for?
Sitcoms seldom used laugh tracks. There was almost always a live audience, except for rare cases.
Honey... where are my paaaants!?
Anyone ever thought how terrifying most sitcom characters would be without laughter tracks? With no one laughing at their jokes...just...silence
Probably pretty terrifying
Aspect Science There's actually a Friends Clip where exactly this happens
Yes haha! Watched it the other day - the Ross sandwich episode right? Pretty terrifying really haha
That is a brilliant video haha!
Yes haha! What moment would be the most weird that you can think of in a sitcom without laughter? There's got to be some great moments
Haha oh yeah he would look like a sociopath in hiding without a laughter track
The most mindblowing thing this video taught me was that it used to be 'Hollywoodland'
Jonas Hamill Right? I mean ...wanna know why that changed now !
gizmodo.com/the-hollywood-sign-originally-read-hollywoodland-1585421650
@Captain "Winkle": Huh. Urban legend has it that an earthquake knocked the "WOOD" part down and they were too (something) to put it back.
That's Californians for you.
It also used to be lit up at night I'm pretty sure.
@@lunayoshi so then in urban legend it's called HOLLYLAND?
You can really see the difference in sitcom lighting in the show "scrubs." They have one episode where the show is done sitcom style and it's actually jarring at first because the lighting, costuming, and dialogue is so different from how the show was formatted.
Same on 30 Rock (2 live episodes).
Audrey Muzingo True! Another very funny show.
That is exactly what came to mind when I saw this video in my feed!
You should do an episode on the wierd soft golden light in soap operas. Soaps have a very distinctive look as well.
The difference is not necessarily the light. It's also the lenses the camera uses and the frames per second they shoot at. They shoot at about 60fps, which makes a TV show or movie look hyper realistic. This can be seen in some British shows of the last three decades, Canadian TV, and most of the Telenovelas. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was shot in 60fps, and if you can set your TV to match, it looks so real you can actually see which plants and rocks are set pieces.
Jeff Locke You mean the Hobbit trilogy, it was shot in 48 fps.
That’s a good point.
This explains why as a kid, I thought movies looked like they were "inside the TV" more than some TV shows.
Thats really interesting
I thought this was gonna be about why basically every sitcom takes place indoors and on sets of living rooms. I remember as a kid getting feeling depressed and wierded out watching so many sitcoms where they never showed characters go outside. One of the reasons why Seinfeld was such a *breath of fresh air*
My mind is blown that Metropolis, Dracula and I Love Lucy were all shot by the same guy xD
Vox, the first workplace sitcom where people actually work. LOL. :D
That scene with erkell was S U R R E A L
It's uncomfortable to me...
Salokin urkel.
Yeah who ever did the editing for that part 👍
Salokin Yes BUT... Did he do that?!?!?!
who's erkell ?
While I was still studying visual arts, I got invited on the set of a sitcom for one shooting day. I was very interested in cinematography and was so much looking forward to learn lighting techniques, camera movements, lensing...
The director of the episode arrived, introduced himself to the crew and actors (which made me very confused already...didn't he rehearsed everything beforehand?), all kinds of lights were hanging from above the set, leaving not a single spot of shadow. I waited for the DoP to prepare the first shot, and tried to understand what camera was the main one of the many placed everywhere. Two actors went on the set pretty much randomly, without marks of any kind. I was thinking, ok, now the director will go through the scene on the page and explain everyone what he has in mind...and he goes: "....aaand action!", everyone did their thing, without any preparation. A couple of minutes later: "cut, perfect, next scene". As I was still trying to grasp what kind of shot that was. Basically in the time I would have shot one wide and one closeup, they had already finished an episode. Crazy.
That TV is dangerously close to falling off that round table 😧
the cinematographer who did metropolis was literally the LAST person artistically who I would have thought went to television to invent the modern standard sitcom schtick
Next video topic: The canning of laughs (what started the laugh track)
Two thousand Hertz podcast and 99% invisible did an episode on that, so box might do one soon.
I was just going to recommend 99% invisible's podcast on the laugh track too - definitely recommend!
imma check them out, thanks guys!
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh_track
The “U.S. history” section of this is fascinating
CheesecakeLasagna nah let's talk about our boy Wilhelm
Big Bane Theory?
For You
Listen carefully and you will hear that Phil Edwars says "Big Bane Theory". Click at 5:44 and listen.
Might be copyrighted? They don't want the yellow dollar!
👍
no one watched my show until i put on the mask
*Laugh track plays in the distance*
(Insert unfunny why are you everywhere and why do you use likebots reply here)
Story of your life probably.
"wOw yOuRe eVErYwHeRe" is that how everyone responds to you
lmao
Im waiting for the “ranty” people now.
when I was a kid my mom watched soap operas all the time and the main thing I noticed about them is how dimly lit they all were. I even asked her once why they were standing around talking in dark rooms all the time and she didn't know what I was talking about
Is he saying big bane theory?
What a big guy.
For you
0:41 yes Karl Freund you did do that
That guy has one of the most annoying voices i've ever heard. I'd fucc him up if i saw him *on road*
As someone who works on film sets, I can say the tools have changed, but most of the logistics have stayed the same.
Freund seing what sitcomes have become: "Did I do that?".
please make a second episode of the vox sitcom! I'm already a HUGE fan
i cannot stand certain shows just because of the laughing tracks
I think it works for sketch shows like Mitchell and Webb look.
Less so for Big Bang Theory
dan schneider's shows
Laugh tracks can ruin a show. If the live audience isn't laughing, then the joke just isn't funny.
MASH had no laugh track when it was originally broadcast on the BBC way back . It was a rich character piece with natural feeling humour. I have seen the US versions recently and they are unwatchable in comparison, the laugh track feels way out of place. I think loads of shows would be better without live audiences, depends on the show though.
A laugh track is like an "amen" of a preach lol
I always wondered why sitcoms and soap operas looked so different! I kept pointing it out to my friends/family but they had no clue what I was talking about. Thank you for explaining this!
I have to admit...those sitcoms are pretty lit.
"awfully overlit but perfect for shooting 175 episodes a day" you mean?
New Vox video? *DROP EVERYTHING*
Very true.
Glad you agree! Any other channels you do that for?
PornHub
+Aspect Science
"Ask your homegirl right now, "Look, you had a shot at Ye?, You DROP EVERYTHING"
I AM DOOM NOT GROOT wut
Who else loves Brooklyn 99
Oh yes! So glad that it has been saved! Favourite moment?
sue ali yaaas and no laugh track!
meee
Best thing ever!
Nope just a wack rip off of Psych.
I was hoping you would address the example shown in 30 Rock, when they did their 2 live episodes. Right in the very first scene, the very first line was Jack saying, "Lemon is it just me, or does everything look....weird? It's like we're in a Mexican soap opera." And it DID look totally different. So which camera style was used for which kind of 30Rock episode?
Everyone in new York has a bike hanging on their wall.
Obviously. Best place to keep it. :P
That’s what happens when you live in a $1500 closet
troy arrington for $1,500 .... you'd get a lovely parking space.
J. Jo awww hell no😂 and I thought Chicago is bad
troy arrington 🤣🤣🤣🤣
so freaking amazing. i hope you guys love your job, because we love what you do
Gotta love your video editing Vox. Keep up the good work!
Where is Chandler? I feel catfished
Mayur
What does that mean?
Catfishing is when someone creates fake identities on social media platforms (like an old man making the profile of a hot twenty something on a dating app).
I like the change from your usual style in this video! It's pretty refreshing and imo just better.
Brilliant! I never knew the Metropolis guy had such an interesting career.
I've honestly wanted to know this for decades! I noticed even as a child in the 80's that soap operas don't look like sitcoms, but more resemble news casts. I now know that it's not really a different type of camera, but the set's lighting as recorded by the camera that gave it a particular feel. Seriously. Thank you! Mystery solved! [*sigh of relief*]
There is a camera difference too. Soap operas were filmed using cheaper film (I'm guessing they're shooting digitally now). They also film at a higher frame rate, eliminating blur. On top of that, there is a post-production difference in that series (then sometimes, now always) use colour grading (usually giving everything a warm tint, like in Friends), where soaps do not.
@@thehumancrayon3264
Running the higher frame rate also impacts exposure, more than a full stop. Doubling the illumination was probably not terribly realistic, so going for a moodier lighting scheme was probably more doable.
I really love topics like this. Exploring something I never noticed but always paid attention too at the same time.
4:51 that TV is dangerously on the edge of the table
Don't do the weird thumbnail thing. That's too low for vox
Alexander L
Agreed, but in this case, it’s Chandler’s joke, so I like it.
Great content as usual, Vox! Phil did a great job.
These videos are so well produced. Nice work, Vox.
I remember noticing as a kid, the Mary Tyler Moore Show and other MTM shows began a somewhat more sophisticated lighting scheme, where an effort was made to motivate more light from windows and table lamps, even visible ceilings on some occasions. They also simulated more realistic weather FX and time of day than most 3 camera sitcoms.
The Vox sit-com - I think you're onto something! 4:35
Not just sitcoms, it's still apparent on talk shows, news shows, even our gaming livestreams
Haven't watched TV in years, unless it's on DVD. Very rarely on DVR, like the Puppy Bowl. I don't do commercials.
so *that's* why the audio always sounded better on lucy than gilligan's island!
I love that Vox even covers topics like this
The first hint of a simulation. keep asking questions.
Once again with television, I Love Lucy was both the originator and Gold Standard of sitcoms
Thank you I learned so much. Who would have guessed that the DP of I love Lucy and Metropolis were one and the same person? Just mind-blowing!
Again a beautiful video Vox!
My goodness, let's either get a bigger table for the TV or nudge that bad boy to the left an inch or so. It's teetering.
My favorite sitcoms are That’s 70’s Show and The Big Bang Theory. Oh and Boy Meets World. Can’t forget that.
You are a boring person.
Seriously the best thing to come out of Vox are video essays by Phil Edwards.
Great video! quite fascinating learning about the cinematography involved in a sitcom format that inherently doesn't feel that cinematic.
From metropolis to a sitcom .....
What people need to understand is, he didn't pull all the 'standards' out of his ass. They emerged naturally as a means to 'simplify' the production of consistent cinematography. By marking the position of the various camera angles, and marking the points for the actors to deliver their lines, it MASSIVELY sped up the production of the sitcom while conserving consistency. It allowed people to autopilot without a lot of thought. It is totally about working smarter, not harder. There is no 'deep genius' here. Most of these tricks were pulled out of the 'theater' play book, since filming in front of a live audience is very much theater. The difference is, he had to incorporate that also into the camera work, but otherwise, it is the same. The lighting was designed purely to make as many shots as possible usable, to minimize reshoots, which leads to notorious fake laughter from live audiences.
Richard Smith
True yes but in early cinema there was also period of 10-15 years literally just frontal filming theater performances. Mostly he just created a template for sitcoms out of existing conventions. However as only briefly noted in here, he was essentially the first to abandon the tripod as integral part of the camera and just have it placed/moved in the set.
Yeah, it was stated as if he had some grand vision, but in reality, he was simply trying to make the whole process easier(possible even). Not taking anything away from his efforts, but just to put into perspective how something like this does not require a superhuman to devise, and is really within the reach of anyone who doesn't take 'impossible' as a matter of fact. A sitcom with a new 30 minute episode every week is not easy to pull off, so his efforts were more to do with making consistent quality weekly production actually possible than it was some divine art inspiration as some people like to presume.
very true… though i feel the infotainment quality of Vox is often misleading in that way. Either you already know half of whats coming or you just have to assume that whatever the topic it probably deserves double the time to get a somewhat complete overview.
Fritz Lang and his wife, Thea von Harbou, made Metropolis. Karl was the genius in charge of many special effect and photographie. His hard work and innovative mind was a huge part of it.
Keep these videos coming!
Wonk, wonk, waaaaaaaaaaa. * looks into camera with an 'oopsie!' grin *
I really wish this video didn't put dark scan lines over the clips of shows they're using to discuss lighting and visuals.
And play terrible muzak over bits of audio they want you to listen to.
Great video once again! 💛
I can't tell you how fascinating it is that I happened upon this video. I never was a big fan of the stale look of sitcoms. But I am a huge fan of the film Metropolis by fritz Lang so it blew me away to realize that he had also lit my favorite TV show ever which is none other than I love Lucy
He meaning Karl Freund*
So what you're basically saying is, that a german invented comedy
MickeyKnox i get that reference... or the ironic relation between those two ... juxtaposition... oxymoron
MickeyKnox
The setup 😉
Germans are such jolly people.
They invented everything
95% of German movies are Comedy :D we use English action and drama and add a bunch of comedy movies on top. And quite a lot are actually really awesome. If it's one Genre that Germans are amazing at it's comedy (but nobody would suspect us xD)
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is the best American sitcom to exist. So different yet so absolutely hilarious
Obelisk i'd say its more of an anti-sitcom
The fact that it hasn't won many awards is a crime.
Porte Richmond; season one [Amazon Prime]:
www.amazon.com/dp/B07HYJT2S3/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1538543687&sr=8-2&keywords=porte+richmond
You did an amazing job ! !!
I was so excited when i heard Phil's Voice he's one of my favorite video producers at Vox!
HIMYM?
This is so true, I love watching friends
Love this video, great way to put away interesting content.
I literally could watch these videos all day
Do people still watch sitcoms anymore?
RŮDE yes
RŮDE boi your deserve more views
The Good Place is a sitcom and it is my JAM!
YASS
RŮDE TBBT is the most viewed show on TV right now
Some of the best moments in sitcoms were from real audience reactions. I remember the dramatic, eerie, shifts in tone, or a woman blurting 'woh' during a scene of empowerment. Unintentionally funny scenes that encouraged actors to play on. When it got good, it was like seeing a movie with the perfect audience.
Then came the laugh tracks, and with it, unearned reactions, uninspired readings, and material flatter than a 6 year old coke. Even when forcing a live audiences reactions, actors could tell the genuine from the canned, and it helped make them better.
Vox has amazing capacity to make really good art videos .
I never, NEVER would have guessed in a million years that the look of sitcoms and the look of Metropolis could be attributed to the same person...
*uses lights and 3 cameras.
Truly an inspirational genius beyond his time who changed the course of human history.
i didn't knew that HOLLYWOOD was used to be HOLLYWOODLAND
bharat sihag well know you knew!
I enjoy this series keep them coming
Vox and its related channels have the best editors on UA-cam, period!
Big _Bane_ Theory
hey! I wanna see more vids about the royal family!
just kidding of course. This is exactly the content I subscribed for
love vox for always educating me about literally everything and anything
Wow, that's so interesting. Such a great video!
Clearly you've never seen Vai Que Cola, a Brazilian sitcom that loves breaking the fourth wall on a spinning set
Which isn't all that innovative, I mean, Sai de Baixo was doing pretty much that 20 years ago (except for the moving set). It all comes down to it being recorderd in a theater.
F. OPE yeah, I guess so
BR HEUHEUE? HAHAHHA
Martin > Friends
I don’t see a lie
Half of the fools on Vox, probably don’t even what Martin is😑 Youre1000% correct though
I love that lighting... Makes me feel nostalgic
These Vox videos are so addictive
1st ever dolly shot? Please. The Lumiere brother's portable cameras were put on trolleys and cars and trains and Ferris wheels well, well before 1925. Or "The Passer-by" using a forward/backward dolly movement in 1912.
Wow even the Vox show is better than The Big Bang Theory
Great video! I studied metropolis in college and I had no idea that it would be mentioned here
Frasier's Apartment vs, all the sitcom apartments I've seen is MY DREAM! Not just the decor, but the layout and the view AND I think I would like Seattle just as much as I like NYC.
Why is it that so many new inventions/ideas come from Germans?
Because we are smart :)
3.14159265358 *lesbians not Germans
Because we are constantly working working working ^^ ;)
3.14159265358
A rather big population. And something eerily prevalent about problem solving in their culture. Somewhere I heard the language tends to make you think in abstract terms, not sure what to think about that.
Droucko I really admire the German work ethic. I hope to live and work in your beautiful country some day. Greetings from your neighbor, the Netherlands!
Why do laugh tracks exist? I hate them so much
It literally said it in the video
Ryto new girl doesn't have them
when a person makes a joke the audience tends to laugh, that's how theater works, and since tv series are made to simulate the experience of go to the theater, laugh tracks are essential
Emma With The Gs It was just the style at the time, I still find Friends hilarious. Personally laugh tracks work better for me if I'm with other people while I'm watching, where as by myself they seem more annoying.
very nice video, I learnt so much! thanks
Incredibly powerful acting by the Vox team.... I sense an Emmy on the horizon!